At the end of my rope.

After more than a week of dealing with bullcrap, i'm sure i've finally pinpointed the cause of my RAM problems. The slot closest to the board under the bottom cover doesn't work properly. I just spent an hour swapping 4 RAM sticks back and forth, and I noticed that when I slide the RAM in and out of the bottom slot, there is noticeably less resistance and more wiggle than when I use the upper slot. Also, when I use only the bottom slot, the computer won't boot, and when I use both slots, sometimes the computer won't boot, and sometimes it will boot and then freeze after about 30 seconds. Using only the upper slot gives me no problems.

Since this is my only computer, I'm not sending it in to be repaired, so what are my chances of having Dell send someone out to me?

 

Just contact support to see what is in store, not sure if they have to replace the M-Board, but if they do they may need to send out help. Good luck.

 

Depends on what warranty you have.
If you have a Latitude/Precision machine, you probably have NBD on-site warranty or ProSupport warranty, in which case Dell will surely send someone to operate on your machine.
If you don't, well... that changes things.
I would suggest you contact them directly, describe the problem, and if on-site warranty can not be performed, you try to friendly but firmly request a replacement system for at least the time your machine is in warranty.
Personally, I would firmly recommend purchasing NBD on-site or ProSupport warranty for any expensive dell machine. It's worth it.

 

If a machine is an essential piece of work, a warranty like that is a must.