Dell XPS M1710 no POST

[moritz1]

I'd really appreciate this board's opinion on a problem I'm having with my XPS 1710: When I power on the laptop, the LED's go on for about 3 seconds and then the pc immediately powers off. Screen always remains black & cooling fans never spin up.

I tried removing all the periphery: RAM, HDD, modem, WLAN card. Scenario is always the same (as above).

The laptop is in mint condition. The only unusual thing I have done to it is to store it for 2 months without using it. It has worked perfectly in the past.

I found the service manual for it online so I then tried completely disassembling it, removing the heatsinks and checking for burn damage etc - nothing. I have tried powering it without a CPU and without the gfx card. Scenario is always the same. 3 seconds of LED activity and then off. No fan activity at all.

[Saxito Pau]

First of all, welcome to the forums!!

Well done with the troubleshooting:

Based on what you say, and referencing my own copy of the service manual, looks like a bad board, unfortunately.

Only other way to confirm is to get a 2nd M1710 for testing and that not gonna happen just like that..

[Arcmanov]

I concur.  As with any PC, once you disconnect all peripheral and storage devices, and continue to get
the same problem, its safe to assume that you have an issue with either the RAM (more likely), or in
this case the video-card (less likely, but still possible), or the mainboard itself.  Very seldom you will find
an issue with the CPU.

As Sax said, unfortunately, you need an identical system to find the culprit.

Is it still under warranty?  If so, Dell will hook you up nicely.  You just have to go through
a little song and dance with em online, or on the phone, but they will honour the warranty
via a local firm.

[Spazosaurus]

LMAO @ Arcman's Theorem. Brilliant.

Great posts thus far, nothing else to add here except if there was any warranty left, he would have explored that avenue already no doubt, and in any case, its already been opened, voiding any warranty that may have existed.

[moritz1]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm a year outside the warranty already.

Dell charges an absolute extortionate price for a mainboard and out of warranty service. After a lot of searching I've bought one online and will try to do the repair myself.

[Arcmanov]

Bummer. I went through that already with parts for my Inspiron, so I know what you mean.

[Netizen1]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm a year outside the warranty already.

Dell charges an absolute extortionate price for a mainboard and out of warranty service. After a lot of searching I've bought one online and will try to do the repair myself.

I just paid US$200 to extend a laptop warranty for 1 year... ONE YEAR!?!?!?

Know how much the 3 year costs? US$450...

[Arcmanov]

^^^ DAMN!!!  You coulda get a Inspiron Mini 9, or an Asus 1000H for that!!!  O_O