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Possibly a total waste of money- help ASAP.
Today, my mother decided to surprise my brother with a brand new Dell inspiron.
His last computer, an Acer, was a total dud. We had to replace the motherboard twice and only one out of six USB ports worked. Everytime we plugged a mouse into the mouse port it would crash. We could only plug in one USB device, and it had to be a small device- if we plugged the printer in it would crash. So, we got sick of it and my mum bought the dell.
I really don't like Dell- I'm more of an HP person myself.
So, I got to the task of setting it up. I set it up in the usual way; plugging everything in with the power off. But, we didn't buy a new monitor- we just bought the modem, keyboard, and mouse. We have a secondhand monitor for the computer (I don't remember the brand- it begins with a C and the letter Q is in it...) that worked on the old Acer.
I went to turn it on after everything was plugged in, and found that although the monitor was on, it didn't seem to knowledge the fact that it was plugged in to the Dell. (Just a note: the dell had never been turned on before, it was fresh out of the box) The screen remained black and the light on it was yellow... on standby mode.
This sent my mum over the edge (she always seems to buy shitty computers) and she turned it off. This probably wasn't smart. She told me to get my sister's monitor (a smaller monitor, brand Acer) and try it. So I switched monitors and turned the power back on. Still, the monitor's screen was blank and the light by the power button was yellow. The monitor was in standby mode when the computer was clearly on.
I'm hoping someone can help me with this.
-We tried wiggling the mouse, turning the monitors off/on, etc but they wouldn't respond.
-We've called Dell, and they won't do anything about it.
-We've called the store we bought it from (Staples) but they're closed and their customer service agent told us to call Dell.
-The 1st monitor, the secondhand one, would sometimes do this to the old Acer, but with some coaxing it would turn on.
-The computer is brand new, and it's the first Dell we've ever bought. I use an HP, as well as my sister.
-I have no idea what kind of warranty we have on it.
-The handbooks & instructions are no help.
If you need more info, I can run upstairs and check the box/stickers on the comp.
His last computer, an Acer, was a total dud. We had to replace the motherboard twice and only one out of six USB ports worked. Everytime we plugged a mouse into the mouse port it would crash. We could only plug in one USB device, and it had to be a small device- if we plugged the printer in it would crash. So, we got sick of it and my mum bought the dell.
I really don't like Dell- I'm more of an HP person myself.
So, I got to the task of setting it up. I set it up in the usual way; plugging everything in with the power off. But, we didn't buy a new monitor- we just bought the modem, keyboard, and mouse. We have a secondhand monitor for the computer (I don't remember the brand- it begins with a C and the letter Q is in it...) that worked on the old Acer.
I went to turn it on after everything was plugged in, and found that although the monitor was on, it didn't seem to knowledge the fact that it was plugged in to the Dell. (Just a note: the dell had never been turned on before, it was fresh out of the box) The screen remained black and the light on it was yellow... on standby mode.
This sent my mum over the edge (she always seems to buy shitty computers) and she turned it off. This probably wasn't smart. She told me to get my sister's monitor (a smaller monitor, brand Acer) and try it. So I switched monitors and turned the power back on. Still, the monitor's screen was blank and the light by the power button was yellow. The monitor was in standby mode when the computer was clearly on.
I'm hoping someone can help me with this.
-We tried wiggling the mouse, turning the monitors off/on, etc but they wouldn't respond.
-We've called Dell, and they won't do anything about it.
-We've called the store we bought it from (Staples) but they're closed and their customer service agent told us to call Dell.
-The 1st monitor, the secondhand one, would sometimes do this to the old Acer, but with some coaxing it would turn on.
-The computer is brand new, and it's the first Dell we've ever bought. I use an HP, as well as my sister.
-I have no idea what kind of warranty we have on it.
-The handbooks & instructions are no help.
If you need more info, I can run upstairs and check the box/stickers on the comp.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by AdamR on -
I know on some of the Dell desktops they have both an onboard and dedicated graphics card. Ensure you're plugging the monitor into the dedicated instead of the onboard. Also, when you go to turn off the computer by hitting the power switch, does it turn off right away or do you have to hold it down for a few seconds?
- Adam
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Permalink Reply by JT on -
Do you see the BIOS go by when you first turn it on before it tries to start Windows? It is shocking that Dell won't help you with a brand new machine. It is still under warranty so they have to help you. Are you sure that you gave them the correct Service Tag Number?
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Permalink Reply by jamesjimmy23 on -
Could it possibly be that you have a bad cord connecting from the monitor to the computer? A pin could have gotten bent and then it won't display the picture. Look at both ends to see if everything looks straight. Since both of the monitors didn't work somehow I would think it must be with the computer. Does your monitor have 2 ports in it? Maybe you need to switch to which one it's displaying on, like AV1, AV2, something like that. If it's not that, I'd say it has to be something with the computer. Couldn't you still return it and buy an HP or some other computer? I would think that it would have a return policy, although it may only be 15 days so you may want to get that done fast if you do that. I say if nothing else works, return it and get the same one or exchange it for a similar HP.
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Permalink Reply by Maryanne McGrath on -
There are two ports for monitors, which I assume are the two graphics cards. I tried both ports, and no success. To turn it off we've had to hold it down for 8-10 seconds, but once it turned off right away...
And about booting- I've plugged it in to the AGP graphics card, but no success... Then again, I suppose that booting it would mean being able to turn it on?
I haven't seen anything go by. When I turn it on, a small white rectangle appears on screen with the text "NO SIGNAL" and then the monitor turns off. I've tested 2 monitors so far and it happens to both of them. By what I can hear of the machine, it's working fine- no beep codes or anything. It's just the fact that the monitors don't seem to realise they're plugged in to the machine, or vice versa.
We've called 3 times, the number has been right.
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Permalink Reply by Maryanne McGrath on
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It could possibly be a bad cord. Both monitors have been though 2 cross-province moves. I'll check it out.
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Permalink Reply by jamesjimmy23 on
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I don't think a cable would cost that much, so that could be a quick simple fix, plus you could return it if there wasn't any success with it.
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Permalink Reply by Aryeh Goretsky on -
Hello,
Depending upon the age of the older monitors--which I assume may be CRTs--they may not be capable of displaying the signals being sent out by the newer Dell computer's video card. Connecting a new LCD display might allow you to access the computer so that you can set the screen resolution and refresh rate for the video card so it can display an image on your older monitors.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
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Permalink Reply by Anubis on -
Sounds like it could be a bad computer...Try opening it up see if you see anything obviously wrong in side of it.
-Anubis
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Permalink Reply by Ron Knights on -
Do NOT open a new computer.
It sounds like you don't know much about computers. (Sorry to say that.)
You say you only bought the modem, keyboard and mouse.... Those are parts of a computer, not the computer itself.
You mentioned the name of a monitor.... you don't remember the name is Compaq?!
It sounds like that monitor was bad to begin with.
You don't want to wiggle the mouse and stuff... in an effort to get it working. That kind of action only messes up the peripherals and the computer.
You could very well be damaging this new computer right now.
Normally any new computer comes with sufficient documentation. You will know the warranty terms, etc.
You probably have at least 30 days support.. but you need to read the manual.
You probably at least need to use a good monitor that you can trust. I wonder if you have a good monitor to try.
Dell should supply some form of tech support on a new computer.
If they don't, you might consider bringing the computer back to the store.
In the meantime, you need to take some computer classes... seriously.
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Permalink Reply by Maryanne McGrath on
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Well, it wasn't the cable. And the monitors aren't CRT's, they're LCD. The used one isn't in bad shape and my sister's is practically new. Oh, and I don't think opening it would do much good. Thank you guys for replying anyway. I appreciate the response~
In response to Ron Knights:
I listed those things to make it clear that we didn't buy a new monitor, and yes, I know those are parts and not the actual computer.. I'm not too good with terminology, sorry. =/. Ahaha, the brand is actually Benqu- I think I've had too much cough medicine! I don't think we've damaged it. And I according to my mother there was no manual. A bad buy, I suppose. She practically repels technology, haha. And I know I'm not a pro at computers... I'm more into graphic arts... but don't mistake me as an idiot.
Turns out that there is an issue with the video/graphics card. I got a hold of a dell guy after calling 5+ times and there's some faulty hardware... there's no reason why it should be acting like this, and even my own Samsung monitor won't work on it. We can return in to Staples tomorrow and hopefully get a nice, new HP in return.
Thank you guys again for replying! =]
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