Dell Inspiron 1526 Released

The Dell Inspiron 1526, the PC maker’s new AMD-powered 15.4-inch notebook, is now available.

The Inspiron 1526 is priced at $749 after instant savings and can be purchased through Best Buy. It comes with the AMD Turion 64 X2 processor at 2GHz, 2GB of system memory expandable to 4GB, a 250GB hard drive, DVD burner, and the ATI Radeon Xpress 1270 integrated graphics, which manages the notebook’s 15.4″ 1280-by-800 glossy display.

According to the product specifications, the 1526 has a built-in 2-megapixel web camera, an 802.11b/g wireless module, and Eternet LAN and 56k modem connections. There are also four USB ports, an ExpressCard slot, 8-in-1 media card reader, Firewire port, and VGA and S-Video outputs.

The Inspiron 1526 has the same chassis design as the Intel-based 1525. It weighs 6.2 pounds and is 1″–1.5″ thin, which is lower than 1.47″-1.65″ in previous Inspiron 1521 series. The laptop comes in seven different colors and runs Windows Vista Home Premium operating system.

The new notebook is not available through the Dell’s official online store.

Source

1526 – A very good laptop. I give good ratings but mine came with a defective motherboard and it took Dell about ten weeks to rectify the problem before returning unit to me
During this time I was without the use of a computer.
Indeed this was poor service Dell.
This has definitely tarnished your reputation. As a result, many of my friends and associates, have sworn that they would never purchase any product from Dell now or in the future.

I purchased the Dell 1526 for my mother while I was away in Iraq. A few days after the one year warranty I returned home and took the computer into Best Buy where I purchased it. It had been acting erratically since I bought it but since I was in Iraq and the computer was back in the US with my mother there was not much I could do about it. Mom does not drive so it was up to me to get it done. The motherboard was faulty on this computer and the repair stated that it was put in improperly from the start. They wanted over $500 to fix it. I told them to shove it and promptly bought a Toshiba. I will NEVER again buy a Dell and will no longer shop at Best Buy because of this.

AVOID buying a Dell, especially a Dell Inspiron 1526. My motherboard failed too, only a little more than a year after I bought it. unbelievable — upon doing some research, this is an incredibly common problem with this poorly made laptop. go with something else.

My motherboard failed also – 2 weeks out of warranty.

Never buy this laptop. In the first three months of buying this, the hardrive had to be replaced. They changed that and now the motherboard keeps playing up. It is a very common problem with this laptop. I will never buy Dell again. Am looking at getting a Toshiba

I have a dell 1526 for 8 mounths not and have no complants on it. I got water on the bottem of it a few mounths back but useing a hot air dryer on it got it quickly dryed out and working ok. I will have it a year in dec so perhaps something bad could still go wrong with it in the first year.

Gee, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that my motherboard died 2 weeks after the warranty concluded. What a load of crap!

Don’t buy this laptop. I’ve had the same problems with it. It was faulty since i bought it, overheating, shutting off randomly, it wouldn’t read any cd’s or dvd’s. I took it to best buy after i bought it because there was something wrong and i was told it would cost over $500 to fix it. I will never shop there again, i’m not paying for them to fix a problem that it came with. Now just a month over warranty the graphics card is going crazy and as i type there’s blue and pink lines pulsing on the screen. Dell laptops are poorly made and they have terrible customer service, do yourself a favor and buy something else.

Had my dell 1526 one year and a half now and the motherboard went bad it powers on but no screen and nothing seems to be a very common problem ! Stay away from it !!!!

So sorry to hear so many problem about this laptop, especially since I own this piece of doo doo. Classic symptoms. Powers up but no screen. Bought as a demo from Best Buy (what was I thinking). The Mac is lookin better everyday……

I love my dell 1526. I have never had a problem with it, and Have had the computer since May 2008. The only thing I did have go wrong with my computer was my 3 year old son popped of 3 of the keys on the keyboard. I called dell, and had a new one shipped to me, at their cost, overnight. Thank You Dell…I purchased mine at Staples not Best Buy.

Hi – how about at 7months old, the motherbaord and the hard drive replaced and now again 11 months later, the same thing – AGAIN! Dell will not own up to the repair. Per a Dell Service Rep. somewhere in Asia – I guess, “it is not uncommon for a computer to go through up to 10 motherboards in one year.” Really?! I guess if it’s a Dell!!! JUNK

I would also have to chime in and say to not purchase this computer. Mine also just crashed, most likely due to overheating. I took it to a computer guy (friend of family) and he said it’s completely done. The fan on this model takes air from underneath and pumps it out the back. If it overheats, will burn out the computer. (mine received the blue screen of death, and will now turn on, but no images on screen). Some pre-cautions are to place the computer on a hard surface (not your bed, or anything) so that you get good air flow. Secondly, make sure there is no dust/dirt clogging the air intake…this may require removing the bottom of the computer once in a while to gently blow away all the fuzzies. These AMD powered laptops are apparently more prone to being destroyed when overheated. Go with Intel processor. Don’t know whether to even bother to try sending to Dell to get fixed, or just buy a different brand of computer. Probably the latter. Good luck to everyone else who has also had this problem. I wonder if it’s worth submitting any formal complaints? My computer was only 18 mos old.

Hi Melanie. I have the same problem with my inspiron 1526. What did you did about it?
Thanks.

I bought my wife a “pink” 1526 for mothers day at Staples in 2008. 1 year and 3 months later… Bad Mother board!! Dell will not apply any goodwill. I own 4 dell laptops and 1 desktop. Service after trying for days and waiting more than 1/2hr each try on hold, was unbearable. Bought my first Gateway last week, take that!

Motherboard needs to be replaced after 1 year 6 months. Unbelievable. Time to move to a different brand computer. Dell is dead to me.

ı bought a dell 1526 and now ıt has been 18 months and ı need a motherboard. thıs ıs not the only problem ıt overheatıng ı contact wıth the servıce but they dıd not help me out. dell ıs dead to me ı ll never buy a dell product agaın. ı dont know what else to do wıth thıs computer ıs a pıece of shıt.

Hi all, i got the Inspiron 1526 for x-mas 08, the hinges connecting the moniter failed today, it overheats no matter what, its slow, and to my suprise NO WEBCAM!!! mine didn’t have one. I don’t know if my motherboard is acting up or not i got the blue screen once and it recovered fine but PLEASE refrain from buying, gifting, REVIEVING this load of crap. GOD i hate it i just wanted a nice computer!1!

Oh and the battery only lives off the grid for about 30 minutes, i don’t know where they got that length of battery unless they just let the computer sit there. using Google Chrome shouldn’t kill the battery that fast, right!

PLEASE READ! I have to share this….My Dell Inspirion 1526 is out of warranty. I have had it 1 1/2 years.. I have replaced the hard drive…still had the same problem.. Since I do not have warranty, they said I needed to replace the motherboard at my own cost. But before I ordered it, he said we could try a couple of things first. so the service tech asked me to open up the back and take out my memory cards.. I opened it up, and inside were 2 sticky tab looking things that surely did not belong in the computer! Took them out, and guess what? My computer is working so much better now! Hmmmmm!

Dell Inspiron 1526 is a poorly made laptop. A month before the warranty ran out the harddrive went bad and had it replaced. About a month after that I started having problems again. When I go to turn it on the fan and the power light comes on but the screen is black. After a few tries of turning it off then on it finally comes on. Dell says there is nothing they can do about it and I will have to pay to have it fixed or even talk to someone about it. I am very disappointed with the service from Dell and will NEVER buy or reccomend anyone buy a Dell computer. I put a complaint in with the Better Business Bureau. Hopefully if they get enough complaints something will get done about this matter.

I bought a dell 1526 powers up black screen. Its a yr old. There have been many problems with this comp. VERY POORLY MADE!! I will be going 2 newsday and Ch. 12 news. They are not gonna rip me off. NOWAY I also will be contacting a lawyer. It has been diagnosed with many problems of how it was made. I will be proven this. So every one who is having these problems with there fairly new comp NOT TO WORRY

I bought Dell Inspiron 1526 in Micro Center Chicago for my son’s use. a week after a year the the motherboard is dead. An expensive lesson to learn. I’ll never buy dell laptops again, never again!

Add another bad 1520 motherboard to this list (I am speechless!!) This one died at 1 year and 4 months!! How many motherboards need to fail before there is a recall ?? Pretty laptop – but apparently a real P.O.S.

It’s ironic that I am typing this review on a Dell Inspiron 1721 that I bought in July 0f 2007 and have NEVER had a problem with it – not ONCE!!

Unbelievable!!! I am having the same black screen issue and mine is 18 months old. Something is definately wrong with the way these 1526 were made if we are all having the same issues!!! Dell should pay to have them fixed!! ughhhhhh :((

Something is DEFINITELY faulty in the production of this computer. How many black screen/motherboard failures does there have to be before all of us consumers can band together for a class action lawsuit and force DELL to issue a recall of this computer? It cannot be a coincidence that this many consumers are all having the exact same issue after only 18 months (some less) of owning this laptop. Dell will now not even allow me to issue comments on the Dell Community webpage where people continue to contact me about this exact same issue. As I said before, Dell is Dead to me.

I purchased the Dell 1526 for my daughter in college. It died 1 year and 3 months later. It appears to be the motherboard. Very frustrating indeed! From reading these posts, I’m afraid to fix (throwing good money after bad).

Same as everyone else. I’ve owned this laptop for 13 months and it no longer works as it should. I keep getting the fatal error blue screen and then it won’t even boot up. Dell is not helpful. They want me to pay almost the cost of the laptop to fix it. I’m just going to buy a new one. Will no longer purchase dell.

hi all
it good to say i have been using my Dell inspiron 1526 from apri 2008. recently i have face a problem which computer not on even i given power (no boot).
so i kept some time the push power button until it off then on agan it will bootup.
do u know what is went wrong ???
no need to pay more money to repair peopl simply replace mother board battery which keep bios live.
when u using more than a year you may face this prob.
do not blam to dell
thank you

To all of you that have the power up and black screen problem. Change your CMOS battery! I’m not crazy and before this computer I never heard of a dead CMOS battery keeping a computer from booting. It is a standard CR2032 button cell. I ripped mine from a musical greeting card. Also, your hinges are not bad. They are loose. Tighten the screws by removing the screen bezel. It will take 10 minutes. Trust me. Here is my email so you can thank me when your laptop is as good as new.

P.S. It isn’t as hard as the service manual makes it out to be. There are shortcuts.

Ravin, thats incorrect. I replaced my AC adapter, My battery, downloaded the new bios and all because DELL TOLD ME TOO! Then they TELL me its the motherboard that went out one month AFTER warranty expired. Your complaints arn’t even the ones we’re complaining about. I will blame dell when I’ve spent as much money on a computer as I have and in 13 months DELL tells me its the motherboard. Furthermore, I suspect you work from dell considering your spelling.

Hello,everyone.
I have had the same problem with mine for the last 2 or 3 months. I purchased my Inspiron 1526 from Best Buy about 1 1/2 year ago, and it has been kindda frustrating with the powering it on and off, on and off, etc. I would turn it on, the fan would run but after the Dell Logo the screen stays black. I tried another thing which works, leaving the computer on for 15-20 minutes on, then turn it off and immediately turn it back on and it would boot normaly. But now i noticed is begining to be a pain, and my next thing would be to replace the Coin-Cell Battery which is located on the Systems Board. It will take a little bit of time but, there’s shortcuts in removing parts from just about anything, like if you use a hammer you will get to it quickly, but i don’t want to do that yet. that would be a last choice. I will replace the battery sometime today, and if it works i will definitely get back to you guys with the updates. I came across this blog while searching for answers to this laptop problem and it really caught my eyes. And since am not alone on this I, will get back to you guys as soon as I get results. So please don’t smash yours yet. Let’s try to find an answear to this problem. I just can’t believe how many owners, and who knows how many more have the same problem. Good luck guys!!

why do I find this website after I purchase my dell 1526 off EBAY no less! LOL I’m screwed so everyone has the 2 ghz processor right? thats the faulty one?… DAMNIT LOL I knew I shoulda went with Intel hahahaha effin AMD!

dell 1526
won’t boot, black screen, will sometimes turn on after 1-125 x pushing power button Message-hard drive
block 20560772 uncorrectable data

Same issue…won’t boot, black screen, fan is on, blue lights on but black screen. Have to push the button on and off many times to get it to boot. I bought a CR2032 battery for $1.79 from a computer store and it will be my weekend project to take this whole thing apart to get to the motherboard. I will let you all know if it solves the issue. Dell wants $358 to repair the computer so if the CMOS battery doesn’t work…it’s to the trash with this. No point in spending that kind of money when I can get a new computer for another $100.

I will post ASAP if the issue resolves after changing the CMOS battery so you all can do the same and save tons of money…but looking at the technical manual, it is no little project. Just about every piece has to come apart in order to get to it.

OK, done replacing the CMOS Battery and the computer works perfect. Pain to replace…took a couple of hours and had to remove the keyboard 3 times because at first the touch pad wasn’t working then the LED lights. Remember to plug in all the plugs.
Check Dell’s website for the Inspiron 1526 Service Manual…instructions are all there. Not a simple task but doable! Resolved all issues and DID NOT HAVE TO REPLACE THE MOTHERBOARD!!!

I bought a DELL Inspiron 1526 almost 2 years ago, and just like most of you I have had the same problem with the screen and the computer turning on. When I attempted to turn the machine on the LED lights would turn on, the LCD screen would turn on but stay black and I could hear the fan. This would happen when the PC was completely shut down or hibernating. After several attempts it would finally turn on and the BIOS would lose the correct time and date.

DO NOT CALL DELL and waist your time and money! I will never buy a DELL again; however about two days ago I changed the CMOS battery, so far it seems to have fixed the problem. I followed the instructions on the Dell website it took me about 2 1/2hrs but it was well worth it. Now my LED in the front of the computers do not work, but is probably my fault and not dell. I might have not connected a cable or something….I have no idea what I did wrong. The important thing is that the computer works again.

So to recap:
- With a lot of patience manage to turn the computer on again. Before complete boot up press F2 and change the time and date to the correct time and date.
- Download and update (Flash) the BIOS make sure you have Version A16 and not A8. You can download this from the dell website. Make sure you have the computer plugged in and the processes will not be interrupted!
- Turn the PC off buy using the “shut down function” not just the icon. Disconnect every peripherals you might have connected to the computer,
- Unplug the PC and take out the battery, for about 10 sec press the Power button, this will ground the computer if it had any residual electricity.
- Put on a static bracelet or have a mettle object or often touch a not painted surface in the computer, to prevent electrostatic damage.
- Follow the instructions on the website on how to change the CMOS battery, I think it is called “Replace Coin cell battery”. Not to offend anybody…please make sure you do this with the computer off, grounded and unplugged.

I wish you all good luck! I hope this helps you like it helps me, if something new occurs I will post a second blog. In case somebody has any questions, please feel free to ask I feel your pain!

Jeremy,

How did you get the LED lights to work? What cable did I forget to plug in and do you remember where it is located? Do I have to take it all apart again, all the way to the Motherboard or is it under the keyboard?

Thanks,

DavidC

what a complete rip off bought dell inspiration dec 09 now it just blank screen march 10 ,on the phone to dell for 45 mins and they say i have to pay to fix the problem as the soft ware not under the 12mnths warrinty just the hardware wat a joke should this not be garrented also i am fuming !!!!!

Don’t blame dell? I can’t believe you actually said that!!! If they are idiotic enough to do this to their customers, they deserve all the bad comments about them!! YOU may have the money to go out and keep paying a lot of money for dell parts that keep going bad, but the rest of us don’t!!!

2 weeks out of warranty, my motherboard went out… I’ve had other problems while in warranty, and it took them 3 weeks just to replace the RAM!!! I’m a full time student with a part time job, I can’t afford to get it fixed!!!!! I have to take yet another student loan out to get a new computer because I thought that dell was good enough to get me through my college years… but when you want to treat your customers like this, you won’t have many customers left!!!!

ravin Says:
hi all
it good to say i have been using my Dell inspiron 1526 from apri 2008. recently i have face a problem which computer not on even i given power (no boot).
so i kept some time the push power button until it off then on agan it will bootup.
do u know what is went wrong ???
no need to pay more money to repair peopl simply replace mother board battery which keep bios live.
when u using more than a year you may face this prob.
do not blam to dell
thank you

January 12th, 2010 at 8:02 pm |

ravin that only explains maybe one of the above problems. The major problem if you look into all 1526 failures is the motherboard fries. those of you with black screens and blinking lights here is a dell blink code list. Hope this helps someone.

Dell laptop led codes

One LED On, Two LED flashing
ON FLASH FLASH – No memory modules detected

Two LED On One LED flashing
ON FLASH ON – Memory detected but you have a failed module.

One LED flashing Two LED On
FLASH ON ON – CPU or processor failure

Two LED flashing One LED On
FLASH FLASH On – Graphics card failure

Two LED flashing One LED On
FLASH ON FLASH – LCD Failure

Two LED flashing One LED Off
FLASH FLASH OFF – Keyboard failure

Two LED flashing One LED Off
FLASH OFF FLASH – USB failure

I guess we all got ripped off we bought 2 at best buy last year and mine is coming apart first the little plastic hinge broke off then the screw on thatside stripped and the screen will fall out if I open and close it have spent 3 hrs on phone with dell with no resolve will steer clear of them in the future!!!!

I have a 1526 that was bought new. The Processor burnt up. It started acting up 11 months into warranty. Dell stalled it until it was out of warranty. I opened the case up and removed the cooling tube from the processor and found a spot of cooling paste smeared around that was the size of a qtip. I also found that the processor had been remove by someone other than the factory as they had marked the hold down screw pattern with a magic marker. This laptop was bought new not refurbished. Dell has lost my vote.

Thank you Sam and Jeremy!

I had the same issue, and tripped accross this site. Now, although I spent three hours of my life and $1.99 for the battery, my lovely wife has a working Dell Inspiron 1526.

Here is the Article from Dell that I used: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1525/en/SM/coinbatt.htm#wp1179839

Good luck, everyone!

Again, Thanks Sam and Jeremy!

HEY EVERYONE! Something you need to know about this model laptop.

The DELL 1526 is not a piece of crap. But it’s also not a laptop one can expect to run without a little maintenance from time to time either.

Here’s some REAL tips to help most of you with your DELL 1526 problems.

The black screen problem. System may turn on but the screen stays black.
The problem here is caused more than likely by a dead CMOS battery (CR2032 battery) which will need to be replaced. Go and buy a new one of the same type and replace it. You may find yourself surprised when your laptop turns on again without a problem after doing this.

Yes, it may a be a pain to open your laptop just to get to the CMOS battery. But its either you or DELL and their bullshit price tag for helping you replace a simple battery.

Then when its replaced, go to your bios (usually by pressing the Delete key or F2 upon turning on your computer until you hit the BIOs screen) and simply correct the time/date and whatever else if need be.

So make sure if youre getting no boot but everything else turns on, to carefully open your laptop, get to the motherboard and change the CMOS coin battery.
If you have a digital camera, TAKE PICTURES as your taking the laptop apart so you can see how to put it back again!!!

This should help your system boot up perfectly. :)

Problem number 2. Overheating.

No matter what the processor is used, Intel or AMD, if they constantly overheat and your computer shuts off, eventually, they’re going to die and cease to work. That’s computer nerd fact.

Now, I do own one of these laptops. The version with no webcam. After about a year of usage, i noticed its been overheating and shutting off. In fact, only after a few minutes of watching a movie or playing a game, my laptop would hit 90c!

SO, I went ahead and opened it from the bottom to inspect the heat sink because I knew something wasn’t right..

You know what I found?

Well, after unscrewing the heat sink from the processor (the one with the copper pipe running to the back of the lap top), i found something so alarming and stupid, I truly believe DELL had monkeys put these things together.
The Dell technician had placed a small barcode sticker half ways over the CPU with cheap grade thermal paste sloppily splattered all over the cpu chip. This totally compromised the heat conduction from CPU to heat sink!!!

Thats why my CPU heated even in idle state.

I peeled the stupid thing off, cleaned out the crappy thermal paste (gray colored toothpaste looking stuff) they used which was sloppily splattered all over the cpu chip itself, which is a big no no (you don’t need to add too much thermal paste on a CPU. The idea of adding more to lower heat temp does not apply here. In fact, less is more. Just enough so that the paste and surface touch. If you add too much, it may compromise the heat transfer to the heat sink.)
I used a thermal remover and surface purifier. You can buy it on Newegg or any other Computer store online for cheap.

Do not use water. Alcohol wont exactly penetrate dried thermal paste. But if you have nothing else and dont want to buy thermal remover, then alcohol should be fine.
Make sure when you clean the surface that there’s no fabric left behind from the wipes or soft non abrasive paper towel.

There is also another smaller chip with different thermal compound over it found in within the same vicinity of the CPU chip. That was a mess too.
Cleaned it up, used ARCTIC 5 thermal paste on both chips. Placed back the cleaned up heat sink with copper pipe.

OH, and the very end of the copper pipe, you need to check the steel block because mine was chalked full of dust from one end. Which also explains why my laptop overheated so fast.

Now, my laptop runs at a cool 45c-49c while using it for internet and no higher than 65c when running games.

BTW!! I do use a cooling mat. The ones that have fans on it and you place it underneath the laptop. EVERY lap top owner should own one. Theyre very cheap and work well to help keep your laptop cooled. Especially those of you who use it over your bed.

If you don’t want to use a mat, then at least be smart and use a book or something flat under neath it so that air can still flow through the machine.

Playing movies, DVDs, Winamp with visuals, Photoshop CS2, does not overheat my laptop anymore. =]

So before you pull your hair out, please be advised that you may have to do some maintenance before dialing that unholy DELL help number.

If you continue to use your laptop as its constantly overheating, it will die on you. So stop, open it, and at least blow out the dust from the heat sink block that runs towards the end of the laptop.

This laptop is very decent. I had mine for over 1 year. Aside from the overheating issues which could have killed my system, everything is running nominally.

A lot of people complain because we’re lead to believe once we buy something, it should work forever without having to clean it or tweak it around.
I can agree with those sentiments. But in this case, whether its a laptop or desktop, cleaning it should be a part of package deal, no questions.

Hope this helped some of you! Dont throw them out yet! :D

For solve this issue I replace de BIOS battery (CR2032 battery)..

is all. and my laptop is runing again as well as always.

If you have doubt does not hesitate to contact me.

amm_leon@hotmail.com

I’ve had nothing but porblems with this my battery wont charge hard drive is failing motherboard is messed up. Overheats, randomly turns off fan make a loud noise at startup! I bought a hp I love it!

Since more than two years I own the Inspiron 1526 and I just changed the BIOS battery (CR2032 battery) after it did not show any screen anymore. After 3 hours work I got the battery replaced and the fan cleaned of a big piece of collected dust and its back to running quite well. The main board does not have to come out completely. Just undo the screws in front and you can bend it a little bit to change the battery. It is located just about underneath the left mouse button.
Hope this helps.

One of my customers has sent me his 1526 for the Nth time, this is truly a bad laptop. It stopped charging batteries just after the warranty expired and has burnt not one but two turion CPUs. The last one was installed by me with arctic silver compound after seeing how bad the first one was put on.

I think the issue with the damaged CPUs is that the laptop can’t handle the CPU heat at full power and if somehow the laptop freezes and CPU stays at 100% for some time, the CPU gets cooked.

I thought this could be fixed with a new BIOS, but… the dell bios updater won’t let me update the BIOS with a discharged battery, which gets me to point one, this piece of manure doesn’t charge its (new) battery (pulls hair). Truly a piece of crap.

Wow, this laptop has been a pain in the butt.

I have had many of the same issues, when under warranty, sent to Dell, replaced motherboard, hard drive, and a couple other parts. As soon as it went out of warrant, started having more problems.

One issue not mentioned much here but on other boards is the LCD screen blinking or going very dim – not black. If you plug the laptop in, the screen goes dark. If you unplug it and have it on power saver, you can get a dim screen, enough to see most things.

Dell told me that the entire LCD would have to be replaced, and the cost would be in the 100′s. After searching the web, I found a few places mentioning this issue, and one of them mentioned the LCD Power Inverter It is a small chip that connects to the bottom of the LCD screen I bought a new one for 6 bucks shipped on ebay. It was not the easiest thing to replace, and the Dell manual does not have instructions for it specifically, but i did it in about an hour, and the screen worked like new, bright as day plugged in or not. 6 bucks saved me from trashing this thing.

The overheating issue, Jay is spot on. I found the same crappy thermal paste excess on my CPU, bought an Arctic Silver compound kit which included the removal solution and purifier on ebay for 10 bucks, and redid the thermal compounding on both chips. Even if you don’t want to deal with that, just opening that section in the back blowing out the fan and the heatsink to get all the crap out. That combined with a good cooling pad, will make a huge difference.

I may never buy a Dell laptop again, but at least I can keep this one running at minimal cost. Despite all the issues, all I have put out in the year after warranty is that 16 bucks.

motherboard fried as well – only 2 years after having spent what turned out to be entirely too much money for such piece of crap machine – Boo to you, Dell!

Wow! I found all these comments when pricing new motherboards – sad for all of us but glad it isn’t something I did to make just about everything listed happen on my Dell Inspiron laptop. Thanks everyone for the tips – it will surely save me some time.