Joel Up Front Posted October 29, 2011 Share #1 Posted October 29, 2011 I suppose this is what I get for getting a $430 laptop. Stupid cheap piece of crap... I had an HP before this that had similar graphics problems. That I didn't treat too well, leaving it running on my bed, so it overheated. It finally overheated for good almost a year later, and I had to settle with an old PC until I got this Dell for my birthday. However, something happened earlier... I turned my laptop on when I got up this afternoon and made some coffee. When I got back, I noticed that my screen had turned off. I set my monitor to shut off after two minutes of inactivity, and I assumed it did that. I hit a key to try to wake the laptop, but nothing happened. I moved the mouse around to wake it up and nothing happened. I immediately yanked my WD drive out (bad idea, but how can I safely remove it when I can't see anything on the screen?) and tried to restart it. I got a garbled screen the first time, but the second time I realized my mouse receiver was in a USB port and my boot priorities were USB device #1, #2 the HDD. I set it to my HDD and the Dell logo appeared, albeit briefly, before I ended up with another garbled screen. I let the laptop cool off because I felt it was getting hot, then turned it on a third time. I was able to get into my laptop and start FF up, but when I tried to load a page, the screen blanked and turned white, which I learned was the "white screen of death." I let it sit for longer, restarted, and this is where I'm at now. As a precaution I updated the BIOS, which I hadn't done since last October. tl;dr - I've had this laptop since about last November 9th. I had an HP before that lasted just short of a year (August 1, 2009 - July 31, 2010) that exhibited similar problems. Something similar happened to this but this time I was able to start it back up. *knock on wood* Should I be worried or should I just use my laptop as usual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoSpectacular Posted October 29, 2011 Share #2 Posted October 29, 2011 Maybe the processor overheated, but then again, both Intel and AMD have safety precautions in place that shut down a processor before it reaches that point of instability. I've had a GPU fry out on me, the Nvidia 8500GT I once had after two years of use, had to upgrade to a 9800GT, before that the 8500 was giving me so many problems with the screen bugging out that I eventually downgraded to the stock ATI Radeon X300 that came with this desktop originally. Maybe that could have happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Up Front Posted October 29, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted October 29, 2011 Feeling around under the laptop where the fan is, it was mad hot earlier, but it's not so hot now. I don't want to run any more than Firefox and iTunes or make my fan come on lest I entice my laptop to shut down again. I do prop it up under some PS2 cases, but I feel that too much dust has built up inside. I'm afraid of blowing the dust further inside rather than getting it out if I used compressed air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoSpectacular Posted October 30, 2011 Share #4 Posted October 30, 2011 CPU fan, that's a lot of heat coming from the processor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Up Front Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share #5 Posted October 30, 2011 Using CoreTemp, I notice that my temps are 45 degrees Celsius at startup and once I get my stuff running, around 60-62 degrees C. However, now I can see my CPU running at >65, which isn't cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted October 30, 2011 Share #6 Posted October 30, 2011 lol... I've had my old Fujitsu laptop for over 3 years now with no problems, and this one I've treated like crap. It's banged up and everything from me using the wrong laptop bag, but no software problems at all. I've wiped it twice and it still runs like a charm. Paid $700.00 for this one back in June of 2008. The new Fujitsu that I have was almost double that but it too runs great so far and both a very quiet. In any event, I make sure that I don't have a ton of programs running unnecessary in the background because they can hog up a bunch of system resources. As for Dell being crap, yes, that is true. My office computer is a Dell and it runs like ****. Lags constantly whenever it wants and sometimes I have to leave it alone or just reboot and just use my Fujitsu to get work done. Then again at $430.00, you can't expect too much to be honest. The old saying you get what you pay for is still true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Up Front Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share #7 Posted October 30, 2011 HP desktops are the ones you want if you ever need a full-size PC. Avoid Dell laptops like the plague unless you're on a budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTS4Life Posted October 30, 2011 Share #8 Posted October 30, 2011 What it sounds like your laptop video bga chip is coming apart from the m/b. Sounds like cold solder joints. what you would need to do is take the laptop apart and used the oven to reheat the joints or you can have someone reflow it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rr4567 Posted October 30, 2011 Share #9 Posted October 30, 2011 I suppose this is what I get for getting a $430 laptop. Stupid cheap piece of crap... I had an HP before this that had similar graphics problems. That I didn't treat too well, leaving it running on my bed, so it overheated. It finally overheated for good almost a year later, and I had to settle with an old PC until I got this Dell for my birthday. However, something happened earlier... I turned my laptop on when I got up this afternoon and made some coffee. When I got back, I noticed that my screen had turned off. I set my monitor to shut off after two minutes of inactivity, and I assumed it did that. I hit a key to try to wake the laptop, but nothing happened. I moved the mouse around to wake it up and nothing happened. I immediately yanked my WD drive out (bad idea, but how can I safely remove it when I can't see anything on the screen?) and tried to restart it. I got a garbled screen the first time, but the second time I realized my mouse receiver was in a USB port and my boot priorities were USB device #1, #2 the HDD. I set it to my HDD and the Dell logo appeared, albeit briefly, before I ended up with another garbled screen. I let the laptop cool off because I felt it was getting hot, then turned it on a third time. I was able to get into my laptop and start FF up, but when I tried to load a page, the screen blanked and turned white, which I learned was the "white screen of death." I let it sit for longer, restarted, and this is where I'm at now. As a precaution I updated the BIOS, which I hadn't done since last October. tl;dr - I've had this laptop since about last November 9th. I had an HP before that lasted just short of a year (August 1, 2009 - July 31, 2010) that exhibited similar problems. Something similar happened to this but this time I was able to start it back up. *knock on wood* Should I be worried or should I just use my laptop as usual? This thing has integrated graphics, and it shares RAM, so this might be RAM going bad. Or the chipset itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoSpectacular Posted October 30, 2011 Share #10 Posted October 30, 2011 What I don't like about Dell computers is their motherboards, they're designed in a way that makes them pretty restrictive to upgrading, I've had my Dell desktop since 2006 and I've been able to change up almost everything in it but I can't do much about the LGA 775 Pentium D that's in it, there are/were only two processors that could have been possible upgrades, otherwise this thing won't function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rr4567 Posted October 31, 2011 Share #11 Posted October 31, 2011 What I don't like about Dell computers is their motherboards, they're designed in a way that makes them pretty restrictive to upgrading, I've had my Dell desktop since 2006 and I've been able to change up almost everything in it but I can't do much about the LGA 775 Pentium D that's in it, there are/were only two processors that could have been possible upgrades, otherwise this thing won't function. The only way you could do such a severe upgrade on any computer is to change the motherboard. New processor = new chipset = new motherboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoSpectacular Posted October 31, 2011 Share #12 Posted October 31, 2011 The only way you could do such a severe upgrade on any computer is to change the motherboard. New processor = new chipset = new motherboard. Basically, oh, I also forgot, Dell's motherboards are built in "reverse", as in, the case opens from the right side and all ports are on the right side of the mobo, so finding a replacement is pretty difficult Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeesPwnMets Posted November 1, 2011 Share #13 Posted November 1, 2011 Using CoreTemp, I notice that my temps are 45 degrees Celsius at startup and once I get my stuff running, around 60-62 degrees C. However, now I can see my CPU running at >65, which isn't cool. 65C isn't bad. Over 80C is where you need to take precautions. Also, upgrading a laptop is dumber then climbing over the window to see whats on the other side. Get a cooler with fans and put it under your laptop instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Up Front Posted November 1, 2011 Author Share #14 Posted November 1, 2011 I bought a cooler yesterday and it's helping, just like the hard drive I bought. I saw my thread had replies here so I went in and the second I hit the Quick Reply button, the screen garbled for the fourth time in an hour. Opening up my old HP, which had the same problem, was why it's sitting in a box right now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Up Front Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share #15 Posted November 3, 2011 Sorry for double posting, but yeah, that thing will not even boot Windows 7 up now. It's dead in the water for all I'm concerned, now I hope I can find a receipt... but has anyone had luck with bringing laptops to local places? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rr4567 Posted November 3, 2011 Share #16 Posted November 3, 2011 Sorry for double posting, but yeah, that thing will not even boot Windows 7 up now. It's dead in the water for all I'm concerned, now I hope I can find a receipt... but has anyone had luck with bringing laptops to local places? The only thing they'd do is either replace your RAM or your motherboard. (and overcharge you to do it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quill Depot Posted December 29, 2011 Share #17 Posted December 29, 2011 lol... I've had my old Fujitsu laptop for over 3 years now with no problems, and this one I've treated like crap. It's banged up and everything from me using the wrong laptop bag, but no software problems at all. I've wiped it twice and it still runs like a charm. Paid $700.00 for this one back in June of 2008. The new Fujitsu that I have was almost double that but it too runs great so far and both a very quiet. Same thing with my old Asus. Got it 3 yrs ago. It's been beat up so bad. Just doesn't respond all the time. I constantly overcharged it. <- Why the battery was so short. It think it was 400 bucks. I guess that's what you get from Dell now. Of the popular computer brands its not that good. Dell doesn't do so hot below. Best & Worst Laptop Brands 2011: Overall Verdict I'm a huge fan of Sony (there my fav company besides some of there prices) so I got a little more expensive Sony S Series ($799) for Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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