Laptop Starting To Shut Down Often

flyswatter · 21-05-2012 11:57PM #1

Hi,

Just wondering can anyone help with this. I have a two and a half year old Dell Studio laptop and lately it's been turning itself off for no reason, just completely switching off, making me have to power it on again.

This has happened with increasing regularity of late.

Should I perhaps replace the battery, is that the issue?

The base of the laptop does seem to get hotter than other laptops I've been around but it just happened there when I had it on a cool enough cloth surface on a table not on a couch or the like where it picks up heat quicker.

Any help would be appreciated.

MiniNukinfuts · 22-05-2012 10:55AM

It's funny how this majority of laptop in this forum with problems are dells :P

Anyway, try removing the battery out of the laptop, and plugging the power cable into it, then try use it like that for a while and see if it shuts off. If it does then it's not the battery's fault. I'd say the motherboard is broken. Get onto Dell if that's the case.

promethius42 · 22-05-2012 10:56AM

Do the above battery test also, do the fans flare up? It could be overheating?

kippy · 22-05-2012 11:00AM

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

It's funny how this majority of laptop in this forum with problems are dells :P

Anyway, try removing the battery out of the laptop, and plugging the power cable into it, then try use it like that for a while and see if it shuts off. If it does then it's not the battery's fault. I'd say the motherboard is broken. Get onto Dell if that's the case.

I suspect Dells outsell every other brand in Ireland by a large amount - hence more issues.

OP, when you use the laptop, are you making sure it is on a solid surface with plenty space for air to circulate?

flyswatter · 22-05-2012 11:27AM

kippy wrote: »

I suspect Dells outsell every other brand in Ireland by a large amount - hence more issues.

OP, when you use the laptop, are you making sure it is on a solid surface with plenty space for air to circulate?

It's on a wooden table at the moment yeah, think it heats up quicker on the likes of a couch for example. Overheating seems to be an issue with this particular model.

Checked the temperature, it's running at about 83-85 celcius .

kippy · 22-05-2012 11:31AM

flyswatter wrote: »

It's on a wooden table at the moment yeah, think it heats up quicker on the likes of a couch for example. Overheating seems to be an issue with this particular model.

Checked the temperature, it's running at about 83-85 celcius .

Running it on a couch or something with a soft surface is not a good idea as it can block the air vents which allow aircirculate around the major components of the machine.
The laptop shutting down is the "safety mechanism" that kicks in when components get too hot, however oftentimes this is more likely the component just saying "I cant take it anymore" and shuts down for a while.
Continued use like this (overheating) will lead, and probably has lead to component failure in your case. The processor, motherboard (or any component on the board) could be heat damaged, causing this erratic behaviour.

People dont realise it but laptops need to be used on solid surfaces allowing air to circulate. It's also important not to move laptops or give them a "jolt" when the hard drive is active as this can cause major damage to the hard drive.

MiniNukinfuts · 22-05-2012 12:03PM

kippy wrote: »

I suspect Dells outsell every other brand in Ireland by a large amount - hence more issues.

I wasn't denying that, they more than likely are, but still, the have more faults than any other brand. I've owned 2 dells in the past, both broke. The first was having a similar issue as the OP, the motherboard was the fault, it was 5 months old so it was replaced. That proceeded to die the week my warrranty ended.

The second one melted the plastic on the base. It was always being used on a flat surface.

OP, have you tried testing the battery?

kippy · 22-05-2012 12:10PM

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

I wasn't denying that, they more than likely are, but still, the have more faults than any other brand. I've owned 2 dells in the past, both broke. The first was having a similar issue as the OP, the motherboard was the fault, it was 5 months old so it was replaced. That proceeded to die the week my warrranty ended.

The second one melted the plastic on the base. It was always being used on a flat surface.

OP, have you tried testing the battery?

They have more faults than any other brand because there are more of them out there, particularly in the home user sphere, where a lot (not all) of the faults can be put down to user mishandling.

MiniNukinfuts · 22-05-2012 12:17PM

kippy wrote: »

They have more faults than any other brand because there are more of them out there, particularly in the home user sphere, where a lot (not all) of the faults can be put down to user mishandling.

People use that excuse way too often I know of more faulty dells than i know good ones. The good ones are enterprise models and for some reason they're better built and have less faults. So, this user mishandling you speak of, I suppose the base of my laptop melting was due to me mishandling? And my friend's motherboard starting to smoke while typing a document?

kippy · 22-05-2012 12:20PM

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

People use that excuse way too often I know of more faulty dells than i know good ones. The good ones are enterprise models and for some reason they're better built and have less faults. So, this user mishandling you speak of, I suppose the base of my laptop melting was due to me mishandling? And my friend's motherboard starting to smoke while typing a document?

You know of more faulty Dells than good ones because you will only ever hear about the faulty ones (via forums such as this)

kippy · 22-05-2012 12:21PM

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

People use that excuse way too often I know of more faulty dells than i know good ones. The good ones are enterprise models and for some reason they're better built and have less faults. So, this user mishandling you speak of, I suppose the base of my laptop melting was due to me mishandling? And my friend's motherboard starting to smoke while typing a document?

Have a read of this:
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/11/17/reliability.study.has.apple.4th.place/

MiniNukinfuts · 22-05-2012 12:27PM

kippy wrote: »

Have a read of this:
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/11/17/reliability.study.has.apple.4th.place/

Have a look at the date of that article, times have changed. Dell have gone downhill if anything.

kippy · 22-05-2012 12:28PM

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

Have a look at the date of that article, times have changed. Dell have gone downhill if anything.

Show me something more recent that is not based on your own opinion?

flyswatter · 22-05-2012 12:44PM

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

I wasn't denying that, they more than likely are, but still, the have more faults than any other brand. I've owned 2 dells in the past, both broke. The first was having a similar issue as the OP, the motherboard was the fault, it was 5 months old so it was replaced. That proceeded to die the week my warrranty ended.

The second one melted the plastic on the base. It was always being used on a flat surface.

OP, have you tried testing the battery?

Trying it without the battery now.

About 10 minutes ago I had the battery charging and unplugged it and it turned off, this has happened 3 times recently.

Hope it's a battery problem rather than a component problem.

As regards Dells, well I haven't had much stress with this computer, if anything it's been the ac adaptors supplied I've had to replace twice.

The Studio laptops I find pretty solid, I've heard bad things about Inspirons however.

MiniNukinfuts · 22-05-2012 01:15PM

flyswatter wrote: »

Trying it without the battery now.

About 10 minutes ago I had the battery charging and unplugged it and it turned off, this has happened 3 times recently.

So, you were using the laptop while the battery was plugged out and the charger plugged in?

kippy wrote:

Show me something more recent that is not based on your own opinion?

Why should I bother? The amount of complaints on this forum alone is enough to see that the quality of the machines are rubbish.

flyswatter · 22-05-2012 01:29PM

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

So, you were using the laptop while the battery was plugged out and the charger plugged in?

No. It's been turning off while the battery has been in and when it's charging or not charging. In the last few days it has also turned off the second after plugging it out. It has done this about three times.

I have it on without the battery in now. No problems so far.

kippy · 22-05-2012 01:32PM

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

Why should I bother? The amount of complaints on this forum alone is enough to see that the quality of the machines are rubbish.

Again, I'll point you to the fact that Dell outsell most other brands in this country by a large amount. (I don't understand why you don't think this is relevant btw)
Also, the amount of complaints on a website does not in anyway show a fair reflection of what actually happens, the reason for the failures or the percentage of failures.

You'll also note that almost every brand of laptop/broadband reseller, service provider, has negative posts about it somewhere on this website. You generally only ever hear the negative side.

MiniNukinfuts · 22-05-2012 02:02PM

flyswatter wrote: »

I have it on without the battery in now. No problems so far.

Okay, just keep us updated. You might be lucky enough so that the battery is at fault and not the motherboard.

kippy wrote:

Also, the amount of complaints on a website does not in anyway show a fair reflection of what actually happens, the reason for the failures or the percentage of failures.

What does it show then?

kippy wrote:

You'll also note that almost every brand of laptop/broadband reseller, service provider, has negative posts about it somewhere on this website. You generally only ever hear the negative side.

The negative side is what people (including me) want to hear also, it helps determine the good from the bad.

kippy · 22-05-2012 02:13PM

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

Okay, just keep us updated. You might be lucky enough so that the battery is at fault and not the motherboard.

What does it show then?

The negative side is what people (including me) want to hear also, it helps determine the good from the bad.

It shows that laptops suffer from failures..........

Let me give you an example.

Dell sell 100 laptops in Ireland every year.(you dont know how many they sell)
Of these 100 laptops you see that 10 people have had issues with them (they posted on boards)
Ten posts on boards about Dell failures - my god, that's a lot of failures........
HP sell 10 laptops in Ireland every year.(You dont know how many they sell) Of these 10 laptops you see that 2 people have had trouble with them.
You rarely hear from those without issues.

Conclusion from reading posts on boards - Dell are crap, they've threads all over boards about them failing (for whatever reason), I've only seen two threads about HP issues. Therefore HP are better laptops........Dell are crap.
Reality, failure rate of dell laptops 10%, failure rate of HP laptops 20%

(I can't believe I have had to explain this by the way, as well as backing it up with as recent an empirical study that I can find on the issue)

The point about only hearing the negative side, almost every service provider has problems and negative comments - how they deal with them is generally what differentiates the good from the bad.

Allyall · 22-05-2012 02:19PM

OP, sorry if this has been asked, Did you update the BIOS and the drivers for the Chipset and Video Card?

What model is the laptop?

MiniNukinfuts · 22-05-2012 02:31PM

They only thing I took in from that was.

kippy wrote: »

Therefore HP are better laptops........Dell are crap.

Also, I think you should stop bitching and leave this thread get back on topic. kthxbai.

kippy · 22-05-2012 02:38PM

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

They only thing I took in from that was.

Also, I think you should stop bitching and leave this thread get back on topic. kthxbai.

If thats what you took from it fair enough, but it's completely wrong and ill judged.
You are the one who brought up sniping towards Dell products in the first instance without any foundation. Whatever about your own personal feelings, trying to (wrongly) put other people off a certain product based on false premises is just wrong.

I've given my advice to the OP.

MiniNukinfuts · 22-05-2012 02:45PM

kippy wrote: »

If thats what you took from it fair enough, but it's completely wrong and ill judged.
You are the one who brought up sniping towards Dell products in the first instance without any foundation. Whatever about your own personal feelings, trying to (wrongly) put other people off a certain product based on false premises is just wrong.

I've given my advice to the OP.

Without any foundation? I think when the base of a €1800 laptop melts fully after 3 months that warrants me to bad mouth them (they refused to repair it btw). I'm not trying to sway people decisions at all, it's up to them, i'm just telling them my experiences.

kippy · 22-05-2012 02:47PM

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

Without any foundation? I think when the base of a €1800 laptop melts fully after 3 months that warrants me to bad mouth them (they refused to repair it btw). I'm not trying to sway people decisions at all, it's up to them, i'm just telling them my experiences.

Thats the point I am trying to make, your experience is completely different to mine and you are basing you comments on the number of posts on this forum about failures, which is completely misleading as to the failure rate of one piece of hardware over another.

I had an xbox once, just died on me. Xbox's are a piece of crap, stay away from them.......

MiniNukinfuts · 22-05-2012 02:52PM

kippy wrote: »

Thats the point I am trying to make, your experience is completely different to mine and you are basing you comments on the number of posts on this forum about failures, which is completely misleading as to the failure rate of one piece of hardware over another.

I had an xbox once, just died on me. Xbox's are a piece of crap, stay away from them.......

I see what you did there.

flyswatter · 22-05-2012 03:00PM

Allyall wrote: »

OP, sorry if this has been asked, Did you update the BIOS and the drivers for the Chipset and Video Card?

What model is the laptop?

It's updated as far as I can see.

It's the Dell Studio 1557.

MiniNukinfuts · 22-05-2012 03:04PM

Are you in still warranty? if not you could always try a replacement battery, they're relatively cheap on ebay: here

Allyall · 22-05-2012 03:05PM

Do you have ATI Powerplay? Can you disable it, and check if that makes a difference.

flyswatter · 22-05-2012 03:46PM

MiniNukinfuts wrote: »

Are you in still warranty? if not you could always try a replacement battery, they're relatively cheap on ebay: here

Thinking of trying that if the problem persists. Thanks for the suggestion.

Allyall wrote: »

Do you have ATI Powerplay? Can you disable it, and check if that makes a difference.

I do have that yes. Does it not affect performance if I disable that though?

Allyall · 22-05-2012 04:01PM

flyswatter wrote: »

I do have that yes. Does it not affect performance if I disable that though?

Not general performance, i.e. Internet browsing, word etc., but it will hinder your ability to play some high end games.

But for now, disable it. And work away on the laptop as normal, with battery in, and power etc..

Do you use it for playing games much.

GPU-Z download

Also Download Speedfan

You don't have to install them yet.

You have an i7 Processor, right? That caused loads of overheating issues a year or two ago, not sure if it's still giving those problems..

Dell Studio Wikipedia

The 1557 and 1558 model is known to have problems with overheating, which is generally linked to 3D video graphics related gaming or other 3D applications. Downloading the latest ATI catalyst drivers and BIOS updates does help reduce the risk of these problems. There are also several reports of 1557 models freezing up during booting, or having inaccessible hard drives. No clear cause or fix has been put forward by DELL, but it is also likely linked to overheating related to the built in video card, or software-hardware malfunction related to the built in ST Microelectronics Accelerometer which is supposed to protect the HDD incase the laptop is dropped. One proven method to avoid this problem is to remove the ST Microelectronics drivers, and thus disable the HDD protection function, whilst keeping the BIOS (currently version 9 as of Sept.2011) up to date is said to also reduce the risk. Frozen hard disks however can usually not be fixed by updating the BIOS or removing the ST Microelectronics driver, in these cases usually the HDD has to be replaced. DELL has been criticized by some consumers not to take the overheating and freezing issue seriously, whilst others complain that the repair takes too long (2 weeks) and that the usually adopted fixing method is to remove the old HDD and put in a new one (probably with a factory install image of the operating system) and returning the "fixed" laptop and the original but damaged HDD to the owner.

flyswatter · 22-05-2012 04:34PM

Allyall wrote: »

Not general performance, i.e. Internet browsing, word etc., but it will hinder your ability to play some high end games.

But for now, disable it. And work away on the laptop as normal, with battery in, and power etc..

Do you use it for playing games much.

GPU-Z download

Also Download Speedfan

You don't have to install them yet.

You have an i7 Processor, right? That caused loads of overheating issues a year or two ago, not sure if it's still giving those problems..

Dell Studio Wikipedia

Yeah it's an i7.

I use it for games sometimes yeah but it's mostly music and internet.

Play games like Football Manager and maybe the odd Shooter game.

Laptop Starting To Shut Down Often

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