I think I am getting that dreade bad mobo!!!!

It started yesterday while I ejected a disc while loading the dell media direct and it showed all kinds of color in the picture and picture that you can get when ya on the menu and then I started getting errors or it would kind of freeze on me except you could still use the mouse and I tried clicking it beeped a couple times, also everything except the start button and the bar at the bottom went black too and when that happened I was trying virtual earth and as soon as I started rotating in 3d it happened I saw where it show a window that said something about visual basic somethin and I saw there was a red x and an error thing too! What do y'all think please help!!!???

 

Hello? Anyone?

 

or bad graphics card maybe?

 

Sorry for the late reply. I know that you are also posting in one of the other threads regarding the vertical line issue. Sounds like your system was built around the same time as mine looking at your specs, so you are probably a candidate for this issue. I can only speak for what happened to mine because the GPU can act strange, the system can freeze, no matter what you are doing at the time. I was surfing the web checking out a youtube video when I first experienced the signs of a failing motherboard/gpu. After booting up from a freeze is when I first came across the vertical line issue. It didn't happen all the time after that, but eventually I couldn't get past the bootup screen. If your system has been operating with no issues, you haven't done anything unusual as far as installing drivers or opening yourself up to a virus, then this failing motherboard / GPU could be what's going on with your system. If you are under warranty, can still access online, chat with a dell representative, hyperlink the vertical line thread on the forum, and tell him or her that you are experiencing freezing issues relating to either the Rev00 or Rev01 motherboard that will eventually kill your system permanently. They'll suggest a replacement for the motherboard and hopefully you'll be back up and running.

Based on what you've described, it was similar to what I went through before the system got worse and worse, (Anything GPU related accelerated the problem ) and I don't think there's anything that you can do personally to solve the problem. Wish I had better news for you. Hope I'm wrong and it's something else, but it looks like you are in the beginning stages of the issue.

 

I was also wondering if it does happen and is most likely anyways would I be able to return it for something else of the same value or less?

 

To be honest, I don't think Dell would do that unless it's under the 30 day return policy. The only way I could see you receiving a new system is if your notebook would come under the lemon law where you would have to prove that your system is a complete dud and requires replacement which is tedious and hard to do especially something that you've used for the last ( I'm guessing ) 6 months.

Personally, I wouldn't waste time if you've lost confidence in your system. If your system is still functional, go to Dell online get them to remote connect to your system and see if they can see any issues. I could be jumping to conclusions that it's automatically the vertical line issue. It might be Vista related or something else, but if it's out of your hands and you feel it's only going to get worse before it gets better then you'll need more professional help as most of us on the forum can only take an educated guess unless we were actually sitting down one on one with your system.

It's unacceptable that you spend your hard money on a system that can't even give you a year without experiencing problems. Fortunately my motherboard / gpu issue hasn't returned, but I've kind of lost confidence in the Dell brand because I don't feel I can use my system to its maximum capacity because of thermal issues ( Might be in the mind now and the Mobo Rev04 has fixed the problem). I'll possibly be looking elsewhere with my next notebook purchase, but hope that this one holds together for at least a few years. Don't get me wrong, I still like the M1330 a lot. It's just that my faith in it has been shaken after this. It's something that's never happened to any computer I've purchased.

 

sounds like a video card issue, try updating your drivers first. then if that fails, call tech support and see if they can get a tech to your house to take a look

 

I've only had it for a couple weeks or so.

 

Then call Dell and get an RMA so you can send it back.

 

Sorry, thought you've had it for a while now. Like chelet said in his post, don't mess around. Get an RMA and send it back now while it still can be returned. Let Dell figure out what's wrong and if you are still unsatisfied with the results, then maybe you have a case for a replacement notebook.

The worst thing you can do is let time go by and do nothing. I don't know why I thought you've owned it for a while. I guess I'm thinking everyone is on the T8 or T9000 penryn chips by now and anyone with the T7 chips have owned them for a while.