Dell 5150 A Failure

Well, I'm writing this blog from my Tungsten Palm, scratching away and using the character recognition software.

Why?

My Dell 5150 has joined the list of thousands of others that have died as the result of a faulty motherboard. A few minutes ago I was in the middle of typing and the power just died.

A few weeks ago, my problems started when my 5150 stopped pulling power from my battery. I figured, OK, I can do without my laptop on flights.

I called Dell, who said that my motherboard needed to be changed. It took another hour on the phone to India to determine that their customer service was impossible to deal with. Bulletin boards revealed a list price of some $600 or so.

I decided to check ebay., where I found the board for around $450 inc. shipping. While I was price shopping I decided to do a google search for ''Dell 5150 motherboard.''

This is when I discovered I was in deep shit.

I found hundreds of references to failed 5150's, all with variations of the exact same power problem. Everyone had tried the Dell 800 number and had been told the same thing after enduring run-around -- ''you need a new mother board.''

Also my computer is out of the one year warranty by 4 months. This apparently is the trend. This problem develops shortly after the 12 month mark for most owners. Right at the moment the warranty expires.

Dell's response has been to advice those people with failures to replae the motherboard, without admitting that the design was faulty to begin with.

While I was in Trinidad I noticed that a new problem had developed. Some outlets would not power the laptop on. I figured that it was a quirk related to the home I was staying in. Then, my friend, an owner of a Dell 1150, told me that her mother board had died within the first 3 months, and she had the motherboard replaced. I found myself wishing that mine had died earlier.

Then, a few minutes ago, my loptop died in mid-sentence.

I'll bring back a laptop from Miami next week to replace this Dell. Someone online mentioned that there would probably be a class-action lawsuit, and recommended that the owners stay tuned. It would be my pleasure to join in such an action.

This is the last Dell I'll ever own. I'll go back to owning Toshibas, perhaps, as the two I owned before this one never gave a single major problem in 8 years.

Postscript: I bought a Toshiba Satellite that I'm loving, and I never was able to restart the Dell. Perhaps Dell might offer a recall, but I'm not holding my breath.