Cameron, How many people I wonder are having this same issue? My video card died in the evening of Monday, May 18th.... Just noticed you posted the above comment around the same time. Hmmm..
I just hope the replacement video card is better. It took me a long time to find the "right" support number, but once I did they sent me a large empty box and FedEx took it to some repair depot in Memphis for the week it took them to fix it. I too agree it would cost alot of money to troubleshoot such an issue by themselves. Who has an extra motherboard or specific video card modules handy?
Earlier that day I was connecting to a WiFi spot using XP (I have Vista as well on mine) when the screen froze and the keyboard and mouse where dead. I had to hold the power button down to shut down. When I got home it wouldn't boot or show the Dell logo and that's when I knew that there was a serious issue. I have been employed as a full-time computer tech before, and an issue like this was *really* difficult/impossible even for me being familliar with the system. I really want to know how many people have had/or have this issue and when did it start for them. This may indicate one of two things. One, the hardware (card) has or had a short life-expectancy (MTBF), or, two, the system does not cool the system or VPU well enough... thus a short lifespan for temperature critical parts like processor chips. In either case, I want to be able to keep using this computer for the next 2 years. That's not much is it? A computer should not die that early, especially one being this pricey.
I will at least take mine apart one more time. I took the two hard drives out before shipping mine as it was optional. All I need is a good thermocouple (thermometer) and take it's temperature. If it is blistering in there, I might have to make some extra heatsinks out of aluminum foil (as not to void warranty and as not to short anything out)... until the warranty expires and I can modify away on the insides.
Other than this one problem, I really had no major complaints with the system.
Is there a M2010 forum out there? If not we should all form one or join the couple of other sites and pick the best thread(s).
Mine starting giving me an ATI blue screen error starting last October. I purchased it in November of 2006. Although I was able to use it sporadically, I ended up having a computer tech take it for a few days. He said the ATI card was defective and had to be replaced. We replaced it and it worked for a few weeks and then the computer just died. This time it was the motherboard. We replaced the board and that turned out to be defective as well. I finally got the computer back after 6 months of back and forth. The tech basically said that the there may be a overheating problem and to elevate the computer however he recommended to just sell it for parts and start all over. This has been very frustrating and difficult on my business. Fortunately, I have a extra laptop with my other business. DELL was not helpfull at all and although I loved my M2010. I will never purchase another product from DELL. And regardless, buy the extended warrenty from them if you do purchase the M2010, you will need it!
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Cameron, How many people I wonder are having this same issue? My video card died in the evening of Monday, May 18th.... Just noticed you posted the above comment around the same time. Hmmm..
I just hope the replacement video card is better. It took me a long time to find the "right" support number, but once I did they sent me a large empty box and FedEx took it to some repair depot in Memphis for the week it took them to fix it. I too agree it would cost alot of money to troubleshoot such an issue by themselves. Who has an extra motherboard or specific video card modules handy?
Earlier that day I was connecting to a WiFi spot using XP (I have Vista as well on mine) when the screen froze and the keyboard and mouse where dead. I had to hold the power button down to shut down. When I got home it wouldn't boot or show the Dell logo and that's when I knew that there was a serious issue. I have been employed as a full-time computer tech before, and an issue like this was *really* difficult/impossible even for me being familliar with the system. I really want to know how many people have had/or have this issue and when did it start for them. This may indicate one of two things. One, the hardware (card) has or had a short life-expectancy (MTBF), or, two, the system does not cool the system or VPU well enough... thus a short lifespan for temperature critical parts like processor chips. In either case, I want to be able to keep using this computer for the next 2 years. That's not much is it? A computer should not die that early, especially one being this pricey.
I will at least take mine apart one more time. I took the two hard drives out before shipping mine as it was optional. All I need is a good thermocouple (thermometer) and take it's temperature. If it is blistering in there, I might have to make some extra heatsinks out of aluminum foil (as not to void warranty and as not to short anything out)... until the warranty expires and I can modify away on the insides.
Other than this one problem, I really had no major complaints with the system.
Is there a M2010 forum out there? If not we should all form one or join the couple of other sites and pick the best thread(s).
Mine starting giving me an ATI blue screen error starting last October. I purchased it in November of 2006. Although I was able to use it sporadically, I ended up having a computer tech take it for a few days. He said the ATI card was defective and had to be replaced. We replaced it and it worked for a few weeks and then the computer just died. This time it was the motherboard. We replaced the board and that turned out to be defective as well. I finally got the computer back after 6 months of back and forth. The tech basically said that the there may be a overheating problem and to elevate the computer however he recommended to just sell it for parts and start all over. This has been very frustrating and difficult on my business. Fortunately, I have a extra laptop with my other business. DELL was not helpfull at all and although I loved my M2010. I will never purchase another product from DELL. And regardless, buy the extended warrenty from them if you do purchase the M2010, you will need it!