Monitor dark, toasted hardware smell!

[Clarity]

Hello,

Have an older Dell laptop. The monitor went dark, smelled that toasted hardware smell coming from location near the power button (top, middle area) and soon after shut itself down. When I reboot, the screen lights up and after it boots fully the screen goes dark and it shuts down again after a few minutes.

What could be the issue?

[Force Flow]

A burning smell is never a good sign.

First, I hope you have backups.

Second, I hope it's still under warranty. Visit dell's support site and punch in your service tag to find out.

Also, check to see if your model is listed on the battery recall list: https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/

[Iamjosh]

what's the model of the laptop?