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Dell XPS12 Apparent Motherboard Failure
Hi guys,
I bought a Dell laptop (XPS 12 Laptop 3rd Generation Intel® Core i7-3537U processor (9Q23, Late 2012)) about 18 months ago and have been very pleased with its performance until about a month ago.
It stopped working entirely, save for a single dull white flash on the power button when i tried to turn it on. Other than that, nothing. No fan, no keyboard lights, no signs of life whatsoever.
Anyway, it was outside it's warranty period, so I sent it off to Dell, fully expecting to pay several hundred dollars for whatever repairs were required.
About a week ago it arrived back, still broken, with a docket stating that the motherboard was water damaged and was essentially unrepairable. I don't believe this to be the case, but i have little experience in such matters, and so am basically resigned to accepting that if the thing's going to be repaired, I'm going to have to do it myself.
So my first question is, if they are stating that the motherboard is broken, how likely is this to be true? Or is it some catch-all phrase they use when the problem lies deeper and they can't be bothered to properly diagnose? Is there any simple way to check that it is the motherboard that is gone, and not some other critical part? I have a multimeter at my disposal if need be.
Secondly, if it is the motherboard, and I want to replace it, is here (http://blog.parts-people.com/2014/02/03/dell-xps-12-9q23-motherboard-removal-and-installation/) a good guide? And have been eying off this (http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=17484) like-for-like replacement motherboard. Is this parts-people.com website the best place to buy from do you think?
Thanks for any assistance or advice guys. There's quite a lot of valuable documents and so forth on the machine, so any help is greatly appreciated.
TL;DR: mobo broken on dell xps12 laptop, is it possible/worthwhile to replace?
ejn63
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June 10th, 2015 06:00
Essentially everything inside this system is permanently affixed to the mainboard - the processor, the memory, etc. That means just about nothing inside is separately replaceable if it fails.
The diagnosis is likely correct. Parts-people.com is a reliable supplier of Dell components.
If you don't have a backup of what's on the SSD, you can use something like this
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to recover the data short of repairing the system.
If you can replace the board, the $300 may make sense. If you have to pay a labor charge, it begins to make less sense - just bear in mind that replacement parts carry only 90-days warranty.