Hardware was just fine, the problem was with Windows 8.1, for some reason if you have 8.1 this would happen. I have no clue why it is the way it is, but with win 8.0 it works flawlessly.
So if you have this model I would be wary of upgrading to win 8.1 and make a backup before, if you decide on doing so.
I had pretty much the exact same issue with my older XPS M1330 laptop (sporadic pattern on screen - looked identical). Ended up being a bad motherboard, which was replaced under warranty. I had upgraded the memory & hard drive and that did not cause any issues with the warranty. Hope that helps.
a couple days ago I had a member complaining of similar symptoms. The pattern wasn't the same, but like yours it was geometric. I didn't read anything in your post that mentioned re-seating the memory modules. Give it a shot and if you need futher assistance don't hesitate to contact. If this answer was helpful please remember to hit the YES button. GOOD LUCK!
Re seating memory wont solve anything here, since memtest86 finds no errors and other torture tests like OCCTPT work just fine, since I ran out of the ideas I've reinstalled W8.1 this time with just the drivers, so far it works (about 3 hours) so I'm sort of hopeful that it was some sort of software issue, but well.. to me it looks like more than that - we'll see I guess.
If it still works till tomorrow will install rest of stuff and see if anything changes, will report back on that. If not, to warranty people I go...
Yeah, I found it hard to believe at first, the tech just said it's the OS. I once again reinstalled win 8.1 from the SL x64 image I made and it once again failed, after that I've installed regular win 8 and it just worked fine. So it is probably a driver issue, but I was not able to pinpoint which one. My thoughts that it's related to power saving stuff, but who knows.
I have a similiar issue. Upon removing the rear cover to check the battery and reassembling, I cannot use the laptop on an uneven surface. If I pick up the laptop the screen changes colors and is very glitchy. As soon as I place it on a flat surface, the screen is perfect! Would I have knocked something loose?
Hotcooler
5 Posts
0
February 10th, 2014 06:00
As an update. Problem was resolved.
Hardware was just fine, the problem was with Windows 8.1, for some reason if you have 8.1 this would happen. I have no clue why it is the way it is, but with win 8.0 it works flawlessly.
So if you have this model I would be wary of upgrading to win 8.1 and make a backup before, if you decide on doing so.
727stretch
140 Posts
0
January 30th, 2014 18:00
Hi,
I had pretty much the exact same issue with my older XPS M1330 laptop (sporadic pattern on screen - looked identical). Ended up being a bad motherboard, which was replaced under warranty. I had upgraded the memory & hard drive and that did not cause any issues with the warranty. Hope that helps.
N7U
615 Posts
0
January 30th, 2014 20:00
Hi Stretch,
a couple days ago I had a member complaining of similar symptoms. The pattern wasn't the same, but like yours it was geometric. I didn't read anything in your post that mentioned re-seating the memory modules. Give it a shot and if you need futher assistance don't hesitate to contact. If this answer was helpful please remember to hit the YES button. GOOD LUCK!
Hotcooler
5 Posts
0
January 31st, 2014 04:00
Re seating memory wont solve anything here, since memtest86 finds no errors and other torture tests like OCCTPT work just fine, since I ran out of the ideas I've reinstalled W8.1 this time with just the drivers, so far it works (about 3 hours) so I'm sort of hopeful that it was some sort of software issue, but well.. to me it looks like more than that - we'll see I guess.
If it still works till tomorrow will install rest of stuff and see if anything changes, will report back on that. If not, to warranty people I go...
Hotcooler
5 Posts
0
January 31st, 2014 08:00
Unsurprisingly it happened again, so off to warranty tomorrow...
727stretch
140 Posts
0
February 10th, 2014 12:00
Was it Dell / Service tech who gave you that answer? Seems a bit off to me, unless it was a bad driver. But glad ya got it fixed!
Hotcooler
5 Posts
0
February 10th, 2014 13:00
Yeah, I found it hard to believe at first, the tech just said it's the OS. I once again reinstalled win 8.1 from the SL x64 image I made and it once again failed, after that I've installed regular win 8 and it just worked fine. So it is probably a driver issue, but I was not able to pinpoint which one. My thoughts that it's related to power saving stuff, but who knows.
JAKKLZ
3 Posts
0
April 8th, 2015 11:00
I have a similiar issue. Upon removing the rear cover to check the battery and reassembling, I cannot use the laptop on an uneven surface. If I pick up the laptop the screen changes colors and is very glitchy. As soon as I place it on a flat surface, the screen is perfect! Would I have knocked something loose?