Not a reliable product
Written: Apr 21 '03
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Pros: Worked for one and half years.
Cons: Defective motherboard.
The Bottom Line: Dell laptop is much cheaper than other brands. But they sacrifice the liability of their products for the low price.
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| baohl140's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 4150 Series Notebook Computers |
I bought a Dell Inspiron 4150 two years ago. I used it primarily for just checking email, watching DVD and organizing photos taken with my digital camera. For almost one year, it worked fine, except whenever my boyfriend touched it, it mystriously went dead. He didn't abuse it. Sometimes, all he did was double-click some icon, say 'My Computer', and the poor thing just froze and we had to reboot it. I didn't take this symptom too seriously, as my boyfriend didn't use it often and we always making fun for his mystrious force to the laptop. But about six months ago, one day I was just watching a DVD, the laptop suddenly shut down by itself in the middle of the movie. It was sitting on my desk, and I was not even touching it. The DVD disk was new. I can't think of any reason that it should do this. I tried to restart the computer. But there was no response as I press the 'Start' button. I called Dell support. They let me did several simple tests and then claim the motherboard was dead. I only bought one year warranty for the computer and the technical supporting guy told me it will cost me $799 for the motherboard. I can't believe it just went dead like this. I asked several of my friends in EE or ECE department to help me fix it. None of them could really help me. I post a message in google group 'dell laptop' and ask for help. Two people answered me and said I need to find someone who is really know about computer to totally dissemble the laptop. After lots of troubles, I took it to my brother and asked him dissemble the laptop. After a whole afternoon of dissembling and detecting, he finally claimed the CPU seating is defective and showed me in some very awkward angle he can make the seating socket touching fine with CPU and the laptop can work. But unfortunately we can't figure out a way to let it do this without our hands pressing. Eventually I decided to buy a used or refurbished motherboard from ebay. Then, I found out there are so many people got similar problem. There are plenty of other parts selling on ebay for Inspiron 4100 and 4150, just very few motherboards. And in a lot of cases, sellers explain the reason they are selling the spare parts is 'defective motherboard', 'can't start the computer'. And I've got several emails asking me if I have fixed my laptop because of my posting in google. Those people who ask said their Inspiron got similar problem and want to how to fix it.
I don't expect to use the laptop for ten years. I know they are much more fragile than a desktop. But, still, I didn't expect it can't last for two or three years.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 1500
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 701-800
Screen Size: 14 inches
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30
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Epinions.com ID:
baohl140
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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