Vostro 1500 Dead as dead can be...any suggestions??

The same thing seems to have happened to my wife's Vostro 1500.  It had started blue-screening on her with IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL errors.  I read somewhere that might be caused by a driver issue, so I installed all the latest drivers from Dell's site, then I did some cleanup (scanned for spyware, etc.) and all was looking good when suddenly and without fanfare, it turned itself off.  I thought Hm, that's strange...well, I'll turn it back on--but it won't turn on or show any signs of life.  I even have the same thing you do where the AC adapter shows a light when it's plugged into the wall, but when you plug it into the computer the light goes off.

I've tried contacting Dell, but since it's out of warranty they won't talk to me, at all--not even by email.  Way to go guys!  Now that we're pushed into the market for a new laptop, guess where we won't be shopping! 

Looks like planned obsolescence. doesn't it?  I've had my replacement Sony for a year, and it's been trouble-free.  I strongly recommend that you purchase a warranty through www.squaretrade.com.  They reimbursed me for the cost of the Dell (7 months out of factory warranty) so my Vaio was virtually free.  The entire process (from meltdown to money in my account) took all of ten days.  They're much less expensive than Dell's coverage, and you can even have it covered for self-inflicted damage.  Look into it ... good luck!!

Another one bites the dust! 2 years old and completely dead just like the dozens of others in this thread. It is very clearly a design flaw and Dell should take responsibility for it (i.e. fix them free of charge even when out of warranty). I'm looking to buy a replacement now, and it ain't gonna be a Dell unless they do something about this.

I'm an electronic engineer, so will attempt to repair it myself. If anyone has any tips then let me know. Likewise, if I have any luck then I will post it here.

And it's even more needed on a Sony than a Dell - Sony charges 2-3 times what Dell does for replacement parts - when you can find them, and when you can find the service manuals (which Sony doesn't make publicly available).

I'm glad I found this. As of last night I am a new member of the dead Vostro 1500 club. Bought my Vostro 1500 back in 04/2008 and it worked flawlessly until last night. I get home to find it dead, same scenario:

1. no green led on power plug

2. laptop won't turn on

3. unplug power plug from laptop and outlet and replug into outlet then green led turns on

4. plug power adapter back into laptop and the green led turns off

Now I know the battery is fully charged because when I press the charge indicator on the bottom all the green led's are lit on the battery. Has Dell made any other announcements as to a fix for this common issue or replacement. This really sucks as I have not used this laptop extensively in the 2+ years that I have had it.

Nope ... sorry.  D ell will not concede that the Vostro 1500 is basically garbage, good for no longer than a couple of years.  I replaced mine with a Sony Vaio (thanks to my Square Trade warranty, it cost me nothing but the sales tax) and have had absolutely no trouble with it.  Welcome to the DV1500 club! 

You can add me to the list of people whos Vostro 1500 wont start up. Turned it off the other night and went to turn it on yesterday and nothing. It just doesnt do anything. I had this happen once before but all I had to do was remove the battery, hold the power button down for 30 sec, put the battery back in and it worked, but not this time. My laptop is 3 years old now, got it in Sept. 07.

The interesting thing, however, is that unlike everyone else here when I plug the charger into the laptop the light is still on. Maybe its because it's not the original Dell charger? But that doesnt really make sense to me that one charger wouldnt light up and another would if its the same problem.

Arggghhhh!!!!!!

So I finally sold this hunk of junk about 3 months ago on eBay for something like $80 and my cousin just sent me this link last week.  At least for those of you still with your Dell in possession:

http://www.nvidiasettlement.com/

 Of course, on the affected list, you guessed it:

I'm so flipping mad, but alas, nothing I can do now...  Curse Dell for not having any customer service for myself or anyone else on this thread!!!!

Arggghhhh!!!!!! So I finally sold this hunk of junk about 3 months ago on eBay for something like $80 and my cousin just sent me this link last week.  At least for those of you still with your Dell in possession:   http://www.nvidiasettlement.com/  Of course, on the affected list, you guessed it:     Dell Vostro Notebook 1510 December 2007 – September 30, 2008     I'm so flipping mad, but alas, nothing I can do now...  Curse Dell for not having any customer service for myself or anyone else on this thread!!!!   Unfortuantely, the 1510 is covered, but the 1500 is not.  I am not sure why, I did have the Nvidia graphics and I did purchase my 1500 around that time frame, but I am guessing that the Nvidia graphics in the 1500 is different.  I wish someone at Dell would tell us exactly why so I don't have to speculate.

Well Im very confused. I hit the power button on my laptop today for no real reason and it powered up...

I also have a vostros 1500. DOA. Now have a Toshiba I am very happy with. I have kept the 
Vostros really believing that Dell would step up. Yet to see it. 

Add another Vostro 1500 motherboard to the junk heap. I spent more than $1200 buying this Vostro from Dell in early March of 2008. I went with this more expensive business laptop as opposed to other models for added value and durability. Unfortunately this was not the case as evidenced by finding this Forum subject.

On December 30 2010, while creating an email my laptop completely stopped without warning. I used my desktop PC to try and find a solution to the issue and one of the things I found was this Forum. My system has the green light on the AC adapter go off instantly when plugged into the computer. The adapter then needs to be unplugged from the Vostro and the wall receptacle then plugged back into the wall in order to get the green light to come on again.

Unfortunately at present I can't afford an upper tier laptop so I searched for and found a used and guaranteed replacement motherboard complete with lower base assembly on Ebay for a little over $160 plus shipping. After an hour and a half of dis/reassembly I'm up and running once again.

The hard thing now is that I know I'm on borrowed time regarding the longevity of this system. Saving and research for a new laptop has started and it definitely won't be a Dell this time around. A premium business laptop that can't provide even 3 complete years of service during moderate duty cycles should be sold and labeled as a "defective" model from the day one.

well this is my second vostro1500 that died for no reason but this time the laptop wont boot .. try to turn on only the power light come on for approx 3 seconds and goes back off...it will charge the battery but wont turn on no matter what i try to do.....does anyone have any ideas????  i have tryed to disconnect every thing and tryed to turn still nothing .. none of the other lights do anything on the laptop.... i two more of these laptops to die soon i guess.... good dell junk

I'm a two-for-one: Had this problem twice on the same laptop. Got my Vostro 1500 in October 2007, died the sudden death 18 months later. Got the motherboard replaced, worked wonderfully for another 27 months! And just recently died the same sudden death. Exact same thing--no warning, no reason, no power, no nothing.

I should mention that my Vostro 1500 was actually a replacement that Dell gave me after I went through two cheaper models (Vostro 1000, maybe?). Yes, two of them. The 1500 was the third, an upgrade from the first two--which were both extremely defective.

I am done with Dell, but I'm starting to think I should abandon laptops altogether. Desktop and a netbook instead maybe?

Looks like I just joined the club today.  Same issues as everyone else.