Doh! Dropped my laptop!

[Kaitlyn]

So I had my laptop on my bed one night and in the morning I kicked it off... onto the carpeted floor. However, ever since I have had issues with it.

The main problem seems to be that the LED on the power adapter is on, and then when I plug it into my laptop it turns off (and laptop won't turn on)... I don't know if this is some safety thing, it is short circuiting, or what..

To solve this I seem to have to wait ~20 seconds, and do it all over again and it seems to work. If I try re-plugging in the adapter right away the light won't come on.

By the sounds of it the connector for the power is almost certainly damaged... and I am just out of warranty (so much for 3-year complete care! I'm just 2 months out! :()... any ideas on what I can do and if it's even worth the $$$ to try and fix?

[Menace]

I hope you and others (who read this thread) can learn a lesson. Do not watch porn on your laptop in bed :D :D

[7jaii]

I want to understand:

* dropped laptop from bed, no visible damage to laptop

* AC Adapter looks fine, the male prong isn't bent

* you notice problems and need to wait 20 seconds to get it started

* once it boots up, your laptop works flawlessly...

- a bent prong or DC input may be damaged inside your laptop
- there's damage inside your laptop (motherboard or ???)
- it may be as simple as replacing the AC Adapter (but I would try to borrow one to make certain this is the culprit)

[Gee]

I would still try to claim it under warranty. Some of the larger manufacturers will still honour warranties that recently expire. It will not hurt to try. If not, just try another adapter.

[Kaitlyn]

I would still try to claim it under warranty. Some of the larger manufacturers will still honour warranties that recently expire. It will not hurt to try. If not, just try another adapter.

I had called dell last night and he told me my warranty expired in feb.. he could troubleshoot with me but they couldn't send parts. He wasn't the nicest person.. I could always try again for a nicer rep :p

[Gee]

You got a notebook from Rogers?

Try calling the manufacturer directly.

[Kaitlyn]

You got a notebook from Rogers?

Try calling the manufacturer directly.

haha what do you call a typo that is spelled correctly, just used the completely different word? lol

I meant Dell... :)

[Desolatax]

Give Customer Support a few more calls, try to find a nice rep that will repair it.

[Gee]

Dell is pretty flexible, you just have to get the right Customer Service Representative.

[Rehan]

Don't forget to check if the credit card you used to buy the laptop offers automatic extended warranty for another year. That may cover the repairs.

(Considering that it was a 3 year old Dell, your foot probably did the right thing! :razz: )

[hdave]

i had a system where the warranty expired last week thursday, and i called today and HP would not do anything under warranty for me. i tried pulling all the stops. it didnt work

and as for the laptop issue, how exactly did it fall? and where did it get hit?

i've dropped my t60 quite a few times and so far the only issue is that the screen hinge is loose and that theres a plastic peice that moves around that shouldnt

[Kaitlyn]

i had a system where the warranty expired last week thursday, and i called today and HP would not do anything under warranty for me. i tried pulling all the stops. it didnt work

and as for the laptop issue, how exactly did it fall? and where did it get hit?

i've dropped my t60 quite a few times and so far the only issue is that the screen hinge is loose and that theres a plastic peice that moves around that shouldnt

I kicked it off when I was just waking up.. no clue how it hit... sucks though cause it's not even a far fall... must have hit the "right" way to damage the connector :(

Sucks even more cause most of the time I at least disconnect the power adapter :(

[hdave]

yea that really sucks
are you comfortable opening it up, taking a look at it and putting it back together?


I kicked it off when I was just waking up.. no clue how it hit... sucks though cause it's not even a far fall... must have hit the "right" way to damage the connector :(

Sucks even more cause most of the time I at least disconnect the power adapter :(

[Kaitlyn]

yea that really sucks
are you comfortable opening it up, taking a look at it and putting it back together?

Ya... I built my computer but I know laptops are lot more condensed... My worry is that the power connector on the laptop side is sort of "directly connected" to the motherboard, and is beyond any sort of repair.

The other thing is, it DOES work eventually... which is weird. I think its weird that I plug it into my laptop and the power adapter's LED turns OFF! :(

[Lava]

Do you have any friends with the same power adapter, or a spare power adapter, it could just be bad luck and power supply died, or there is something wrong with it. I don't find that very likely, but with technology you never know.

Unfortunately without opening your laptop, it is hard to find what is wrong, but i would start with another power supply and see where it gets you.

[jasperException]

Kaitlyn, Good luck with getting Dell to give free repair since it is outside of 30 days. Generally Dell rep can make an exception if it is within 30 days of expired warranty but anymore will be very hard to do. Try calling in again and see if there is a rep that is nice enough to make the exception. They will need to get approval from their supervisor so this also depend on which supervisor the rep get as well. Since you got CompleteCare with 3yr warranty, some supervisor might willing to do this.

As for the problem, sound like a motherboard problem. You might want to try another ac adapter to rule out the ac adapter completely. Generally it should be OK to use another ac adapter from another system if the connector fit.

Since you built your own computer, you should be able to work with laptop. Not superhard if you got an online and downloadable service manual. Go to
Dell Support Page (http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_systems_info/manuals?~ck=ln&c=us&l=en&lnki=0&s=gen). Put in your service tag or browse manually and look for the service manual. Take a good look and review it.


I hope you and others (who read this thread) can learn a lesson. Do not watch porn on your laptop in bed :D :D

I thought only guys would do that? :D

[Van_Isle]

called dell last night and he told me my warranty expired in feb

Kaitlyn, was the laptop originally purchased with a VISA card? If so, and depending which type of VISA card was used, VISA extends your warranty. For example, my Visa Gold doubles it, up to 1-year extension max. Also the orginal + Visa extension can't be > 5 years total. It also provides accidental damage coverage for the 1st 90-days.

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/RBC:R5FS...purch_sec.html