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A new problem with my Dell laptop...

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
It's an Inspiron 1150.

The screen saver went on, and I came back an hour later. I couldn't get the screen saver off then realized that it had shutdown. This is the second (it said it overheated) or third time it's happened in the last few days.

The battery was fully charged when it started up, so it's not that the cord fell out with 0% battery. Also, there was nothing in the way of that fan that could cause it to over heat either of the times. Any ideas?

:rant: :mad: :stosh: :help:
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Download a monitoring program like Motherboard Monitor and keep an eye on your temperatures. It could be that the fan isn't working right, or that a heatsink has become separated from the chip. If MBM tells you that your temperatures are getting high, shut it off and get it serviced.

Whatever you do, take it seriously. Don't keep leaving it on except when you're monitoring it for testing purposes. Even though you're frustrated and think it's just a glitch, there's a high probability that it really is overheating and you'll cook it if you let it do that too many times.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
I'm not sure how sensitive it is to motherboard settings since you can select the on-board sensors after the fact. Give one of them a shot and see what happens.

After setup, you will need to go into the configuration and go through the different sensors until you find the CPU temperature sensor. In the configuration, just select a sensor, then run a CPU-intensive program of some kind and see if the temperature goes up quickly, then back down when you shut it off.
 

$tinkle

Expert on blowing
Feb 12, 2003
14,591
6
starting to understand why all the cheap laptops on bensbargains are inspirons...
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
starting to understand why all the cheap laptops on bensbargains are inspirons...
Laptop failure rates aren't that disparate. Dell sells a lot of laptops. Thus, there are a lot of failures. There are a lot of failures across the board, though.
 

$tinkle

Expert on blowing
Feb 12, 2003
14,591
6
HP's been pwning dell for the last 9 qtrs running.

just sayin'...

disclaimer: might be a little obvious who my employer is
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
When I turned it on this time, it said "The AC power adapter cannot be determined. This will prevent optimal system performance".

Now, it's just on battery power... Time to call dell. They should just give me a whole new computer for all the problems i've had. ;)
 

InsideMan

Monkey
Jun 1, 2006
479
0
On an Island
pour water on it duh. Dont hate on Dells though, last time i checked all computer makers have problems. My inspiron 1705 has been amazing me for the past year now, not a single problem.
 

$tinkle

Expert on blowing
Feb 12, 2003
14,591
6
my wife's daily use laptop is a compaq armada m700 (my old work computer).
it's 8 yrs old, same battery, no upgrades (except for OS).

that's my standard.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
My daily laptop was a Dell Inspiron 1100, 5 years old, same battery, no upgrades. It still works fine, I just wanted something smaller and lighter.

I have personally seen 3 different old Compaq Armadas with significant hardware problems.

Just sayin'. Good reliability standard, of course, but all brands have failures.
 

Kornphlake

Turbo Monkey
Oct 8, 2002
2,632
1
Portland, OR
My dad had a nissan pickup with over 300k miles that never had any problems except a short in the ground wire from the battery and a banged up fender when someone backed into it in a parking lot. As best as we can remember it still had the original brakes and clutch when he sold it (it was driven mostly on the freeway).

Following some of the logic expressed here Honda and Toyota suck.
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
I never said all Dells suck. I know people with Dells that work well. Mine must be a lemon or something though. I've had the motherboard replaced 2 or 3 times now, because the power thing (where the power cord plugs into) has loosened. Keys fall off. My battery doesn't work too well. I've had it charge all night, then have about 10%, 10hrs later. It can sometimes last only 30min. . The previous wireless card was messed up.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
You're not being assertive enough. If you really have had your motherboard replaced 2 or 3 times (um, you have to know this, how many times have you really had it replaced? I think I'd remember boxing up my computer and sending it back), your keys fall off, your wireless card was a problem, etc. then you have a lemon.

Call them, explain to them the problems you've been having, and firmly state that you will accept nothing less than a replacement machine. I've helped people buy and set up a lot of Dell laptops and the problems I've seen with them have been chiefly software (i.e. not Dell's fault).