Dell Inspiron 1150 Review

Dell Inspiron 1150

The attractive Moonlight Silver Inspiron 1150 notebook is a solid performer that can handle all of your basic computing needs. You get a first-rate system that includes integrated Intel Extreme graphics with up to 64 MB of memory, easy-to-use USB 2.0 ports for connecting peripheral devices and up to 1 GB of shared system memory.

The Dell Inspiron 1150 notebook is an ideal mobile solution for value-conscious users with essential computing requirements. Whether your needs include Internet and e-mail access or running popular productivity applications, the Inspiron 1150 is up to the task. Affordable system processor options allow you to configure this notebook as a potential replacement for your desktop computer or to augment your existing desktop with a bargain-priced mobile PC. If you need desktop computing speeds, select a Mobile Intel P4 processor with mobile power management features that help conserve battery life. If your on a tight budget then you should consider the Intel Celeron processor which is an option on the Inspiron 1150.

The Dell Inspiron 1150 ranges in thickness from 1.75 inches in the front to 1.89 inches at the back and tips the scales at more than 7 pounds, so it's not a laptop for the travel happy. The Dell Inspiron 1150's optical drive is fixed so you can't replace it with an extra battery.

Dell lets you choose from two screen sizes, 14.1- or 15-inch; a Celeron at 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz, or 2.6GHz speeds; a Mobile Intel Pentium 4 in 2.4GHz or 2.66GHz iterations; and a choice of the Dell Wireless 1350 802.11b/g or the Dell Wireless 1450 dual-band 802.11a/b/g wireless setup. Memory can be configured from 128MB to 1GB, and hard drive options range from 20GB to 60GB

Your Comments/Opinions

I bought an Inspiron 1150 in August of 2004, and in less than a year, I have had numerous problems... and have had to get it fixed on three occasions, and it is still not working properly. It came with a defective piece, and now is overheating on a daily basis... Note to anyone planning on buying this laptop...DON'T!

Danielle

I am having the same problem with overheating, please email me the piece i need to replace: pyriel_lives@hotmail.com

Randy

Having lots of trouble with this - especially wireless networking, which has never worked. What a lemon. I purchased mine in August 2004 and still have not been able to get the problem fixed.

Meg

My laptop has also begun overheating on a daily basis. It turns itself off without warning after about 20 minutes of operation. Because it is not being shut down properly, the OS is crashing.

Miles

PURCHASED MY 1150 IN AUGUST 04 AND 3 DAYS LATER HAD A BLUE SCREEN HAD TO SPEND 40.00 TO HAVE THEM TELL ME IT WAS A VIRUS AND HAD TO HAVE THEM HELP ME UNINSTALL AND REINSTALL WINDOWS HAD PROBLEMS EVERS SINCE NOW IT TURNS OFF TOTALLY AND NOW IT DOESNT EVEN TURN ON. DELL SAYS SINCE I DIDNT TAKE OUT AN EXTENDED WARRANTY THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO... DONT BUY A DELL

maria

Can I upgrade my memory? I need to run Dreamweaver Macromedia suite, can I run it effeciently from this machine?

Julie

I havn't had any trouble with my 1150,It works extremly well. I use it in the office and at home and have had no trouble tho myn is a refurbished laptop and that problem was fixed

Eric

I have a Dell 1150, and it was randomely powering off. I thought it was a warped motherboard at first. Then I read more sights and they said the problem was overheating. Unfortunetly, My notebook does not come on at all, however the lights on the front power up for a second or two then shut back off. Any one know if this can be fixed without having to buy a new motherboard?

Paperweight

My 1150 is great no problems at all. I have a refurbished one, so it seems like these ones are working better then the non refurbished ones....

Jake

I have had my inspiron 1150 for over a year and I have always had problems, the most recent one was the overheating and shutting off problem. I called Dell but my warranty was up, so they suggested I buy a new fan for it. It cost about $32.00 and is easy to install. It solved the problem with overheating but now the screen is completely blank. I gave up and bought an iBook G4, it is the best thing I have ever purchased and I would reccomend Mac's to anyone. I will NEVER buy another Dell again!

Matthew

Inspirion 1150. No longer detects a battery, no longer detects USB ports, I've had the same problem with the 2nd windows update like the above guy had. Overheats, must tilt up. This thing cost a grand and they can't even build it right? What a joke

Jc Kyle

The Inspiron 1150 is a pretty good machine but it does have its issues. Overheating is among the most serious of these, and it is a common problem among Dell notebooks due to the design of the ventilation ducts and relatively high temperatures produced by the machines. There is no onboard thermometer to tell you when the machine is overheating, but it will automatically shut down (immediately) when temperatures get too high, in order to prevent damage to the computer. If the vents, fan, and heatsink become obstructed, this will definitely happen. You have to make sure the computer is on a hard, flat surface so that the vent on the bottom of the frame can get plenty of airflow; placing the machine on your bed, clothing, or even a tablecloth can obstruct this airflow (definite design flaw!). Over time, from a few months to a year depending on your environment, dust will build up in the fan assembly and the computer will begin to overheat and shut down on a regular basis, even several times per day. You will also most likely experience slowed processor performance prior to these shutdowns. Although the fan assembly is not designed for easy removal and maintence, fortunately it is only moderately difficult to get to it. Here is how it is done: 1. Go to Office Depot or a similar office/computer supply store and buy a can of compressed air for cleaning small electronics. Mine is called "Cleaning Duster" and is a bit bigger than my fist. Make sure you follow the directions for using this stuff: DON'T shake the bottle, and ALWAYS hold it straight upright, NEVER tilting the bottle. Alternatively, use an ordinary vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment. 2. Shut down your computer and fold the monitor all the way back 180 degrees, completely exposing the silver strip with the Start button (between the keyboard and monitor) and the monitor hinges. Insert a small flathead screwdriver into the notch at the righthand side of the silver strip and gently lever the strip up from right to left, also exposing the hinges. There are no screws, it should just snap out but be careful not to break it. 3. With a small Phillips head screwdriver, remove the four (4) short screws that attach the top of the keyboard to the computer frame. Be careful here: these screws can easily be stripped. Fold the keyboard up and towards you, and gently unplug it from the motherboard (about a one-inch, 25 pronged black plug). 4. Remove the one (1) medium length screw, marked "M2.5X8", from the metal plate under the keyboard, and remove the metal plate to expose the fan/heatsink assembly. 5. Unplug the fan from the motherboard (a small white 3 pronged plug). Loosen the four (4) chrome screws on the fan assembly (marked 1 - 4); these screws can only be unscrewed from the frame, but remain attached to the fan assembly. Carefully pull the fan/heatsink assembly out of the computer. 6. Use your cleaning duster to blow compressed air through all parts of the fan assembly. Make sure you get the fan itself, as well as the copper-gilled heatsink (where most of the dust has probably built up). 7. Tilt the computer up on its side and blow compressed air through the ventilation screens to get the dust out of them. Make sure you get all of the screens, and since you're there you might as well blow air through the whole guts of your computer to dust it out. 8. Reassemble your computer in reverse order. Make sure you plug the fan and keyboard back into the motherboard, and that you don't have any parts left over. This should take care of the overheating problem, at least for the time being. You should probably perform this cleaning on a regular basis, every couple of months (or more if you work in a dusty environment), along with a regime of defragging, disk cleaning, virus scanning, etc. to prevent performance degradation.

Scott, Irvine CA

My inspiron 1150 has problems with usb ports,none works,no problems about wireless and overheating just the usb,someone help me solving this please...

angelo

I've had my P4 Dell 1150 for almost a year now without as even a single hiccup from it. This is my second Dell (first one was a Dell 3800-no problems) and I'm very impressed with it. Would buy a Dell next time without even having to think about it.

skippy440

Also having a problem with Inspirion 1150 overheating and shutting down. Think I'll look elsewhere for my next computer purchase.

Nigel

Purchased my 1150 last January and it is satisfying my programming, web design, and MS Office needs. It still is able to run SimCity4 with only 256 Mb. Though it never crashes when I play the game, it is limped and it's not pleasant gaming anymore.

Leander

I also have an Inspiron 1150 that I also purchased Aug 2004. The only problem I'm having with that is it also overheats and shuts off out of the blue. Any ideas why or what I can do about it?

Sar

Two weeks of my 1150 and I had to reinstall windows after blue screen. Very annoying that you can't get face-to-face help as the call centres are in Dehli. Get another make.

James

my 1150 works great! no problems!

j

Has anyone's screen ever froze to the point that you had to shut it down and restart? Mine just did and when I went to start it up again, it wouldn't load. Any help?

Jess

I have had my 1150 over 1 yr...the only problem I have had is the overheating and shut-down, but sent it in for repair and it has run great since...

steph

I have the same problem, anyone has a fix?

Koen

I'm a computer tech, and mine has been having a similiar issue -- for the first six months I could run it on a table without having it propped up off of the table, and now it will overheat very quickly. I did take out a three year warranty but I've been working with the problem by putting a baking rack on my desk where I keep my laptop. At least Dells do come with some kind of way to keep from ruining the CPU from overheats. USB issues may likely be drivers and not hardware. Always get an extended warranty on laptops. They are hard to service on your own, always take specialized parts, and are prone to overheating issues. I bought my first laptop in 1999, got a two year warranty and just about near the end of the second year the hard drive crashed. Took it in -- the bottom of the case always scorched my legs, found out the motherboard was warped from heat and the CPU was damaged -- triple failure meant I got a new laptop free. Bought a warranty on that one, too -- for two years. Within six months I had to have the hard drive replaced, under warranty. When it got out of warranty I bought my Inspirion 1150, and got a three year warranty. It has come in handy. Unless you have no one who can service your desktop, extended warranties on desktop PCs are fairly worthless. On laptops, they are essential in my mind unless you are a Dell technician with access to the specialized parts cheap. Just my $0.02.

overheating

I HAVE HAD THE COMPUTER FOR 6 MONTHS NO PROBLEMS EXCELLENT MACHINE

paul

Cannot believe the comments on the Dell Inspiron laptop!! We bought our collegebound daughter one in (you guessed it) August 2004 and she has had nothing but problems. Needed a new CD drive (after spending 7 months without it working), it shuts down and now she can't write CD's off it. We won't do Dell again. Customer service stinks.

Michelle

I brought my daughter the inspiron 1150 aug 2004 , it began overheating now the motherboard is shot. she is in college and now I have to spend another $500 or more to fix a computer only a year old. My 1 year warrantty expired in Aug 2005. It is now Nov 2005

Howard

I bought a Dell 1150 for my wife ,and it has never been attached to the internet and my wife was saving a word doc and it went black. Now we are told we need a new motherboard and the warranty dosen't cover it, DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jermaine

Bad port, not charging, not starting , freezing up and many more issues. thought i had a lemon, but it seems as if there are quite few lemons. 15-20 hours on the phone with customer service in New Delhi India with terrible service once i get through. computer sent in twice and still under warranty. will not replace it ??????????????? done with dell.

Mike B in Kirtland H

inspiron 1150 is a good machine for webpage designers.i own a refurbished one,so no overheating.but if u are driving a car too fast, or taking a fast corner the hard disk will blow,so be careful.

SAM

I can attest to all of your problems, Mine worked Fine up until this weekend then shut it off, when I went to turn it on NOTHING, now they want to charge me for a diagnosis. (I have been a Laptop tech for over 10 years and this by far is the worst laptop I have ever had, This is also the worst customer service I have dealt with also. I am looking into a class action suit, and This site and others with people who have this laptop just comfirms that they are making junk.

Jim

We got our daughter a Dell 1150 for college. She had it a few months and it started overheating - and would shut down time and time again. Talked to Dell customer service...they were absolutely worthless. I will not buy another Dell product. And I would urge everyone else not to buy Dell. Their products are not made well and they will do nothing to help you after you have bought them. Stay away from Dell products!!!!!!!

Dan

I have come uppon a few occasions where I wanted a new laptop. I purchased my laptop June 2004. In August while I was on vacation, Windows crased beyond repair, so I had to reinstall it while on vacation. Within the past few months (September, October, November, and December 2005) I have had quite a few problems. First the Sony CDRW/DVD drive stopped reading only CDs. It would read DVDs fine, just not CDs. When I replaced that drive, it wouldn't turn on. I found the problem being dust settling on the RAM modules. I took apart the entire laptop and used an air compressor to blow off all the dust in it. A few weeks later, my AC power adapter shorted out in the cord, and I had it replaced. Two weeks later, my new one shorted out because the cord was caught in the recliner. Dell makes some really crappy AC adapters. I bought a new cable and repaired the old one. Then I noticed that my LCD lid was cracked by the lid, so I replaced that. If you are having trouble with your laptop overheating, use either an air compressor or canned air and blow the heat sink with it. Also be sure to blow the dust from the fan. Even if you don't think you have any dust in your laptop after a year of use, you will be surprised. Just trust me, it does. Also, if your computer begins to act really slugish, it may not be your fan or processor, it may be Windows becomming so loaded with crap that it takes for ever to do anything, even stuff that is not Microsoft related. I would recomend formatting the hard drive and reinstalling Windoes to give it a clean slate. Trust me, it will be like new, only with all the scratches and frustrations.

Ryan

inspiron 1150 problem. The computer will not boot up. The lights come on sporaticly, but will not come on. Any help out there.

Russell

My laptop does not power up. Thoight it was the motherboard but there is power to the board. The lights come on intermittly but will not power up. Does anyone know what could be wrong.

Russell

Mine was overheating also. It got fried due to a wire malfunction and just blew. Before this happend I was having lots of problems with overheating. I send the laptop in and they replaced everything, put a new heat sink and fan in. Ever since i've had absolutly no problem with the overheating and its so silent I cant tell its on. Call Dell they'll hook you up.

Jay

hey all. Basically we are having the EXACT same problems. First we noticed that the DVD playback was getting all stuttery. We thought it was the drive, so did DELL. They shipped us a new drive that we installed. Turns out it was the overheating. Eventually the computer slowed down to a crawl and would power off at random. Now Windows is fried and we need to re-install. Unfortunately it won't stay on long enough to reinstall. Dell says they will send us a new fan and heatsink and WE have to install it which is CRAP imho. Luckily we have an IT guy here at work who will do it and we have the 5 yr. warranty. But basically this seems like a design flaw that DELL won't admit to. They suck IMHO. Our IT guy says that DELL laptops ALWAYS have problems. Once we get it up and running again and get all our stuff safely copied out maybe we weill try and sell it. we will NEVER get another DELL.

Davy Mack

my daughter has just taken her laptop (1 month old) to uni. after two days it has blue screened. Now i have hassle of having to collect and ship it back to dell. Hope there's a happy ending with this one. But I can tell you, right now, I'm not amused!

annette

Mine is a 2.6 Cel as well and I have noticed something very fishy. Dell isn't celling laptops this fast any more. Just the 1.6Ghz models. Did they find out something and are just ignoring all those 2.6Ghz laptops they sold that are overheating like mine! It's been an OK laptop for cheap, only $500. But now is over heating pretty regularly. I vaccumed out the fan and vents and we'll see how that goes.

ken

My time/date hasn't stayed set since it was new-- They go all over the place. Disconnected the firewall, too. It just doesn't work.

ron

My Inspiron 1150 has also begun to overheat and shut down. Given the fan is on the bottom of the computer, elevating it on books has improved the situation. hope this helps!

liz in australia

I've had my laptop since january 2005 and had no problems with it so far.. i do every once in a while reformat the hard drive just to keep the laptop like its new again.. yeah the only problem is that i heats up quickly but besides that it works good in college.

Criag

I love my 1150, not problem at all. I've had it for a year.

Beth

My 1150 started doing it under warrenty, i got it repaired, but 8 months later its doing it again. I say stay away from the 1150. btw I have then 2.6 cel processor.

nick

I have had my Dell 1150 for 10 months, and then it slowed down and stopped. So I tried to restart and nothing, black screen. Processor fan runs and the LED lights are on but that’s it. After surfing the internet for a while I discovered this is more then a common problem every one is having the same problem with this POS. I was told that you can do a re-solder fix on the mother board or buy a new lc14a chip and solder it in to the board if the re-solder fix doesn’t work, does any one have a little more info on this ? This was a late Christmas present from my BF last year he is p-ssed I’M way more then P-ssed. I would like to fix this POS so my BF 1,000 wasn’t a waste, lets see 1,000 divided by 10 months,,,, hum $100. a month to use it,,,,,, dell can kiss my !#@ I will never own another Dell there customer service is a joke and this is the second Dell I have owned that was a POS. I have had many computers and used many of them and I will never own another Dell.

Heather

Mine's alright... didn't work to well with Windows Service Pack 2... had to get a patch from Dell which fixed it but it was quite hard to find Anyone know how to take the bottom off... the headphone port has come loose/ there might be some debris in it. I unscrewed all the screws but I couldn't take the bottom off as it was held in by something at the back in the middle but am not sure what. If anyone knows, it would be much appreciated Cheers

Rob

My daughter's has the same problem - heating up and shutting off. It was repaired twice and lasted about six months. Dell said too bad it's out of warranty we'll fix it again if you want to pay for it. If they're building junk and can't fix it the first two times why trust them again. Buy a laptop cooler and next time don't buy Dell

dan

Over 1 1/2 years and no problems (knock on wood) - we also have a Dell 4800 Tower - just a powerhouse and a wonderful computer to use... I am so sorry you all have had problems with these - I know, I've been there with an HP I had...

Judi

My laptop overheats pretty easily so I got a chill pad for it. You can get them from ebuyer and some computer stores. Pretty useful things. Ive heard that using a vacum cleaner on the fan vent cleans it up somewhat and makes your comp run faster. Anyone ever done this? Im wary to do it as I dont know what I might suck out. Also Is it possible to replace my current motherboard with a different one, maybe a newer inspiron one, with an actual graphics card, and not this onboard piece of c*** so I can play games that were actually released after I started teething.

Brendan

Laptop excellent except for USB failure. Dell handeled the repair well by replacing the mother board and all was well for a while. Then the exact same fault re-occured. Pants!

Viv

My Laptop overheats to, its a 1150 i sent it to dell it worked for 1mnth then its all over again! F__ck DELL!

EEERRRRR!

Overheating, faulty hard drive (i.e. i lost all my data), more blue screen than windows, noisy, slow, comes with loads of crap installed on it, rubbish battery, low quality components, rubbish customer service. Oh, and the optical drive DOES NOT WORK AT ALL, a bit like the rest of the computer i guess. WARNING - DO NOT BUY! Even if someone gives it to you for free, it will cost more to repair and maintain on a daily basis.

Jacob, London

had mine for about a year overheats and turns off this is due to dust build up in the fan vents remove the silver strip between keyboard and screen unscrew screws beneath, and fold back keyboard remove metal plate unscrew heatsink and attached fan blos into fan inlet and loads of dust comes out reassemble and hey presto no more overheating BUT dus builds up again, so obviously a design flaw I'll try with a vacuum next time ALSO, the hard disk started to click and then fail, but after the cleaning routine, it is OK, so I guess that is overheating related

boing

miles it is not dells fault that you downloaded a virus. They really let dumb people on this internet dont they.

mike1

miles it is not dells fault that you downloaded a virus. They really let dumb people on this internet dont they.

mike

I bought mine in May 2004 and within 7 months, the sound, went pot, after a few months, it crashed and I had to pay £32 plus a 4 hour phone bill waiting for online help and now, it`s been overheating and shutting itself up for last 3 weeks. The cost of repairs nearly as much as purchase price. I noted Michael Dell is now one of the 7 richest men in the world. Quality speaks for itself.

mike in England

I bought an 1150 Jan. 2005 it is now Dec 2005 and the motherboard is dead. Dell tells me I should have bought the extened warranty and to send the comp into their repair center so I can rack up a bill like the one that bought the computer. There is no way! I told Dell I can not believe this is all the better they back their product. Butch in whatever foriegn country he was in said "sorry". Oh well. Not getting anywhere there so I hung up. I think there is a good law suit here. $800.00 later and they say sorry should have bought the extended warranty. I think they should hang up their hats building laptops. I have had a desktop for 3 years and not one problem. If anyone is interested in pursuing this please email me at michaelaschmidt@sbcglobal.net. I think we have a good case. I have looked at other forums and the problems with these things within the first year of ownership is unreal. Try http://reviews.cnet.com/dell-inspiron-115/4852-3121-7-30836485.html There are more reviews there.

Michaela

i was going to buy a cheap 1150....£149. sounds like a cheap entrance fee to a whole lot of trouble. My thanks to everyone who took the time to post their experiences here. Incidentally my wife has had an IBM thinkpad r32 for 3 years now with not a single problem, never reinstalled windows, has 256mb ram and plays games other ( sony vaio 512mb) laptops cannot play!!!

jim in england

'My 1150 died 1 week out of warranty, had it 1 year and 1 week. I had lots of overheating and slow running problems. I took it apart, reassembled it, and it did run for a few hours before dying again. I replaced the RAM on Dell's advice - more money wasted, I'm looking for a cheap second hand motherboard, with no guarantee that it'll fix it. I can certainly endorse the overwhelming comments on this page - DON'T BUY A DELL!!!'

john_from_dublin.

'My 1150, same deal, overheating like crazy and USB is on and off. The first time it randomly shuts down will piss you off but when it starts happening 2 or 3 times a day, that is when I start cursing the name michael dell. am going to try to take it apart and vacuum the heat sink, hopefully will improve things'

cameron

'oops just purchased a 1150 inspiron on ebay only found this web site after will logg in to report after ive had it for a while'

domscoms

'My 1150 is now over 18 months old and has been used between a few and many hours every day. There have been no problems with over-heating at all. No other problems either! Bought Dimension 2400 & 3000 desktops from Dell since getting the 1150 and there have been no problems with them. My next computer purchase will be from Dell.'

martin_o'donoghue,_l

'Well, there is another issue, that I haven't seen reference to as of yet. There is a reed switch that is a very prominent failure. It's a vaccum incassed magnetic trigger, that when exposed to even a light magnetic source, or heat (hmmmmm), changes are made to it's magnetic properties, and doesnt function properly. showing itself as a motherboard/mainboard failure, for it won't get through post. Additionally, this causes shutdown, when hot. Good luck.'

chris

'Inspiron 1150 bought in Summer 2004 - worked fine until last week, no problems during it's year and a half/3/4. Then it randomly blue-screened, said it was ''dumping all physical memory'' - and had to be switched off/back on. After that it would randomly freeze during bios loading, at the safe mode selection screen - and on two occasions, it actually loaded up desktop - including allowing me to log into my user account, loaded all the programs,then when I moved it, it froze. Still trying to find what is causing the problem, it's narrowed down to motherboard, and poss. cpu. If anyone has had similar problems, and has a fix, please post here. '

kirstin

'Got a used 1150, had the same turn off problems...came to discover it was a motherboard problem. For guys experiencing this, just open the c_panel on the left side(opposite the cd drive) and you will notice a hard plastic covering. this covering sits on an IC chip underneath and the continous pressure over a long period of time causes the chip to become loose. You will need to open the laptop up, and with a lense and sharp bit, touch each of the chip legs carefully to resolder them back to the board. Thats it...'

dan

'I am in agreement with everyone on this site who is thoroughly disgusted with Dell service and products. My parents bought my daughter a Dell 1150 for high school graduation and it has been nothing but trouble. I have spent over $600.00 trying to find the problem. (I should have just bought a NEW machines at this point.) After reading all this information, I would agree that it is probably the power supply and/or an issue with the fan. Like the other Mom above, my daughter is now in college and I only hear the "panic" calls of "Mom-it did it again!" I am going to just have to "bite the bullet" and buy a new machine. I will NEVER own another Dell!'

carol

'The power up problem is well known - and can be fixed with a soldering iron & steady hand... http://hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/43678/?o=0 The overheating problem can be fixed by cleaning out the muck in the heatsink unit. Follow the instruction in the dell manual... http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1150/en/index.htm ...for "Removing the Microprocessor Thermal-Cooling Assembly" & give it a good blast with an air can Other than these two problems it's been fine :-) Have fun!!'

jamkart

'I thought i had it bad, my overheating problems started about a year after i bought my 1150, it would keep overheating and shutting down. I noticed that if i propped it up to allow air flow it would stay on longer, but as time went by it kept shutting down after shorter and shorter intervals, until finally it just refused to power on. I would press the power button and the fan would start for about 5 seconds, then the little power light would start blinking, as if it was in standby mode. once or twice i got it to start by pressing on the right spot on the bottom, but it would only last for 2-3 minutes. I had it diagnosed and the estimated repair was almost 700$, which is more than the laptop itself is worth. from now on i will get extended warranties on my laptops, and make sure to buy from a reliable company, not dell (whose customer service is abysmal btw).'

bobby

'My inspiron 1150 has problems with usb ports, neither one works or acknowledges any device!I have had no problems with wireless or overheating. Just the usb.Can someone please help me solve this please? '

joe

'Same Old ... Same Old... Same Old Story ... My son's 1150 Inspiron ( College Student - I purchased in June 2004) started shutting down at the end of last summer (2005, just after the warranty expired). This past weekend it shut down and will not start. You can hear the fan for s split second and green light flashes. Today (Feb 06) I packed it up and mailed it off to a computer company that feels they can fix it for around $159.00 plus shipping. I will post the results!'

debi

'Mine has been over heating also all the time...but I put in 2 chips both worth 512ram. so im running with a little over 1Gb of Ram. Now every game I play it shuts down within 5 min. Even does it with only one. running on 760 ram. '

brad

'Hey all Im not trying to be the odd one out. I have had a dell inspiron 1150 for 2 years now and I havent really experienced any problems regarding over heating, the only problems Im facing is the fact that 30GB Harddrive space is too less I had to get an external hard drive just so that I can put my files that I do not want delete on there but still i need more space.'

kams

'Problem with our Inspiron 1150 Just stops for no reason then won't switch on just spins fan around a couple of times lights up and dies! Dell have told us after troubleshooting with somebody over the phone that we need a new motherboard! It will cost £325 to put that in! The warranty is out by 4 months and we have 8 of these laptops in our school! I think it is disgraceful that there seems to be all of these problems with the same model - surely this is a manufacturing problem! I am still trying to avoid sending to Dell but will probably have no choice in the end!'

heather_england

'I have had my 1150 for about 5 months maybe 6 mo... got it in august 2005 and the only problem i have had is the ac adapter went out on me and i had to get a new one... i play Anarchyonline on it, cd/dvd rom works fine, i have a P4, 2.8 Ghz, 40 gig hd and 512 ram... and anarchy is an online video game that has alot of activity... im also wireless... via a zyxel card that slides intot he left side slot... usb works great, i have no complaints... tho wanting 1 gig of ram to help with the normal lag issue with online gaming... I am sorry to hear ( and i know you have all heard this many time ) but it is too bad that ur experiences with ur 1150's have turned in to a bad one... i love my laptop and wouldnt go with any other company... tech support has been great even with the normal question regarding the system... ie: how to upgrade the ram, HD etc... everyone i have spoken to has been wonderful and knowledgeable ( sorry about the spelling... oh i do have one complaint, wish they would have light up keyboards... but i can adapt to this.. ) wish you all the best of luck in your future choices in laptops and as i said im sorry about the bad experience with ur 1150's.. As always, Schel'

schel

'A little over one year old and runs very hot, powers down unexpectedly, power on/off switch faulty. Overall a very disappointing purchase. Suggest you try Fugitsu - my Amilo is excellent.'

richard

'my 1150 cant read most cd's how can i fix it'

alien

'Both USB ports suddenly died. Any clues on how to fix without going through Dell support? Thx.'

mike1

'Many of the same problems. If you can actually get through to tech support, they will send a guy to replace the fan within a few days, but months later the problem reoccurs. I'm on a 4 year college oriented warrantee, which has saved me some money, but it's still been a hassle. Now I know to use compressed air and clean regularly until I can afford a new laptop. USB has also been iffy. Try calling tech support on off peak hours to get through within a few minutes.'

jim

'bought a 1150 on a 4 yr term. laptop crapped out 1 yr and 1 week later ( you guessed it 1 week after warranty expired.) its been 2 yrs now still no laptop and you guessed it again 2 more yrs of payments'

autotec

'I have the same problem as Josh - Power port has worked loose, laptop intermitantly charges - no use to anyone - i purchased extended warranty - and service - they told me clause 7 - i am lucky i have a solicitor taking them to court-under sale of goods act - not durable - dont expect laptop to fail in 11 months. said will issue proceedings against them - Dell told me it would be 381.18 to repair, Dell desktops i have 2 and have never had a problem would not buy dell laptop again. Will let you know of outcome.'

pj

'This solution has worked for me, and may help some people who have opened their laptops and still have the same problem. My Inspiron overheated since the CPU had to do a lot of extra work to find the extra memory on my hard drive that it needed to run programs. It could not run VS 2003 without overheating, then crashing. So, I increased the amount of virtual memory availiable until it had no overheating problems. Here's how to increase the virtual memory under WinXP Professional. It may or may not work on Home edition. Goto Control Panel -> System. Click on the 'Advanced' tab, and go to Performance -> Settings. Under the Visual Effects, select 'adjust to best performance'. Go to the Advanced tab. Under the advanced tab there's a section called 'Virtual Memory.' Under virual memory, select 'Change.' A new window called Virtual Memory will appear. Select custom size. Increase the minimum and maximum values depending upon how much space you have on your hard drive. For example, I set the minimum to 3000 mb, and the maximum to 4000mb. Before, I only had 384 mb of hard disk space available for memory. Now my programs run much faster, w/o overheating my laptop.'

karen

'I cannot believe this page! I've had my laptop for over a year now like everyone else on this page. DVD /CD Problems Over heating like crazy. Nowit won't even turn on so I do a search one google find this page. My Opinion of Dell has dropped down the toilet. Time to go Laptop shopping again it seems. '

alex

'Great Laptop mine is refurbished did it myself the whole new wiring installing the whole nine yards, if anyone needs help on this processemail me at mayyashtofmakher@yahoo.com'

garry

'the 1150 was given to me because it would shut down etc. Pulled the Mother board and started cooling different until I found where the problems were on this computer: The video Chip (under the heatsink to left of the cpu heatsink fan is critical. I disassembled the heatsink(three screws) off the video chip. The chip was discolored from heat. the heatsink mates to this chip with an elastomer heat conduting insulator(an approximately 1 square inch spongy, sticky pad)that mounts between the top of the video chip and the bottom of the heatsink. Having designed power electronics I had run tests on these pads,engineers like these because they don't have to use thermal paste on these pads. What I had found is adding thermal paste to both the top and bottom of these pads (a real thin layer please) improves the pads heat conducting abilities better transfering heat and cooling the simiconductor. So I cleaned the top of the video ic with a swab and a little alcahol and swab peeled the elastomer pad off the bottom of the heat sink, applied thermal paste (quality stuff) reassembled and tested. Using a non contact infrared thermometor turned on and measured. The computer them ran fine (heat rise of both video ic and cpu fan heat sinks approximately 25 deg or about 95 deg f with a room temp of 75 deg f). The computer will now run ok witn the exception of operating the dvd drive with a movie which will produce enough heat to eventually cause computer errors (blue screen). I am thinking about installing a usb powered fan internally or externally(possibly cuting a cooling vent and adding a small grill) but for now I just play dvd'd converted to avi from the hard disk.'

chuck

'I bought the 1150 Inspiron in June 2004. Today I found out the motherboard is dead and the lap top is only about 18 mos old! Dell won't deal with it as it's out of warranty. I've had many computers over the years and have never had a motherboard fail so quickly. It was also shutting down at odd moments, I assume now it was overheating. Anyone have any idea if the overheating problem could cause a motherboard to die? '

brenda

'*sigh* I too, am having Inspiron troubles. It started with the USB port. I got a message saying that I had exceeded the power limit. Okay, I found that the plastic piece in the port was broke. No big deal right? I shut it down, and try to reboot....black screen. The fan and lights power on normally, but it's just a black screen. I haven't had any trouble with overheating. ANY suggestions? I'm a college student and I NEED this laptop! PLEASE HELP!'

josh

'it's a heap of rubbish inherent design fault will cause the motherboard to fail in the second year of use, avoid Dell like the plague terrible customer service, indian call centre can't speak english, very unhappy after 12 years as a dell user and dozens of pc purchased'

mark_wilkinson

'I've gotten a Dell Inspiron 1150 several months ago, it worked alright until around last month when the unit's video card fried up due to overheating. I elevated the unit up a few inches from the desk, but that didn't do much good. I've had the unit randomly shut off and reboot when I was in the middle of some games as well, so I might say that this model was a flop for Dell. I am still in search of a laptop to replace that one, as I've sold it on eBay for about $300.00 in a non-working condition.'

mike_sadowski

'A pile of shite! Usual overheating problems. The next time I buy a Dell will be to use as a door stop or to hit somebody on the head with... Utter garbage. Next time a Tosh or Fujitsu.'

the_proff_gloucester

'Dell UK (or wherever the call centre is that I finally get routed to) are advising me that they will not fix the AC port on my 1150 laptop, the AC port has come away from the board, at first it started to get loose then broke away completely - I DID NOT damage it in anyway, it was normal every day use and most likely attributed to the heat problem causing the soldering on the AC plug to crack and the port come away. I have read other sites where people are having the same problem. As a techy I have recommended Dells' equipment above others for years. This is by far the worst customer experience I have had - I emailed and called lots of times over 2 weeks then was finally told that they will not cover it under warranty - even though it is not accidental damage. My laptop failed after only 11months! ELEVEN! This is absolutely shocking. There is a company in the US fixing this problem but no good to me here. I will not buy Dell again, I will not have it repaired by Dell, I would rather sling it out of my 4th floor window then give Dell another penny!'

natalie

'I am shocked by all of these comments, especially since Dell acted completely unaware of these issues when I spoke with them after being on hold for ages. I too have had overheating/freezing on a daily basis and now the computer is not recognizing the AC power source. Dell told me the overheating is due to the battery needing to be replaced. Is it a coincidence that I have an extended warranty except for the one year warranty on the battery? I am so frustrated with this company and will never buy a Dell again. '

karen_sue

'I been using a Dell Inspiron 1150 for almost a year now.(celeron 2.6,DVD only) , Its still working, although the exaust air reaches 70 to 80 degree celcius easily, You can heat up your meal with that exaust, So I installed a piece of software I saw once back at 1999, its called "CPU COOL", this seem to lower the temperature to 35 and 40 degrees, Later I found out what the piece of software does, It reduces temperature by keeping the laptop close to numb, this also seem to improve an hour of battery life.been using this software for couple of months now and there been no hardware damage, I SAY DONT WASTE MONEY, use this shitty software and get releaved, Now I can even play GTA SA and GTA VC without much trouble....'

sam_gearspec

'After about 18 months my Inspiron 1150 is pretty much dead. It turns off with a "click" if it is moved, but the fan and lights are still on without the screen. It will occasionally come on with much coaxing. i.e. pushing and holding the power button over and over again. No Dell for me next time.'

scott

'I got the same routine from Dell support, "buy a new motherboard". My notebook was rarely used in it's 1 1/2 year life. I bought it thinking that it would be nice to have when we were on vacation. It sat on my desk waiting for me to get tired of my desktop pc. I used it only once in a while (always with the power adapter) to be sure that all was well and to check to see if the battery needed to be charged} Battery power was always 100%. It became extremely slow (10 min. to boot, eternity to shut down.) I formatted the HD and re installed Win XP in hopes that it would be a little better to work on. All went well, I felt like our relationship was renewed! The next day I pushed the power button and, nothing absolutely nothing, with or without the battery. Green light on the ac adaptor is on, no LED lights, fan, or sound of any kind on the Inspiron. Now I am reading on forums that this MB has poor soldering, not only with the power switch, but also the USB ports. I have found several posts from victims that have discovered how to repair these defects with a soldering iron and a steady hand. I don't qualify, so I keep searching about these Dell mainboards. The more I find about them, the scarier it gets. If people that are skilled with a soldering iron are fixing this problem themselves, why is Dell only offering their customers the replacement of the mainboard, ($500 +} Does Dell make so much money on replacement parts and extended warrantees that they no longer want to make quality computers or support their customers? '

dee

'A litany of problems: The fan - same problems with overheating, having to prop it up so air circulates, making it impossible to travel with. Software - Dell alters the Windows software before sending it out, so Microsoft can give no tech support, and Dell charges a high per-minute rate for any such support. I also believes this makes it more vulnerable to security breaches. I have had to rebuild over and over. Video playback - audio and visual don't synch, showing only occasional frames, making it unwatchable. Even when it was under warranty, Dell couldn't fix this. Hard drive - failed after 5 months. As it was under warranty, after several days convincing them it had died, they replaced it. The screen - died when it was just over a year old. They quoted £475 to fix it. When I asked for some sort of explanation or apology for the quality of the machine, they didn't offer one - instead, I got several harassing calls from the Call Centre asking me to state that they had done all they could (offering a very high quote) and were not responsible for my dissatisfaction with the product. The DVD drive - failed in less than 18 months. It was a complete waste of money, they refused to acknowledge any faults with the machine even though it was clearly defective, and topped that off with harassing phone calls. The worst buy I ever made. I think it's too big a risk to hope your Dell will not be defective - it's worth paying a bit more for a machine that will not have to be replaced in 12-18 months after constant frustration and poor performance. '

kathryn_castles

'Endless problems: The fan - the same problems with overheating - having to prop it up so air circulates makes it impossible to travel with The software - Dell alters the Windows software before issue, meaning Microsoft will offer no support, and Dell only offers software support at an extremely high per-minute rate. I believe this makes the machine more vulnerable to security breaches. I have had to rebuild it countless times. The hard drive - died without warning after 5 months. After several days back and forth, they did replace it. Video playback - audio and visual don't synch, it only plays occasional visual frames, making it unwatchable. Dell couldn't fix it even though it was under warranty. Wireless - the Inspiron is one of only 2 models that is drained of 100% CPU using a Belkin wireless network card. The screen - died just over a year after purchase. They quoted £475 to fix it. When I asked for an apology or explanation for the quality of the machine I received neither, but did receive several harassing phonecalls from the Call Centre asking me to state that they had done all they could (offered a very high quote) and weren't responsible for my feeling of dissatisfaction. The DVD drive - died within 18 months. The worst purchase I ever made, with extremely dissatisfactory response from Dell. I know some Dell machines are fine, but I don't think there is too high a risk of having a poor, eventually unusable, machine, having to pay for a replacement within 12-18 months - pay a little extra for something that actually works.'

vayacon

'My dell is also a little over a year old. After using it for 2 months it went completely dead on me and found out I needed a new adapter. I plugged it up and have not had another problem till now. Nothing again, so I purchased another adapter from Dell this time it does nothing...so I am lost and out of all my important files. Any suggestions?'

joe

USB problems. Overheating(clean the heat sink every now and then). I don't mind the overheating, as it is to be expected with dust. The USB ports are driving me crazy though. I had the 90 day warranty, and ON THE 91st DAY they went out. I badgered Dell for hours, and they replaced the MB. New 90 day warranty on the MB. 100 DAYS LATER the same problem happened. Been that way ever since. Never buying a Dell again. No Way.

Mike B

I live in Jamaica, I bought my daughter a Dell 1150 for college in August 2004 and it worked fine untill..the labtop overheated and shutdown then the motherboard burnt at the DC Jack and the battery wont charge and thats the end of the labtop! Then I bought my other daughter a DEll 3000 Dimension fully upgraded in June 2005 and the Phillips DVD RW would only burn some types of blank CDS and DVDS, and now it doesn't read that any disk is in the driver and wont burn anything and wont play any music CDS, but funny enough plays some DVDS. What a piece of crap!!! Dell's deals are no deals because you're eventually going to pay for it full price in repairs!!! Had to replace the Driver with a top brand Plextor and Im contemplating on replacing the motherboard which will cost me the same price as a good computer from a better brand. Dell stinks!!!

John S

I hate my notebook, I hate Dell. In any case, I have a non-refurbished Inspiron 1150 that doesn't overheat. If you have any mechanical sence the source of the problem is the piss poor design and components that Dell uses. What I did was pop the trim piece off the top of the keyboard, remove the keyboard and EMI shield, and then removed the CPU heatsink. Then drill 10-15 small (3/16") holes in the dust cover on the bottom and wipe the white thermal greese off the CPU and heatsink. Then apply some Arctic Silver 3 (or 5 ) heatsink compound (about a 1/4" line) to the CPU and replace all the components. I run the laptop in 95*F temps for hours wihtout it overheating. Soon I'll be getting a 5160 motherboard and putting it into my 1150 case so I can have a decent computer.

UTMorpheus

so, it seems like the usual problem encountered in dell inspiron 1150 is overheating... and then, what should be done to solve or prevent this???

mel

Mike, I have the SAME EXACT PROBLEM....it just started about 2 weeks ago. And get this I BOUGHT IT IN AUGUST 2004!! I just got through talking with Dell and of course they said that I have to buy a new Motherboard...for $438 so I just told them I'll buy a new one, and its not going to be a Dell I can promise you that! But my problem is Exactly as yours, Email me rky721@aol.com

Rocky

My Dell inspiron 5600, had overheating problems. First it stops detecting the power, now I have network problem, it stops seeing the network cable and it continue telling the cable is unplugged. I cleaned its fan, as some helpful people on the internet explained, but I'm still having problems with the network, and the computer slowed down

Aboud

Bought 1150 July 2004 for daughter to take to college. Laptop started crashing, apparently due to overheating right after the 1 year warranty expired. Advised all my friends & family never to buy Dell again. My dad replaced my daughter's laptop with an HP and i myself purchased an HP laptop. Don't buy Dell!!! I'm in if there is a class action lawsuit. email jazzkat1912@yahoo.com

Alicia

i have had my inspiron 1150 since june 04 i have had absolutley no problems. yes it gets hot but what doesn't if it stays on all the time.

jennifer j

inspiron 1100 purchased in april 2004. Dell said need new motherboard! dc jack does not recognize power adapter and will not charge battery. runs on battery till it goes dead. they suck just want your money not your repeat business. boycott dell.

jack t.

I bought my 1150 in Oct '04 and have had to have the mobo and the ac adapter replaced on it..glad I bought the 3 yr warranty on it..been having a lot of overheating problems and will not be back to Dell for anymore purchases..

Todd

WITH THOSE HAVING OVERHEATING PROBLEMS,I THINK THEY SHOULD CHANGE THEIR PROCESSORS AND FANS,AND ALSO WIT THOS HAVING CD/DVD DRIVE PROBLEMS,I WOULD AVISE THEY CLEAN THE LENS WIT A SPIRIT OR ALCHOHOL USING A CLEAN DAMP WHITE CLOTH. THX fakwatson@hotmail.com

EDEM .fakwatson@hotm

Good news for all those people whos Dell 1150 runs fine. I recently took the laptop apart and found that it has a 478 pin Celeron 2.6 /400 Mhz bus /128 KB cache processor that is as same as any normal desktop board processor. I took the 3.2 Ghz Processor out of my PC and put it in the laptop. WORKS GREAT , all tests performed. All ok.... Go buy yourself a 3.2 Ghz P4 with HT and Put it in 1150 NOW!!! It even doesn't get that hot anymore and battery life increased by 1 hour. !!!! I know this is crazy, but , its true. Dont forget to update the BIOS to A07 before you do this. Later I gonna post something even cooler !!! HOW TO CHANGE your Extreme GFX 2 in to NVIDIA 6200. This involves souldering and chip changing. For now , enjoy the Processor upgrade.

Gearspec

I got my Inspiron 1150 in July of 2004 and has not had a single problem since. It does tend to heat up if the vents underneath are obstructed, but when the heat builds up, the fan kicks in mightily until a reasonable cool down is achieved--no power offs, no blue screens. If I would nitpick, it would be about the creaky charcter of the plastic casing, and the mini PCI and memory access covers. Also, I'm not too happy about the short life of the standard battery (2 hours), which drains even more rapidly because of the fan. Otherwise, this is a great basic laptop for word processing, surfing the net, and managing my mp3 player.

Jay

Motherboard failed after 6 months, probably due to overheating. Replaced under warranty. Then failed again in another 6 months. Now 12 months later, no problems - am very careful not to let it overheat. Only other problem is that Skype calls are dropped after a few minutes.

Simon

I bot this model DELL Inspiron 1150,second hand and it's working just fine, no problems with overheating, memory or procesor speed,system stable,evrything working as it shuld be!!

grycel

My Dell 1150 worked great I loved it and took very goOd care of it I have a very good carry case ,It was great, the other day I shut down at 4 pm . and Started it up the next day at 7 am , Thier was no power at all My dell 1150 WAS out of warrenty a few months back , I called dell about getting it repaired ,they said it would be $430 dollars for repair but if I did it right now sent it in? they would take 100 ofF THE bill ,makeing it 330 bucks I asked if thier was a proplem WITH THE 1150 THAT OTHERs HAD .and dell made it seem like. This was the only 1150 that did it ?and they were shocked that thier dell 1150 failed me , I told them i get back with them in a few days , am upset with the flaw on my computer, but more upset with dell out of warrenty people makeing it seem like this was the first time they heard of it , and how dell HOW TOOK A FLAW ON THIER COMPUTER. that should have been fixed for free and are makeing money on it dell was going to EXTORT 335 BUCKS FROM ME FOR REPAIR , WHERE AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECALLLED , OR AT LEAST DONE FOR COST , IT UPSETS ME THAT A COMPANY LIKE DELL DOES NOT NO LONGER STAND BY THIER COMPUTERS AND TRY MAKEING MONEY FROM YOU FOR THIER flaws on the 1150 more

DAVID VUKUSICH

Dell computers are the worst PCs on the market. I have a Dell desktop, huge piece of junk! Don't even consider purchasing a dell.

Kenneth LaFon

I've had numerous problems with the Samsung DVD-ROM drive; can play CDs and DVDs just fine, but can't work with CD-RW discs, and can't append to CD-R discs. Also sometimes refuses to read CD-R discs. System has also gotten really slow over time; have tried all of the standard remedies but can't get the damn thing to speed up its performance ...

Terry

Had a Dell Inspiron 1150 for a bit over a year, it started to shut down suddenly (like pulling the power plug), seems similar to other comments; I also noticed that the battery got hot without running it, so I completely removed the battery; I also removed everything that can be detached. After letting it sit for a while, I can reboot and it will work until you move it slightly, then it will shut down itself abruptly. It seems that there is a power problem or a problem with the motherboard. My previous computer (IBM ThinkPad) lasted for 6 years (and was still working when I abandoned it), and the Dell lasted just past the warranty and then died. I will not buy Dell anymore.

Tom

Like so many other posters, my motherboard died about 18 months after buying Dell Inpsiron 1150. The heat output of this laptop is ridiculous! Amyone reading this thinking which laptop to buy....DON'T BUY FROM DELL - THEIR LAPTOPS SUCK!!!

Nick, London, UK

I bought my daughter an 1150 a year and a half ago. It worked fine until the one year warranty expired and then I had to replace the motherboard for a load of cash (thanks Dell). Then after a couple of months it just began to freeze all of the time and now won't even boot up. I bought my other daughter a Compaq like I always buy for myself. I'm done with Dell garbage. No service, no quality.

John M

I have had non stop problems with my Dell. It seems as soon as the warrenty ended the problems started to happen. Me and my sister both got Dell inspiron 1150 for christmas they were working fine. One year later after the warrenty ended both of are battery adappters broke because they over heated. My computer will not stop running the fan at max and is really starting to annoy me. When i bought a new cord the comp work fine untill 2 months later when my background of the computer went all blue. After a 3 weeks of running virus and spyware programs to find out what the cause is my computer went to a white background. I still havent found the problem even with;WEBROOT SPYSWEAPER/ AOL SAFETY AND SECURITY/ MCAFEE VIRUS PROTECTION). Now I can not even change my background because the tool bar for changing the background is locked. Now my brother computer is not working after he just bought because he will be going to Iraq in a month and his disk drive will not open and sound will not work and his computer is only 2 months old. The army even advised him the dell is a very unreliable choice to bring with him to Iraq and his CO is banning any Dell and Toshiba laptop computers from being brought due to lack of relability. Toshiba is concidered by the army to be one of the worst laptops to buy because one little thing breaks you will be better off buying a new computer. Final comments Dell is a horable computer and will be the biggest mistake you will make and Toshiba just sucks but everyone knows that.

Joe

i have a different problem to the rest of you. i have the 2.8 ghz pentium 4 version of the insprion 1150 and the small black plastci adapter thing goes loose and dell then say its not covered under warranty. HA! £200 for a motherboard change. i can get a new laptop for £150. the first problem i encountered was the screen breaking. under warranty and then i had to deal with dell technical support. this was a nightmare and i waited for a month before they agreeed to replace it. NEVER AGAIN WILL I BUY ANYTHING BY DELL DUE TO THERE CRAPPY SUPPORT AND POOR USER RELATIONS.DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND BUY A BETTER MACHINE THAT IS NOT MADE BY DELL OR SONY>

tyrantrope

Four Hard Drives, 2 motherboards, an A/C adapter, and two batteries in 2 years. Worst computer I have ever owned.

John

I wish I would have seen this a while ago. I too bought an inspiron 1150 around Sept-Nov 04, and had nothing but problems for the first 4 months, sent it back and it still overheated and powers down, and most recently, stopped charging and recognizing the ac plug. Flipped on dell about the overheating finally, and told them it was a hazard since the bottom could probably burn me, or my desk. Then the ac thing started happening. Dell had me send the laptop back without question. I do not want to replace my motherboard...when spend 300-500 bucks when this peice of junk isn't worth that. Anyone have any advice?

Will B.

Bought mine in April 2005 (must be one of the last I guess) and it's been faultless. Runs WinXP and Linux (various distros over time, currently Fedora Core 6). I even ran the hooky version of Mac OSX for Intel for a while. The only things I miss are an internal DVD writer, which I could have ordered and internal bluetooth for mobile internet via my phone. I might open it up and clean the fans assembly as I frequently use it on my lap which must restrict the airflow and suck up more dust.

Pete

I have experienced the same issues with my daughter's 1150 as everyone else. Must be a class action suit somwhere? Dell customer service acts like they don't know anything about the problems. Just bought a Gateway laptop, would never buy a Dell again. Shame to see a once good company go down the drain.

Charlie B.

bought the 1150 in March of 2005 - soon after that while trying to install the software for a printer the computer crashed. Blue screen appeared. Dell had sent the windows recovery disc so we tried that - now we have a c drive; a d drive and an e drive (all local disc) every time we've tried to load something onto the computer it seems to ruin the system and we start all over. This was actually the 2nd 1150 - the first one that DELL sent us was already dead when we received it. Have had absolutely no luck in talking with dell -did not purchase the extended warranty. With all the issues i am not about to purchase anything else from dell.

jackie

some overheat problems are just dirty heatsinks try compressed air blow through the fan opening on the bottom of the case to clean without having to tear it apart.mine was heating up and this worked,however i have replaced the dc jack twice and the case cracked out around the hinges so im glad lots of broken 1150's can be found on Ebay.also here is a link to a site with a program to force your fan to stay on high to help with cooling issues www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html

name

Has many people before me, I've got problem of overheating... I think it come from the frequency of CPU My dell inspiron had a frequency of 2.4 GHz, that is simply too important for a laptop. It overheat (until 75 °C) and reduce itself the frequency to not have to toast... and turn actually as a 500 - 1000 MHz. I'm looking for a method of reduce bus speed/or multiplier (x 24 !!) in order to make it works faster in the end. But dell Bios ( A06 and A07) are crap, We can't do anything. If somebody think like me and achieve to decrease frequency, let Me Know please [Problem of AC power off also comes from overheating, the socket-outlet is very close from CPU and might toast...]

Paul

In October 2006, customers who purchased Dell Inspiron 1100, 1150, 5100 and 5160 notebooks filed a class action lawsuitagainst Dell, alleging misconduct in connection with the design, manufacture, warranting, advertising and selling of these computers. The overheating problems on the Inspiron 5150 model are due to the position of the fan and fan vent and the way in which it vents air through the cpu's heatsink. The fan draws air from underneath the unit and removes it through the heatsink and out the rear of the unit. However as a result of drawing air from underneath the unit also sucks up any dust that may be present on the surface it sits. This dust then passes through the heatsink where some dust becomes trapped and builds up. Over time this buildup will constrict the airflow through the unit and thus buildup heat. The airflow through the rear of the unit will be noticeably diminished: simply place your hand near the fan vent, on high speed the fan should give good air flow out the back; if this is not the case then the flow is most likely constricted. Also heat will build up along the top of the unit near the LCD display and left toward the optical drive. This will be noticeable while typing. Performance loss may also result: jittery game performance and laggy windows performance. Some systems may experience jerky reactions where the unit goes into an almost slow motion phase for short periods of time. Continued operation in this condition may lead to overheating and could result in permanent damage to the CPU, GPU, motherboard and other internal components. To remedy this problem the unit must be dissasembled and cleaned. The heatsink must be cleaned of all obstructions and the fan must be inspected for proper operation. It is not uncommon for this problem to result in a CPU temperature increase of between 15-20c over an optimally functioning unit. Further temperature increases may well also result in damage to the casing of the unit as a result of this problem. It is imperative to remedy this problem to avoid damage to your Dell Inspiron 5150 notebook. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Inspiron

Gabe

This all sounds very familiar - We have had 4 1150's at work fail with the same problem - A small crack appears on the front left of the case (where you would rest you wrist while typing) - Laptop powers off intermittently after that and eventually wont power up at all. Also have a 1100 which seems to be suffering with overheating problems - CPU is at 74'C!!! I'd never spend my own money on a Dell Laptop

John C

if anyone still has a dell inspiron 1150 that works then go here http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html and download the program install it and then turn the fan speed up to high and click apply i have a inspiron and it kept mine cool enough to run

Nic

I have had my dell inspiron 1150 since july of 04 I haven't had any problems It holds all my music and games and still starts up almost instant!! it acually plays games really well with onley 256 mb RAM

Casey p.

I've had my Dell Inspiron 1150 for two years now and have had to replace the motherboard TWICE because it overheats. Both times this happened during my final exam period in school. A Dell tech told me that it's the result of a design flaw and the machines get too hot and ruin the motherboard, then your computer won't even turn on. Huge pain for students like me who need a reliable computer. The tech suggested that I buy a "Laptop cooler," which is a stand that they sit on with fans to keep them cool. I am going to do that since I can't afford to buy a different computer right now. I WOULD NOT RECCOMEND THIS LAPTOP TO ANYONE! do youself a favor and buy a mac notebook. i wish i had.

RN

Dell Inspirion 1150 ----- Had issues with wireless and called Dell --- CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ---- very strong accents. It was a nightmare. They blamed my internet provider, the router, anything they could. Finally, I took it to a friend who fixed it.... I will never buy a DELL based on their customer service alone. NO help if you can't understand them.

Sheri

The Dell Inspiron 1150 I bought in July 2004 for my son in college began shutting down frequently and unexpectedly a little over one year after purchase - after warranty coverage expired. As far as I can tell, Dell is offering no assistance to those who purchased these defective computers. I am very disappointed with Dell's quality and customer support.

Steve J

my 1150 did the same as above (not charging the battery) and so has a few friends.the plug on back of the computer broke loose from the motherboard, i had it re-sadered but its broke again and it hasnt even been a month. a new motherboard is the only way to fix it. ive also had the blue screen twice and had to uninstall and reinstall windows!!!!

jl

I have a 1150. Within 16 months it needed a new hard disc duw to overheating. Now the motherboard has gone due to dry joint, again overheating is the cause. It is two and a half years old and scrap. On top of that the battery is on the Sony recall list. Buy another, not bloody likely. Graham

gwaite@onetel.com

I bought a brand new inspiron 1300 box still seal. opened it and it just wont come on. Real mestup..... I would advise people on getting a Toshiba. I have one for years and still working fine......

Genuis

I have had my spiron 1150 since December 2004, it was good for a year, then it started overheating after my warranty ended, it shut down random, it became immobile because it would shut down when i was moving it. Now it will not start at all but the lights in the front turn on for about 3 seconds. I have read a lot of these comments, does it sound like the motherboard finally is shot? and does anyone know how much a new motherboard costs them?

Mike P

"Anyone owned an Inspirion 1150 for more than 1 and half years without any problems?" Mine will be 2 years old on August 24, 2006, and so far, I've had no problems like the ones described above. Granted, I noticed that it was _extremely_ warm after a few days of usage (why did they put the fan on the bottom??) - so, what I've done is place the laptop off to the side on top of two textbooks (my desk is too low for me to type comfortably anyway without the books), so the fan is exposed to air. Asides from that little annoyance, I have had no problems such as crashing or not responding, motherboards burning out, etc... For a laptop that is used for university (i.e., mostly typing and looking up information on the internet), I'd say that it isn't bad. However, if I were to go back in time, I'd get a different laptop brand =P

Amy

Had my 1150 since June 2004. Bout one year ago had the shutdown due to heating problem--but after reading the net--bought cans of "air" and routinely clean fan and rest of computer of dust. Have not had heating problem since. Last week, my computer suddenly shut down in the middle of a web search and poker game....although I had to boot from the XP disk, I was able to run chkdsk and dell diagnostic--results looked like bad hard disk. While I was able to repair using chkdsk and fixboot-I could see disk was not going to hold up. I called Dell service---told them the result of the Dell diagnostic--and in 10 minutes without a single hassle, my new Disk Drive was sent. Since my AC adapter had developed some type of short--the same very friendly service tech sent me a new AC adapter in the same package.

Bette

I bought my 1150 about a year ago and 3 months after buying it, it would not turn on... the power light would not come on nothing not even the lcds... the power cords green light also would not come on when i pluged it in.... so I called Dell Technical support.. and after 4 hours on hold i got to talk to some guy in a forugn country who was telling me to do everything i had already done... so he decided i needed a new mother board... so since i was under warnenty they sent me a new FREE one thank the lord... and the technician guy came out and put it in.... but to his and my surprise i didn't have just a bad mother board.... my mouther board had in fact FRIED i mean literly was black and burnt it looked like i had tooken it out and lit it on fire black... so he put in the new one and tried to reboot it... and in doing so he found out that my heat sink was bad, my power cable was bad, my mother board was bad, my prosessor was bad, my over heating protection was bad, and my memory was bad... so he called Dell using his "express" technisian line... and was only one hold for 2 hours.. (lol) and had them ship it out... he came once again and fixed it.... And after that complet over hall and 9 months latter its been running just fine. My thoughts are be more patient with the customer support and spend teh 4 hours on hold waiting for the talk and run through whith the forign guy..

andrew 1111

We have two Inspiron 1150 machines. BOTH JUNK. We needed three laptops, bought two Dell Inspiron 1150 (both junk as previously stated). My son bought an Averatec at the same time and we all told him he was nuts. HE HAS A GREAT MACHINE! Will never spend good hard-earned money on another DELL machine.

Gloria

I've had my insprion 1100 since Oct 2003. I couldn't locate nice 1100 forum, and decided to join 1150 forum. It worked flawlessly for the first 2 years. Was always on hard surface desk, with minimal use of 1-2 hours of computing every day. Going into 3rd year, I started carrying laptop to work. The rubber slip-pads on the bottom of laptop started to fall out. It now sat on desk w/o much clearance for airflow. Still worked fairly okay with 2-3 hours of daily use. 2 years and half passed. Occasionally, when worked off of my bed, it will overheat due to improper ventilation to bottom of the unit. It didnt take more then 30 minutes to see it overheat. Couple months of working off of my bed (1-2 hours every night), overall performance started to slow. Couple time, I was not able to bring the unit to power on. I had thought overheating may have fried the motherboard or the power source, even hard disk. Miraculously, my wife turned it on after 2 days. All she did was press a power button. It was flawless for next two months. Decided to move all my work to desktop PC and only use the labtop when my wife's hogging the PC. Needed to back up something from the laptop last week and left it on. Went into suspend mode, as it usually does, and after a week it will not turn on. Will power on and HDD LED will turn on for couple seconds and will stay hung for eternal. Pressing power will just shut the unit off right away. I know I haven't defrag'ed my hard drive. I know I only have couple Gig's of disk space available. Still, it's bit annoying to see everyone with inspirion 11xx series notebook having heat problems. Dell Inspiron 1100 2.2 GHz Celeron 768 MB PC2100 People, please post some solutions!!!! I heard Mother Board may need to be replaced. Bogus! Dell Forum, but Dell obviously don't care: http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_power&message.id=31830 Good place, if you want to clean out your CPU heatsink and fan: http://www.danandsherree.com/2005/04/02/our_dell_inspiron_11.php Look here (mentions a problem with our series): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Inspiron Let's all buy Lenovo, and see how they turn out. Although my Inspiron was manufactured in China, and probably over 95% of parts may have been sourced and manufactured in Asia, I'd rather buy a Chinese brand, thinking it's CHINESE product and get mad to buy it again next time around. It sucks having to think all American, "Oh, I am getting a Dell, dude~", and get the similar or worse result then the Chinese product. An upgrade from an Inspiron maybe, but may leave you with a peace of mind. Good luck!

TwinGST

Bought my inspiron 1150 in february 2005 one month after the warrenty expired the motherboard fried on it now I have an hp best computer worth the extra cash never buy dell again

Ken

As one contributor so kindly stated, removing the keyboard and cleaning the radiator vents at the back is essential, you should realy remove the fan in order to do it properly. Use a bright light to show up the blocked vents and clean / dust everything ion sight. A lot of dust seems to enter through the keyboard as well. The dreaded 1150 is now behaving itself and running well. Thank you all for your input and advice.

Andrew Goloskof

We've had the exact same problems with our Inspiron 5160 (I'm told it's practically the same as a 1150). Gonna try to see if cleaning the fan out works. Never buy a Dell laptop.

Arghhhhhhhh

Same story. Bought my inspiron 1150 in October 2004. Last month it died on me, same thing no power and no warranty. Called Dell support and they advised it probably needed a new palm rest. Sent it to the Dell repair depot, paid the shipping and the 100 bucks for them to look at it. Ended up needing a new motherboard, another $300 later. Got it home and ran it for 15 minutes and it did the same thing again. Sent it back to Dell and they repaired it at their cost. A month later so far so good, but who knows how long this will last. Now this week, my husband's Inspiron 1100 did exactly the same thing. We are not sending it back to Dell to fix but getting a local computer company to service. I'm sure they'll tell us it needs a motherboard also. You can bet Dell won't be getting our business again and I will make sure anyone else looking for a computer won't buy from them either. I questioned them when I called support about problems with the laptops and they advised me that approximately 20% of laptops will have problems. Sounds like a hell of alot more than 20% are lemons!! Thank goodness I still have my old IBM desktop to use, only thing wrong with it, is that the max RAM is 256MB! Have had it for 5 years now without any problems whatsoever! I think I'll go back to it and screw DELL.

Lorna

Dont buy these things, they are terrible. They overheat and their hardware runs much slower than it should. Getting help from Dell in regards to such problems is next to impossible. Buy an inspiron if you want an expensive typewriter.

Peter

Mine is junk had it since Aug. 2004 for college the shutting down problem and now I believe the hard drive is crashing. When I had the warrenty it was hard to get someone to talk to and then I could not understand them. These computers are worthless

Jacls

I've had the same overheating/shutoff problem with my Dell 1150 ... I had to replace the motherboard (at my cost because it was after the warranty expired). this was just over one year old and now the new motherboard is starting to show the same shut off symptoms as the old one

Bill - Massachusetts

Where do we start??? My girlfriend was bought a Dell Inspiron 1150 in Aug or 2004 for her uni work, we deliberatly took out the extended warranty. Worked ok, not great, bit slow even tho we got high spec one, after a year or so the power port worked its way loose and very rarely took power from AC Charger after a couple of weeks it stopped working all together and so we contacted Dell. They began to run off loads of Diagnostics Questions to which i told them exactly what was wrong....After great persistance one lady said it WOULD be fixed and UNDER WARRANTY Too!!! We ended the phone call happy. A Day later we had a phone call back asking for the money for the OUT OF WARRANTY CALL OUT!!! We told them it was under our extended warrenty and were told it would be fixed so they said they would email someone and telephone us back...but they didn't, This happened twice!!!! Then we decided to go through my girlfriends mum (Ex-Citizen's Advice Bureau) and the official route, write a letter, to which Dell sent back an Email to the effect of 'Hello, understand your having problems, Sounds like it could be ware and tare or accidental damage, so we'll go with them so it's gonna cost £400 odd to repair and wont be under warranty like we said!!' so we got really p***ed and started searching everywhere as we had our looked at by my brother who is a computer technition by trade. He said that the port wasn't correctly soldered in as it was all charred around the contact points. Also he said it wasn't wear and tear or accidental damage....HE SAID IT WAS A DESIGN FAULT!!!! DELL's design fault so in short........DO NOT BUY A DELL DESKTOP AS DELL OBVIOUSLY DECIDED TO TRY AND MAKE A LAPTOP WITH THE MOST PROBLEMS EVER!!!!! THEY HAVE OFFICIAL SUCCEEDED WITH THE WONDERFULLY POO 1150!!

ROB

I had my Inspiron 1150 for about a year and a month, and then it just went out. When I press the power button the lights will come on and the fan will start running but there's no picture. My warranty is out and I need this laptop for college. I hate Dell.

Josh

I have an Inspiron 1150. Had it for less than 2 years. I didn't notice anything wrong until to just started shutting off on its own. It started doing it more and more frequently and now it won't turn on at all. Now the computer repair place says that the motherboard is bad. This makes me very angry. Let many other people I will never buy a Dell again.

Pissed

Another one bites the dust! 18 months after purchasing the POS Inspiron 1150, the laptop overheats and shuts down every couple of hours. Dell sucks!

Al D

My 1150 has a big overheat problem like others. I bought a chill pad with two small fans. The problem still exists. So, I bought another 10 inch fan. Now, it is ok but it is not easy to move my notebook (I must move the fan too).

Richard

'Another Dell 1150 nightmare...only used it for 4 months, power connection broke so had to have a new motherboard, once the new motherboard was installed warranty expired the following month and then the screen went black and it hasn't come back..fan comes on sporadically, time for everyone with an 1150 to go to http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/law_suits_filed.html and request a class action. It's pretty obvious from the ratio here, that there are more non working inspirons than working ones. '

kathi

I have story similar to everyone else...bought to go to college with and have had nothing but problems. My ac adapter shorted out which in turn manage to actually short out my motherboard. Few months later experienced the problems of randomly shutting down with the blue screen of death. I took it apart and managed to clean out the fan...I was shocked how much dust came out of it. It seemed to help the problem of it shutting down, but it is running considerably slower and running at a higher temperature (according to speedfan) than i would like. I know people with IBM thinkpads that are several years older than my computer that shouldn't work as well as mine, but work as good if not better. DO NOT BY DELL...it is nothing but problems.

John

Anyone owned an Inspirion 1150 for more than 1 and half years without any problems? I hope all the folks who have had their 1150 for 6 months and are very pleased with it comeback in another 8 months or so to tell us how its doing...

Mike D

I have had my 1150 for just under 12 months, and it has now died - motherboard problems obviously, it kept crashing, blue screening and generally playing up - now I know why. Am replacing it with an acer!

Simon

maybe.. i dont think they will take any action based on these comments.

anon

I've had my 1150 since July of 2004 and its currently sitting on my desk doing...absolutely nothing. It stopped recognizing the AC Adapterand won't power up or charge the battery. Dell suggests nonchalantly to replace the motherboard as if it is a very common and unsurprising repair. Because you know, like most things motherboards go bad all the time. This is my 7th computer and the first time i have had to replace a motherboard. The real problem is that the sytem gets to hot and the power jack unsolders from the motherboard. Unless you have the skills and aptience to disassemble your laptop and re-solder the jack back to the motherboard (that's if the motherboard hasn't cracked from the heat) then you're only option is to replace the motherboard...or buy a different brand of computer. The heat problem is a definite design flaw that Dell is ignoring. I suggest everyone follow the link above to try and pursue class action. As a bit of hopefully encouraging infomration, one firm is already in litigation against Dell for one of a long list of models they are suing for. Unfortuantely for me they are only representing CA residents. If enough of us scream our heads off though, maybe Dell will hear us...maybe...

Mike D

I threatened DEll UK under the the sales of goods act for supplying a laptop not fit for purpose. they replaced the over heated motherboard and made mods foc. don't be fobbed off if you are in the UK and a private individual use the sales of goods act.

mark

I am a Dell Tech, The overheating problem is a known issue which can be fixed by replacing the bottom plastics. This is covered under the warantee. If your warantee is over, don't fret, Dell knows this is an issue and will fix your computer if you tell them this is a known issue and you demand it be fixed. (sometimes threats of a lawsuit will do the trick). Howard (don't know how long ago you posted) the motherboard is under warantee. I find a lot of times it all depends on who you talk to at Dell. One phone tech will tell you such and such is not covered, call right back and get another tech and he will send out the part and technician. Hope this all helps!

Rich F

I too have had a problem with my Dell Inspiron 1150 shutting off several times a day. Regardless if the cause is overheating, this is certainly a flaw! I cannot do any type of task without the computer turning off! I will hear the hard drive and then it will instantly shut off. It is so frustrating having it turn off without warning. I have had laptops all my life and this is the only laptop that I have had this problem with! Also the screen constantly flickers and the power cord that charges the battery/ supplies power is faulty. Often I will find the computer turning off even though it is plugged into the power supply. In Sum: 1. Over heats- shuts off constantly 2. Power supply/ battery does not charge- turns off due to low battery when plugged in 3. Turns off when hard drive processing is required such as viewing online photos or video 4. Flickering screen All these occured when the computer was less than a year old- why pay 1k for poor quality/ unreliable computer

Patricia

I have had my dell 1150 for over three years. It has worked flaulessly during that time. I have a Celeron cpu, I don't know if that makes a difference or not. I do not have overheating problems. I immediately changed the operating system to XP pro and updated the memory to 1gb. I have used it for web design and graphics. I use it daily to keep grades as I am a teacher. I has been a workhorse. I just would like to change the bios and be able to make some more adjustments.

Paul

The 1150 Is a disapointment do to case design , witch hits mobo .and not vented correctly. but the biggest disappointment is from dell it slef who forgets about the people who paid well over a thousand dollars for the 1150 . only to attempt to bilk more money from them . for repairs to a model that should have been recalled and replaced , am sure the one who paid plenty for the dell 1150 and blew , will not forget , and will surely think twice about byeing a new one

dave

I bought my 1150 in November 2004, the P4 2.8ghz version and it was working great, a true powerhouse for almost 2 years. I noticed that after a ram upgrade to 1gb, the performance sucks. It has never crashed or powered off due to overheating, but after using the i8kfan utility, I noticed that its idle temp is about 48 C, and within 20 seconds of launching a media file it jumps up to 77 degrees and stays at that point, even with the fan on full speed on a hard flat surface. I also habitually left it on a bed and smoked alot of cigarettes around it, so I'm sure there's a good deal of dust buildup. I'm hoping that after I air it out I can regain or at least restore it's performance, or at least improve it enough so that it's acceptable to pawn it off on eBay as "working" :-P

Chuck S

i had inspiron 1150. iwas on it and the screen went blank.so i switch it off.when i switch it on.the screen is blank.everything els seems to work.can aybody help email me on IrsalanGhaffar@hotmail.co.uk

Irsalan

I have a Dell Inspirion 1150, won't charge, won't turn on with the AC cord only. F---k Dell, I don't want to speak to a JERK from India that has know idea what's up... Never buying another DELL Computer

Thomas

I have had a Dell Inspiron 1150 since August 2004 (now April 2007) and I have never had a problem with it (besides a virus). Recently I have been having problems with it recognizing my power adapter. Well I would just give it a wiggle and it would work. Well now it does not recognize any power adapter (borrowed another family member's dell adapter) and I cannot charge my laptop! I am not happy!

Kristin

it just junk and the way dell service handled the 110 proplem and try makeing a buck on a design flaw i will not forget them wanted 380 bucks to fix the thing that cost me 1100 bucks it was a great lap top and a power house till proplem set in no power and dell trun thier back on you the consumer a true disappointment the computer dells 1150 and also del l the company handling made matters worst ,, i am now dell free and will think twice no i will not think at all no more dells in my life , for the way dell handled the matter of the 1150

Dave Vukusich

I planned to give my 1150 to my niece. I cannot remember the windows user name password. How can I get around it? I promise it is mine and I really cannot remember the password. Not even with the hint. I have tryed everything! Help

hyc116@aol.com

1150 is prob one of dells worst designed products that they went to market with. I love dell but not the cheep 1150 I got for my wife. Power jack problem and overheating are driving me crazy. I think I'll have to send it to a local shop and see if they can fit a diferent kind of a/c connector on the motherboard, maybe one like toshiba uses.

LittleJoeTheMan

I have DELL INSPIRON 1150 since 3 years ago, it's really wonderful notebook, yes .. there is overheating inspit of the weather in the summer very hot, but it's working fine, for 2 years it was working 16 hours per day ... WAW it's great

Moony

I have 3 1150's 2.6 ghz and 2.8 ghz , got one for cheap off ebay less than $100 and it only needed to have power jack replaced and reinstall drivers and os , works fine now . The other 2 are the 2.8 ghz and I run hd tune on both to watch temperature from toolbar. If you clean them with canned air every 6 months and never think of starting one WITHOUT a triple fan cooling pad you will avert many problems. I velcro cooling pads on any laptop hp,compaq and mac. be well stay well

naztkat

I would like to echo the sentiments above....DEll customer noservice is among the worst in ANY industry. Even with everyone outsourcing their service to other countries, Dell's lack of concern for the customer in legendary by now. Our 1150 had troubloe from the get-go, replaced the first one after 3 months of trouble, replacement had similar issues. in less than one year dc port quit allowing for battery to be recharged. avoid this pc at all costs, personally i recommend avoiding Dell until they learn to appreciate the customers who keep them in business to begin with!!! As for me, i am returning to apple!

DMW

Like many others I now know what's causing my problems with my 1150. I wish I'd found this site ages ago. I'll take the advice on hoovering out the fan etc., but in the meantime I'll get an external HD to transfer all my precious files on to (hopefully before its too late) as I save for a new computer. Definately a Mac next time. Ta ta DELL... Jamie B

Jamie Burns

I own a Dell Inspiron 1150 Laptop, which I bought back in May 2005. I have recently started experiencing issues with my laptop overheating. First I had no clue on why my laptop was performing very poorly/slow and would just power off on its own. Well one day when I was copying some data to a disc on the laptop it just powered off and gave the message, “Your machine has automatically powered off in order to control the temperature due to overheating, something could be blocking the fan vents please contact Dell or read the manual to learn how to clean the fan assembly. ”(please note: this error message is not word from word, but pretty close.) However, I did research the manual for my particular laptop, but I couldn’t find anything on how to clean the fan or what to due in event of an overheating. The only thing I seen was how to uninstall and re-install the cooling assembly. I even turned to the Dell Support website for help on this issue, and I was disappointed. So I reasearched the web, and did a search for owners who have the same laptop symptons and I was hoping someone knew a fix. I finally came across a few sites, advising to take the laptop apart and just manually clean the fan. So I thought it was helpful advice so I took the laptop apart, clean the fan and put it together again, hoping that I was good to go. Unfortunately my problems got worse. I tried to power on the laptop and I go a few blinks from the laptop power and battery lights, but no info on the monitor and within 15 seconds, it powered back off. I also did research on this problem to see if maybe I did something wrong, but I only came to a dead end. Everyone with this laptop is experiencing this same exact problem. You would think Dell would offer some type of support for owners with these laptops, since this issue is so common. I know one thing, my next PC will be a HP, I am also putting a claim in for class action lawsuit. I’m not sure how old this lawsuit is or even if it’s still active, but please reply and let me know the status.

Reggue B

Do NOT buy a Dell Inspiron 1150 Laptop. It is a waste of money and will cause huge upset. In less than 2 years I had to twice reinstall windows, starting over again. After 2 years, almost exactly, it has died. It has always overheated. It was a waste of good money.

Gillian Higgins

Going on 4 years, no problems whatsoever. I must be lucky.

A

Wow, I can't believe all of the similar problems in here. I currently own 2 Dell products that I really can't stand. I have a Dimension desktop that fried the motherboard 1 month off warranty (got a refurb brd and installed myself for less than $100) and yep you guessed it: an Inspiron 1150. The 1150 was a much bigger problem. Somehow, it fried the AC port which I found out to my initial happiness was an easy & relatively cheap fix (comp was WAY off warranty) & Had a buddy that s a soldering pro replace. After replacing it he went over the board with a magnifying glass and found a burnt voltage regulator which meant, you guessed it again: NEW MOTHERBOARD!! Couldn't find a new or refurb for under $350 online (seems since these go out so much everyone wants to turn a buck on them) so I ended up buying an 1100 motherboard which fit right in and has been working Ok for 2 months now & the board cost me about 1/2 of an 1150 board which tells me it must be at least a little more reliable. Now I have an inspiron 1150 that a guy wanted me to take a look at & it's the same old story: Power led lights up for 1 sec, fan spits a little air & then nada. won't do anything else. All of the posts in here have given me ideas on where to go with it so THANKS! Dell is plain JUNK & it's not just this model either. I will either let these Die & buy new or pawn them off on someone else, but I will NEVER buy adell again!!!!

Matt

i got a dell 1150, same as everyone else, wont switch on, blinking lights.....dell say motherboard needs replaced, any suggestions?

andy

Yes, Same here. I had my motherboard go out within months of buying the 1150. It overheats, freezes up and I have to reboot. I have lost critical time and data on this. Dell was once top of the line. I think it is all put into the office and schools with them now. Can you say APPLE? I am hearing more and more positive things in there genre.

kathy

This computer is a piece of junk. After one year, almost exactly, the laptop began to overheat. I tried to be very careful to keep the fan unobstructed but it doesn't matter. I even burned my leg, it got so hot! It powers off without any warning. Now I leave it on the table and it still overheats and powers off. I have taken to placing it on an ice pack in order to use it. What a joke. The battery has never worked properly from day one. Will not hold a charge beyond one hour, and it is supposed to hold for 4 hours. We have had a terrible time getting it to work on wireless. My husband's computer (a Dell 6000) is a higher end model and it has no problem connecting to the wireless. It's the same wireless unit -- HELLO! What's wrong with this picture? Now, at age 2 1/2, my Dell screen has gone completely black, even though it is booted up. Customer service is a nightmare. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. I am checking into the class action suit that was filed in Oct 2006 and hoping it is not too late for me. I will never buy a Dell again, never. I can't afford to buy a new computer, yet my work requires me to have one. I don't understand how a company that is so prosperous can take advantage of their customer base like this. They should be recalling these laptops VOLUNTARILY without waiting for a lawsuit. That would require having integrity, though. Dell, you should be ashamed.

Patty

This things a piece of s--t! I am on my third hardrive!!! Fan and motherboad were also replaced but having the same issues again. Stay away from dell junk!!!

Mill

I too have an 1150 with the same problems of overheating, shutting down, amd now it won't charge the battery or run on ac power. I found a blog somewhere that said to plug in an external monitor. This worked, as I can now run on ac and charge the battery. What happens is the comp overheats and unsolders the ground connection at the ac power jack. By plugging in an external monitor, I am supplying a ground through the monitor jack. I accomplished the same thing by running an external wire from the screws of the monitor jack and wrapping it around the outside of the ac power plug and plugging it in. This took the ground from the ac power plug and rerouted it through the monitor jack. This is only a temporary fix, but it will allow me to run the laptop. Dell tech support told me the same thing, that I needed a motherboard at my expense. I'm sure a new motherboard comes with a new ac power jack and would fix my problem until it overheats again and causes the same problem. I too am looking into the class action suit against Dell. You can go to the lawyers' website at www.lieffcabraser.com or e-mail them at mail@lchb.com