death

well, fahrvergnugen, not, so much for my hopes of a bad hard drive. after removal it actually does less that it did before. and even more depressing, is the realization that it is only a 40gb hard drive that was in it. is there anything that i can check on my own? or is it just time to take it to a shop, or shop for a different one?
 
also, i kept on thinking of trying to figure out how to measure the hard drive bay. if i fix, or get this computer fixed, i am going to upgrade to a larger hard drive. the 40gb drive that came with this machine is 98% full. i thought about using a deck of playing cards. and sure enough, they fit. i can snugly fit exactly 10.3mm worth of playing cards into the drive bay without the bracket. so a 9.5mm thick drive would have no problem fitting in it. what i do not know is if the electrical connectors will be in the correct place to connect. without buying a drive, and trying it. which if it would not connect, i would be stuck with. does anyone know if the electrical connections of a 9.5 will be in the correct placement? i guess the only reason i am considering a 9.5 drive rather than the 7.0 is 9.5's seem to be much more common. with a much wider selection of sizes and speeds.
 
thanks. at least if i get it running again, that will be one lass thing to worry about. now, are there any checks i can do at home on this thing, or is it destined for a shop? i am pretty good at fixing things. at least things i can understand. but i have never had a case open on a laptop before. so i dont know if i am opening a can of worms, or going to just make matters worse.
 
Well you can pop off the back panel and see if any components are loose, such as RAM, wifi-cards, or any plugs.

Do you remember if you possibly discharged any static electricity when you touched the touchpad?
 
I agree with carnagex, I think that the worst case scenario could be a motherboard problem. To me, this isn't a big issue because last Saturday, I just replaced my mobo because of a gpu issue, plus, it only cost me £12! If you are worried that you are going to wreck up your laptop, try getting your laptop maintainance manual PDF.
 
I agree with carnagex, I think that the worst case scenario could be a motherboard problem. To me, this isn't a big issue because last Saturday, I just replaced my mobo because of a gpu issue, plus, it only cost me £12! If you are worried that you are going to wreck up your laptop, try getting your laptop maintainance manual PDF.

Cost of the board is going to be highly dependent on the laptop.
 
and where you buy it. i was looking around on ebay and motherboards that say they are for my laptop run anywhere between $35.00 up to as high as $145.00. the one part that was listed the most was the video card, which also ranged wildly in price. from less than $10.00 to well over $70.00. i have to assume that the less expensive ones are used, or will "work", but are not the absolute correct factory part. // i do not remember any static spark. that combined with the laptop going instantly dead would raise a big red waving flag for me. there was also no smell of anything getting hot, like might happen if a part got over loaded, or wiring were to get shorted. the laptop was sitting on the all aluminum cooler master chill pad, and between the hard aluminum and my legs was a pillow. i have been using that exact combination for just about a year. i purposely mounted a sheet of aluminum under the fans, so they had to breathe out the side and back of the cooler, and not pick up lint from under it, and force it into the cooling vents. i know i can take the cover off from the memory cards, without removing the entire case. so that would be an easy check. i was trying to come up with a list of items that would suddenly fail, that would shut the entire machine off instantly. i know the motherboard, and probably the cpu. and of course the power button. one thing i was thinking about yesterday is that the hinges are a little loose. are there cables that run where they could be cut in half or a hole get worn thru them that would lay against the hinges? that might be a model specific question i realize. but with no knowledge of how these are put together, it seemed like something i should ask.
 
Usually they don't run "with" the hinges unless the power button is on the monitor-side of the laptop. The power cables could be near the hinges however, depending on how the power button is setup.

Post the exact model # (should be found on the bottom of your laptop). You said it was a Dell Precision, but there should be a model # after the "Precision" part.
 
well, of course, that is not as easy as it sounds. most of that number has been rubbed off from the laptop sitting on someones pant legs (i am assuming by the wear pattern). i got a bright flashlight, and the high power reading glasses out, and it LOOKS like the model number is PP05XA . its a dell precision M90. and yes, of course, the power button is located between the keyboard and the screen.
 
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