M17x Power Adapter Issue

I've had this laptop for about 8 months and everything has worked great with the exception of the power supply. When I first received the laptop, I couldn't get it to charge, which was fixed by unplugging the battery and holding the power button down.

My current problem the supply pops up whenever I'm trying to play games. I recently re-installed Global Agenda and, upon trying to play it, the power supply instantly stops working. No light, no nothing. If I plug it into another power socket, it will reactivate. The problem pops up in other games, as well, such as Starcraft 2 and it has an uncanny knack for rearing its ugly head in the middle of WoW's raid instances.

My initial assumption is that the adapter is simply failing, meaning I'll need to get a new one, but I'd like to get some confirmation on this before I go ahead and take that route.

 

My power adapter 'trips' under an extremely high load. I've got to be running Prime95 and Furmark at the same time though, with ThrottleStop on too. I've got to unplug it and plug it back in to reset it, just as you're saying. I doubt a WoW raid is going to pull anything close to that kind of amperage. I'd get a new adapter on the way if I were you. If one of your buddies has one you can test with, you should try that too.

 

Thanks. I don't have any friends with the same laptop, so I guess I'm just going to have to get ahold of Dell and see if they'll send me a new one.

Hopefully they'll be able to help me via email, since they don't have live chat support for Alienwares and it's difficult for a hearing impaired person such as myself to communicate over the phone.

 

Ha, yeah, my adapter for my R1 burnt out within a month. Just to be safe, I ordered several extras.

 

I just tried to get the email for Dell's tech support services off their site and was informed (after inputting the service number) that they don't have email support for Alienware products.

As I already stated, I'm hearing impaired, so using a phone to call them isn't a feasible solution for me. Has anyone had any success with getting ahold of their tech support without calling?

 

AW doesn't have chat support, iirc (only chat sales).

So try hunting for email support (I'm sorry, best I can do right now).

 

Although this is for regular tech support, they should be able to direct you to a # for AW.

Deaf, Hearing Impaired, or Speech Impaired Support
1-877-DELLTTY
Mon - Fri 8 AM to 4:30 PM (CST)