# Dell XPS M1530 Red: A multitude of problems.



## Jonathan_Loewen (Nov 22, 2008)

I bought this laptop... midway through September. I didn't know much about laptops then (and admittedly, i still don't know much about them). 

1. From what I've read, an average laptop temperature is about 40 degrees. My laptop has never run that cool consistently, even when I took it out of the box for the first time, with the exception upon startup (when it quickly boots up to 50-65 degrees) (as I sit here typing this and listening to music, not doing anything else, my GPU is 65 degrees, and my two cores are jumping between 46 and 52). It goes up to around 80-90 degrees while playing games (games that should definitely NOT be taxing on this computer, like TF2).

Running my laptop on a soft surface (my bed) contributes to this, but i'm not willing to believe that it is the sole cause.

2. The fan also happens to randomly shut off, causing my temperature to skyrocket to over 100 degrees. This has happened both when I have left it unattended, and when I have been running non strenuous programs (Sun Java and Textpad). I fix this by going into dell support, at which point the computer displays a little man fixing something by the fan. My computer doesn't seem to know that anything is wrong at all, and neither does Dell support.

2b. In addition to this, Speedfan doesn't seem to be able to detect that I actually have a fan on my laptop.


3. Another, is that when playing online games (Team Fortress 2 and other Sourcemod games, notably), they occasionally freeze upon entering a server with a looping sound clip (not all the time, definitely, just seemingly randomly). I remain connected to the server, however (I know this, as one time that this happened, I was booted from the server and Team Fortress 2 worked once more). I have been told that this is due to my graphics card overclocking, because it's integrated graphics, but I don't want to believe this, because if this is the case, that means that there is little I can do about it.


4. When running said games, the program will sometimes randomly shut down. My computer has bouts of time where it does this, and others when this never happens. This is far rarer than the other problems.

That is all I can think of at the moment, and I don't believe that there are any more major problems.

Could someone please help me with at least the overheating issue?


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## Jonathan_Loewen (Nov 22, 2008)

bumpness


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## Jonathan_Loewen (Nov 22, 2008)

bumpness


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## Jonathan_Loewen (Nov 22, 2008)

bumpness


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## auntiej (Aug 14, 2006)

Jonathan, please don't use your laptop on a soft surface! This will probably be covering the vents. Do you ever use it on a proper surface (table, lap tray) if so what happens then? Have you been in touch with Dell support, either on the phone or via their web site where you can chat to a technician over the internet? I don't use an XPS but my Inspiron has a diagnostics partition accessed by pressing F12 on start up, does the XPS have this? It sounds from your second point that you may have a problem with the fan which is why I think you should have a word with Dell as the computer is quite new.


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## Jonathan_Loewen (Nov 22, 2008)

auntiej said:


> Jonathan, please don't use your laptop on a soft surface! This will probably be covering the vents. Do you ever use it on a proper surface (table, lap tray) if so what happens then? Have you been in touch with Dell support, either on the phone or via their web site where you can chat to a technician over the internet? I don't use an XPS but my Inspiron has a diagnostics partition accessed by pressing F12 on start up, does the XPS have this? It sounds from your second point that you may have a problem with the fan which is why I think you should have a word with Dell as the computer is quite new.


Even when I use it on a hard surface it remains the same temperature. I haven't been in contact with dell yet, but I'm sure that I should be.

I think that I can access a diagnostics partition on startup (can't all computers?), but I haven't.


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## Jonathan_Loewen (Nov 22, 2008)

New problem.

5. Today, after watching videos online (not doing any typing work), about 5-6 hours ago, my laptop keyboard borked. At random times, a random key was not recognized as entered when I most clearly pressed it. There was no pattern. I restarted my computer, and it was fine afterward.

5. b. Five minutes ago, the keys
T
H
and
V

stopped working entirely. No matter how many times I would press these keys, no input was recorded on the computer screen. the rest of the alphabet was fine, I didn't check other keys. Once again, a restart fixed the problem.


6. Not a new problem, but one I neglected to mention. When playing a Source engine game, (I don't believe it happened while playing Bioshock), the game occasionally closes cleanly at random, no warning. This is already documented. After starting the game to try again, it happens a second time (it always happens again after the first time).

Upon the third time, I end up with a Blue Screen of Death upon game crash.


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## auntiej (Aug 14, 2006)

hi, for such a young laptop you're getting some problems. re the keyboard, I'd be surprised if it was very dirty - or is it? Just in case, do you have a can of compressed air for computers. If so gently spray some air towards the keys (don't stand too close). Not too easy to do with a laptop. Do you run regular AV scans? Incidentally, do you have an external keyboard you could plug in? It would be interesting to see if using an external would result in the same behaviour. By the way, I'd still contact Dell, especially if the original problem is still happening. Good luck.


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## Jonathan_Loewen (Nov 22, 2008)

auntiej said:


> hi, for such a young laptop you're getting some problems. re the keyboard, I'd be surprised if it was very dirty - or is it? Just in case, do you have a can of compressed air for computers. If so gently spray some air towards the keys (don't stand too close). Not too easy to do with a laptop. Do you run regular AV scans? Incidentally, do you have an external keyboard you could plug in? It would be interesting to see if using an external would result in the same behaviour. By the way, I'd still contact Dell, especially if the original problem is still happening. Good luck.


alright, thanks. I'll end up contacting dell after I'm done with exams and stuff...

My keyboard is definitely not dirty though. there's nothing underneath, and I know that for a fact. The keys haven't bugged out since. If they do it again, I'm going to try an external keyboard with it (a friend has one).

Thanks for the help.


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## auntiej (Aug 14, 2006)

you're welcome, and good luck with your exams. Post back to let us know what Dell recommend for the problems you are facing.


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## Jonathan_Loewen (Nov 22, 2008)

thanks.

I'm sure there are other problems as well, as I just discovered:

7. Webcam isn't working (i hardly ever use it). It worked on day 1, so it's due to something that has happened since then.


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## Teamcheyne (Mar 10, 2009)

I've got a several similar problems. First my keyboard randomly doesn't register keystrokes - i'm pressing each letter very carefully and they still get missed out. This is utterly maddening as i'm a reasonable typer - what's the point if half of what i type is ignored?!
Secondly I have the fan problem too - except in a worse way! After working fine for the weekend i turned on my laptop last night to finish an essay only for it to randomly shut down (It made the same noise as if I ad removed the battery - i.e. it shut down instantly with a click and power-down noise). It now does this on a regular basis and I think it's due to the fan not controlling the heat properly etc.
Thirdly, the 'handy' touch pad for changing volume nd ejecting disks etc. now no longer works, which is naturally infuriating!

And finally,I'll put in my advice for you Jonathan: If your computer is that young with that many faults then Dell have sold you a faulty product - breaching numerous consumer/production laws and if (only if!) they give you any crap about sorting it out you are entirely entitled to take them to court. Hey, you could do it with me ad my father who are both having absurd problems with ours!


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## gthhill (Dec 31, 2008)

My XPS M1530 keyboard has had some similar problems, the keys effected are:

R
T
F
G
V
B
4
5

The results of pressing these keys are not always predictable or the same, but I discovered that it might be linked to a keyboard bulge issue. When I push down lightly on the centre of the keyboard it restores normal keyboard function. I have contacted Dell and their response was to update the BIOS... which sounds like BS to me, as a physical remedy generally means a physical problem.


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## stickbeast (Oct 7, 2009)

hey i have the same problem with games. My Laptop meets the requirements but recently its been shutting off not 2 minutes into the game after god-awful FPS lag. I know my computers specs:

OS: 32-bit Vista SP2
Ram: 4 Gb
Processor: Intel Core Duo 2.40GHz x 2.40GHz
Video Card: nVidea 8600M GT

i've always had a heat problem and i have always used an external fan. They replaced my mobo the other day (and graphic card since its integrated) and it hasn't fixed anything. Anyone have any success stories with these XPS's? I really don't want to have to get a new laptop, I've grown quite attached to it...:sigh:


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