Having my first issue on the AW 18 .. Need assistance.

O.k. ..this is uncalled for. I never had an Alienware laptop that never power up on me before. The refurbished AW 18 that I just received, didn't power up. It was working fine last week when i received it.

This happened today. The laptop was sitting in my living room, the temperature is 50 degree Fahrenheit. I turn off the laptop, wen to the gym and came back three hours later. When I pressed the power button, nothing happen. I was like " ..what the hell happen " . I touched the laptop, and it's cold as hell. So i called up AW tech, while on the phone, after however many minutes discussing the issue, and fiddling with the laptop, the laptop turn on. I was like .. " Hey, it turns on ".. I was like .." it's working "... Before I got off the phone, I shut down the laptop to see if it will turn on again, and so it did. I wasn't crazy at all. I wasn't satisfied , so i told the AW tech to keep holding on to see if I turn it off and turning it back on after a few minutes to make sure it turns on. Guess what? It didn't turn on. The AW tech wants me to send it out to get it looked at.

My question is:

1) what do you think is wrong with the laptop?
2) Should I send it to the Depot for Repair ( I would be without the laptop at least a week and a half)
3) Should I just return the unit and wait till the second revision comes out ?

The reason why I am not sure what to do is because:

1) I got a good deal
2) I don't want to have repetitive problems. ( My M18x-R2 is over a year old and still run excellent)

It's really a tough call for me. I appreciate some input from you guys/gals.

 

Why dont u give them a chance at the depot once or twice then you can go and ask for head first conclusions like your doing

We get 2 18s 2 weeks from now so I have no idea what's wrong with yours

You got any kids or other people at the house perhaps? Jk it's possible you know

Ethier way it's free to send it to the depot so I'd give them up to 2 tries if multiple then u can go crazy and wait for second revisions and stuff

Most of the depot people are cool...except if u get.....that one guy......in Houston.......but that's why I said try it twice before going crazy

I guess what in trying to say is what do you have to lose

 

If they don't know what is wrong and cannot diagnose it remotely, depot is the only option. Think about it... what are they going to send first to hope that it corrects the problem? It might be something simple like the power button switch, or the ribbon cable that leads to the power switch may not secure. And, it probably is something really simple. But, it could be something else, like the motherboard. That might even be why it was for sale at the depot to begin with. They may not have found anything wrong with it when it was returned. It may have worked perfectly when they received it, as it seems to be an intermittent issue based on what you saw today.

I had my M18x repaired at the depot once. I hated the fact that it needed to be sent in, but I had no other option if I wanted them to fix it. From the day it left my house until it was returned was only 4 calendar days including shipping and I am about 1800 miles from the depot. Just be careful of the box that FedEx provides. It is never large enough and it needs some extra foam or other padding. If the box it came in from the outlet is a generic brown box rather than the fancy Alienware retail box, you might want to use that instead of the generic FedEx box.

As Trickster said, give them a chance. If it does not turn out right, they will take care of whatever gets messed up. But, it will most likely turn out OK. We hear about the horror stories here, but seldom hear about the good outcomes because happy people often don't say anything. We can count on hearing from the angry folks.

 

AW/Dell has always done right by me....I've had my issues and frustrations; Brother Porras and his Merry band of support staff/techies have always resolved those issues graciously.....

"Give 'em a chance to do their stuff"

 

return, get your money back, wait for new revision if it ever happens, in worst case scenario treat yourself with mature product such as M18XR2/R1

 

I would give depot a try as well. It's the best option when it comes to that type of issues.