M860tu (Sager NP8660) does not boot - black screen!

So about a week ago my M860tu fell on the ground, but apparently the initial damage was mininal as it did not fail to start up normally. I did notice that the notebook was running increasingly unstable (random BSODs when tilting or lifting the device, system crashes when applying too much pressure to the keyboard). I thought I could handle these minor issues if I was careful enough but a few days ago, the notebook ceased to boot entirely - basically what happens after I press the power button: The blue power indicator turns on, the fans start humming for around 2 secs, then the whole thing shuts down. No BIOS, just a pitch black screen.
Now I've considered sending it in for repairs, but I don't know where (I bought my notebook in the US but I don't live there), and I'm not sure what the problem is. I'm not a hardware expert but I had a look inside the interior of my notebook and saw one of my RAM sticks hanging out in a weird angle so I fixed that (no results btw.), and that's just about where my technical proficiency ends.
My question therefore: what else could be the cause for this failure to boot? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

I was going to suggest that it's probably improperly seated RAM... but looks like you already hit that one.

If you feel comfortable, take the laptop completely apart and put it back together. It's probably just something (or multiple things) loose and reseating everything will probably get you back on track.

The other thing is... your hard drive may be toast, I would try it on another system and see if it's readable.

 

My NP2090 crapped out not long ago with the same problem. I have no idea why. I am 99% sure it's a failed motherboard.
The rest of my hardware is perfectly fine, I wouldn't doubt the hard drive is still working.

 

definitely re-seating the expandable components might do the trick:
- RAM sticks
- mini-PCIe cards (Wi-fi card and TV Tuner)
- videocard module

hopefully its not the motherboard... but you should contact your vendor and tell them about your issue.

 

Thanks to all for the replies so far. Judging from your comments, reassembling the hardware components appears to be my best option, but this would be my first time doing something like this. Just hope I don't mess this up... Can any of you help me out with some links to a rough guide or a set of instructions to get started? I've tried google but didn't get any results for this specific model.

 

most of it should be explained in the User's Manual

 

OK, so I've removed all components one by one and put them back in according to the user's manual, starting with RAM, then HD, CPU and GPU, but, as before, black screen and power off after 3 seconds. Guess that means the motherboard is broken right?

 

Take everything out anything you don't need for a successful post (HD, Wireless, Optical). Put in one stick of RAM only. If it fails to POST, try the same stick in the other slot, then if that doesn't work, the other stick in both slots as well.

Also be sure that your cooling assembly on the GPU and CPU are firmly attached.

 

Yep, stripped my notebook of hard disk, WLAN module and optical module, tried to boot in all 4 RAM configurations, ... nothing. Sorry, but it was worth a try.

 

This is exactly what happened to me. I feel like Sager is letting us down in the motherboard department...

 

As this laptop was dropped, then it's hardly sager letting you down... (and it'd be clevo who makes them anyway)