Inspiron 6400 Died

Well, tried turning on my 6400 today and...nothing happened. The green lights at the top come on for 4 seconds and then turn off, no noise of any hardware coming on. Called Dell support and they said the motherboard was dead, and that it would be $500 to replace it, including shipping. My warranty expired april 30th, as if that isnt enough of a kick in the a$$. Is going through dell the only way to repair this? For $500, Id almost rather buy a new system

 

Its likely that the motherboard has become faulty. They are always expensive, because they are specific to either just one notebook, or a very small range. You could look for a motherboard replacement, on ebay or some online shops, but its likely they will also be expensive. Normally, it is just better to condider a new sytem. Good luck, anyway.

 

Thanks for the reply. Yea, Im just deciding now what to do. I had the upgraded graphics card on mine, the ati x1400. Specs for it are :

Centrino Duo 1.86ghz
x1400 256mb
1gb ram
15.4"

I played lots of games on it, and all the laptops Im seeing are using the lower ati 1100.

 

How old was the laptop and how long the warranty?

My first laptop - Sony Vaio paid $2500 went bad after 1 year warranty expired - mb bad. Cost to replace mb $1300 so total loss. No more Sony for me ! Anyone buying a laptop for long should get the 3 to 4 year warranties!

I've had to use my warranty twice on my 1 year 5 months old E1705.

 

You might be able to sell it on ebay for at least a couple hundred and put what you make toward a new computer.

..Just a thought

 

Little over a year old. Had a 1 year warranty which expired april 30th. Its a very painful lesson for me, but my next one will have the longest warranty available

 

Dam you guys have me worried, i didnt get any kind of warranty except for the one that comes with it. Any way to have one put on it after purchasing? I just got mine about a month ago.

 

If you just bought you should be able to get a deal on extended warranty, and if after the first year they do not break, they usually last.

I always get a 3year total coverage, I carry mine around alot, so I do not want to risk only getting 1 year.

 

Thanks for the advice i called and got the extra one year return to depot and phone assistance warranty for 80 bucks. I can rest a little easier knowing it will be covered until may 2009

 

Did you purchase with it new with American Express or some other credit card company that automatically extends the warranty by a year? I know my American Express Blue Card extends the warranty. You should call your credit card company.