Sager NP8760: Faulty battery and random shutdowns

Hiho folks!

I emailed XoticPC support about this, but have yet to recieve ANY form of reply now (it's been a week), so .. somewhat annoyed I now turn to you guys for help;

Problem 1:

The laptop shuts down completely without warning, usually during gaming. And I don't mean like a freeze or bluescreen, it just shuts down completely. I have downloaded and monitored the temps using SpeedFan with the following results:

Idle: All temps at 60-65-75 degrees Celsius.
Load (gaming etc): around 80-90 degrees Celsius.

these are only the CPU temps, though (I think), not the GPU.

Simply pushing the power-button again does not always work (nothing happens); I usually have to wait a good 5 minutes before turning it on again (which is what leads me to believe that it is heat-related).

I thought of simply cleaning the fans/alternatively changing out the thermal paste but I didn't know how that would affect the warranty so I have yet to open the laptop up.

It could also be a PSU problem, or something. The PSU not supporting enough juice to the laptop? I have the standard 120W PSU; it could be getting old or something?

Problem 2:

This problem is regarding the battery. Both me and my friend have the same laptops (bought from XoticPC), that is the NP8760. A few weeks ago his battery stopped working, and then not long after so did mine. Upon inspecting the battery itself it seems to have.. Well, gotten larger. It no longer fits snuggly into the laptop, but protrudes somewhat. The holdings for the battery still work, so it can still be attached, but it does not supply any power to the laptop and as such is not detected by windows. applying a slight downward force against the battery makes it fit, but it's still not detected by windows/does not supply any power. (see pictures!)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15627101/Windows_Battery_Missing.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15627101/battery_loose_02.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15627101/battery_loose_01.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15627101/battery_forced_Down.jpg

We have both been very carefull with our laptops, obviously no dropping it on the floor etc.

Is this a common problem with the NP8760 (W870CU)? I mean, what are the chances of both of our laptop batteries going kaput?

(I really hope a XoticPC rep sees this and actually responds to my support request ... )

Anyways, are any of these problems common for the W870CUs? And what should I do?

thanks,
Eri

 

Try running on power without the battery attached. If it's still shutting down then it's something else too ._.

 

Why would that indicate another problem as well?

 

If those temps on your CPU are right they seem way high at idle. My laptop idles around 48-50 C and i have 920XM.

As far as the battery, its been reported around here that some people have had it swell like that. People who have used the battery during gaming or heavy loads I think have been more prone to the swelling. My battery is fine, but I have rarely used it, I use it more for a UPS than to actually run the laptop.

Try calling XoticPC up, if they have not replied, they most likely didn't get it. Whenever I have emailed with pre-sales questions I always got a reply within 24 hours.

 

I have the 920XM as well. But will try and give them a call; problem is.. I live in europe, so it can get quite expensive ;D

Will try though..!

 

Email is good! I would try again. Calling from Europe, Ouch!

 

It doesn't sound like them at all - they answer support tickets very fast. I am nearly sure it was some email glitch, they did not get your request.

Try to email them once more, I think it will work this time. You can also pm anyone of XoticPC here at the forums - they will most definitely answer and advise you what to do next.

It certainly looks like a heat problem, and those temps are not that low either. Try using CPUID Hardware Monitor for measuring temps - you will get more information and will be able to learn your battery wear as well.

And +1 to what Baka advised - it is the first thing to try. For example, a faulty battery can easily heat up too much, transmitting excess heat to the chassis and to the components inside (I encountered this once).

That depends on when you have bought the laptop and I think it is unlikely anyway. If your power brick whines extremely loud (quiet whining is ok), or even makes loud crackling noises - that is another story.

 

Managed to get hold of Xotic, seems my email got auto-d to the trash

I have cleaned the laptop and it now idles at about 54

haven't had any shutdowns so far, so. .it's looking good.

The battery is fubar'd though.

 

Thought as much... Good to know your problem is now taken care of.