alienware laptop service?

[lazyj]

Can any one recommend a good location to service an Alienware /Dell laptop? As it is still under warranty, I would prefer somewhere that is affiliated with Dell, but if such a service isn't available here, a recommendation for a reliable local shop will be fine.

I bought an alienware m14xr2 around 12 months ago (in Australia). I have noticed recently that the performance has slowed down a little bit, especially when I use the machine for gaming purposes - I am getting much lower frames per second on a few games that ran without issue in the past. They will often start working fine, but the frame rate will drop after a few minutes. This makes me think that its probably an overheating issue. I am hoping that the issue isn't hardware related, and that the rig just needs a bit of a clean out (dust, reapply thermal paste etc).

I live close to Phrom Phong BTS, so somewhere in that vicinity would be preferable, but I don't mind travelling a little bit if the outlet knows what they are doing.

[paulbrun]

My son has an Alienware laptop, which I bought directly from Dell in Malaysia, about 2 years ago. He has had a few issues with it, and overheating is one of them. He bought a special tray that it sits on with 2 fans inside, drawing air underneath it. That seems to help a bit. He has also had power problems, and had to replace first the adaptor, and then the battery, just last week. We live in Chiang Mai, so I can't advise about a service agent in Bangkok, but we have used a Dell-authorised shop up here in Pantip Plaza, and they seem to know what they're doing. If you want their contact details, I'll get them for you.

[lazyj]

My son has an Alienware laptop, which I bought directly from Dell in Malaysia, about 2 years ago. He has had a few issues with it, and overheating is one of them. He bought a special tray that it sits on with 2 fans inside, drawing air underneath it. That seems to help a bit. He has also had power problems, and had to replace first the adaptor, and then the battery, just last week. We live in Chiang Mai, so I can't advise about a service agent in Bangkok, but we have used a Dell-authorised shop up here in Pantip Plaza, and they seem to know what they're doing. If you want their contact details, I'll get them for you.

thank you, if you could let me know the contact details for that place, that would be great.

I probably wont be in Chiang Mai any time soon, but i'll certainly contact them by phone /email. They may be able to diagnose the problem over the phone. At the very least, they should be able to put me in contact with a BKK based agent (if one exists)

[Carmine6]

If you can't find an authorized center and you're up for trying it yourself, my Dell (or actually 2) had overheating issued due to clogged fins in the cooling part. Instructions to disassemble were available on the Dell website, in the service manual. Once I saw the dis-assembly instructions, it was a quick job to take it apart and vacuum out the dust/lint. Didn't need to take the heat sink off the board to get to it, it was unscrew the fan, and then vacuum. I was replacing the motherboard so I did take the heat sink off, but could have just vacuumed out if it was just to fix the clogging. As a gaming laptop, I hope they made it easy to clean it out. If not, you'd know before taking it all the way apart.

If I'd just taken out every screw I could get to, I wouldn't have needed the manual. But was trying to leave some screws in. There were 2 or 3 screws that I didn't realize were important to take out. But was a piece of cake.

Some older laptops required pulling labels off to get to screws so they'd know it was opened, but they seem to not do that these days. Or at least Dell doesn't. It also used to be very hard to get the service manual, but they seem to have made those available now.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Carmine6

[GinBoy2]

Overheating is a classic Alienware laptop issue. I keep all the cooling ports clean, but I I run the processors flat out it's only a matter of time until the temperature rises and it turns itself off