Thank you both for the reply. I went to the Dell
driver download site and unfortunately it looks like my driver (1/28/2009) is the most recent one they have listed? I googled and managed to find this page:
Latest Broadcom 943xx Driver - LaptopVideo2Go Forums
That seems to list more recent
drivers. I downloaded the topmost one dated 8/19/2010 and installed it, but the sleep mode issue still persists even after that driver update.
Any advice on how to proceed? I was thinking next I will try to update the BIOS, and also then go through the routine of systematically disabling startup processes.
Some more info about the BSOD.. I noticed that the system actually never fully enters sleep mode. The screen blacks out, but I can still hear the fan going. Also nothing I do will "wake" the computer. But eventually after several minutes the BSOD occurs. The minidump info regarding the "power state" makes sense in light of this. Also it explains why sometimes this happens in the middle of the night, since sometimes the machine might be left running, and enters sleep mode due to the power options being set to sleep after 5 hours or so..