New Dell Studio Laptop Problems! Oh no!

Hey all you out there in hopelessly-wired-and-dependent-on-technology land! I’ve got some interesting news to share, in case you are like me and happen to own one of the new Dell Studio laptops, and you woke up one day, went to turn your laptop on, only to find that:

-The Media keys up top aren’t lighting up or responding.

-Typing on the keyboard is very difficult with certain keys, or all keys, requiring repeated hard pressing to get recognition from your computer.

-A super spazzy touchpad.

Edit 10/24/08: I’d like to add to the list of common problems, a cooling fan that is just positively roaring for no good reason.

Apparently you are not alone. A quick google comes up with evidence of other people experiencing the same problem, and also evidence that Dell knows about this issue, yet doesn’t have a solution. One of the user comments I came across suggested powering off, taking out the battery, and holding down the power button for ten seconds, replacing battery, rebooting. This supposedly “cleared static buildup,” whatever to that, it worked and that’s all I care about.

More information pending for those of you that are concerned or care, or have a shiny new laptop like me and want to know what the hell is going on. I’ll also get around to scouring the web and citing my sources. I’m a firm believer that technology should work, end of story. When it does stuff like this, malfunctioning without user interference, then there’s almost nothing more frustrating.

So I’ll get back to you, weary technofiles. As far as I’m concerned, if Dell knew about this they should’ve sent out some e-mails giving a heads up to people who recently purchased their product. Since that’s not the case, I’d like to do what I can to spread the word.

UPDATE 9/10/08: One of our commentors, Jo, got Dell to remotely update the bios and drivers on her laptop, and that seemed to fix the problem. So for those of you who are finding that the battery trick doesn’t do it (my dell hasn’t given me trouble since, maybe you’re also a lucky one) then looking into a bios and driver update could do the trick.

UPDATE 9/18/08: Here are some particularly helpful comments I’ve recieved as of late. Putting them in the main body of this post so that they are more easily accessible:

Kev77 – I have had is one week and the same problem. Just updated my bios from A02 to A05, looks good so far.

Queenie – I had the same problems. I have the studio 1535, keyboard and touchpad are not working. The best way to fix this problem is go to go through Dell Live chat support. Agent will remotely connect to your laptop and update your drivers. If you currently have BIOS A02 then you definitely need to update to BIOS A05. Agent might also or I would suggest to have him/her reinstall your Dell Touchpad driver as well because updating the BIOS alone may not solve it completely. ***There may be a lot of people on queue but even if it says “your’e #50 on queue” should still take less than a minute to connect with an agent. Goodluck!

Further edit 10/24/08: I’d just like to add that I am not a fixer-of-computers. I can’t even take credit for solving this problem on my own laptop, I found someone else’s cool trick. And also I’d like to relinquish any responsibility for how any of you out there might take this information and use it, because this is the internet, and gosh darnit I do not want to get sued, or accused by some jerk for messing up their computer. (But seriously, don’t hold me accountable. You do whatever you want, I’m just throwing out some amassed data and suggestions. It’s like religion. You can’t blame God because you stubbed your toe and he created the rock that did it. Or..maybe that’s really off and I’m really tired.)

Recentest latest right now update 12/4/08: First of all, thanks to everyone who continues to share their experiences with the blog and each other. I’m sorry I can’t reply to everyone, to be perfectly honest my priorities lie in the realm of finishing up my first semester of senior year with all limbs and brain matter attached.

So to those of you just stumbling upon this information now, the comments below are the best place to go to learn about the laptop problem, and possible fixes. It doesn’t seem that anyone has found The One Solution to these issues, which now include the sound system just not working. If it’s any consolation, I’ve had both the touchpad/media keys/keyboard problem, AND the sound problem, but the sound issue resolved itself. I still owe the use of my computer to that battery trick, and by the grace of Thor I haven’t had the problem recur, though I know others are not so lucky.

So best of luck to those of you still struggling with customer support or your laptops (whichshouldbeworkingfromthegetgogoddammit!).

~ by Delgado on August 14, 2008.