Dell XPS M170 MXG051 Repair

The Dell XPS M170 MXG051 is a laptop released on April 18th, 2006, marketed for gamers due to its new game-changing technology at the time. The base design laptop features an Intel Core Duo processor, NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS or 7900 GTX, 7200 RPM SATA hard drive, DDR2 SDRAM, a magnesium alloy case including a 1-inch subwoofer complementing the two treble heavy stereo speakers. The touchpad, fans, speakers, and lids all included user-changeable LED multicolor lighting, allowing you to change the color/intensity of the light via Dell Quickset software. They also included Quickset plugins for music with bass to have more red-color shifts and music with more treble to have more blue-color shifts.

Due to a fire hazard with the battery, the Dell XPS M170 MXG051 was part of a broad battery recall in 2006. This recall was for many Dell laptop models, including the XPS, since the batteries had a history of overheating. The issue was traced back to lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Sony, and Dell recalled around 4.1 million batteries as a result. Despite its large size and weight, the Dell XPS M170 earned praise for delivering desktop-level performance in a portable form.

To identify the Dell XPS M170 MXG051 you should look for the XPS logos on the top of the laptop shell. There is also a horizontal line design with the "Dell" logo in the center on the top shell. There is a latch to ensure your computer stays closed, as well as a media control panel that consists of 7 buttons labeled mute, volume up, volume down, play/pause, previous track, next track, and stop. There are two media speakers on either side of the media control panel as well as another speaker centered above the keyboard next to the power button for the laptop. There is also a touchpad with two buttons at the bottom of the keyboard. There is an XPS logo on the top left of the keyboard near the hinges with a keyboard status light to the right and a computer status light in the hinge to the very right. On the left side of the laptop, there is a disk eject, two USB cable inserts, and a security cable insert. Finally on the right side is a PC card slot, two headphone inserts, an IEEE 1394 cable insert, and an air vent with a customizable light.

Physical

Height: 42.4 mm (1.7 inches)

Width: 394 mm (15.5 inches)

Depth: 288 mm (11.3 inches)

Weight (with 9-cell battery)

With optical drive: 3.90 kg (8.6 lb)

Processor

Processor type: Intel Pentium M

L1 cache: 64 KB

L2 cache: 2 MB

External bus frequency: 533 MHz

System Information

System chip set: Intel 915PM

Data bus width: 64 bits

DRAM bus width: dual-channel DDR2 memory, 64 bits per channel

Processor address bus width: 36 bits

Flash EPROM: 1 MB

PCI bus: 32 bits

(PCI-Express used for video controllers) x16

PC Card

CardBus controller: Ricoh R5C841

PC Card connector: one (supports one Type I or Type II card)

Cards supported:3.3 V and 5 V

PC Card connector size: 68 pins

Data width (maximum): PCMCIA 16 bits CardBus 32 bits

Memory

Memory module connector: two user-accessible SODIMM connectors

Memory module capacities: 256 MB, 512 MB, and 1 GB

Memory type: 2.5-V SODIMM DDR2

Memory configuration support:dual-channel only (NOTE: To get maximum performance/dual- channel memory bandwidth capability, both connectors must contain memory modules and the modules must be of the same size and configuration.)

Minimum memory: 512 MB

Maximum memory: 2 GB

Ports and Connectors

Audio: microphone-in connector, stereo headphones/speakers connector

IEEE 1394a: 4-pin mini, nonpowered connector

Mini PCI: Type IIIA Mini PCI card slot

Modem: RJ-11 port

Network adapter: RJ-45 port

S-video TV-out: 7-pin mini-DIN connector (optional S-video to composite video adapter cable)

USB: six 4-pin USB 2.0-compliant connectors

Video: 15-hole connector

SDI/O: one slot

DVI-D (Digital Video Interface): 24-pin connector

Communications

Modem

Type: V.9x 56K MDC

Controller: softmodem

Interface: internal AC’97 bus

Network adapter: 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN on system board

Wireless: internal Mini PCI Wi-Fi support;

internal card with Bluetooth wireless technology

Video

NVIDIA

Data bus: PCI-Express x16

Video controller: NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra

Video memory: 256 MB

LCD interface: LVDS

TV-out support: NTSC or PAL in S-video and composite modes

Color output: 16.7 million colors

Audio

Audio type: AC’97 (Soft Audio)

Stereo conversion: 18-bit (analog-to-digital and digital-to- analog)

Interfaces

Internal: PCI bus/AC’97

External: microphone-in connector, stereo headphones/speakers connector

Speaker: stereo 2-W main speakers and 5-W subwoofer with bass reflex port

Internal speaker amplifier: 2 W per channel main amplifier and 5-W Class D subwoofer amplifier

Volume controls: keyboard shortcuts, program menus, media control buttons

Audio controller: Sigmatel STAC9750 AC’97 Codec

Display

Type (active-matrix TFT): WUXGA

Dimensions

Height: 245.0 mm (9.64 inches)

Width: 383.0 mm (15 inches)

Diagonal: 431.8 mm (17 inches)

Maximum resolution: 1920 x 1200 at 262,000 colors

Refresh rate: 60 Hz

Operating angle: 0° (closed) to 180°

Viewing angle (typical)

Horizontal: ±65°

Vertical: +45°/–45°

Pixel pitch: 0.191 mm (17-inch display)

Power consumption (panel with backlight) (typical): 7.54 W

Controls: brightness can be controlled through keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard

Number of keys: 87 (U.S. and Canada); 88 (Europe); 91 (Japan)

Layout: QWERTY/AZERTY/Kanji

Touch Pad

X/Y position resolution (graphics table mode): 240 cpi

Size

Width: 73.0-mm (2.88-inch) sensor-active area

Height: 42.9-mm (1.69-inch) rectangle

Battery

Type: 9-cell, 80-WHr, "smart" lithium ion

Dimensions

Depth: 88.5 mm (3.48 inches)

Height: 21.5 mm (0.83 inch)

Width: 139.0 mm (5.47 inches)

Weight: 474 grams (1.04 lb) (9 cell)

Voltage: 10.8 VDC

Charge time (approximate)

Computer off: 2 hours (at 80% in 2 hours)

Operating time: Battery operating time varies depending on operating conditions and can be significantly reduced under certain power-intensive conditions.

Life span (approximate): 500 discharge/charge cycles

Temperature range

Operating: 0° to 35°C (32° to 95°F)

Storage: –40° to 65°C (–40° to 149°F)

AC Adapter

Input voltage: 90–265 VAC

Input current (maximum): 2.5 A

Input frequency: 47–63 Hz

Output current: 6.7 A

Output power: 130 W

Rated output voltage: 19.5 VDC

Dimensions

Height: 37.5 mm (1.5 inches)

Width: 65.0 mm (2.6 inches)

Depth:169.5 mm (6.7 inches)

Weight (with cables): 950 g (0.9 lb)

Temperature range

Operating: 0° to 40°C (32° to 104°F)

Storage: –40° to 70°C (–40° to 158°F)

Environmental

Temperature range

Operating: 0° to 35°C (32° to 95°F)

Storage: –40° to 65°C (–40° to 149°F)

Relative humidity

Operating: 10% to 90% (noncondensing)

Storage: 5% to 95% (noncondensing)

Maximum vibration (using a random-vibration spectrum that simulates user environment)

Operating: 0.66 GRMS

Storage: 1.3 GRMS

Maximum shock (measured with a 2-ms half-sine pulse)

Operating: 143 G

Storage: 163 G

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