Dell D810 Died

I have a Dell D810, and it just recently died while plugged in ( along with battery installed ) with blank screen. There was a T-Storm that lasted just a few minutes and wonder if that had anything to do with it, or just coincidence. If I push the power button I only see the battery light appear until I release it.
I took the battery out, but laptop still doesnt power up with AC adaptor, or if just battery alone installed.

I took it to Best Buy and they used their AC adapter, but still didnt work and they want $300 to fix it.
Will I need a new battery or could it be a more serious issue.

If its not just a battery issue then I will just buy another old laptop on Ebay.
I am now thinking between a D810 w/ATI x600, D830 w/Nvidia nvs140, or Precision M90 with quadro graphics.
I only use the laptop to surf web, use Office Word from time to time, and play a couple FPS games like Red Orchestra:Ost ( came out around the 2005 time frame using Unreal 2.5 Engine ).
My D810 w/ATI x600 played it ok at low-med settings, but wondering if D830 or M90 will play it better.

Any info would be appreciated.
Thanx, Joe

 

It probably just needs a new motherboard, which you can buy for less than $50 on eBay, etc. However, given that the laptop was damaged in an electrical storm, it's really hard to say if just one part is dead or if multiple parts have kicked the bucket.

Would not consider a D830 or M90 with discrete graphics. Those Nvidia chips are known to be defective, and will basically leave you with an expensive paperweight.

You might consider an E6400 with dGPU... those are only slightly more expensive than an M90 these days.

 

Ya I agree with Commander_Wolf, any Napa/Santa Rosa laptop with Nvidia graphics is a no-no. E6400/T400 can be had for cheap (400 dollar range) and some are still in warranty.