Inspiron 9400 dead?

Remove and reinstall the memory modules - if that does nothing, you likely have a faulty system board.

 

If you do replace the computer,  bear in mind that while you may think the experience will be different with Sony, HP, Toshiba, etc. - that none of these companies make notebooks.  They all have them contract-built by the same vendors, and that your 9400 was built by the largest manufacturer of notebooks in the world - responsible for about 4 out of every 10 notebooks sold - and the major supplier to HP/Compaq, Sony, Toshiba, Apple, and a host of others.  Translation:  different name on the outside, same hardware on the inside - get a 3-year warranty on ANY notebook, minimum.

 

Hi,

Thanks for the input. I haven't worked on a laptop before and am not sure where to access the memory... the only manual that I can find doesn't tell me this info. As for the upcoming computer purchase they will all be desktops. At this point we don't have need for more than one laptop but am hoping that we don't have to replace this one.

 

If anyone can point me in the direction of how to remove the memory that would be helpful but in the meantime, I'll poke around on Dell's site to see if I can find out.

Inspiron 9400 service manual, see the section on memory modules.

 

I agree with the 3 year warranty for laptops.  It is difficult and expensive to replace faulty laptop parts (with a few exceptions). Desktops you're probably fine with 1 year since replacing most parts is cheaper and can usually be done yourself.

Hi, thanks for the link. After I posted, I figured out how to access the memory. Unfortunately, it didn't make any difference. Needless to say I'm still disappointed with a laptop failing like this so early. The three year warranty makes sense but they are very expensive. It would be nice if instead of having to worry about purchasing extended warranties to protect our investments, the manufacturers would do the right thing and make products that actually last. It just seems like the ecologically right thing to do if nothing else. The ironic thing is that our old Dell laptop which is probably at least 5 years old if not more, is still functioning fine.

I am showing the same issues on a 1705 that I have. The motherboard was replaced, and that did not fix the issue. However, I am wondering if extended warranties are truely worth it, especially next business day. I am on 9 business days and still waiting for the laptop to be fixed. After setting up a ton of dell systems, I think I will be using a different brand.

I am actually thinking it is a processor failure. Might be worth looking into, they should be fairly inexpensive now.