Miscellaneous laptop discussions forum: Dell 700m speaker issues

That headphone jack and your symptoms make me write that any competent tech could cure that without replacing the motherboard. However I only know of ikenfixit.com and notefix.com for those that don't have a good tech or an engineering friend.

Bob

Please let us know when your fix is ready. Dell wants $550.OO for out of warranty service for this problem. Poor design on their part and should be reconciled or at least acknowledged by them.

Did you figure out how to fix this/design a fix yet? I am in need of it as well. I am going to pull mine apart tonight to see if I can "adjust" the wires any and see if its just getting pinched. If not I could use your help when you figure out how to do it (bing mine went out of warranty in Aug and now the problem started last week!) Thanks in advance, can send you along my email if you need it to talk about the fix. Thanks!

can we report more issues like that, so dell can have a recall on that design? so we don't need to spend $$$$. i saw a lot of people saying that problem already, i have the exactly problem over 90 degree, not working, and less than that is working, later on not working at all. i called dell in china, they said they gonna replace the whole lcd, which gonna cost $400 bucks, what the f. add 100 more u can get a brand new laptop nowdays. ....

My 700M speakers are having issues exactly as you described. I bought mine back in March 2005. The problem happened overnight for me as well. First noticed it sometime last week.
I take great care of my laptop and have never dropped or mistreated it.

I have the exact same problem, both of my speakers on my 700m don't work unless I close the lid most of the way.

I had sent my 700M back to dell the first time the speakers went out. I believe they replaced the whole LCD screen. That was under warranty. Speakers went out again. This time I took it apart. It's so obvious what happened, The edge of the plastic thin cover in front of the screen(has the power button in it)is sharp and it cuts the wires a little bit every time the top is raised or lowered. There is enough extra wire to solder the wires back on to the speaker. I filed down the sharp edge AND covered each wire with wire insulation from a larger gauge wire. This will not happen again now. I can't believe Dell just replaced the entire screen, new speakers and all and then sent it back knowing that the wires would eventually get cut again. What they should do at the least when repairing this problem is file down the sharp plastic edge that cuts the wires.

Same problem here - started where I had to close the lid somewhat to get sound. eventually, the wires broke completely. I am sure not giving Dell any money on this one - they are well aware of this problem see their suport forum

(http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_audio&view=by_date_ascending&message.id=28481&c=us&l=en&cs=19&s=dhs).

A friend with a much newer dell Model has the same design - speakers on screen versus laptop. Wonder if it will happen to hers too. Stinks they do this knowingly then refuse to fix it.

Hi steb123,
I have the same problem but never thought to fix it myself. It sounds simple enough to do but can you tell me how to take the laptop apart so I can get access to the wires for the fix?

Walter

My Dell 700m speakers are acting up, they only worked when the screen was halfway down closed few weeks later it completely went soundless. I took out the top panel with a screw driver and the wires were completely CUT! I will call Dell and complain. My Dell notebook has this problem because of DELLS POOR WORKMANSHIP. If it was built right then the wires wouldn't of been cut. In other words Dell's poor workmanship caused my wires to get cut. That's like knowingly selling me a Notebook, knowing that it will backfire on me in a few years, hoping that I wouldn't have my extended warranty and then trying to charge me $500 for repair that shouldn't cost more than $40. I could buy a new Notebook for $500. Ifthey made the mistake, they need to fix it. It's dishonest business. Warranty or no Warranty, it's an on going problem with most dell 700m customers and in a way we all got screwed. Another incident I had: My HP notebook was out of warranty the hinges broke, came to find out that many people were complaining. There was a class action suit going around and people were signing up. I even signed up. I spoke to 8 Dell reps, allt old me nothing they could do. When you speak to someone in India for sure they will tell you there is nothing they can do. When you get someone from the corporate office, you have much better chances. I called HP mentioned the class action suit and taht many other customers were experiencing the same problems with the same model, next day i got a call from HP and they repaired the hinges for me free of charged 1 year after my warranty expired. There is an old saying, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease". I have not tried yet to complain to Dell, just found out today about the wires being cut. A letter from an attorney to dell should also do the trick. I'll look into a class action suit and post it on this website.

-Arie Goldman