I need the help of TFP
 

My Dell Inspiron 1150 seems to have died this past weekend. It is unfortunately out of warranty. I am not sure if it would be better to repair it or replace it.

This is the problem: Saturday night everything froze on me. I could not use the touchpad or the keyboard. The only way to turn it off was to hit the power switch. I hate doing that! Anyway, it would not turn back on after that. Oh, I use the AC power all of the time. I got a black screen with the flashing _, not even the Dell symbol, nothing. Spectre suggested I unplug and let it sit for awhile. So I let it sit overnight. Sunday morning, it would only power up in safe mode and only when it was unplugged. Spec said that Inspirons have an issue with the AC power. So I was running defrag, while in safe mode, and the battery was running low, so I plugged it back in. and wouldn't you know it? everything froze again. UGH! So now it sits.

Here are details of 2 laptops I am looking at.

Dell Latitude D620 - Priced at $1,089.00

• Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 (1.66GHz) 2M L2 Cache 667Mhz Dual Core
• Windows Vista Home Basic
• 14.1 wide screen WXGA LCD panel
• 1.0GB, DDR2-667 SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
• 80GB hard drive, 9.5MM, 5400RPM
• Wireless LAN (802.11)
• 8x DVD/RW
• 6 cell primary battery
• 3 year limited warranty plus 3 year NBD on-site service and complete care

HP Pavilion dv2000t series - priced at $1093.98

• Windows Vista
• Intel Pentium dual core processor T2130 (1.86 GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 533 Mhz FSB)
• 14.1 wxga high-def screen
• 1GB DDR2 system memory (2 dimm)
• webcam and microphone
• intel pro/wireless 3945ABG network connection
• 160GB 5400 RPM hard drive
• 8x dvd/rw
• 6 cell lithium ion battery
• system recovery DVD
• 2 year accidental damage protection with express repair extended warranty plan

I am so confused by all this jargon and whatnot. I have no idea which would be better. Should I keep searching? Should I attempt to repair my broken Inspiron? I appreciate any help you have to offer.

Note to all Inspiron owners: that's not all Inspirons, but from a quick search, it looks like a lot of people have had this issue with that model and it required soldering to fix it. With the warranty up, there's no real way short of cracking it open to fix it.

I think the choice should come down to one extra year on the warranty versus the doubling of the HD space. Whichever you find more useful, you should go with.

Do you have anti-virus and/or spyware software you can run in safe mode??? Did your PC come with pre-loaded OS software or do you have the actual OS software disc??? If all else fails and you have the OS Disc you can always reload the OS and start from scratch.

I do have anti-virus, I had tried to run it in safe mode, then it froze up. But it was plugged in at the time. I have a re-installation CD, I tried to use, also when plugged in and that didn't get very far at all. Should I try it again, in safe mode, unplugged? and which do I do first?

Now I see you're using Vista.....unfortunatly Microsoft has a habit of releasing their OS's before they're properly tested......in other words they usually have a ton of bugs in them....I tend to wait at least a year or two before getting a new OS, after the release. The truth is, it could be anything, a virus, spyware, an OS fuck-up......God only knows. If it was mine, I'd try to re-install the OS again....I wish I could tell you more....:sad:

No. the Inspiron does not have Vista. It has Windows XP. It is 2 1/2 years old.

I tried running the virus scan. No good.

It says symantec antivirus could not access the scan engine. please ensure the product is properly installed.

Can you access the Chkdsk??? Worth a shot I suppose....go to All Programs, then accessories, then Command Prompt.....type in chkdsk c:/f, hit enter, and it should say chkdsk cannot check the disc...yada yada yada.....hit the y key, then enter, and restart..........I hope that makes sense.

That is if C drive is your main drive.....otherwise replace the c with the main drive letter.

We have D620s at work and they're really nice. I recommend them

DaveMatrix - I tried what you said. I could not get it to restart.

So did you get to the point where it said 'this volume will be checked the next time the system restarts'??? If so just turn off the power and restart.

Yes. I got to that point. Went to restart it and it wouldn't. I can try starting it again.

It restarted, in safe mode, still only on battery power.

Yeh, just try the power button like you said in your OP. Otherwise the reinstallation CD, seems to be the only option. I've had similar probs and had to reinstall the OS, Good Luck.

Thanks Dave.

Your Welcome.....I tried.

Well. I tried the reinstall CD. It restarted once. Second time restart failed. It is now stuck on the Windows XP splash screen. Not going anywhere.

Shall I bury the laptop in the backyard now?

Email Microsoft support, tell them the reinstall CD wont work and tell them you already contacted Dell and they were no help. They will send a BS email back, saying you need to contact Dell, yada yada yada.....don't give up, email them back saying you tried everything, dell couldn't help, and they should send you an actual windows XP install disc. This is much different than a dell re-install cd, and may just help. This is what I had to do when compaq couldn't help me. I got the real windows install CD and fixed my system, when the compaq re-install CD didn't do shit. Its better than throwing your PC in the trash.

That stuff is worth a try but it sounds like you have some serious hardware issues. Can you charge it while it is off, and then boot on battery? It is an exercise of futility but you can squeeze the life out of it.

I can charge it while it's off, but even on battery it still only boots in safe mode. I am going to email the computer support people at the university I work at and see if they can help me in any way.