Help me Troubleshoot my XPS M1330 Please

[rbraughn]

Last night I get home, boot up my laptop, no problems.

I Notice I have a windows update pending, so I start the update. I turn my head a few minutes and look back and my screen is black. At first I thought maybe it was restarting, or maybe my battery was dead and shut down.

So then I notice two things.

1. My battery is showing full strength, it is not dead. (i tried different batteries, they are not the issue)

2. When I plug in my charging cable(OEM), the blue power light on the power block goes black as soon as I plug it into the laptop almost like it is tripping a breaker/fuse.

If I unplug the cable from the laptop and wall, then plug the cable into the wall first, the blue light comes on the power block, but as soon as I plug it back into the laptop, the blue light goes off again.

I cannot get any lights or reaction from the laptop at all. No BSOD, nothing. it is as if no power is getting to the MOBO.

Is there a power supply/fuse inside that can be replaced?
Is the Motherboard dead?
This computer is at least 5 years old. If it is the MOBO, is that a cheap repair or should I look at a new laptop?

Thanks in advance

[Commander Wolf]

Yup, your motherboard is hosed. Shorts on the motherboard seem to be the second most common cause of M1330 death after the Nvidia GPU.

[mattcheau]

part (w/ intel graphics) and video tutorial. because the board has the intel video chipset, you'll also need to replace the heatsink. these guys are king when it comes to dell hardware fixes and replacements. seems right on the cusp of cost/benefit though. up to you. keep us posted.

[rbraughn]

Thanks guys. That's what I was afraid of. This was a very expensive laptop when I bought it back in the days, so the price of the parts is not bad, just don't think I would want to tackle it myself. Then there is the click in the HDD and other parts to think about. No telling how long they are gonna last. About how much do you think someone would charge labor for something like this?

[mattcheau]

i'm only an enthusiast/hardware hobbyist, but i can't see that job taking more than two hours--just to replace the mobo that is, not including OS reinstallation, drivers, etc. my guess is that you'll want to do that part on your own.

what's the going hourly rate for pc repair? i'd call around your area and i think you'll find somewhere between $50-100/hour. so $255 for parts, plus $100-200 for labor. you'll come pretty close to replacing the machine for that money.

[Commander Wolf]

you'll come pretty close to replacing the machine for that money.

Exactly why I don't think this repair is worth it. There are plenty of used M1330 on eBay for less.

[rbraughn]

Dang....wouldn't you know it . I bought a new HI-Cap battery a couple of months ago for about 150.00....all for nuthin...Oh well......Hey, I wonder if I can part this out? fingerprint reader, 2 batteries, AC adapter, LED screen....probably not worth the hassle

Thanks again for your help.

BTW the link to the parts and video were excellent. makes me almost want to try it as an experiment just to see how hard it is to do.

Now the hard part decisions decisions....Another Dell......Macbook.......try something different

Thanks again!!

[mattcheau]

Thanks again for your help.

you're quite welcome.

Now the hard part decisions decisions....Another Dell......Macbook.......try something different

i'd say that depends on two things primarily, amongst others--those being budget and style (e.g. budget/value, ultrabook, business, gaming, etc.). if you'd like the forum's help, fill out this form and post it up in the 'what notebook should i buy' section.