Dell

[dayneman1]

Hello every one, i know when i bought my laptop (5150 Dell), it said if it got to warm it would not run as efficiently. A buddy of mine also bought the same computer, after listening to me talk about it. Both our computers have run fine for these months of use, but recently my friends computer has just become prone to shutting down without warning. After some googling we have found out that this is a design flaw in with dust collects and causes the computer to over heat. Dell has done nothing to solve this problem, which leads me to ask is there anything i can do so this doesn't happen to me, and shouldn't dell do something about this. If anyone else has a 5100 series from dell and is experience problems please visit this page.http://www.geocities.com/i5100dustproblem/index.html

[morganlefay]

Sure its hardware???

Buy some compressed air and blow out the fans in the back??

How old is the laptop?? Under warranty still???

Is it shuting down...or is the screen going??


MLF

[dayneman1]

It's a design flaw, my friends computer is only 6 months old. Blowing compressed air solves the problem temporary, but reading other posts even doing this the dust will get caked on. The computer just shuts down when this happens, this isn't something that is just happening to this one computer it seems to affect all 5100 eventually. My friend’s computer is still under warranty, but mine isn't. I’ve been reading around more and it seems like there is a group of people that are going to try legal action. I’m really not asking any questions in this post just trying to inform others about this problem.

[morganlefay]

FYI

After doing a search on google ...i found the issue you are speaking of....

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...sage.id=139712

Looks like there is a BIOS update you can do that may resolve the issue...also open gl screen savers seem to over heat the unit.

MLF

[nihil]

"Caveat emptor"..................that's "let the buyer beware" in Latin

Buy Dell, get what you deserve...............they used to be OK, just like Gateway?

Now, I think that they are looking to take over where Packard Bell left off

They are not my favourite supplier, I would neither buy nor recommend them..............look in all the magazines...........count the Dell adverts.............then those of any other manufacturer?

I rest my case (and it wasn't one of those bendy hinges Dell ones)

[aeallison]

Start saving your money and be prepared to buy a new laptop, you must take very good care of it as yours has lasted longer than most. I have to agree with Nihil on his opinion, mine is the same.

I have 2 Dell laptops, and I only use them to transfer the pictures from my digital camera when I am on the road, and away from home. They have never been reliable, and if the pictures I am taking are important, I burn them to CD before I shut it down. I was given these two, I would never pay money for one.

[jinxy]

I think Mr Moore and his bloody theory have alot to answer for. Double the power half the cost every 18 months. Just means crap componants and poor build quality. Mr Dell is very much one for keeping to the letter of Moores theory one way or another.

[Cybr1d]

Dude, u got a dell!


Quick question...why on earth does Dell use Rambus on PCs when it costs $300+ for 512MB of ram compared to $100 for DDR memory? I've seen customers come in with 1-2 year old Dells using Rambus.

[Striek]

If you can find a place on the laptop where most of the air enters the case, try putting a filter there. What I have is one case fan blowing out, and another blowing in with a filter in front of it.

For the filter, you can use a few things. Cut a coffee filter to the right size, or an old pillowcase or rag might work also. If you can find something that fits, have a look through the automotive section of the local hardware store and see if they have some kind of air filter thingy that you can cut to size. The best ideas can sometimes be found in the miscellaneous parts section. Furnace filters might work also.

If you feel really ambitious, you can stuff a few cotton balls between two screens and make your own filter. Just make sure that the filter doesn't block so much airflow that air is forced to enter the case elsewhere. The idea is to force as much of the incoming air through a filter as possible.

It really makes a huge difference. Just remember to change the filter once in a while or it won't help much.

[nihil]

Cybr1d,

Quick question...why on earth does Dell use Rambus on PCs when it costs $300+ for 512MB of ram compared to $100 for DDR memory? I've seen customers come in with 1-2 year old Dells using Rambus.

Well, Intel and Rambus had a thing going a while back, that was when the early P4s were getting a lot of pressure from the new Athlon XPs. I benchmarked a Dell P4 1.7 Mhz (768Mb Rambus RDRAM) against a box with an Athlon XP 1700 and 1Gb of the best DDR available. Overall, the Athlon just won. It was quite a bit better on the processor scores but the Rambus slaughtered the DDR. Actually I think it was only the superior graphics card in the AMD box that tipped the balance.

I think that at the time Dell were worried about competition from smaller local "brand name" manufacturers who were using AMD and DDR to beat them on price. They were pretty expensive at the time (a bit like Alienware now) so had to sell on quality and speed.

I would suspect that your 1-2 year old machines are actually older; possibly end of range stuff being sold off cheap?

I have just checked this month's "Computer Shopper" magazine. Dell have a 4 page ad, and all the boxes have DDR memory.

Oh.............and I got 512Mb of that Rambus for $85............second user, the guy wanted more power for his CAD box

Dayneman~

It also helps if your laptop is raised up above the worksurface so that air can circulate underneath it.

EDIT: Another thought.............have one of those electrostatic air conditioning devices near your workstation. They are pretty good at suppressing dust.