Can I get my laptop fixed?

[wellthatsdoneit]

The power socket on my laptop (the bit that the power cord goes into) seems to be buggered. I have to jiggle the power cord in order to get power and the lead slips out every couple of minutes causing the laptop to shut down (the battery is evidently not being charged). Is it possible/worth getting the socket on the laptop replaced/fixed? I have a dell inspiron 1545.

TIA

I took mine to a local bloke and he fixed it.
Mine had emmense sentimental value (had been my late DD's) so I paid whatever it was without thinking if it was worth it iyswim
So it can be done, just can't remember how much it cost :)

Might be cheaper to try a new power cord first - can you borrow one? - but definitely fixable and not a difficult fix either.

Sounds like you need a new charger - they are quite easy to come by online something like this

I would try that first and if that doesn't seem to charge the battery then it sounds like you might need a replacement battery, again something you can get online - this

If none of that solves the problem it may be that the charging port is damaged so a good connection is not being made - that then is becoming quite technical so may be worth going to a specialist (not Currys because they are useless).

Thank you for all the replies - very helpful. I think its the charging port itself. The power cord is fairly new (had to replace the original one quite recently). Battery life had about 30 mins when fully charged so I knew I was considering getting a new one of those quite soon. However, when I tried to insert the power cord yesterday I couldn't do it and when I looked at the port itself it was all bent inside, so I unbent it (with the tip of a pen - technical), but it looks like the bits inside might fall off any minute - they're very wobbly and I have to be very careful when inserting the power cord. The battery is not charging at all as as soon as the power cord falls out (often), the computer shu......

shuts down (ha ha, just my little joke there, pretending it had shut down half way through post. I'll get my coat).

Wow! Mines doing exactly the same! Taking it to pc world tomorrow. Hopefully the can fix it.

wellthatsdoneit - I have fixed several of the exact same laptops with that issue - it's obviously a design weakness. The new dc jack is no more than about 15 quid to buy...it's the labour that will be the majority of the cost. No idea if prices are comparable where you are, but I charge my customers $100 for that repair, which is roughly 65 GBP.

Thanks lazydog - I will drop it in to my local computer shop and see what they say.

If you're still around lazydog - I wondered if you could recommend a new battery to buy (from amazon or such like)? The dell ones are so expensive, but don't want to get a completely rubbish one. Even when my battery was charging (which it isn't at the moment) the maximum power life was only about 30 minutes and getting worse so I think I would like to replace the battery too.

(Had to say I loved the photos, lazydog, on your profile page... have visited Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Niagara Falls, back in '87, but not yet seen any of the western side of Canada... California, five times [film producer friend lives in LA] but not as far north as BC, so far!)

wellthatsdoneit - No idea who to recommend in the UK, sorry. The supplier we usually buy from is N.America based and I expect international shipping, if offered at all, would be extortionate, but maybe worth a look? : www.laptopcharge.com

Most generic (and branded!) ones are likely to be from the same original sources in somewhere like China. Fwiw, I've not found any difference between the lifespan of an original/branded laptop battery and the compatible ones that these guys sell.

NetworkGuy Thankyou! You've really missed out - our side is so much nicer than the East

Thanks lazydog