Old / unresolved issues becoming quite ridiculous

Question

I bought an XPS M170 laptop quite some time ago.  About a day after it arrived, it began having overheating problems.  I did a compulsory search on this website and found it to be a common problem.  I installed temperature monitoring software only to be shocked at the 100+ c temperatures I was seeing on my video card.  I turned the system off, used a small non compressed air stream on the fans and vents (as to not damage the fans).  No dust came out, so I figured I'd move to a compressed air stream.  Again, no dust came out, this wasn't the problem. I tried updating the drivers (Dell's driver support has been horrid for this system) to no avail.  I lived with it a while, the laptop becoming absolutely useless as a laptop, as placing it on my lap would result in painful burning (I still have scarring on my thigh). After around a year of putting up with high temperatures, I became tired of the situation.  The temperatures caused the AC adapter plug end (the part that plugs into the computer) to expand and contract to the point of no longer fitting in the socket, so I called technical support.  They promptly sent a repair guy over, who kindly replaced the Nvidia 6800 GO Ultra, the board, the CPU, the memory chips, both fans, and the AC 'rat tail.' A week later, the problems persisted.  I tried getting ahold of the customer service representative that had helped with the problems previously, but was unable to do so.  I had a constant struggle to get any response out of Dell, in any phone calls I was constantly put on hold, shuffled around, and never ONCE got to speak with another person on this issue. This continued until I FINALLY got a new response: Your warranty has expired, we no longer offer support on your product.  Even though this issue was NEVER resolved, I am seeing a brick wall of lack of support. I am a long time Dell customer.  I have over five Dell systems in my household, three of which I bought for myself.  This laptop has served me well for over four years, even though I can't use it for what I want to.  If I play a modern video game (on my 'gaming' laptop) for over twenty minutes, the computer shuts down due to heat.  If I use it as a laptop for almost ANYTHING I suffer first degree burns.  I usually stick with a computer for a very long time, until it becomes absolutely obsolete, and thanks to this laptop being quite useless, that time is approaching. Since this issue was never resolved, I'm starting to think that HP would be a better company to spend my money on.  This laptop cost as much as a used car, and it has literally caused me nothing but pain. The 'Dell support community' is the last place I know of to turn to, as it tried helping me with my problem when it first reared its ugly head.  Do any of you know a trick or gimmick to either: Get ahold of Dell and get them to remedy this problem that they've refused to fix for almost half a decade? Or: Download a software, a driver, a remedy to this problem that I can do myself?  I'm quite computer literate, and am getting to the point where I'm not afraid to bust it open and do some cutting or something, since they refused to honor their warranty even when it was new?   Specs on the computer are as follows: 2.25 GHZ Pentium 4 nVidia GeForce 6800 GO Ultra 1 GB dual channel RAM XPS M170

dgkpcon · Answer

Have you tried replacing the Nvidia Go 6800 Ultra,with a Go 7800GTX?....Your system can use the 7800GTX,dell did ship these systems with this card when they came out.I have read some threads from M170 users who have and do not have the heat issues you are reffering to anymore.

jays83gsl · Answer

I considered this until I saw the $400+ price tag on the card.  I already payed $2400 for this computer, that seemed a little steep for me.

dgkpcon · Answer

I can understand that,have you tried ebay for the card?..I have seen some for under the $200 mark.Around $195.00,and some for $249.00.I know spending money on something that should have already come out of the box is not a fix,it is just something that came to mind when i read your post.

jays83gsl · Answer

Aye, didn't mean to sound ungrateful for the advice, thanks :)

dgkpcon · Answer

I know,i was just making a suggestion.After going back and looking at more threads on this problem;it sounds like that is why dell switched to the 7800GTX because of the overheating issue.Every post i read the users heating issue was resolved.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

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