So much wrong with the m1330?

My current laptop, an acer, has been on its last legs for a long time. Everything with it is falling apart. Being a senior in high school, and off to college next year, I need a good machine.

My dad offered me his old m1330, which he bought, refurbished, about a year ago. I am not sure about the warranty, but he has used it lightly (for taxes only) and never had a problem with it. But it does have the Nvidia graphics card.

Is this some lucky machine, since it never died? I would make sure not to do too much on it, maybe starcraft or a hulu broadcast. But nothing overly demanding. And being refurbished, would I be screwed out of luck if anything happened to it?

Thanks so much for reading this, and helping me out.

 

If you go on Dell.com, click on My Account at the top of the page. Register, and you will then have access to your My Account page. From this page, you will see an area off to the right called "My Systems & Peripherals." From here you can enter the laptop's Service Tag (found on the bottom of the system) and see all information regarding it: Including original configuration, active and passed service calls, and also your warranty info. If it turns out that the system still has a warranty, I'd say it'd be great... but only if you're willing to call up Dell and buy an extended warranty.

The chance that thing will die is quite high. I can honestly tell you that, while the extended warranty may be expensive, it's 100% worth it with the XPS line. You'll probably find that that $200-300 warranty will get you a free new computer worth much more down the line. I bought a used M1530, which had broken - out of warranty - presumably due to overheating. Dell not only sold me a new complete coverage warranty (at a hefty $300,) they sent a tech the parts the next day... multiple times.

Now, that $500 I spent overall has gotten me a new SXPS1640 worth over $1,700. So is it worth it? Totally. Not to mention that while the computer DOES work, you'll probably love it anyway. =P

Best of luck to you.
(BTW: I had an Extensa 4620Z as my first laptop... other than the constantly breaking hinges, it's was complete EPICNESS condensed into plastic form.)

 

That is the key phrase in your statement. It might be a week, month or year but game on it or use it on a regular basis and it WILL fry. The copper mod would buy you some time though.

 

well it has seen lots of use, but just at a desk, on a dock or cooling stand.

I will talk to him tomorrow about getting an extended warranty. That would be better then $700+ for a new computer. And I would only really play music, instant message, internet, and word process. That will still fry the system?

But what happens with it? I have not spent time researching this. But if the m1330 needs repairs, what will happen since it is discontinued? I would not care if I bumped up to a bigger system, but any smaller and that could be annoying for college use (my only problem with the alienware m11x).

 

Nope, Dell can't move you to anything smaller without you saying so. They can certainly move you up, but they can't move you down.

I'd presume you'd either get a 1340 from the outlet, or you'd get a 1640; the latter being the most likely.

 

What others have said is dead on, the most I ever did on my M1330 was play rare DVD and it died, though it lasted over a year and a half before it did. I posted a thread a few days ago with the prices Dell quoted me on a warranty extension if what get idea of what kind of price you talking about.

EDIT: Here is the LINK to the other thread.

 

The M1330 is a fairly reliable machine with the exception of the graphics chip problem. There are things you can do to help this thing last and that is to never use it on your lap without a portable lap desk (e.g. Logitech Portable Lapdesk N315) as you want all vent holes unblocked including the wifi / ram slots.

Definitely perform the copper mod as described in the other thread. This reduces chip temperatures by about 20 degrees and is a big help to preventing your chip frying so quickly.

Finally there is a growing number of people on the web, who will fix this problem, if you ever suffer the issue for a reasonable £90-120 and I think this works out better than Dell's extended warranty.

Go on....take the M1330, install an SSD, 2-4gb of RAM and Windows 7 and the thing will fly.

 

Well actually, it already has 4gb ram, windows 7 ultimate, and a speedy hdd. I dont think I will upgrade to a ssd, it seems to expensive (although better- as my acer hdd gave up I think).

And ill talk more about the warrenty/cooling of the device. But if I can pay the $200-300 out of my bank, it may be worth it- just as a precaution.

But how will the warrenty work? I could buy it, then if anything happens they will send a replacement part? I will be going away to college, in a small campus. So a tech will not drive out? Even so, I could fix it myself. I am comfortable working with computers (although its mostly ram/hdd replacement).

 

Depends on the warranty type. If you buy a onsite warranty they will send someone out to fix it. If not you will have to send it in to get fixed. If it is something minor they may ship you parts and let you install it yourself. But as the main concern is the video card you will either have send it in or get a onsite warranty. If you can't afford to be without your computer for two or three weeks you had best put the extra money towards the onsite warranty.

EDIT: If the only thing wrong with your Acer is the hard drive you could replace it fairly cheaply.

 

well, I have my acer... but it has its own handful of problems. I am sure I have an old mac that my brother used, or a netbook. But maybe it is worth the onsite. I dont like sending computers. And being without it can be bad. Id want to see what happens.

And I think it has the 9 cell battery, so it would be elevated. But I know that keeping it plugged in and charging kills the battery. So I would try to buy/ make (i actually saw sweet instructions to build a custom one, with fans over your fan openings).

I thought about that. But in reality, that was only the straw that broke the camel's back. Both hinges are broke, thus making me prop the back up against a wall. The t2310 processor is ancient, and struggles at times with light loads. It often overheats, causing it to shut down, the power supply broke, and doesnt charge.

And I am not sure if it is the hdd, or something else. ill make a 'beg-for-help' thread later.

But also, come to think about it, if I really dont need the machine anymore, it would be nice to open everything, and fix it up. In the end the machine may still be too old, but id be damned if I didnt enjoy bringing it back to life.

 

If you have the service tag handy here is the link to get a quote on what it will cost you.

 

Haha, I understand. The Dell Latitude C600 I am using while my M1330 is being repaired is the same way. Broken hinges, missing screws, cracked plastic, etc. But it still works! Somehow. The P3 and 256 MB of RAM do surprisingly well, but can be annoying at times.

One more thing worth noting (I cannot believe no one has mentioned it yet) is that Dell has extended the warranty on the video card one year past the original warranty expires. So even if you do not want to fork over the money for a extend warranty right now you could wait another year (assuming it is still under warranty right now) before really having to worry about it. Of course it only covers the video card, so if anything else goes wrong you're our of luck, but more than likely the video card will fail long before anything else does. When the warranty on the video card about to be up you can go ahead and add few more years the warranty if you concerned about it failing or put that money (and whatever else you may have by then) towards a new laptop if don't like the M1330.

 

This is probably the worse laptop I ever owned. When it first came out, it looked really promising. Slim form factor, LED backlit display, dedicated graphics. Now I am plagued with constant overheating, squeaky chassis, loud DVD drive, flickering screen.

I should have dumped this POS long time ago.

 

I undervolted the CPU, did the copper mod, and use a logitech cooler when sitting in bed (no cooler on hard surfaces). I've played 3d games etc for 2.5 years on it now without nay issues. Never had any squeaking problems, althought it did get hot as hell when on a soft surface prior to buying the lap cooler. It's probably my favorite notebook out of all I've ever owned.

 

Wow, if you have 4gb of ram and Win7 x64 then you definitely need an SSD. Get it on your birthday / Christmas list as you won't believe how much quicker your M1330 can be.

 

Alright. Maybe I can spring for the warranty and a nice size ssd. Depends on what scholarships I get for colleges, and a summer job. After all, I could always remove the ssd and swap it into my next computer as well, so the savings last I long as I dont need all the storage at once. I have a nice matching (red) external hdd for backup.

And I read about the 1 year warranty. The regular warranty just expired, but the video card still is in effect? Then I do not need to buy an extended one until about next year?

 

Sounds like a good plan to me! Only question I would have is if a out-of-warranty warranty costs more. I do not think it does, but it might be worth considering. That and how long you will be able to purchase a warranty extension. (i.e. after a year will still let you buy one?)

As far as a SSD goes, it would certainly be nice, but hardly necessary in my opinion. I am waiting for them become mainstream first. Still too expensive and not yet had all the kinks worked out. Just a personal opinion though.

 

You had to do all that, buy a cooler just to keep it from overheating and it's your favourite notebook you ever owned? Sarcasm? or are you trying to mock me?

The squeaky chassis arose due to the constant need to replace the mobo. The tech had to disassemble and assemble things back. Things never looked right after that.

 

Update, it is only 32 bit, but still windows ultimate, and 4gb ram. I know the whole ram cap thing, but it was refurbished, cheap, and great for running them together (as opposed to 3gb). And also, it only has the 6 cell battery, but the t6700 (i think, its the t6xxx 2.2ghz processor).

I will absolutely get a notebook cooler, as it extends the life anyway. But he is really objecting to the warranty, saying they are worthless, dont save money, etc. Maybe a link or a couple nice answers as to why in general they are so worth it? And I believe (although did not check) that the gpu warranty has another year?

and lordnikon, it is also my dad's favorite machine. Over his nice lenovo (on it now), sony, or mac. But he just does not use it enough, and is cheaper and better than me buying a new budget machine now.

 

My m1330 is almost 3 years old (bought new) and been using it everyday so I know what its like. I went through 2 motherboards due to the graphics overheating. (I know other people had worse luck) Sure, if you get it for free, I wouldn't mind having one as well. But you'd be pissed as I am after having spent 1800 bucks and encountering so many problems afterwards.

 

The biggest problem with the m1330's cooling system is that the fan speed is entirely determined by CPU temperature.

So if you have a program/game that's fairly light on CPU usage but puts a heavy load on the GPU (not uncommon considering how weak the 8400m GS is relative to any C2D), the GPU temp will hit 90C within about 30 seconds and stay there, but the fans won't spin up.

 

Really? Thats great to know. Right now I set it to Power Saver mode, but the fan is still going. But as long as its kept nice and cool, thats no problem.

Ill try not to overtax the gpu as well. I dont need to play games or anything, its a work machine. And its elevated now, which is good.

 

Dude, do yourself a favor.....

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...1519349&ec=BC-EC877-CatHome&pos=13&lang=en-US

You're going off to college, that in itself has its own set of headaches....you don't need to be worrying about bandage jobs with your M1330. You've got enough to worry about, so spare yourself.

Hope this hopes; it was posted with the sincerest of intentions.

PEACE!