Ok guys, I know this does not relate to DL discussion, but it certainly does have an impact on my participation in it. A few days ago, my laptop went on the blink. When I would turn it on - the green lights just flickered but the drive did not boot up. I just left it alone for a while, and thought, what the heck, I'll try and turn it on again. And it worked! So I can't say how stable it is. Another issue is that half the screen does not function anymore, but everything else is operating as normal. I am bringing it in to be serviced, but my question is what should I expect? Is this a hardware failure or could it be something with the software? Or the motherboard? Any advice on what to expect will be appreciated. P.S. it is a Dell Inpriron 3800 PIII with windows XP on it.
If, as is likely, motherboard, then there is the issue of replacing the whole thing (many hundreds of dollars) or replacing only the defective component on the mother board (vastly less). Very few places do component replacement: requires more skill, and makes much less money. Here in Berkeley we know two people who do it -- and the last time I was in this leaky boat, the difference was $600 vs. $50. If there is a Craigs List in your area (www.craigslist.com) that is often a good place to find the skilled replacers. Good luck.
This site has the price of a MB at $130.00. That's the price of the part only. Labor is usually more costly than parts. This site has a review of the 3800 from Aug. 2000 and describes it as being Dell's most affordable laptop of that time. It's getting to be old. As to Dr. Bear's comments, I must demur. Components such as the Microprocessor are replaceable but many components are what's called Surface Mount Technology and the actual circuit board is mulilayered. Troubleshooting to a discreet component is difficult and replacement more so. It does indeed require skilled hands. Better to replace the MB. Better yet...check the price of a new affordable laptop. Do you have the hard drive backed up?
It may be a little soon to call it a bad motherboard. You really need to have someone run diagnostics on it. From your description it sounds like two seperate problems. The screen issue sounds like a damage screen or cable going to the screen. You could verify it by plugging in an external monitor. If the external monitor works fine then it has to be one of the above. The boot problem is interesting, but hard to pinpoint without more info. It could be motherboard, cpu, memory, or dozens of other things. Another point to consider is cost. If it is in warranty, obviously follow the appropriate path. If it is out of warranty, repairs typically start at $100-200 and can go much higher. If it is at all older it may not pay to repair. You can buy a new entry level laprop starting at around $600. The features on an entry level laptop are likely to be better than a higher end older laptop. If you have other questions let us know. Good luck.
Don't know that that ever works well without something like Norton Ghost. Had a good experience this week in replacing a failing hard drive with a Quantum drive. It came with software that duplicated my old drive on a partition of the new drive...and everything works. Wonder of wonders.
