Design Flaw - DELL Inspiron (8600)

Question

The screen open/closed switch peg is too long, resulting in breaking the holding clip on the underside of the control panel.  Once the holding clip is broken the switch peg catches on the broken clip preventing the screen from turning back on when opened.   St. John 3:16 - More than just a sign at a sports event, read it, the book, and be cool. Dell® Inspiron® 8600 Intel® Centrino® Mobile Technology Pentium® M Processor,1.4 GHz 15.4 in WUXGA (Wide Aspect UltraSharp® Display) 128 MB nVidia® GeForce® FX Go 5650 4X AGP Graphics 512 MB,DDR,333MHz 40 GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive (replaced with 60 GB 7200 RPM) 2x CD/DVD Burner (DVD+RW/+R) Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 WLAN Dell® TrueMobile® 300 Bluetooth

LICHE1908 · Answer

Has this been documented somewhere or is this only a problem on one computer?

NemesisDB · Answer

pretty sure that's not how you're supposed to carry them ;-)

St. John 15.13 · Answer

Yes it has been documented, see initial post of this thread, and no it is not issolated to just one computer.

But don't take my word for it. If you have an Inspiron with the same mechanism as the 8600, you can break yours too. Just grasp the system from the rear between the two display hinges and carry it around. It won't be long before it breaks. There's enough flex to push the peg in far enough to break the little holding clip on the underside of the control panel.

St. John 3:16 - More than just a sign at a sports event, read it, the book, and be cool.

Dell® Inspiron® 8600
Intel® Centrino® Mobile Technology

Pentium® M Processor,1.4 GHz
15.4 in WUXGA (Wide Aspect UltraSharp® Display)
128 MB nVidia® GeForce® FX Go 5650 4X AGP Graphics
512 MB,DDR,333MHz
40 GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive (replaced with 60 GB 7200 RPM)
2x CD/DVD Burner (DVD+RW/+R)
Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 WLAN
Dell® TrueMobile® 300 Bluetooth

Message Edited by St. John 15.13 on 09-13-2005 06:35 PM

St. John 15.13 · Answer

LOL... yea I guess you're right nobody would ever carry a "notebook" like that. :smileywink:

I wonder how many people DELL has charged for replacment display that appeared to be dead but was really just the stuck switch.:smileysurprised:

St. John 3:16 - More than just a sign at a sports event, read it, the book, and be cool.

Dell® Inspiron® 8600
Intel® Centrino® Mobile Technology

Pentium® M Processor,1.4 GHz
15.4 in WUXGA (Wide Aspect UltraSharp® Display)
128 MB nVidia® GeForce® FX Go 5650 4X AGP Graphics
512 MB,DDR,333MHz
40 GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive (replaced with 60 GB 7200 RPM)
2x CD/DVD Burner (DVD+RW/+R)
Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 WLAN
Dell® TrueMobile® 300 Bluetooth

Message Edited by St. John 15.13 on 09-13-2005 07:25 PM

WxGuy1 · Answer

I had the same problem with my I8600. The peg would get stuck down, thus keeping/turning the screen off. I had to remove the top plastic piece (where the buttons are located) and reposition the peg. Since I was getting sick of doing this, I just removed the plastic pin. So now, the system can't detect when I close the lid, but I never really used that feature much anyway. The broken plastic LCD surround (right where the hinges are located) is another story, however...

St. John 15.13 · Answer

My solution was to cut a little off the peg, shortening it so that when pushed down flush it would not catch on the broken clip on the underside of the control panel. But would still be down far enough to turn off the display. Then to push the peg down flush when the display is closed I used some gummy adhesive stuff to attach a US$ penny to the display frame just above the peg. The penny thickness is just right to fit between the control panel and closed display to push the peg down flush, and turn off the display. President Lincoln still serving His contry.

Another perhaps easier solution would be to attach a little bump stop, piece of plastic next to or around the peg to prevent the closed display frame from pushing the peg down flush. Thus eliminating the need to cut the peg to shorten and attached penny. Probably would shave a penny off the system rework cost. :smileywink:

Pretty pathetic that we customers have to re-engineer DELL’s systems for them. Says a great deal about the bottom of the barrel engineers DELL is employing, that they can’t even adequately design such a simple thing as this. But then as simple as this mechanism is perhaps it was intentional. :smileysurprised:

St. John 3:16 - More than just a sign at a sports event, read it, the book, and be cool.

Dell® Inspiron® 8600
Intel® Centrino® Mobile Technology

Pentium® M Processor,1.4 GHz
15.4 in WUXGA (Wide Aspect UltraSharp® Display)
128 MB nVidia® GeForce® FX Go 5650 4X AGP Graphics
512 MB,DDR,333MHz
40 GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive (replaced with 60 GB 7200 RPM)
2x CD/DVD Burner (DVD+RW/+R)
Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 WLAN
Dell® TrueMobile® 300 Bluetooth

Message Edited by St. John 15.13 on 09-17-2005 11:47 AM

Locked Topics – Laptops General

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