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    My m14x kissed the ground hard :|

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by goodboynyc, Jan 12, 2013.

  1. goodboynyc

    goodboynyc Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hanging out with some friends blasting Pandora on my laptop (because the speakers have always been amazing) and my girlfriend ordering pizza hut when all of sudden she hears her cell ring inside her bag (not in arms length). She gets up to to grab her phone and trips over the power cord on my m14x and down she goes (my m14x).

    It took a nasty fall on the back edge along the power cord. I thought everything was fine but then I noticed the speakers starting to crackle in songs that had never had crackling. I have a second SSD in place of the optical drive that isn't recognized anymore as of an hour ago. What once took 10-15sec, my boot drive is another SSD, to boot to Windows Login screen is now taking about 1 min to load.

    I hope its just some negative speaker placebo effect but it appears that something is wrong (perhaps the motherboard?). Any thoughts or input?
     
    goodboynyc, Jan 12, 2013
    #1
  2. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Um, three words: Accidental Damage Warranty. Take advantage of it! Hope you have it, falls can kill a machine, even long-term - months after the damage occurred. You may run in to screen issues later on too. Sounds to me like your speakers may have been slightly damaged or loosened.

    If you don't have this warranty, start praying. :)
     
    J.Dre, Jan 12, 2013
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  3. digitalmo

    digitalmo Notebook Consultant

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    yup, a falling notebook does not end well. i have bumped corners of notebooks on things and seen optical disk alignment issues, so a full-on fall may be the end of the line :[

    i guess i would rebuild it myself to see if that fixes anything?
     
    digitalmo, Jan 13, 2013
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  4. goodboynyc

    goodboynyc Notebook Enthusiast

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    I've opened it up and everything seemed to be intact. I reflashed the Bios and re-installed a few drivers as a last gasp of breath and it's seemed to have quelled the slow boot up and failing to recognize the 2nd SSD. Right now my concern is the sub woofer. It looks like an easy fix but need to know the wattage.
     
    goodboynyc, Jan 13, 2013
    #4
  5. nuaron

    nuaron Notebook Consultant

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    run a diagnostics test. During boot, press F12 and select the test option. Let it complete and see if it comes up with some error. I hope not!
     
    nuaron, Jan 14, 2013
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  6. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    Please send me your tag and phone in a PM. I'll take care of you. It does seem like something might be wrong with it.
     
    Alienware-L_Porras, Jan 16, 2013
    #6