Laptop repair

[hotlips_houlihan]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop that is my daughter's. At one point I was having trouble with the power button. Sometimes it would come on, sometimes it wouldn't. So somebody did some kind of little fix it to make it work. That lasted for a bit, but not long. Well now my daughter needs this laptop for school. But it's not powering on it all. Anybody out there who can take a look and possibly get it fixed?

Thanks

Meg

[Lauren Lane]

There is a guy called Dr. Computer over near Midpark & 75. He does good work, cheap.

[FLWrite]

Originally Posted by hotlips_houlihan

I have a Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop that is my daughter's. At one point I was having trouble with the power button. Sometimes it would come on, sometimes it wouldn't. So somebody did some kind of little fix it to make it work. That lasted for a bit, but not long. Well now my daughter needs this laptop for school. But it's not powering on it all. Anybody out there who can take a look and possibly get it fixed?

Thanks

Meg

Dell laptops are notorious for this problem. It's one of the primary reasons that Dell's are ranking among Consumer Report's highest number of problems per unit. Most reputable repair shops are intimately familiar with the problem and the fix. If your shop isn't, find a new shop. The problem generally is a broken solder joint on the mother board's power module. At least that's what I've been told. Fix is simple but not always inexpensive. Weigh the cost/benefit against buying a brand new machine. Toshiba (Consumer Report's highest rated PC's) is offering some dandy machines for a little over $400 whereas you might pay $200 for a fix for the old one. Consider the age of the battery and the hard drive on the old one also. If they are old, you'll have to soon replace those as well. Could be cheaper to buy the new machine.

[jessicarivers]

I dabble quite a bit in all things geeky... in fact, I have a version of that same computer sitting at an incall location in Johnston, RI. My friend Jaqueline and I use it to play music and random visualizations while working. These laptops are a pain to work with... they have obscure driver sets and have barely enough memory to even install windows, really. It's not a fun process. I eventually went with a linux OS meant for media centers, because it had such a small footprint. They're just old school, and really gotta be retired. i can't imagine using that to do anything productive nowadays. Plus its loud and hot with that fan! Wait until after Xmas and get a new one, Best Buy will be dumping them I'm sure.

[TrulySummer]

I know of someone in Dallas who can look at it and probably fix it fairly cheap. He does all my computer work and can be trusted.

[hobbygiik]

If you would like, I can take a look at it, I'm gonna be in Dallas this next week, Wed to Sat, I'd be willing to take a quick look at it for you for free. Other than this next week, you would have to bring it to me in NRH to look at it. PM me if interested.

[Capt. Lincoln F. Stern]

Originally Posted by jessicarivers

I dabble quite a bit in all things geeky... in fact, I have a version of that same computer sitting at an incall location in Johnston, RI. My friend Jaqueline and I use it to play music and random visualizations while working. These laptops are a pain to work with... they have obscure driver sets and have barely enough memory to even install windows, really. It's not a fun process. I eventually went with a linux OS meant for media centers, because it had such a small footprint. They're just old school, and really gotta be retired. i can't imagine using that to do anything productive nowadays. Plus its loud and hot with that fan! Wait until after Xmas and get a new one, Best Buy will be dumping them I'm sure.

1st of all I find it sexxy that you went with a linux distro.

I use Ubuntu (Ultimate Edition) for my machines... and having 20 years in the I.T. world there are certain lines of machines by vendors I will not touch. With Dell, its the Inspiron series. Mainly its the Consumer line which is the cheapest.

Drivers are not that hard to find, but you have to know how to dig.

With HP, I won't touch Pavillions or any of the Consumer line.

One thing would recommend to anyone who is looking to get into Linux as a solid OS, Ubuntu seems to find the odd hardware just fine and you can make it look like Windows XP

[SneakyCancer]

I repair computers but this problem is not notorious among dells. sure it happens with all OEMs....this is the reason people should use "standby and hibernate" option. it can be the button that is pressed down upon the hardest. Actually HP laptops have more problems than dell regarding this and a host of other issues. But heck the laptop she has is not new fellas so cut dell some slack. That model number is years old and still works. only a power on button problem....small issue.

Like stated, a decent repair guy should be able to fix you up so the the button makes contact with the switch. That is all....interim...if you can, pop the plate up and just press the button with a pen.

And POS toshiba recommendation....come on....the consumer reports are not a true representation of the product and its durability. Look whats out and the age thereof.

Originally Posted by FLWrite

Dell laptops are notorious for this problem. It's one of the primary reasons that Dell's are ranking among Consumer Report's highest number of problems per unit. Most reputable repair shops are intimately familiar with the problem and the fix. If your shop isn't, find a new shop. The problem generally is a broken solder joint on the mother board's power module. At least that's what I've been told. Fix is simple but not always inexpensive. Weigh the cost/benefit against buying a brand new machine. Toshiba (Consumer Report's highest rated PC's) is offering some dandy machines for a little over $400 whereas you might pay $200 for a fix for the old one. Consider the age of the battery and the hard drive on the old one also. If they are old, you'll have to soon replace those as well. Could be cheaper to buy the new machine.

[ImaMrCool]

Shoulda told me while you were here, I woulda got ya a brand new laptop

[ginatrugfe]

I agree with you FLWrite ,i have been working on computers for 7 yrs and i am always being honest and showing them the good versus the bad about each and every brand of laptop and or computer... Dells are so famous for any kind of issue and is not funny, then to get support to help you omg, but any who back on topic, it would be feasible to research and compare than just to buy another laptop out of whim and deal with what ever problems arise.

Originally Posted by FLWrite

Dell laptops are notorious for this problem. It's one of the primary reasons that Dell's are ranking among Consumer Report's highest number of problems per unit. Most reputable repair shops are intimately familiar with the problem and the fix. If your shop isn't, find a new shop. The problem generally is a broken solder joint on the mother board's power module. At least that's what I've been told. Fix is simple but not always inexpensive. Weigh the cost/benefit against buying a brand new machine. Toshiba (Consumer Report's highest rated PC's) is offering some dandy machines for a little over $400 whereas you might pay $200 for a fix for the old one. Consider the age of the battery and the hard drive on the old one also. If they are old, you'll have to soon replace those as well. Could be cheaper to buy the new machine.

[FLWrite]

Originally Posted by windowshopper

I repair computers but this problem is not notorious among dells. ...

Really? Because Dell thinks this is a problem also.

[ginatrugfe]

OH DAMN !

Originally Posted by FLWrite

Really? Because Dell thinks this is a problem also.