Agree with the previous poster.  My 8600 exhibited the same symptoms (num lock, caps lock, scroll lock on for 10 seconds) and it took getting a replacement motherboard. Since then, no problems.

It is possible that the mainboard failed. My 5150 had ate 2 mainboards in the 6 months that I have had it and this was the symptoms in my case anyway both times.

 

Call tech support

I have a similar problem with my 5150 everytime I run off the battery, shut it down, then try to start it up on AC power.

Try this, Upplug everything, AC and the battery

Plug in the the AC adapter and then the battery, wait a couple seconds then try to start it up.

This usually works for me, but like mine your computer is most likely being "stubborn" just keep trying

Thanks for the help. After sending me a new AC adapter (which didn't do the trick), Dell agreed that the problem was a failed mainboard. I sent the computer back to Dell and they sent it back to me with the exact same problem. Now I really don't know what to do. They want me to send it back to them again, but I really can't afford all this lost time. I need access to a computer for my summer job, and if Dell sends my computer back with the same problem again, it will be really disruptive to my work. My new question is this: is there any way I can request a full replacement of my laptop, perhaps from a different line (I'm beginning to grow wary of the 5150 line)? Or, even better, to simply return my computer for good? Thanks.