Thinkpad T400 Won't Start

Hey guys,

So about two weeks ago my Thinkpad T400 would start randomly shutting down, even when it was nowhere near low on power. There would be no warning; it would simply blink off. This would occur whether or not it was plugged in. Whenever this happened, it would take a lot to get it to turn back on; sometimes I would have to wait a few hours or overnight, sometimes I would leave it charging, sometimes I would press the power button down for awhile a few times, but usually it would come back on. If it was plugged in, the plug and battery indicators would be on; if it wasn't plugged in, it wouldn't have any lights on. Now it won't start at all; it's been several days, and I've tried everything (although the two lights still turn on when it's plugged in). The student techs at my school think it might be the motherboard.

Now, I really hope that isn't the case. Is there a possibility that it's some other problem? They've already tried reseating the RAM and that didn't work. If it helps, the laptop is about a year old, and I've been fairly rough with it (had it in my backpack a lot, etc.). If there are any options other than doling out $400 for a new motherboard I would love to hear it.

 

The thing is that this time it took about 5 days to turn back on. That seems rather long for a heating problem.