Dell Vostro V13, Inexplicable internal LCD damage.

I got my laptop 2 weeks ago and i opened it up today and see a horizontal line and a vertical line.  In addition it looks like there are dead pixels that look like someone scratched the screen.  I've treated this cpu like gold, I didn't mistreat it or do anything.  

So what happened?  Did they return it? Give you a new laptop?  How long did it take to fix?  Anything you can share about your experience would be helpful.

So far it's been a nightmare. They're telling me cracked screens aren't covered under the limited warranty but I keep arguing my case that I never did anything to cause the damage that's on my screen. It was deffectice, I KNOW it was. I wouldn't be wasting my time if that wasn't the case. I have already spent well over 2 hrs on the phone with Dell and have exchanged a couple of emails. I'm waiting for my reply for today still though.

I have had a very similar experience with a cracked V13 screen, but it happened right way.  Tech support seemed like they had heard the issue before and provided a veiled suggestion that  I return it under the 30 day return for any reason policy.  Without much fuss I was issued an RMA by customer service.  I have to say customer service follow-up has been great.

I have purchased a replacement but am very concerned the same may happen with this unit.

I can say I have had exactly the same problem.  The machine is less than a month old.  I used it yesterday all day.  Put it in my backback (specifically made for laptops), and when I opened it up last night there was a small crack with lines, that then progressed into a big crack this morning.  I did not drop the laptop, or put any pressure on it that I remember.

Dell will not cover this kind of damage - Luckily I only spent about 30 minutes on the phone with various people - so I did not get the run around.

I have never had this problem with any laptop screen I have had, even ones I have seriously damaged by dropping them.  I think the V13 product has a poorly designed screen enclosure that is very week and prone to damage.

If you think Dell is bad, wait until you experience HP support - it's far worse.

Couple that with HP's bottom of the barrel reliability (see below) and you have a recipe for disaster.  If you return the Dell, think VERY carefully before making the mistake of buying an HP notebook.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/11/17/reliability.study.has.apple.4th.place/

I got my replacement yesterday and I noticed some screen flickering, which I noticed before I had the lines on my first vostro v13.  I went back on the website and noticed that my basic 1 year service comes at no extra charge.  I asked them to upgrade my vostro with NBD service, which is something I thought they should do considering the amount of time they have made me waste on this.  They said it would cost $200+ just to do that.  I told them that if I returned it and bought a new one that I would be able to receive the additional service for free, but they wouldn't push ahead with it.

So for me its not possible to do business with people that are so incompetent.  I asked to return the machine.  I'm going to buy an hp envy 13 instead.  Much more expensive, but I would rather spend 1500 on something that I know will work than spend 700 on something I'm crossing my fingers that will last a year.

Its a real shame.  I really loved this laptop.  My advise is to stay away from dell altogether.  The hours on the phone with tech support, on hold, with customer service, installing and reinstalling software is way too much hassle. 

I'm shorting the stock.

Normally, those cracks don't spontaneously happen on LCD screens.   That's been proven over years and years of laptop manufacturing. That being said, it is kind of weird to see four people with the same report of spontaneous cracks appearing on the same model in such a short time frame.  If you would like to PM me your service tags I'll pass that along to an internal team and see if they can find any correlations between the systems. I don't want to give you any false hope because to be completely honest I don't expect to have them come back with any findings but I at least would like to ask someone to look into the issue.

Thanks for your post.  Service tag on it's way.

Just to claify, the crack had begun when I unboxed my unit.  So either the unit was flawed or the shipping box used to send it.  Seems that no on else is complaining about their boxes so I would suggest it is the unit. ;)

I am very interested in the response to this issue on this forum.  I have purchased a replacement for my unit, but unless I see that Dell is going to stand behind their computers I will have to return it inside the 30 days and replace it with something I feel safe with.

It's a same too, because other than this issue I quite like the unit.

Thanks.

Thanks for your post.  Service tag on it's way. Just to claify, the crack had begun when I unboxed my unit.  So either the unit was flawed or the shipping box used to send it.  Seems that no on else is complaining about their boxes so I would suggest it is the unit. ;) I am very interested in the response to this issue on this forum.  I have purchased a replacement for my unit, but unless I see that Dell is going to stand behind their computers I will have to return it inside the 30 days and replace it with something I feel safe with. It's a same too, because other than this issue I quite like the unit. Thanks.

Thanks, I got the service tag and included it with the information I'm sending down to engineering for review.   Did you contact someone about the crack when you first opened the box if you observed it then?   If it was damaged during shipping it will absolutely be covered.

It's happen the same thing to me.

I closed mi laptop lid last nigth open it today was a line on the screen and a white square shows in the display.

lapop Is 1.5 week old. I have my old xpsm1330 from two years now.

 Never happen to me a thing like this. It seems to have a desing flaw.

Could I send  my service tag as well?

How could I get support in Peru?

Thanks

Leo

Could I send  my service tag as well? How could I get support in Peru?

To get support in Peru you can go to our support pages, http://support.Dell.com.   In the top left corner is a dropdown that you can select the country you need help in.  Once you select your country the pages will refresh to take you to the appropriate site.

You can send me your service tag by clicking on my blue username and selecting the option to send a message.

There have been isolated incidents of Apple MacBook Pro screens cracking internally as well, although not quite out of the box making it a warranty nightmare. Even without any signs of being dropped, they can also claim that excessive pressure was applied to the lid.. Being thin machines, some fragility is expected, but you would think that the design would allow for a reasonable amount of day to day pressure, including that of being in a bag. Nonetheless, I do hope you get your problem resolved as it does point towards some defect or flaw with your machine.

I ordered the 3 year NBD and Accidental Damage Warranty with my V13 just to cover my butt, perhaps it's overkill but it's also good peace of mind.

>Did you contact someone about the crack when you first opened the box if you observed it then?

Yes I did.  Although I had been travelling on business so hadn't unboxed it until 3 weeks after it arrived.  The crack was small but evident.  I informed customer support that i bought the unit because I needed it and that I was going to have to put it into use for a few days until the replacement the suggested I purchase arrived.  I have to say customer service was great and asked for my replacement unit order to do what they could to hurry the process, and provided me a few days grace on the return which was appreciated.  Of course while I used it for a few days the crack grew quickly which made me glad I had reported it right off the bat.

But I am still worried that I will have the same issue with this new unit so am now thinking I will return it and replace with something more reliable.  I guess my other option would be to pad it with lots of safe warranty like above.  If Dell is interested in extending that as a resolution please let me know via PM in the next few days as I am running out of time for the return.

Thanks.

Sorry, but you probably don't have the option to return the unit anymore.  If you just replace the machine then they run down the clock from the day of original purchase.  At least thats what they told me.  You're probably stuck now.  Don't hold your breath for dell to extend your warranty for this issue.