Have 2 non functional laptops sitting in my apt

Naer

Diamond Member
Nov 28, 2013
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Hate to have them just sitting there. Not sure if I'm having hardware issues or software. I tried booting with a cd in one of them, nothing. They're not even that old. one is a 2 year old alienware. The other is almost a 4 year old dell studio xps. Taking them to best buy worth it? Will they fix it, or can I sell those to them? How much should I spend to get them fixed?
 

Naer

Diamond Member
Nov 28, 2013
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More specs? I've had two dell laptops die on me within two years of purchase and am not a fan.

from the top of my head












I actually don't remember what's in it. 8gb ram, a radeon card, win 7, intel core duo 2. That's all I can remember. This is the 4 year old one

The 2 year old one, I've never really used. It's from someone else
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
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Sep 15, 2004
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You could take them to the Geek Squad to see how much they would charge to fix them, once they tell you what's wrong with them. But, there's basically 2 lists of problems, those that can be solved affordably (HDD, RAM, power adapter, battery, power plug [MAYBE]) and those that will not be worth the money unless the laptop still has a lot of value otherwise (mainboard, CPU).
 

tamm

Senior member
Dec 13, 2013
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HAHA please don`t take it to Best Buy, their option without any warranty on the fixable device is to throw it out or some crazy expensive diagnosis and repair.

I would see if you can turn them on by first removing the static charge if that is an issue.
If not, try the ram sticks and then your off to a MB repair (or more like replacement).
 

M0RPH

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2003
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Before you take them in for repair make sure you've removed all power, which means taking the batteries out, then putting them back in. I have a laptop that will sometime appear to be non-working, until I do that.
 
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Matt1970

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Mar 19, 2007
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Before you take them in for repair make sure you've removed all power, which means taking the batteries out, then putting them back in. I have a laptop that will sometime appear to be non-working, until I do that.

This. If that doesn't work take the hard drive and DVD out and try one ram stick at a time.
 

Naer

Diamond Member
Nov 28, 2013
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Before you take them in for repair make sure you've removed all power, which means taking the batteries out, then putting them back in. I have a laptop that will sometime appear to be non-working, until I do that.

It won't run without the battery plugged into the wall
 

Zodiark1593

Platinum Member
Oct 21, 2012
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I'll most gladly take that Alienware off your hands. I could most certainly use a quad-core bedside rendering workhorse. :)

My own skills do involve more simple mobo repairs, like soldering new ports and the like, as well as skills and tools needed to get to the mobo in the first place (usually not hard on a bigger gaming lappy). While stuff like desoldered chipsets are definitely out of my reach, I have doubts an Alienware would experience such a mobo failure so soon in it's life, especially considering cooling seems above par than that of other gaming laptops.

Late at night here, but off the top of my head, I would want to see if there's even any power going from your adapter to the laptop. There should be a small LED that goes on when power is going into it. If not, I would check out the power adapter with a Multimeter real quick.
 
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monkeydelmagico

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2011
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ebay listing for parts/not working. Describe issues. The alienware will certainly fetch a decent price. Not sure about the xps, make sure you cover your time/shipping.
 

alangrift

Senior member
May 21, 2013
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Well if you want to sell them you should try and part it out might be able to get more out of it. Best but will do a great job I just recommend you ask them to make a copy of the hardrive just in case they get rid of it when fixing it.