Question for the laptop gurus

[vdub12]

I'm pretty sure I already know the answer here.

Tonight my personal Dell Inspiron 600M just went black and all the lights came on. I unplugged it and pulled the battery and when I try and power it up all the lights come on for a second and then go out. No fans, no hard drive, nothing.

I pulled it apart to see if there was anything obvious. I noticed the heatsink was packed with hair. I pulled the motherboard out and blew all the dust out of everything cleaned the heatsink and fan and reapplied arctic silver. When the motherboard was out I noticed that tell tale burnt electronics smell right around the DC power jack. If you look at the picture below you can see where I'm talking about. The smell was all around that area below the jack and above the CPU socket. I am betting on a bad board honestly but do you guys think if the CPU smoked the smell would stay there with the CPU out. BTW the CPU didn't smell but was really dirty with dust.

Like I said I think I know the answer here but I was hopping for a second opinion. The nice part is the USB ports and modem on the back have been broken since I got it so with a new board I will no longer need my PCMCIA USB card, lol.

 

[coreyspeed]

really we need a better picture of the areas you suspect to be damaged, it looks lke their may be some damage to a cap near the graphics chip as well, try taking a more detailed picture

 

[vdub12]

really we need a better picture of the areas you suspect to be damaged, it looks lke their may be some damage to a cap near the graphics chip as well, try taking a more detailed picture

Thats not the picture of my board. Its just a reference picture, its the same board.

There is no physical damage at all.

 

[NYJimbo]

There is no physical damage at all.

Well, none that you can see.

 

[vdub12]

Well, none that you can see.

Very true.

Hey does anyone have a normal retailer they use for notebook parts. It seams like every time I need something its a scavenger hunt. It would be nice if there was a company like newegg for notebook parts.

Looking for this motherboard last night I found one for $69. However, I also found them for $399.99. Do these company's really think there going to sell a motherboard for $400 for a laptop that can be replaced for $350.

I have gotten under the habit of looking at a few prices really quick before I blow a company off. Like if I see a 60G hard drive for $130 I don't even bother looking at the rest of there stuff. BTW after surfing last night looking for a lap top retailer I noticed that about 90% of them are so outrageously priced that I don't see how people can repair notebooks.

 

[Hercomputers]

Least you found a deal on that motherboard- BTW, what kind of hair was in that heatsink? Do you have pets? Just wondering...lol

Most folks don't know better when it comes to pricing. It's good that you looked around. $399 for a motherboard? That is crazy and that's why these companies still have those parts!

 

[vdub12]

Least you found a deal on that motherboard- BTW, what kind of hair was in that heatsink? Do you have pets? Just wondering...lol

Most folks don't know better when it comes to pricing. It's good that you looked around. $399 for a motherboard? That is crazy and that's why these companies still have those parts!

Pretty sure it was cat hair. Yes I have a cat and two dogs.

My wife uses the notebook most of the time and her cat will sit on the front of the notebook while she uses it. It would bug he hell out of me but my wife does not mind it. Her and that cat are tight.

I don't think the hair is what caused the problem though. Yes it was packed in there good but I just had the notebook in the lab a few weeks ago refreshing the battery, it would die after 15 minutes. After charging it and killing it close to 10 times its lasts for about 2 hours now. When it was in the lab I checked the sensors on it and the temps where normal.

 

[dakotadan]

I've recently obtained about a dozen or so older Dells, most are the 600m units and the several I've checked all have system board issues. My cousin is also a tech and his reply to me, when he found out I got these units was: "WELCOME TO DELL HELL", I've mostly worked on Think-pads in the past. My idea is to take the ones I've got and end up with at least 5 or 6 good units. I already have 2 sold. I've ordered 3 boards in the past 3 weeks from EBay, all different sources, they all came in with system board issues. The sellers all claimed the boards tested, I even email to ask about the charging/electrical systems. I've about decided to get rid of this junk and depart from Dell Hell for good. I'm probably going to lose the sales I've made because of this. I guess I need to find someone who can repair these boards, and I'm not talking about power-jack problems. Anybody out there?

 

[vdub12]

I've recently obtained about a dozen or so older Dells, most are the 600m units and the several I've checked all have system board issues. My cousin is also a tech and his reply to me, when he found out I got these units was: "WELCOME TO DELL HELL", I've mostly worked on Think-pads in the past. My idea is to take the ones I've got and end up with at least 5 or 6 good units. I already have 2 sold. I've ordered 3 boards in the past 3 weeks from EBay, all different sources, they all came in with system board issues. The sellers all claimed the boards tested, I even email to ask about the charging/electrical systems. I've about decided to get rid of this junk and depart from Dell Hell for good. I'm probably going to lose the sales I've made because of this. I guess I need to find someone who can repair these boards, and I'm not talking about power-jack problems. Anybody out there?

The motherboard i got to replace the one discussed in this thread i got for $70 from a supplier and it worked great.

Here's the link:
http://laptopparts.vivotechnology.net/items/item.aspx?itemid=1608370

My wife is using the notebook right now with no problems.

The nice thing about this supplier and this notebook in general was the $70 was for the whole board assembly. That included all sister boards and cooling. Everything you see in the picture. Less the processor, memory, and add-on cards everything's included. It was worth it and I would jump at the chance to do it again if I ever run in to a 600m with motherboard problems. There great notebooks and very easy to work on. The entire job changing the motherboard took less then an hour because of the fact that the whole motherboard assembly gets changed. Well that and the fact that i have owned this notebook for years and have had it apart many times.

I don't know what your friend was talking about, i think Dell makes some of the best notebooks you can buy. Not only are they very reliable but parts are also easy to find because of the number of units sold. Also the 600m is identical to the Latitude D600, in fact the motherboard i used in mine was a Latitude.

How many of these notebooks do you have?

 

[Graystar]

Thanks for the Info on the Supplier they look like they have a good assortment. I have a need for an HP Mobo now so I will check them out in the A.M.

Thanks again!

 

[xxsilk109xx]

i use ebay for parts like that.....

 

[vdub12]

i use ebay for parts like that.....

I got the entire motherboard sub assembly with all sister cards and the inner notebook frame for $70.

I don't see how you can beat that. Well I'm sure you can sell a faulty one for cheaper. ebay honestly makes me nervous. Its just not worth saving a couple bucks and getting screwed. I buy from stores whenever possible and avoid ebay all together. While I know everyone on there is not a fraud there are to many that are.