2 Posts
1
692
October 18th, 2022 02:00
Don't wear a watch with a magnetic watch strap it would seem?
This isn't really a request for help but more a PSA as well as a request to Dell to place stickers on the keyboard palm rest.
Long story short I took delivery of an Alienware X17 and during setup, the keyboard and monitor randomly shut off, but Windows wasn't crashing.
Having believed to have an expensive doorstop on my hands, I took to searching and came across a post, similar to mine, that narrowed it down to a magnetic watch strap causing the issue.
Imagine my laughter and annoyance when upon taking my watch off and well out the way the laptop worked fine.
Whilst I'm relieved, this is a poor show, and a removable sticker based on the palm rest (where I assume the lid sensors / magnets must be) would have saved a lot of time.
Had I been less technically minded I would have been straight on the phone requesting a replacement laptop. Whilst Im aware of the effects magnets have, I have never encountered this on any other laptop so assume this must be something proprietary to dell.
Thanks.
AHarMan
2 Posts
1
October 18th, 2022 04:00
Hi @Crimson
I think the post that led me to put the pieces together was this one
Magnets and Dell laptops FYI (Causes shutdown) - Ars Technica OpenForum
I wear a Samsung pro 5 with a titanium strap that closes with a strong magnet.
To be fair the more I google about this, the more I realise it's not limited to dell, but at the time it was the last thing on my checklist of things to rule out. The clue was the OS wasn't crashing and was always asking me to log back in after pressing a few letters on the keyboard. Id log back in and the text was still there.
I'd just ask on new laptops, that dell puts a removable sticker warning of sensitivity to magnets (i.e. watch strap causing the system to think the lid is closed)
Cheers
Sulako417
1 Message
1
October 23rd, 2022 11:00
I also learned my lesson of magnetic/interference with my new X17 R1 laptop. In my original setup phase I had issues with the screen going black for no reason. I'd move my Logi G502 Lightspeed mouse and the the screen would come on again. There were no error messages or interruptions to the Windows processes. After this happened a few times, I started checking my peripherals. As luck would have it, I had been placing my wireless G502 mouse on the right hand side of the laptop's mouse pad. I no longer set my mouse there and I no longer have this issue.
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
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56.8K Posts
0
October 24th, 2022 05:00
Laptop shuts down, enters hibernation/sleep mode or loses video when magnetic objects are placed on the computer
May 23, 2022
crimsom
7 Technologist
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6.1K Posts
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October 18th, 2022 04:00
Hi @AHarMan welcome to this free user-to-user Alienware laptop discussion forum.
Thank you for your enlightening troubleshooting. Not sure if it is just Dell laptops. Can we also have a look at the post, similar to your issue. Please provide link to this other post. Thank you. @DELL-Cares
Has your watch strap become a magnet or was it sold as intentionally having a magnetic watch strap. Please provide link to your watch and strap. Thank you.