Is this laptop fried?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Artemis360, May 6, 2008.

  1. Artemis360

    Artemis360 New Member

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    I'm a bit worried my laptop maybe permanently dead. It's a samsung (R20 I think, dont have it with me right now) and its always been good but it gets hot a lot and lately its started to slow a lot when it gets hot. Then recently, I picked it up a bit oddly, the screen went blurred from side to side (like all the pixels were going horizontally fuzzy), then the screen sort of slowed and the image split in two horizontally and the image advances a few frames and then the whole screen goes black. It whines on for a little while, still piping music but sounds continually more unhealthy and then I manually switch it off. Whenever I turn it on its fine for about 6 or 7 minutes and then repeats the dying performance. Do you think somethings seriously melted? Is it dead? It'll cost me about $50 US just for samsung to take a look at it and then I'll have to pay for any replacement parts too. I tried opening it up myself but its trickily stuck around the power port and I'm worried I'd have to use some force to actually get it open. Any opinions at all would be v.helpful. Thanks.
     
  2. Stoney

    Stoney Megabyte Poster

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    Hi,

    First off, is the laptop still in warranty? If so, any repairs and parts replacement should be covered by the warranty. If it is in warranty you do not want to go opening the case up because this will undoubtedly void any guarantee you have with the manufacturer.

    When the laptop gets hot and starts to malfunction can you hear if a fan is operating within the unit? If you can't hear a fan try holding your hand close to the air vents and feeling for air being blown out of the case.

    From your description it sounds like the system is overheating. You can try booting into your BIOS and checking the CPU temp and motherboard temp. On a healthy system they will increase for a bit but will eventually level off and stay around the same temperature. If they continue to rise then it points to the system overheating somewhere, which will probably be related to a fan fault.

    HTH
     
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  3. Johnd76

    Johnd76 Megabyte Poster

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    he says that he shuts it down himself, but i was laways led to believe that when the computer over heats that it shut itself down automaticaly to save the components.....is this true?
     
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  4. greenbrucelee
    Highly Decorated Member Award

    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    Recent CPUs are supposed to shut of when excessive heat is detected but if it keeps happening and nothing is solved then eventually the cpu will go bye bye.

    With the laptop issue, try cleaning out the air vents. If they are dusty then this can cause issues with overheating because there is bad airflow. A good air duster will do the trick.
     
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  5. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Like Stoney said, if it's under warranty, just have Samsung take care of it. If not, get an estimate from a reliable computer repair shop and then see if it's worth your while to get it repaired. If it goes ok for 6 or 7 minutes and you *haven't* backed up all the data that you can't live without, get a USB external drive, and backup your data quick...just in case. Good luck.
     
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  6. Artemis360

    Artemis360 New Member

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    Thanks a lot guys. Yes it is out of warranty I'm afraid. A lot of what you're all saying sounds accurate. I think you may be right about the fan because this whole thing started when I picked it up in a somewhat less than careful way, so I guess maybe the fan got crushed or something. Anyway, I'll try the repair shop and check the CPU temp. Thanks again.
     

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