Compaq laptop problem?

[SGirl]

Hi guys,

Another small issue which I'm hoping you can help me with! :cool:

I'm using a Compaq Presario R3000 laptop which refuses quite frequently to power up from the mains. If I can get the battery to charge, it works fine. But more often than not, I have to fiddle about with the power lead to get it to power the thing in the first place. Simply unplugging it and reseating the jack doesn't usually work - although sometimes it does. The problem doesn't seem to be related to the actual position of the jack at all. Sometimes I plug it in, it starts powering up - then three minutes later, it stops the power feed for no apparent reason.

I rang HP/Compaq yesterday and they tell me it's not a known issue with these things, and they advised me to take it to an independent repairer because an HP one would charge me up to £400 flat fee for fixing it.

So I have two questions for you:

1. Has anyone else experienced this? How did you fix it?

2. Does anyone know anyone in the Slough/Windsor area who could repair the thing?

[Plotloss]

Sounds like a dodgy joint at the back of the power connector to me.

Anyone that knows the inside of of a laptop and is a bit handy with a soldering iron should be able to help.

I dont know anyone locally though, the little PC place in Windsor has closed down.

[SGirl]

Thanks Plotters!

Um... actually though, I'm really in big trouble now. I was using the thing this evening and it suddenly hibernated without warning. When I tried to wake it up (after getting a power feed through), it gave me a blank screen. So I took out the battery and put it back.

And since then - nothing. I can boot up, but the mouse is disabled. I can log on under my ID, but then I can't tab through the icons on the desktop. I can press Ctrl-Alt-Del and tab through the Task Manager options, but that's about all I can do.

Is there anything I can do to save my data from the hard disk before I junk this piece of ?

[SGirl]

Okay! Got it fixed. Or rather, I know what the problem is now. After much faffing around last night, I've discovered that the Touchpad has failed.

So. Power feed intermittent, Touchpad dead. Shall we have a sweepstake on what's going to fail next?

[mcflurry]

SGirl said:

Okay! Got it fixed. Or rather, I know what the problem is now. After much faffing around last night, I've discovered that the Touchpad has failed. So. Power feed intermittent, Touchpad dead. Shall we have a sweepstake on what's going to fail next?

I would back up your stuff, then see if you get a few squid for it on fleabay...

[SGirl]

mcflurry said:

I would back up your stuff, then see if you get a few squid for it on fleabay...

Yes indeedy. I'm just looking into replacing it, then once it's replaced it'll be up for sale to anyone who wants to fix it. I don't have the knowhow to do it myself, but it should be a straightforward repair to anyone who knows what they're doing.