My daughter's computer no longer identified its AC adapter which made it so it ran at a lower power level (and thus poorer performance) and could not charge its battery. As it was past the four-year mark (which is often when computers get upgraded) anyway, she sent it up with my parents so Connor could use it while she got a new one for herself. The computer Connor had been using had a Vista operating system which was no longer supported by anything ... including the games he liked to play from Steam, so he was really eager to get it.
While he liked the new laptop, he did not like that it's power issue made it so games such as Overwatch (which had run on it previously) could no longer run on it. He asked if I could fix it, so I turned to the Internet. We initially tried getting a new AC adapter as that was recommended as the first thing to try. Regrettably, shipping took quite a while, which only lead to even greater disappointment when the new adapter didn't solve the problem when it finally arrived. We tried a couple of other options on the list, but it looked like the problem was that the DC power jack was broken and would need to be replaced.
Unfortunately, replacing this part means really taking the laptop apart--far past the normal kinds of upgrades that I've done with laptops before. It also runs the risk of frying the entire computer if done wrong (which is true for a lot of internal electronic repair, but some of the warnings I read were quite dire). On asking around, I discovered that the computer repair places in our area wanted at least $200 to fix this issue (online, places were advertising a fix for $70, but this is Alaska).
As the part costs less than $10, I decided to risk it and try the repair on my own. I chatted with a Dell representative (it's an Alienware laptop) to make certain I ordered the correct part. It arrived today (MUCH faster than the AC adapter did), and both Connor and I were equally eager to see if this would work. Using a YouTube video as a guide, I took the laptop apart, replaced the broken piece (looking at the new part, the old one was clearly broken), and put the laptop back together.
When we tested it, we found that it still wasn't working. However, this time the error message was different. It turns out that the AC adapter that I ordered was the wrong wattage (I really thought I had the right one). Thankfully, we still had the original one and plugged it in instead.
The laptop is now running smoothly, and Connor thinks that I can fix anything. I'm just glad I didn't fry the machine.
While he liked the new laptop, he did not like that it's power issue made it so games such as Overwatch (which had run on it previously) could no longer run on it. He asked if I could fix it, so I turned to the Internet. We initially tried getting a new AC adapter as that was recommended as the first thing to try. Regrettably, shipping took quite a while, which only lead to even greater disappointment when the new adapter didn't solve the problem when it finally arrived. We tried a couple of other options on the list, but it looked like the problem was that the DC power jack was broken and would need to be replaced.
Unfortunately, replacing this part means really taking the laptop apart--far past the normal kinds of upgrades that I've done with laptops before. It also runs the risk of frying the entire computer if done wrong (which is true for a lot of internal electronic repair, but some of the warnings I read were quite dire). On asking around, I discovered that the computer repair places in our area wanted at least $200 to fix this issue (online, places were advertising a fix for $70, but this is Alaska).
As the part costs less than $10, I decided to risk it and try the repair on my own. I chatted with a Dell representative (it's an Alienware laptop) to make certain I ordered the correct part. It arrived today (MUCH faster than the AC adapter did), and both Connor and I were equally eager to see if this would work. Using a YouTube video as a guide, I took the laptop apart, replaced the broken piece (looking at the new part, the old one was clearly broken), and put the laptop back together.
When we tested it, we found that it still wasn't working. However, this time the error message was different. It turns out that the AC adapter that I ordered was the wrong wattage (I really thought I had the right one). Thankfully, we still had the original one and plugged it in instead.
The laptop is now running smoothly, and Connor thinks that I can fix anything. I'm just glad I didn't fry the machine.
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