laptop shut off, ...alienware Options

[hydeuphonium]

so i was playing LOTROnline right, and boom.. laptop shuts off.

no signs of life either. laptop will not turn back on and no lights come on.

power supply light is on but blinking and making a clicking noise.
usually i'd see a light on the led panel on the laptop when the power supply is plugged in, but nothing.

so i called alienware.... just to see what they'd say... and some foreigner who talked fast and incoherent at times said that i needed to get a new video card... lol.

so i hung up on him, because its OBVIOUSLY a POWER issue and nothing about the video card...

i think that the laptop won't turn on because the power supply is done for. and while playing LOTR online, my laptop battery lost charge and when it was totally gone... shut off.

anyways... thats' what i'm hoping.

damn power supply costs $115...

if anyone can find me a cheaper one... not ebay... unless new... then I would appreciate it.

the model number is: 0405B20220
the output is 20V and 11A.

Thanks guys.

[zetec]

it isn't necessarily the power supply. it could also be the motherboard or video card that could cause that problem.
plus, you said you were playing a game, so your video card could've overheated and screwed up. i'd call them again and see if they say its the video card again. if so then that's probably what it is.

if the light isn't going on on the power supply, then no, it's pretty much the power supply, at least if it's anything like most power supplys they make nowadays. most of them, the light turns on just when it's plugged into the wall, doesn't matter if the laptop is plugged in as well.

[jonathan83]

if the light isn't going on on the power supply, then no, it's pretty much the power supply, at least if it's anything like most power supplys they make nowadays. most of them, the light turns on just when it's plugged into the wall, doesn't matter if the laptop is plugged in as well.

yeah, but even when a laptop isnt plugged into a power supply, it should have a light turn on when pressing the power button (even if the battery is dead). so yeah, it could be the power supply, but if no lights on the laptop are turning on, then it could be more than that. the p/s could have affected the motherboard somehow.

travis, why dont you just take it to some place where they sell power supplies and ask them if you can try one to see if it works? (say you'll buy it if it works). then if it does, just say you'll be back later when you have money or something. and if it doesnt, you could take it somewhere for a diagnosis.

[hydeuphonium]

I took my system to arlington so my girlfriends dad could look at it. He's a web tech for a school over there...

anyways... determined it wasn't the power supply or the battery.
Figured it was either the Motherboard or the Vid Card.

I just got home from the trip back and decided to try to see if it would turn on without the vid card in the laptop.

I plugged it into the power supply without the video card installed and lights came on like normal!!

and it went back to not doing anything when i reinstalled the vid card.

So, does this mean that the video card is at fault here or should i be concerned about something else, just in case???