My laptop switches on but won't boot. it does the same whether the memory chip is in or not and there isn't any POST beeps either I have even stripped it down to just motherboard memory and still won't POST or Boot

Can you access the bios? Could you provide some more information on your laptop?

Indeed. How old is it?

nope can't access the bios and the screen doesn't switch on and no output to an external monitor when one is connected.

I brought the laptop via ebay in January and there are date stamps on the inside of between May and July 06. I rang PC Servicecall (PC World's technical dept as it is a PC World brand) and they quoted me £120 +VAT + parts (I only paid £170 for the laptop).

The specs of the laptop are Intel Celeron M380 (1.6ghz), 512Mb RAM PC2700, DVDRW, 40Gb HDD.

This is a copy paste from www.pcservicecall.co.uk

CPU - Intel® Celeron® M 380 (1.60 GHz)
Chipset - SiS 661 Chipset
Memory - 512 MB DDR SODIMM
Hard Drive - 40 GB NB hard drive
CD / DVD Drive - DVD±RW Multidrive
Monitor - 14.1" TFT (native resolution 1024 x 768)
Video / Graphics Card - SiS 661FX
Sound Card - Realtek AC'97 audio
Modem - Agere Systems AC'97 modem
Network Card - SiS 900 integrated fast ethernet
Network Card - ZD 1211 802.11b+g Wireless USB Adapter
Case - Ei System 308x - Case and ports information
Battery - Li-Ion unknown model
Mouse - Touchpad

Specs are that great but I had mainly used the laptop for unlocking mobile phones

Is there any flashing LED's?. I know some laptops use a flash code for pre bios boot errors.

nope no flashing LED's (just power and charging LED's on static green). Also NO beeps or sounds the only sound I got was when the battery was running low. The hdd spins and the DVD-Rom sounds and looks like it is trying to find a disk.

I have tried booting the laptop without the DVD-Rom and HDD but it does nothing so they are not causing my problems. I have also tried without the memory in and it does the same as above. I have also tried without memory, DVD-Rom and HDD and still nothing.

Have you tried hooking up to an external monitor?

looks like a bad mobo. Perhaps you can replace it.