Dell, HP charge a lot for replacing damaged PSU plug!

[ef37a]

My grandsons' beat up s/h inspiron has a buggered connection to the DC plug and the wee central pin is missing. "Ok" says G dad, "I will fit a new one for you".

Phoned the local laptop repair chappie "Twenty eight pounds sir" "What! For a plug?" " No, can't get the plugs, have to buy a new supply, same for some of the HP laptops" (my new one of course!).

So, unless the guy is telling me porkies, and I would think that unlikely since anyone these days can check, I will have to fork out 28 sovs. Nice chap tho', says he will see if he has a second hand one about, doesn't have to work of course, just have an intact lead.

Anyone have anything to add?
Dave.

[DragonLogos]

If the centre pin on the Laptop is broken 28 Quid is cheap... the going rate for this job is about 60 - What they have to do is totally strip the Laptop down to get to the system board, then either replace or fit an in-line DC plug, then maybe change the plug on the adapter if its not the same - After that put your Laptop back together again and hope that everything works still

There again it depends on if the Centre pin in the Laptop is broken, the way I read it, it seems to be the case, get to see a few of those in for repairs, sometimes the Laptop gets dropped or turned over with the DC plug in place, seen USB Ports get damaged that way too - Screens get cracked when people close the lid and leave something like a pen on the keyboard

[James Perrett]

Fairly common problem I'm afraid Dave. The only way to get over it is to persuade your friends to buy something that uses standard connectors. Dell and HP computers always seem to be just very slightly non-standard.

James.

[ef37a]

No, it is the pin in the PSU plug that is missing, the laptop works fine off his mum's charger.

It is not the 28 quid I object to but the waste and "ungreeness" for the want of a 2quid plug!

Dave.

[ryan mead]

I find Dell (at least Dell Korea) horribly bureaucratic.

I wanted to get the fan and the keyboard replaced (the latter because my toddler pulled a couple of keys off) on my aging notebook. I was standing in the service centre holding it, but they wouldn't let me leave it with them-- said I had to go home, check my email for the quote, and fax (!!) them and wait for them to pick it up. This in the name of service!!

Got the quote. My Korean speaking/listening skills are pretty good. The guy in the service centre had also said they'd "clean it up" for me, by which I (and a 1/2 dozen Korean friends I checked it with) understood "open it up and suck out the dust". The emailed quote had another interpretation-- charging me the equivalent of $70USD to reinstall XP!

Still sitting here with the noisy fan and a couple missing keys. I'll never buy another.

[DragonLogos]

Ahhh its the little Centre Pin on a Dell... Yes that is an odd one, the Negative is Outside, the positive is the inside of the barrel and that pin is a signal that sort of says I'm Dell and Coz I'm different.. expensive to replace

I must admit while I like working on some Dell computers there are aspects that get on my nerves, there now seems to be a little industry building up around this, saw a Dell replacement notebook keyboard for a fraction of the Dell price

[DragonLogos]

Still sitting here with the noisy fan and a couple missing keys. I'll never buy another.

Not sure what model you have but google or check Amazon for a replacement - Saw a new Dell D505 Keyboard going for $10 US - Replacing keyboards is not that bad

Noisy fan could be a build up of dust, did one the other day where the dust had built up at the exit point and caused the fan to spin higher on its shaft, thus causing the top of the fan to touch the casing and make a noise - if there is a entry point under the notebook ie take off a few screws and you can see the fan assembly and CPU heat sink - then you might be able to clean that out from there