dell inspiron 1150 laptop overheating

[Flying-Squirrel]

Hey all,

I love these forums I used all the help to build my GREAT! gaming computer. Anyway now I need help with something new. I know someone who owns a Dell Inspiron 1150 Laptop and it is overheating and crashing after less than an hour. Both Best Buy and Dell say that it is the Heatsink/Fan that needs to be replaced and Dell told her that it would be $450.

So my question is could it be anything else? If not how hard is it to replace a heatsink/fan for this system. I am thinking of doing it for her but I have never messed with a laptop before, all I know is desktops. Any advice would be a great help. Also any links to websites that give help or instructions or parts would be great. Thanks!

 

[brady]

Try to seat it again. I have seen dell put heat syncs on Backwards : O ! Also make sure that internal fans are functioning properly.
Before spending 450 bucks, i would atleast try a new heatsync/fan.

 

[Flying-Squirrel]

I know 450 is nutz. It isn't mine i would just be the one tryin to fix it. How hard is it to take apart a laptop and put in a new heatsync/fan? is it a lot harder than working with desktops?

 

[brady]

oh yeah... laptop. ouch. Honestly i have never taken apart a laptop before. Isn't there a warranty on that thing ?

 

[Flying-Squirrel]

I think she is probably past the warranty because dell, the one she bought it from, was telling her it is like $500 to fix it

 

[brady]

Thats terrible... I would get a second opinion from a "chop shop" pc place like pc club or something like that.

 

[Flying-Squirrel]

Best Buy would charge her $50 just to look at the damn thing, that is why I am trying to find out from people that know about this stuff how hard it is to open and replace things from a laptop. I know nothing about laptops all my experience is with desktops so I need someone who knows em fairly well to give me some advice.

 

[brady]

You might want to place this topic in Hardware support.

I personally don't know.
I have never taken apart a LT.
Sorry i can't be of more help.
I would definetly post in hardware support.

 

[erth]

Does she use the laptop on a hard flat surface or laying on her bed with her blankets/sheets disrupting the airflow of the fans??

 

[Jorsoft]

Heatsink could easily be improperly placed, cpu could be placed wrong, could be a fan problem, lots of things could have gone wrong. Some laptops are easy to work inside of, but many are pretty tough. Dell's site has the manuals for removing and upgrading everything, you just have to look up the laptop, so if it seems easy, go for it.