Water Spill....

So i accidently spilled some water over the keyboard of my inspiron e1505. I immediately turned it off, took out battery, ram, and hard drive. I also took apart as much as i could to let it dry. I'm gonna wait 1-2 more days to try it out.
Anyways, here's my question. If the laptop doesn't work, do you think i could extend my warranty and buy the complete care service along with it? My 1 yr limited warranty expires 12/07. Then after purchasing complete care, i could return it back to dell and see what they can do?

 

Heh, you can't purchase CompleteCare after an accident and then expect a new unit...

 

well u could do that, you have a year to extend your warranty

however, that may not be morally correct, but i know millions that would do that, probably including myself if it actually happened, especially if it was just water. if you do indeed do that, i would wait a bit to actually call it in after you extend the warranty - but even a week isn't that bad.

but then again, water might not even leave any trace of any spill damage as long as it dries.

 

hopefully the laptop will work temporarily, cuz i know something is gonna screw up sooner or later.
But if dell asks, i'll tell them that i was going on a trip and i wanted to buy complete care just in case.

I have to find the cheapest solution to get the laptop fixed/running again. I'm going to college this fall and things are getting too expensive for my mom. It's just unfortunate this had to happen...

 

I did this on my old toshiba and as long as you let it dry overnight with a fan on it....it might be ok and the worst damage would be the keyboard (mine had to be replaced but the rest was ok).

 

yah your in the best case with just water, not only is it not very traceable (if u didnt get the completecare)

but chances are, if dried completely it probably won't cause any damage anyway xcept maybe the keyboard.

**never use a hair dryer by the way to speed up the heat, just use a regular fan

 

Yes forgot to say a regular fan lol...hairdryer would be the worst solution. Just one of those large house fans you can get or w/e you can find.

 

Many electronics-producing companies put small circular dots or strips of sticker-like paper material inside, that changes color if there is ever water damage. Just drying the thing out wont change the color back. If you arent covered against water damage, and that material changes color, you are probably out of luck.

I know most cell phones do this now. But I dont actually know if Dell does this with their laptops.

 

@mtylerjr

Completecare covers spills, drops and all other accidental damage to your laptop, so it wouldn't matter.

I hate those dots though, my cell got wet and I was going to return it, so I looked at the dot and saw that is was fine and then stupidly touched it and my finger was wet so they wouldn't fix it. Luckily the phone still works. I'm sure Dell has those stickers in their laptops so people can't return the notebooks without completecare.

 

Well it does matter, because the OP DOES NOT have CompleteCare...and AFAIK you cannot add it on once you have received it for this very reason

 

Wait i can't add completecare?
How come when i'm on the dell site I can login and choose to extend my 1 yr warranty and add complete care for 119$.

 

Heck, I once spilled milk on my 5150 and it wouldn't run right away. After a few days of drying it was back to normal.

 

Then if you can, do it. I'm guessing that DB was just guessing.

 

I tried this with my 700m...getting complete care after the fact and the answer was no...unless I could get my system examined and accepted by Dell by an authorized person...

 

Did you tell them that it was after you'd had the accident and they refused? Or did they just not allow you to buy complete care after the laptop had shipped?

 

It was after they shipped...I never spilled anything; I just considered getting it after the fact and they said no...for just that reason. How are they to know its not already broke?

 

I don't see a reason why you can't extend 1-year warranty to add Complete Care. how would they ever know that it was damaged before you added the warranty? i don't think you need to surrender your laptop for physical inspection, before you are awarded the warranty.
Anyone experienced with Dell might wanna confirm

 

I'm about 99% sure you can buy CompleteCare even after an accident, as long as you don't dumbly tell them it's already broken. Just make up an excuse. Note that I'm not condoning lying to Dell, as this is most likely insurance fraud - there was a discussion on the moralities of this in this forum, do a search for it (because I'm too lazy).

The only thing stopping you is your morals.

EDIT: I was VERY bored and found the thread I was talking about... http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=126646

 

Think about it folks, if they did...EVERYONE would do that. It would be stupid not to, just wait like 2 year after buying, but CompleteCare for the 3rd year, drop it out of your window, call the next day to file a claim, and you get a brand new machine for $100.

It would also be a little suspicious like a week after paying for CompleteCare, you file a damage report to get a new machine.

 

People...

Dell knows this is going to happen and that people do this regularly. It's insurance, they base their premiums based on how much they normally have to pay out annually to fix stuff + cheese. They don't care as long as they are making money. They will just raise rates the next year. Not to mention the absolute cost to them to replace your water damaged laptop is probably 90% of the time less than your premium.

It is profitable for them to have you buy these insurances. Why else do you think they let you buy it, even after a year has gone by, and will probably extend extend extend it. But it is helpful to us as well because we could never repair a laptop for less than the cost of the premium.

When "fraudulent" claims like this happen, it is only going to effect us by driving premiums for insurances like this up.(not much)

Hell yes buy the complete care and send it in