Alienware 15 R3 7820hk, 1070, DEAD Please Help

So I came home from work yesterday and my Alienware would not power on. It is 1 month out of warranty. The power brick halo blue led was off so I assumed the power brick died. I unplugged it and plugged it back in and the led came back on. The second I plug it into the Alienware the LED goes out. This system was already sent in once for overheating (CPU over 100) degrees. A few months later is was getting memory errors and dell sent out memory. It is crazy to me that they will not cover being one month out of warranty with all the issues this system has had. Can anyone comment on what they think the issue is? There is a burnt smell coming from the laptop but not sure where. I tried another power supply that I purchased and same thing happens. Can you believe Alienware/Dell would not cover a 2k plus laptop that has been in for overheating that is one month out of service?! What should I do with the system? Please help! Thanks in advance!

 

You need to open it up I think and check if you can see any burn marks on the motherboard and around the DC-in cable that goes from the back of the case to the motherboard.

 

I’ve had this happen on older alienwares where the GPU mosfet has shorted and would give similar behavior to yours now. We could replace GPUs back then, you can’t now though...try an eBay repair service. They should be able to find the short and repair the blown mosfet

 

I am considering a class action lawsuit against Dell. You can't talk to anyone in the US about issues. I purchased this laptop on September 6th 2017 New and sealed. The vendor I purchased this from must have bought it from Dell on 03/21/2017. They basically are saying that I am out of luck. I will open the laptop this weekend and post some pictures. I assume because I get no power, it is a motherboard or DC in issue? Can anyone else help with some suggestions? I am willing to send it in for repair. I am not willing to replace a motherboard/CPU/GPU. I will throw it as a Frisbee before I invest anymore money in it. Crazy part is it has never left my desk, always been on a cooling pad. It is in mint condition. No dead pixels 120 hz screen. The laptop looks brand new. I am very picky about not moving it, getting dings, scratches, etc.

 

You've ignored what I posted. You have a SHORT. If your power cable has the blue light, and it goes out as soon as you plug it in, that means power is being routed in a way that it SHOULDN'T be and is tripping your power adapter's internal protection circuitry. You have power, you said so yourself as soon as you plug it in the light goes out. DC jack wouldn't do that. You said "There is a burnt smell coming from the laptop" yes that is characteristic of a blown MOSFET. You have a blown power component somewhere on the motherboard. I hope you still have your M17x R1.....it will probably outlive your Alienware 15 R3 lol

Dell has no obligation to you. You are past warranty date. If they did anything about it, it would be out of goodwill. Your options are to source a new motherboard or repair your existing one by a third party.

 

Thanks for the comment. I will take your advice of course. Just feel like they are obligated. I purchased this laptop new in September. The retailer must have purchased it in March. Can you recommend a repair facility or a link to said repair person on Ebay?

Note: I opened up the laptop this evening. Smell is coming from right side facing the back (opposite side of hard drive) I know that does not help much. Will I be able to see the blown mosfit if I tear it down further? Radrair--I tried to send you some pics but it would not let me. Is there a way to connect so I can ask a few more questions? Thanks!

 

Unfortunately Dell almost never budges on out of warranty products. They will fight you at every step trying to get someone to hear your story. In the end, it will be a fruitless fight and end in wasted air time.

Find someone whom can repair the board or source yourself a new one, which will run you about a grand.

when it comes to Dell, ALWAYS, ALWAYS buy extended warranties. At the minimum, 2 years. If a system will fail, more often then not, it is within the two0 year mark. Plus, after two years you will be looking to upgrade to the newest tech anyway.

Good luck man, it sucks now, but this too will pass.

 

Which retailer did you purchase your laptop from? Call Dell technical support and get them a copy of your receipt or invoice with purchase date and service tag, they will forward your information to the warranty team that should adjust your warranty to the correct expiration date. Note that the machine must have been purchased brand new (not refurbished, open-box, etc) for them to do this.

 

I should have used the word reseller. I purchased it off Ebay. It was new and sealed.

 

In that case it does depend on the particular reseller you purchased it from on ebay. If you got it from Antonline via ebay, for instance, they can adjust the warranty start date because Antonline is a dell partner.

 

I dropped the alienware off at a repair shop today. This particular shop can replace capacitors/mosfets. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the GPU/CPU are not fried. Thanks to all for the support. I will report back in a day or two once I know the final verdict.

**Edit**

So I got a call from the technician and he said that 3 capacitors around the GPU are blown. He will not know if the GPU is fried until he replaces them. What are my odds here? Any thoughts?