Dell covering up laptop issue

i think you may be referring to the issues that the inspiron 5100/50/60 had with overheating and shutting down,search google for inspiron 5100 overheating.

bjrichus said:

Win7User512 said:

I purposely haven't flashed my BIOS to the latest version because I read that it messes with the cooling system that sounds somewhat like this issue.

How interesting... Do you have a source for those other reports you have read?

Dell User said:

I have an 8600M GT in my XPS M1530. Just updated my bios to A09. I doubt it will really help stop hardware failure, but who knows. But its things like this that make my hate laptops. If it was not for me going to college soon, I would not be buying a laptop, and I hope this is the last laptop I ever have to buy. In a desktop, if your videocard dies, you send it in for an RMA and get free replacements for life (eVGA, BFG, and XFX all have lifetime warranties).

IMPORTANT: DO NOT INSTALL THIS A09 update. The fan is always on now. I was just sitting here surfing the internet and the GPU fan was going full blast, it quieted down a bit but is still going. I'm a bit pissed now. This is BS. I don't want a louder laptop, I want a real fix.

Jaker said:

Recently nVidia announced that there was a heat issue with their G84 and G86 model graphics cards (8 series video cards on laptops). Initially we were told that it was an “HP only” problem, but now Dell is releasing BIOS updates to several laptops with that card, saying that the BIOS update “updates nVidia BIOS.”
Basically the update changes the fan state so the GPU fan runs earlier (in some cases, all the time). This is supposed to “help regulate the GPU temperature.”
So far Dell has only released the update for the following laptops:
Dell Product Name
BIOS Revision
Date
Update File Name
Inspiron 1420

A09

7/14/08
1420_A09.EXE
Latitude D630

A12

6/22/08
D630_A12.EXE
Latitude D630c

A06

7/11/08
D630CA06.EXE
Precision M2300

A07

7/11/08
M2300A07.EXE
Vostro Notebook 1310

A10

7/10/08
V1310-A10.EXE
Vostro Notebook 1400

A09

7/10/08
1400_A09.EXE
Vostro Notebook 1510

A10

7/10/08
V1510A10.EXE
Vostro Notebook 1710

A07

7/10/08
V1710A07.EXE
XPS M1330

A12

7/9/08
M1330A12.EXE
XPS M1530

A09

7/25/08
1530_A09.EXE
(See Direct2Dell - Direct2Dell - DELL COMMUNITY)
There are plenty of other laptops that have the G84/G86 chip, yet they are not in this list. Take the Inspiron 1520 for example. Not only is it the laptop I have, it also comes with an 8600M GT and is not in the list. BIOS Rev. A07, though, includes an “enhancement for thermal control.” This could possibly be part of the whole GPU fix, seeing that the timestamp seems to be in the range of these other updates.
Either way, if you have a laptop that is in that list, you should probably update thy BIOS. Since several people are reporting that their GPU fan runs almost all the time now, you may see a decrease in battery life. I’d also recommend keeping tabs on that fan, as I’m not sure what the MTBF for a laptop fan is..
(I have the latest BIOS on my laptop and the fan seems to not act unusual. It’ll run when playing games, but otherwise it’s not too bad).

Mine has been running fine on the older BIOS, so I haven't updated it.