Acer 5672 WLMI - 2nd day - laptop dead?

I got my 5672 yesterday and was very happy. It worked great and I installed some different things to try it out. No problems.

Today I was using it, just browsing the internet and the screen went completely black. The power button backlight stayed on as did the battery light.

Now, when I turn it on the power light comes on and I can feel things whirring and moving inside, but the screen never comes on, and it never makes any sounds. It just sits there.

The computer was plugged in to the wall at the time, and gave no warning.


I'm very depressed. I was a little wary of Acer after some people complained about their shoddy builds but I am not a novice to computer problems and many minor issues I can fix myself. But this seems more like a total system failure. Inserting the backup disk I made before I restart has no noticeable effect.

Has anyone had a similar problem or have any ideas?? I am leaving for grad school in a few days, in CS, and I really need a laptop.

 

I had this problem with an older laptop of mine, turns out the LCD connector to the motherboard had come loose, try checking that and it should fix your problem.

 

I admit this is my first laptop and I'm not that familiar with their construction in general - would the connector be easily accessible if I took off the main back panel, as you would if you were installing RAM? I'm hesitant to do much more than that since I really don't want to void my warranty.

Here's a link to a picture of the 5672 with the main panel off: http://img358.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0950oc.jpg

 

In mine it was under the keyboard. Try to trace the connection from your LCD to where it connects to your motherboard I can't really tell from that picture.

 

I am looking up more information for the backlight, but one reason I think that may not be the problem is the hard-drive light lights up for 1-2 seconds at start up but then doesn't light up again. If it were loading Windows normally and I just couldn't see it, it should be accessing the drive quite a bit. :\

 

This thread is for removing the optical drive in another Acer Notebook. It worked for me when I took apart my 5670 to replace the DVD drive. You end up removing the keyboard, you may be able to see the lcd connector.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=15950

 

Even the best companies occasionally have a lemon. Computers are a delicate technology... even if 1 thing fail, the whole system may not boot....


In my case, I am in the exact same situation. My W3J by ASUS, largely regarded as being one of the companies with the best or close to best quality failed after only 2 days.

I am not angry at them, as I know I'm simply a minority... but it's also a hidden blessing... why?

Computer parts tend to fail within the first month, after the first month, it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY the components will fail, so by failing early (I suspect GPU memory from the artifacting, and have to send back to ASUS) It means I won't have to send my W3J back when university starts

 

Well, I don't think I am going to take out the keyboard - I purchased a 3 yr. warranty and it looks like I'm going to need it...


It's just so sad - my first laptop! I was like a kid with a new toy. And then someone came in their car and ran it over, repeatedly, while laughing. *tear*

Ok, so not exactly like that.. but it still hurts.


Also I keep reading on this forum how people send their notebook in for support and it comes back with huge scratches. My pretty baby. *chin quivers*

 

Where did you get it from? I'd suggest trying to just get a direct replacement from the store rather than having to send it to acer.

 

Newegg, which has a very direct policy of no returns on any notebook, no matter what.

Further discovery - I opened the back panel just to see what I could see - when starting the computer the visible fan spins for about 5 seconds then appears to lose power and stops spinning (although power light remains on).

Also I tried connecting it to an external monitor and nothing happened - so I don't think the backlight is the issue (do you have to activate the external monitor somehow? I'm not used to laptops...)

 

is the same problem that had mine yesterday, it was new, and never turned on, lights on, but the disk never picked up
now i have to wait a new one, because all that happened in the store

 

Very weird... well here's to hoping we get a new one soon! Mine is shipping out to Acer in the morning.

 

Hmmmm. The fan spinning down after a few seconds may be because when the system bots up, the BIOS kicks in and starts managing the fan speed, thus if your laptop were to heat up, the fan would kick in to cool it. To toggle external monitor/integrated LCD, hold the blue FN key located in the bottom left hand corner of the keyboard next to ctrl and press F5. If nothing happens, press it a few more times to make sure you got through to all the different video modes (DVI/VGA). If that doesn't work, I'd say you may be better off sending it in to Acer because if you mess it up yourself..you're out of the couple hundred you spent on that 3 year warranty.

 

Thanks for the tip on changing video modes! I just tried it again and still no luck getting a visual on my desktop monitor, but I think you may be right about the CPU fan - if I leave it on for half an hour it gets warm even though it refuses to do anything. Curiouser and curiouser.

 

When Acer ships your notebook back, they'll also add a note that says what they did, and what they diagnosed as a problem. Could you post it when you get it? It should be a good help to others (like Adrian) who has the same/similar problem.

TIA,
--Amol.

 

if you can somehow use the computer but get no output on your monitor and fn+f5 is no use -- you need to enable the external display or mirror in software. You can use the ATI Catalyst Control Center to enable mirroring and either the CCC or Windows display control panel to enable a secondary display.

as for defective laptops -- ask Newegg to accept a return/exchange. If they refuse, tell them you will complain to the credit card company -- and then do so. You may also want to complain to government organizations either in your State or in the state of California.

Here is a page from Michigan:
http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-20942-44683--,00.html

 

I agree the "no return, no matter what" policy for Newegg is pretty sketchy and possibly open to negotiation if I threaten a chargeback, but if I actually have to follow through then I still don't have what I really need - a working laptop. I don't want to spend a month hashing out with Newegg through Visa.

 

I read this in newegg reviews :/ .. tragic indeed. GL!

 

Well they got my laptop yesterday and notified me they received it today, so here's hoping it gets fixed soon. Sigh.