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Right side Hinge pulled free of screws and inserts on the keyboard side.
I have an Inspiron 5545 running win10.
On opening, the right side hinge on the keyboard section pulled three screws and inserts free, cracked the plastic in the corner where the hinge is located, killed the WiFi, and caused an intermittent vertical line to appear on the screen.
The laptop has never been out of the house, never dropped, and seldom left my lap when I was home.
It runs, but is held together with aa 1.5" black paper clamp and connects to the home network via a USB WiFi dongle from Wal-Mart..
This is my fourth or fifth laptop and the first to have the case fail. This is a design failure in my opinion. Boo on you, Dell. I've bought a lot of your computers over the years because they worked and did not fall apart with normal use. This one disappoints.
Rev. William J McVay, D.D.
gruss
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June 12th, 2016 11:00
This happened to my 5545 this morning. I use a LAN cable for network and it will not stay plugged in now. I can see where the case separated at the right hinge. Like you, my laptop sits on my desk and I close the lid/screen when I am finished using it for the day. Dell.com/support shows my laptop is still under warranty so I will contact them and see what they can do. This is my 4th Dell laptop and never had an issue before. I still use one of the Dell laptops that is 10 years old.
Warmfire
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June 12th, 2016 13:00
Mine was out of warranty, but I think Dell is wrong on this. If I buy a new car and the warranty runs out, followed by the trunk lid flying off the car for no reason beyond lousy design, I think the company should own up to its failure in design and fix the thing gratis.
I did call Dell's out of warranty and got a quote of $269 to repair my unit and a fairly hard sell to buy another without an offer of any trade-in. I too have bought any number of Dell computers over the years, but no more. I have bought my last Dell and am using social media to tell folks why.
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There is no damned excuse for a hinge to pull free of its chassis.
gruss
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June 13th, 2016 10:00
I called the warranty department yesterday and was initially told the broken hinge was considered normal wear and tear. It took 3 calls and the first 2 calls I was put on hold for 10-15 minutes and then the call disconnected. I asked for a supervisor as I believed it is a design flaw as my 5545 does not have a mark on it and has never been dropped. I was then told it is a known issue and I need to send in 2-3 pictures as a reply to an email I will receive. Dell will then send me a box to ship my laptop to them for inspection/repairs. I was told to expect to be without my laptop for up to 10 business days. At this point if I could find a replacement case I would just change it myself. What I have found out is there are two screw mounts on the case for the hing that break off from the stress of opening and closing the lid. I will update when I know more.
Warmfire
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June 13th, 2016 12:00
So Dell's answer is first to claim it is "normal." Hang up on a customer in the hopes he will not call back. But if a customer is determined, he will eventually reach a supervisor and will be told "this is a known issue" with the clear implication that we do not want to admit this or fix the problem. But if we have to, we will grudgingly do the repair.
This is what Dell refers to as "Customer Service". And that is only if your laptop is in warranty! God help you if it is out of warranty. Dell certainly won't
Rev. McVay, D.D.
Brian Pham
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December 28th, 2016 15:00
My 5545 laptop shows different sign of the RIGHT hinge. It's developing a crack on the plastic surface near the power button. Since this crack is inside, it cannot be caused by dropping or accidentally damaged by user. When I opened the laptop, I can feel the strong pressure from the right hinge applied to the plastic surface. That gradually cracks the surface. This is absolutely due to a defective design of the RIGHT hinge. Well, if you read the posted complaints, nobody mentioned about the LEFT hinge. I use my laptop 2 to 3 times a week so the defect showed up after my warranty has been expired. But from the forum, Dell won't cover it even my laptop is under warranty. I want users beware of this issue and Dell should re-consider about their policy on the hinge.