Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
3 Posts
0
17667
Dead XPS M1530 Battery, motherboard, both?
I was brought a dead XPS M1530 and was told the laptop would no longer charge the battery and that eventually it would not power-on with or without the battery. AC adapter is green and stays on when connected to the laptop. I've tested the AC adapter using a multi-tester and it's working fine. Plugs and jacks also appear to be fine.
Without the battery inserted, pushing the power button results in the power button's blue light coming on for 2s and the front panel's blue power light staying on. The LCD never comes on. Fans and HD's do not spin. Dead.
With the battery inserted there is a red blinking light on the front panel and pushing the power button results in nothing coming on. Dead.
If I try the PSA (power + Fn) diagnostic I get a blank LCD with a blinking Number lock, solid Cap Lock, and no Scroll Lock light.
The owner claims he was able get his battery to charge in his roommates XPS M1530 and could insert it back into his laptop and boot, but the battery would not charge in his M1530.
Not sure what to try next. Laptop is past the 1yr warranty by 4-5mo... Seems to be a common theme with the M1530. Any help appreciated. Thanks.
rajshekhar
1 Message
0
December 15th, 2009 22:00
I am also facing the same problem. I had bought the machine in Japan on last October. It was working fine except the heating problem which I guess is common in all XPS M1530 series. Last month, I had installed Windows 7 and still it was running smooth. It's only last night when I started to boot the system, the screen din't lite up! Yesterday morning, I put the system on hibernation and I am paying the price now! To make things worse for me, the laptop is now past warranty period!
I called up Dell India technical help center. The technical support guy told me that as it is out of warranty, I need to buy an extended warranty. And he asked me to do some diagnostic tests to determine how much it would cost me to buy it! Two tests - a) Pressing and holding the 'D' key and then pressing the power button, b) Pressing and holding the 'fn' key and then pressing the power button. With the first test, the screen started changing colors and with the second one, it is same as what is mentioned in the last post! Then the person confirmed that motherboard is damaged & HDD is OK. Then I was slapped with an amount of INR 23000(USD 500) for two years complete cover warranty. I haven't decided on that yet! Someone, please suggest me if it would be a good decision.
Thanks
sefner
3 Posts
0
December 16th, 2009 00:00
I'm sad to hear you're in a similar predicament. From your descriptions it sounds like our motherboard will also need to be replaced, but for $500 I don't think that's going to happen. You must ask yourself, is your XPS M1530 worth another $500? I think you can find a brand new better "spec'ed" laptop for less than $700 and maybe something that would last longer than 14mo also...
Soapbox warning:
Our XPS M1530 was bought about 15mo ago for over $1200. Spending another $500 for a motherboard replacement just seems ridiculous. A warranty has an expiration date and that's the contract you signed for, however it's bad business to have so many hardware failures barely out of warranty. Just do a search for Dell XPS M1530 problems. When you buy a Dell it's implied you're buying something that's going to last longer than the warranty expiration date. Right? It's not a banana! I feel slighted by Dell and I'm sure I'm not alone. This laptop and many more (15+) Dell computers in the past have been bought on my advice. Not only does this reflect poorly on Dell but also on myself. I hope I'm not coming across as a "Dell-basher". Heck, I currently own four.