My laptop is dying

[sniffles]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop that I purchased on the secondary market last year. Recently it has begun having two problems:

1. It makes an annoying screechy whine on startup. It's not the fan or the power supply.

2. It identifies that the battery is low even when connected to outlet power and switches itself off. I've purchased a new battery to no avail. It won't recognize the new battery to charge it.

I'm thinking it's probably not worth it to try to get the thing repaired, but I thought I'd post this on the off chance that someone else is familiar with the problem and it's something relatively minor.

[LuNaR]

yes dell battery are crap. my battery died too, my laptop is basically a desktop now.

as for the screeching sound, that doesnt happen to me unless im loading alot of stuff at once

[Han Solo]

Dell battery is notorious unfortunately.

I used to have a Dell inspiron as well and it died last year, after fixing it for x bucks it takes a turn for worst with record time startup and music effects with every new program open.

It now gathers dust in my house.

[sniffles]

I think my problem with the battery may be the AC connection to the motherboard. And the whining sound is probably the hard drive. It's time for a new laptop. That's what I get for buying one used.

Now I have to try to find a (relatively) new laptop with XP installed, since I'm afraid NJStar won't play nice with Vista.

[Han Solo]

NJStar works on Vista np.

Han Solo

[expression]

My Sony Vaio is very nice EXCEPT for VISTA.

[sniffles]

NJStar works on Vista np.

Han Solo

Well my old laptop had started turning itself off again almost as soon as it booted up, so I was getting desperate. Finding a newer laptop with XP installed looked like it was going to take too much time and effort and end up being more expensive than one with Vista. So last night I bought a new Dell with Vista installed.

My husband was able to install NJStar without any problems and so far I haven't noticed any difficulties with Vista. We'll see how it works when I have time to do more. But I am happy with how much faster it boots up and how much lighter it is than my old one.

[remember_Cedric]

Dell battery is notorious unfortunately.

I used to have a Dell inspiron as well and it died last year, after fixing it for x bucks it takes a turn for worst with record time startup and music effects with every new program open.

It now gathers dust in my house.

Gosh! I was thinking of getting a new laptop and now this appears to me as some sort of warning :P

Compaq is crap too. The whole laptop, that is. Just as their customer service.

Lenovo and IBM thinkpad are within my consideration now.

[Guo Xiang]

Gosh! I was thinking of getting a new laptop and now this appears to me as some sort of warning :P

Compaq is crap too. The whole laptop, that is. Just as their customer service.

Lenovo and IBM thinkpad are within my consideration now.

Dearie, you can get Lenovo. I'm using a Lenovo laptop with Vista and it's working great for me.

[Trinie]

Dell battery is notorious unfortunately.

I used to have a Dell inspiron as well and it died last year, after fixing it for x bucks it takes a turn for worst with record time startup and music effects with every new program open.

It now gathers dust in my house.

Really?? I have a Dell Inspiron 1501 and it works great for the most part... I wonder what happened to yours???

[Trinie]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop that I purchased on the secondary market last year. Recently it has begun having two problems:

1. It makes an annoying screechy whine on startup. It's not the fan or the power supply.

2. It identifies that the battery is low even when connected to outlet power and switches itself off. I've purchased a new battery to no avail. It won't recognize the new battery to charge it.

I'm thinking it's probably not worth it to try to get the thing repaired, but I thought I'd post this on the off chance that someone else is familiar with the problem and it's something relatively minor.

My Dell works fine... Mine is a only an Insprion 1501. Was yours used?? If it was used, then I think that is the problem. I think it is always better to get something brand new.

[Ken Cheng]

My Dell works fine... Mine is a only an Insprion 1501.

Hey! We use the same kind of computer!

If your laptop dies, call Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska to field dress it for you.

[remember_Cedric]

Dearie, you can get Lenovo. I'm using a Lenovo laptop with Vista and it's working great for me.

Aha! Alrightey, will definitely get one Lenny, same model as yours.

[pemberly]

i had a dell inspiron. never again. i had to have the following replaced:
- hard drive
- motherboard
- monitor
- keyboard
- ac adapter

the following i should have replaced, but warranty ran out:
- cd drive
- battery

[remember_Cedric]

i had a dell inspiron. never again. i had to have the following replaced:
- hard drive
- motherboard
- monitor
- keyboard
- ac adapter

You changed almost everything. Almost.

[Trinie]

Hey! We use the same kind of computer!

If your laptop dies, call Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska to field dress it for you.

Yea, the kind we use is a very common and standard one. How long have you had yours for? I have had mine since 2007 and it always works fine. I think it may be because my brother put a lot of good programs in and made sure everything is ok.. Mine works fine so far without any problems so I wonder why people always complain about Dells having problems?? I also got mine brand new too. Maybe that is why...

[pemberly]

You changed almost everything. Almost.

yeah. the most annoying part was that not everything died at once either. something would crap out every month or two. -_- i had the dell support number saved in my cell phone. this was when i was in college, so i had to use the school computers a lot. defeats the purpose of having my own computer.

i bought mine new as well.

[Trinie]

yeah. the most annoying part was that not everything died at once either. something would crap out every month or two. -_- i had the dell support number saved in my cell phone. this was when i was in college, so i had to use the school computers a lot. defeats the purpose of having my own computer.

i bought mine new as well.

How long did you have your Dell before all of this started to happen?? How much did you spend on your Dell? Strange.. It was new as well. Maybe once in awhile there is a computer or 2 out of a really big lot that this happens too. That happened to me once, but with just a X'mas music card.. It was a funny story though but off topic..

[pemberly]

How long did you have your Dell before all of this started to happen?? How much did you spend on your Dell? Strange.. It was new as well. Maybe once in awhile there is a computer or 2 out of a really big lot that this happens too. That happened to me once, but with just a X'mas music card.. It was a funny story though but off topic..

mmm... started within the first 2 months. and i paid about 1800 USD.

[sniffles]

I paid $250 for a service contract, so if my new Dell starts having problems like pemberly's did, I won't have to take care of it all out-of-pocket.