Acer X3950 Won't Boot

[karolkarol]

I have an Acer X3950 just out of warranty which won't boot up.

Initial problem was power light coming on briefly then dying and no fans, beeps or power up sounds starting but I assumed the dying light just to be a build up of static in the capacitors.  It was suggested to me that as it wasnt coming on it would be a power issue so I bought and installed a new psu but this made no difference whatsoever.

I got a repair guy to have a look and he apparently 'flashed' it for viruses? and got it working for one night.  Next day, back to the same state.  He then suggested it was a mother board issue and advised me to scrap it and buy a new pc because it is a slimline tower and the motherboards are pretty expensive.

Can I get your (2nd) opinions as to what might cause such a problem.  Does it indeed sound like a motherboard issue or could it be viral?  When I got it back from him I went through installing Windows and Comodo updates the night it did work.  But next night it was back to the same powerless state.

Cheers

KK

[samuel oyugi]

you have talked about a virus problem try to do the following:
1. remove the hard disk and monitor it to confirm of viral infection
2.try to access the bios and check whether it goes off
3.remove the battery and use ac only
4. check whether the ac connector on the board is properly connected
5.replace the battery and use it without the ac
6.replace the processor fan and check if the problem goes away and if it does then it was related to over-heating
7.disassemble the laptop and clean the motherboard with isopropyle alcohol and use hot air station to solder for open joints this has worked for me but chances are 50-50
8. boot with hiren's bootcd and select windows mini option
good luck

[Salmon Trout]

I believe you can safely ignore the above advice. You probably will need a new motherboard.

[Raptor]

Don't buy Acer.

[karolkarol]

I believe you can safely ignore the above advice. You probably will need a new motherboard.

Thought as much.  Off shopping tonight then.  Cheers

[karolkarol]

Don't buy Acer.

Normally I wouldn't have but the shop were practically giving it away.  Now I know why!

[Raptor]

Normally I wouldn't have but the shop were practically giving it away.  Now I know why!

I'd go for HP, Asus or Dell.

Although in the case of a desktop computer, nothing beats picking out all the parts yourself after having read a few reviews.

[Salmon Trout]

People on hardware forums and in real life said to me "Don't buy an Acer!" and "Don't buy a Shuttle!" and I ignored them, and I have not had any hardware troubles with any of them (2 Acer laptops and 2 Shuttle desktops bought over the last 5 years and all still running fine). I wonder if the problem is what the psychologists call "confirmation bias" - you only hear about the ones that break.

[Raptor]

People on hardware forums and in real life said to me "Don't buy an Acer!" and "Don't buy a Shuttle!" and I ignored them, and I have not had any hardware troubles with any of them (2 Acer laptops and 2 Shuttle desktops bought over the last 5 years and all still running fine). I wonder if the problem is what the psychologists call "confirmation bias" - you only hear about the ones that break.

I've opened up a lot of Acer machines and the quality was just low. I've never been impressed by an Acer machine (Or Shuttle for that matter now that you mention it) but I have been impressed by the brands that I do recommend.

[Salmon Trout]

I've seen some real rubbish from HP, Asus and Dell, actually.