My XPS M1330 laptop won't power up on either the battery
or the AC adaptor or both. After two bootups, it just stopped
and the screen went blank. Now it won't start at all. Pressing
Fn + PwrBtn gets 3 flashing blue icons. Dell Tech Support says
that it indicates a failed motherboard and/or CPU, and a Dell technician
will replace both next week. The CPU is listed in the parts manifest
as C2D T7500 @ 2.2GHz. The 160GB HD spins at 7,200rpm,
the laptop has WiFi and a 128MB nVidia GeForce 8400M graphics
card. There are 3GBs of RAM. This laptop has only been used for
3 to 4 hours max, and free airflow under the laptop has been maintained
during use. Does this laptop have a susceptibility to overheating? Is
there any other explanation for the failure?
> This laptop has only been used for 3 to 4 hours
> max, and free airflow under the laptop has
> been maintained during use.
> Does this laptop have a susceptibility to
> overheating? Is there any other explanation
> for the failure?
I would call it a case of "infant mortality". Since it's only been
used for three or four hours, you were pretty well under the "24 hours
of decision" that computer parts have to survive before they can
reasonably be said to last a good long time.
Go ahead and let Dell repair it (assuming it is under warranty--
although I can't imagine it would not be). Then use it thoroughly and
consider running diagnostics against the repaired system when it is
returned to you.
"Timothy Daniels" <SpamBucket@NoSpamPlease.biz> wrote in message
news:48090a7a$0$9536$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> My XPS M1330 laptop won't power up on either the battery
> or the AC adaptor or both. After two bootups, it just stopped
> and the screen went blank. Now it won't start at all. Pressing
> Fn + PwrBtn gets 3 flashing blue icons. Dell Tech Support says
> that it indicates a failed motherboard and/or CPU, and a Dell technician
> will replace both next week. The CPU is listed in the parts manifest
> as C2D T7500 @ 2.2GHz. The 160GB HD spins at 7,200rpm,
> the laptop has WiFi and a 128MB nVidia GeForce 8400M graphics
> card. There are 3GBs of RAM. This laptop has only been used for
> 3 to 4 hours max, and free airflow under the laptop has been maintained
> during use. Does this laptop have a susceptibility to overheating? Is
> there any other explanation for the failure?
>
> *TimDaniels*
>
Sorry to hear about that, Tim. Yes it does happen to a small percentage of
most all systems. If you're not happy with the repair, demand a full system
exchange.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Timothy Daniels [mailto:SpamBucket@NoSpamPlease.biz]
> Posted At: Friday, April 18, 2008 3:54 PM
> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> Conversation: laptop motherboard fails - XPS M1330
> Subject: laptop motherboard fails - XPS M1330
>
> My XPS M1330 laptop won't power up on either the battery
> or the AC adaptor or both. After two bootups, it just stopped
> and the screen went blank. Now it won't start at all. Pressing
> Fn + PwrBtn gets 3 flashing blue icons. Dell Tech Support says
> that it indicates a failed motherboard and/or CPU, and a Dell
> technician
> will replace both next week. The CPU is listed in the parts manifest
> as C2D T7500 @ 2.2GHz. The 160GB HD spins at 7,200rpm,
> the laptop has WiFi and a 128MB nVidia GeForce 8400M graphics
> card. There are 3GBs of RAM. This laptop has only been used for
> 3 to 4 hours max, and free airflow under the laptop has been
maintained
> during use. Does this laptop have a susceptibility to overheating?
Is
> there any other explanation for the failure?
>
> *TimDaniels*
If you've owned it for less than 21 days from the invoice date, return
it for a new one. It's worth the shipping costs.
"Tom Scales" wrote:
> If you've owned it for less than 21 days from the invoice date, return
> it for a new one. It's worth the shipping costs.
I've had it for about 6 weeks, so I "own" it. It was a weird
failure - after connecting via WiFi to my wireless router and
after a few web pages, everything just stopped and the screen
went black. It rebooted to a "bad shutdown" screen, and I
selected Normal Startup, and after connecting via WiFi, everything
just stopped and went black again. Could it be that the WiFi
card caused the failure?
<wm_walsh@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I would call it a case of "infant mortality". Since it's only been
> used for three or four hours, you were pretty well under the
> "24 hours of decision" that computer parts have to survive
> before they can reasonably be said to last a good long time.
>
> Go ahead and let Dell repair it (assuming it is under warranty--
> although I can't imagine it would not be). Then use it thoroughly and
> consider running diagnostics against the repaired system when it is
> returned to you.
>
> William
It's under warranty - for 3 years! I'll be sure to run the diagnostics.
"S.Lewis" wrote:
> Yes it does happen to a small percentage of most all systems. If you're not
> happy with the repair,
> demand a full system exchange.
>
> "Bathtub Curve"
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathtub_curve
Can that demand for a full system exchange be made,
say a week, after the repair (i.e. after thorough testing)?
Would full system exchange get me a refurb or a new
system?
>My XPS M1330 laptop won't power up on either the battery
>or the AC adaptor or both. After two bootups, it just stopped
>and the screen went blank. Now it won't start at all. Pressing
>Fn + PwrBtn gets 3 flashing blue icons. Dell Tech Support says
>that it indicates a failed motherboard and/or CPU, and a Dell technician
>will replace both next week. The CPU is listed in the parts manifest
>as C2D T7500 @ 2.2GHz. The 160GB HD spins at 7,200rpm,
>the laptop has WiFi and a 128MB nVidia GeForce 8400M graphics
>card. There are 3GBs of RAM. This laptop has only been used for
>3 to 4 hours max, and free airflow under the laptop has been maintained
>during use. Does this laptop have a susceptibility to overheating? Is
>there any other explanation for the failure?
>
>*TimDaniels*
Moral of the story: open a laptop right away and put it through its
paces within the 21 days.
The good news is that it has been my experience that Dell does a great
job repairing notebooks, and if it has persistent problems you are
likely to get a full exchange (no guarantees). In order to get that
you might have to escalate but hopefully that's not needed.
I haven't heard anything bad about the M1330's reliability so once the
problem is fixed you're likely to have a quality laptop that will last
a long time (I'd get the 3-year warranty).
"Timothy Daniels" <SpamBucket@NoSpamPlease.biz> wrote in message
news:48094193$0$31726$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> "S.Lewis" wrote:
>> Yes it does happen to a small percentage of most all systems. If you're
>> not happy with the repair,
>> demand a full system exchange.
>>
>> "Bathtub Curve"
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathtub_curve
>
>
> Can that demand for a full system exchange be made,
> say a week, after the repair (i.e. after thorough testing)?
> Would full system exchange get me a refurb or a new
> system?
>
> *TimDaniels*
>
New if your system is new and has been invoiced in the last 3-4 weeks.
"Journey" wrote:
> Moral of the story: open a laptop right away and put it through its
> paces within the 21 days.
>
> The good news is that it has been my experience that Dell does a
> great job repairing notebooks, and if it has persistent problems you
> are likely to get a full exchange (no guarantees). In order to get that
> you might have to escalate but hopefully that's not needed.
>
> I haven't heard anything bad about the M1330's reliability so once
> the problem is fixed you're likely to have a quality laptop that will
> last a long time (I'd get the 3-year warranty).
The thing did work fine for 3-4 hours over the period of 6 weeks,
but I apparently didn't "wring it out". A lesson that I did learn (again)
was not to allow myself to be influenced by salesmen. I knew I really
didn't need more than integrated chip graphics, more than 5,400 rpm HD,
and more than the entry-level CPU speed. (Anything more than my
1999 desktop is "fast".) But the Dell sales "rep" convinced me that I
wouldn't be happy with a slower machine. The result (assuming the
battery discharge rate is linear) is that battery charge with a non-oversize
battery lasts only 2 1/2 hours. There are movies and airline flights which
last longer than that.
laptop motherboard fails - XPS M1330 
Linear Mode
