I have the same problem - sent the computer back to Dell and got it back yesterday with new LCD. The screen is slightly different (doesnt look as bright) but that doesnt bother me, what bothers me is that when I use it on battery power I have the same flickering problem that I sent it in for! Obviously they didnt check this before sending me it back.

Is this just a problem with the 5150 that everyone has or can it be fixed? Dell also updated my BIOS but that doesnt seem to have cured anything.

My 5150 is a little under 2 weeks old and i dont have this problem. I was a bit worried when waiting for it because i heard that this was an issue with many people, i guess i got lucky. BTW is there any way to determine which LCD came with your computer? It might shed some light on which models are having this problem. Im using the SXGA 1400x1050 version if that helps any.

I think this is isolated to UXGA systems. Mine is on its way back to Dell again... Hopefully this time they will actually check it before sending it back ;)

Try reading this thread:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_video&message.id=88514&highlight=5150+display+flickers+battery#M88514

Inspiron 5150
BIOS A23
3.06GHz Mobile P4
Travelstar 7K60
1GB PC2700 DDR RAM
DVD/CDRW
64MB nVidia GeForce FX 5200 Go
UXGA Display
WinXP Home

 

hey carnaghan,

did you get your i5150 back? did they fix the flickering problem? i also have this problem. please keep us updated. thanks.

Inspiron 5150
Windows XP Home Edition
Dell A24 BIOS
Mobile Intel Pentium 4 processor 3.06GHz
SHARP 15in UXGA LCD
1 GB Centon 333MHz PC2700 DDR 2 DIMMs
FUJITSU 30GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
64MB DDR NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200
Samsung 24X CD-RW/DVD Combo

 

 

My computer went back Wednesday, so I'll let you know once I get it back if the issue has been resolved.

Message Edited by carnaghan on 10-10-2003 05:31 PM

Well I can tell you its not all the UXGA screens.
I have a 2 week old 5150, GeforcefX 5200, and the sharp LCD.

I just tried all different brightness levels, with bio's A23-A25 and many different nvidia driver versions..
could not get so much as a flicker out of it.

If its a power issue, maybe its battery related?


who knows, I can tell you that I am happy not to have that problem though.. :-)

good luck working out what it is.

rgds

Franki

Hi

 I just got my 5150 two days ago, same screen flickering problem.

 Tech support could not solve over the phone so they ok'd the system to be replaced.

  I had another 5150 that went back because the video card died, that one had no screen flicker.

Mine went back 3 times to Dell.  Last time they sent it back to me they had a note saying it was a 'Known' problem at Dell and I had to update my bios (which they obviously couldnt do themselves).  Anyway - to cut a long story short, I updated the bios and problem remained.  Called tech again and demanded a replacement.  New 5150 arrived over a week ago with the same flickering problem.  I believe this is a serious problem with many 5150s with a UXGA display.  I really dont want the hassle of sending this in so have done what others did and turn the brightness up full in the bios - wastes the battery more but only solution since Dell wont fix this for me.  Probably will sell soon anyway - not had a very nice experience from this company overall with quality of both hardware and their so-called foreign support.  Good luck - if you manage to get your problem resolved!

Luckily I've not had the problem with the flickering..
but today I turned on my machine and the keyboard didn't work.. at all..

so I couldn't boot past the bios password screen..

turned it off, took the batter out and disconncected from power, took about 6 attempts at that, but eventually it came good again..

dunno what it was, but I'm not happy with this laptop, in some ways it seems very solid, in others it seems quite badly made.


rgds

Franki

Mine goes back this week, will try again. Not willing to spend this kind of money and have to compromise 

battery life. Should be a fix at dell. 

Yeah... I have the same problem, and I got it 2 days ago. I too have experienced their foriegn support. It seems like they put Canadians down. I was on the queue for 2 hours before giving up on the phone, and remained on for 1 hour at midnight, before giving up.

I hope it works out for you all. As I said in my previous posting, Dell stated that it is a 'known' problem, however I am not so sure they really know how to fix it. I am quite sure there are many 5150 owners out there who have this problem and dont even realize it. It often is not noticable unless the hard disk is running and definately only seen when using battery power only.

If anyone is reading this that has a 5150 with the UXGA, please try using it on battery power with your screen brightness at default (not full). Post here and let Dell know that it is an issue as I have been completely ignored in terms of finding a solution to this.

Also if a moderator is reading this, could you please advise.

Mine is the second 5150 I have had, the first the video card failed . The first did not have the flicker problem at all, it's replacement does and is going back for replacement again. Both had the UXGA screen.

I hope this can be sorted out by DELL, the 5150 is the desktop replacement that's exactly what I was looking for.

Aside from being difficult to understand the tech line hasn't been that bad for me.They couldn't solve the flicker problem over the phone and authorized the system replacement.

I would like to see some acknowledgement by DELL about this problem, do I accept the new replacement or give up?