m11xr2 Turns on for a few seconds, shuts off immediately after

Hello,

I've had my Alienware m11xr2 since the summer of 2010, so this summer will complete it's second year being used. I've never had an issue with my laptop other than a few small things I could fix by myself and I've just encountered something that I think is a serious problem.

I was using my laptop like I usually do and it suddenly gave me a low battery warning and shut itself off immediately after. It was plugged in to AC power. Now sometimes when I plug in the power cord the alien head will slowly fade to different colors and when this happens I can turn it on for a few seconds. It will show the alien head loading screen, nearly complete it, and simply shut down. The fan starts up and keyboard lights up when this is happening. Sometimes when I plug in the power cord the head does not light up and when this happens I cannot start the laptop at all.

I called tech support last night and put in a ticket for later today but they said that it was out of warranty. Is there anything I can say that will let me get this looked at for free...or something that you guys recommend that I do?

 

have you tried removing the AC and battery completley, and holding the power button down for 20-30 seconds then replacing it?

 

Seems like a battery problem. Try opening the case, disconnecting the battery (battery itself does not need to be removed), and plugging it in and turning on.

The alienhead fading shows that the battery is being charged.

Could also be an adapter problem. Do you have any other Dell's or HP's with the same charger head? You can plug them in and they will work if the wattage is sufficient. I myself sometimes use a HP adapter with my laptop

 

squeak, will that reset something on the motherboard? Replace it with the same battery? I'll try this later when I get home.

 

Yes that's a hard reset and can fix it if something is for some reason preventing it from booting. Just plug the exact same battery back in, no need buying a new one unless this one's completely dead.

 

You can try that, it seems like that is the issue. In the worst scenario the motherboard would need to be replaced.

 

So I called Alienware tech support and was transferred to the "Out of Warranty" department that told me they would diagnose it for ~$400 dollars. Ridiculous.

Instead I asked if they could extend my warranty....He comes back on the phone and offers me a 1 year extended warranty for ~$250. So now I'm completely covered again for a year for almost half the price....

Doesn't really make sense to me but I love corporate america.

 

I'm glad you got to a good resolution for your issue.

 

Just wanted to give an update:

I received my laptop in the mail yesterday which makes the total turn around time 6 days from when I dropped the package at fedex (at 6pm to boot). Very happy with the repair. Turns out it was the motherboard (like I suspected) and it was replaced. They also replaced my audio card because the housing of one of the headphone jacks was cracked. They also gave me a new keyboard and palm rest / touchpad, which I am stoked about! It has that new laptop keyboard response that makes me feel like it's a new machine. Totally happy with the repair, processing time and customer service with every aspect involved.

 

Awesome! It's always great to hear that everything went fine with the repairs.