VeeshanVault

My Alienware laptop that I got last December is apparently dead. I had some power issues the last couple of months and was too stubborn to take it in, which apparently led to further problems.

I just took it to a laptop repair after it finally would not turn on at all. I was expecting it to be a common power problem and I'd have my computer back in a few days. Three days later they told me that there is motherboard damage which they can't repair and all they can do is back up my hard drive and tell me to buy a new computer.

He mentioned that some shops will do motherboard repairs, but from the way he was talking it sounded like I'd need a new computer because other parts of the computer would also likely have damage.

What the fuck do I do at this point? I'd like to fix the motherboard, but I don't know how much it will cost or if it is worth trying. If I have to abandon the computer, can I likely save some of the hardware at least? I pretty much live off fucking beans and rice right now, soI need to figure out the least expensive way around this problem. Excuse me while I go have a nervous breakdown.

Grrr.

find a Dell repair shop, get a quote. Probably less than you think since they use refurbished motherboards for repairs.

Hold out for the iPad in April!

I'm anti Laptop as a main PC because if something goes wrong with it, you're screwed while with a normal PC you can replace individual parts.

I'm not sure that's particularly helpful advice for someone on a limited budget who is looking for what he can do to salvage his existing computer.

I take it any Alienware warranty that you had expired in December? Have you tried calling them anyway?

Basically what Sylvus and Kluden said.

It seems pretty poor form by the help desk person to shrug you off like that. They should have at least offered a list of Dell shops to help find a cost-effective refurb motherboard replacement. If the warranty was that close, I am a bit appalled that they would treat a customer like that--especially one who bought one of their higher-end notebooks.

Warranty expired in December :/

Without warranty though could I still take it to a Dell repair shop and pay for a fix?

Edit: This sounds pretty good: http://service.ztronics.com/alienware-l ... epair.html . Anyone heard of them?

Yeah, you should be able to pay for a fix at a Dell repair place. Otherwise, they would have had you send it in for RMA replacement if it was under warranty.

shit...if it is out of warranty you could just buy a damn board and do it yourself. Laptops are not really much different than desktops....there just a lot more screws to take out. Replacing the board on a PC like that would probably take 90 minutes or so. Not going to be cheap to replace, but sure beats a whole new PC.

For what it is worth, a PC with power issues is not just going to need other parts because of it. If that guy was implying it, he was full of shit. You really are not going to get the motherboard itself fixed...even if it was under warranty they would just replace it and then it would be sent back to get refurbed.

Can you describe the exact issue you had? Does it just flat out not do anything when you press the power button? I do not want to offend you by going through things you would know to look for or what you may well have already tried. I have seen enough Dells in my day to know that every single model Dell has ever produced has had its own particular common issue...and sometimes all was not as it appeared. There have been power on issues on certain models that actually was nothing more than the power button wearing out and that would be a MUCH cheaper part.

First problem was that the battery stopped working. The lights on the battery would come on when I pressed the button on it(no ide what that even does...), but the computer would not have power unless directly plugged in.

Then a few days later the computer started turning off at random. This continued for weeks. Sometimes it would happen once every couple of days, sometimes it would happen extremely often. It seemed to have nothing to do with whether or not I was playing an intensive game or just browsing the web. Just random is all I can say.

Those random shutoffs were instant, but the computer would also turn on just fine, though sometimes it would shut off very soon after start-up

Then it got worse when shut offs led to sometimes not being able to turn on the computer at all. Sometimes it would not turn on for hours, sometimes for days. Again, seemingly random.

When I took it into the shop it had not been powering up whatsoever for more than a week. Then I got the news that I mentioned in the initial post.

Those lights are kind of like a battery tester. They tell you if your battery has juice and if like most Dells, how much charge it has left.

Not powering with a charged battery would be one common thing I have seen with Dells and in damn near every case it is a system board issue. I would do some searching for a board for your particular model. Most of the what I saw on a quick search was for the M17x model and they were in the $300+ range, although there was one on ebay for $149. Don't let them sell you other crap you don't need. Power issues like that are just going to be a bad board and that should not really affect anything else on the PC.

This is probably totally unrelated, but I'll throw it out here in the hopes that someone reading it may someday be spared some grief...

I have a Dell laptop that I was having all kinds of problems with. The battery would not charge, but it would usually stay on if I kept it plugged in, though at different points it would randomly shut down (perhaps a different issue). I don't remember how I finally figured it out, but it turns out that Dell power cables have some kind of wire inside that identifies it as an official Dell power cable. Through the years of moving my laptop around and plugging it in all over the place, that little internal wire (for lack of a more descriptive term) must have broken and the laptop wouldn't accept a charge. Bought a new power cable and everything works wonderfully, battery charges just fine and no more random shut-downs.

Probably not at all related to your issue, but it sure was frustrating at the time.

Holy shit, Sylvus, I had that exact same problem 3 months ago. Dell fixed it no problem. However now my usb ports on my Dell inspiron are fucked up and you can't plug anything into them. As it stands now, every 5 seconds i get a notice on my screen that the usb device is not recognized even though nothing is plugged in. Waiting for a quiet time to call dell support on that one.

Zamtuk wrote:As it stands now, every 5 seconds i get a notice on my screen that the usb device is not recognized even though nothing is plugged in. Waiting for a quiet time to call dell support on that one.

That's a systemboard replacement.

Under warranty! But, yeah that does suck.

It is not on a dock right? Did you try completely deleting all USB and let it rebuild? If I had to put money on something I would also bet systemboard, but I have seen docks and windows issues do that with USB.

Off topic, but I just wanted to say that I spilled tea on my laptop today.

Luckily, it all works fine except for the keyboard, which I ruined while taking the machine apart to dry out. I was pretty surprised. It was a big glass of tea that I spilled all over it!

If there was sugar in that tea, you are screwed. It may work now, but it will corrode the board. May want to try cleaning it with something like alcohol pads or something, but can't tell you how many boards I have seen ruined by coffee and tea because of the sugar.

Yeah, it did have some, but not much. I'm hoping most of the tea was contained in the keyboard area, which had a plastic cover under it to help separate it from the rest of the components.

I only paid $450 for the laptop (good deal) so if it only lasts a year or two, and then dies a horrible corrosive death, I'm fine with that.

I talked a lot more with the repair shop that gave me the dreaded news. I'm not sure why they didn't tell me this the first time around, but the issue was cause by liquid damage to the motherboard. Though the problems appeared to have started a month or two ago, it was actually due to a spill that happened about 7 months ago. A water bottle near my computer tipped over and about a half a teaspoon of water spurted onto my keyboard. I quickly turned the computer off and turned it over with the hope that the water would drain off. Most of the liquid probably did drain out, but the moisture inside stayed and got worse over time...

I've talked with three of the top Laptop repair places in my area and they all say that it's likely that fixing the issue would be almost as much as buying a new system. Because the liquid damage has been in there so long, they can't fix the motherboard...and Alienware laptop motherboards are virtually impossible to replace... They also say that my hard-drive and hardware should be ok, but that it's incredibly hard to put all the pieces together again because laptops are evil bitches...

I'm about ready to go prey outside of a coffee shop and steal someones laptop at gunpoint. Wish me luck?

On a brighter note, Dell is replacing my laptop at no cost!

Since there's not really much you can do to salvage the existing computer... I suggest stealing a desktop computer and you'll be better off in the long run. At least spills in a normal keyboard wont kill the whole computer!

Keverian FireCry wrote:I talked a lot more with the repair shop that gave me the dreaded news. I'm not sure why they didn't tell me this the first time around, but the issue was cause by liquid damage to the motherboard. Though the problems appeared to have started a month or two ago, it was actually due to a spill that happened about 7 months ago. A water bottle near my computer tipped over and about a half a teaspoon of water spurted onto my keyboard. I quickly turned the computer off and turned it over with the hope that the water would drain off. Most of the liquid probably did drain out, but the moisture inside stayed and got worse over time...

I've talked with three of the top Laptop repair places in my area and they all say that it's likely that fixing the issue would be almost as much as buying a new system. Because the liquid damage has been in there so long, they can't fix the motherboard...and Alienware laptop motherboards are virtually impossible to replace... They also say that my hard-drive and hardware should be ok, but that it's incredibly hard to put all the pieces together again because laptops are evil bitches...

I'm about ready to go prey outside of a coffee shop and steal someones laptop at gunpoint. Wish me luck?

Laptops are not that hard to put together. In fact, if you buy a new one, I will pay for the shipping for you to send me that old one just to get it disposed of!

Ack. That blows!

edited down...cause it was all preachy.

Just call Dell, see what they say. Did any of those "virtually" impossible people tell you how much? I can't believe they are shunning business.