my laptop's brokey

[ldg]

I'm using the wifi on my pda to write this but can't stand the small screen and no keyboard!

My laptop won't charge - where the cord plugs in is very loose. As we're expecting another snow storm, I doubt we're taking it in tomorrow.

That's what I get for using my laptop on my lap LOL.

 

[ruthyb]

That happened to mine, I put some tin foil in where you put the charger and it worked

x

 

[MoochNNoodles]

What Ruthyb suggested might be a good temporary fix. I remember when my walkman battery compartment had somehow gotten one of the metal pieces bent a bit. My step-dad folded up a gum wrapper and stuck it in there. Worked great!

 

[pushylady]

Bummer about your laptop. Hopefully the tin foil does the trick!
Yeah, and it does serve you right if you were using it on your lap - don't you know that's reserved for kitties?

 

[-_aj_-]

That's what has happened to mine I don't think tin foil will fix mine though lol

 

[my4llma]

Good to know I'm not the only 1 technology hates!

Sorry about your laptop.

 

[ldg]

Originally Posted by Ruthyb

That happened to mine, I put some tin foil in where you put the charger and it worked

x

I'm not too sure how I'd use tin foil to make it work... but I figured I had nothing to lose, so I took out the battery and grabbed a pair of needle nose pliers and gave the pin inside the charger hole on the laptop a good yank. It worked on the second try and it's charging now, but I was scared to move it when that light lit up so I'm going to let it fully charge before I light it up. Don't think this is any kind of long term fix LOL. But I get almost six hours out of the battery.

...and I've learned how to maximize the lap, and the laptop often shares the space with a kitty.

The darn thing has the cord out the side though, not out the back, and I don't use a pad, so I'm sure it's loose from shifting on my leg.

 

[ldg]

I'm fully charged, and the first thing I did was back it up!

 

[catbehaviors]

I'm glad to hear that you have found at least a temporary fix. I you can really fix it soon!

 

[kailie]

Yay for at least a temp fix!

I know how you feel, I'd be lost without my laptop.

 

[milk maid]

Originally Posted by LDG

I'm fully charged, and the first thing I did was back it up!

Yay

 

[ldg]

So far so good! I am SUCH a bad girl though - I'm sitting here cross-legged with the laptop on my lap, charger cord plugged into the laptop.

 

[g_wayne]

I feel your pain when it comes to being without the laptop. I run a business that is dependent on a PC that I can use at the shop, at home, and at clients locations. I have had 2 laptops (both high end Acers) let the magic smoke out of them in the past 2 years. The first one stopped recognizing USB ports and then puffed. The second had the mother board go bad in the goofiest way. Sometimes it would start up fine and run like a champ, other times it would get stuck in a loop between the BIOS screen and an error code. I had 2 guys that program and design the software/hardware for missile systems look at the second Acer and it had them scratching their heads. I gave up on that brand and went with a Toshiba and have had great luck so far.

 

[mrblanche]

Originally Posted by LDG

I'm using the wifi on my pda to write this but can't stand the small screen and no keyboard!

My laptop won't charge - where the cord plugs in is very loose. As we're expecting another snow storm, I doubt we're taking it in tomorrow.

That's what I get for using my laptop on my lap LOL.

What brand is it? I have an HP that has that problem, and it is a common one. I've made one attempt at repair, but it didn't work.

 

[ldg]

I'm using a Toshiba Satellite A505. It's because I set it on my lap, the cord plugs in the side, and it pushes up against my knee. It makes it become loose. The issue is I think it evenutally looses contact with the wires inside. If this were 10 years ago I'd just unscrew the back and hook it back up myself, but it's a little more complicated to get inside of these things now. The keyboards used to pop off, which was great, because if you spilled something on them, you could just pop the keboard off and run it under water, and drip the stuff out of the laptop and dry it off. Not these days. To clean my keyboard, I had to pop off every key to get at it.

So far, it takes some adjusting with the needle nose pliers. Sometimes I have to push, other times pull, and I seem to need to push it toward the front of the laptop - but I seem to be able to get it charging again.

I liked to keep my battery conditioned, so I always let it run down before charging fully, &etc. The difference is now, I won't use it while it's charging.

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by LDG

I liked to keep my battery conditioned, so I always let it run down before charging fully, &etc.

Are you aware that constantly doing this to a LiPo/Li-ion battery drastically shortens it's lifespan? (this counts for cell batteries, too, the guide along with one's phone even tells you this) They can only handle so much of this and conditioning is unneeded as they are not nickel based. The most you need to fully discharge a laptop battery is once a month to reset the battery meter.

 

[ldg]

Well, I'm not sure how long I've had it - a little over a year, I think, and I got the extended battery, and I'm still getting just about 6 hours out of it (with the 16" screen). So it doesn't seem to have hurt it!

 

[strange_wings]

You won't notice it right away. It'll be a matter of it not lasting as long as it could and not holding a charge as well. If you're lucky you'll get another year out of it with improper charging/care.

I thought your laptop was older than that, are you completely out of warranty on it? Thats the sort of purchase that you look for a 2-3 warranty on or buy an extended one - I don't believe your handling of your laptop should have damaged the plug unless it was made poorly to begin with.

 

[mrblanche]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Are you aware that constantly doing this to a LiPo/Li-ion battery drastically shortens it's lifespan? (this counts for cell batteries, too, the guide along with one's phone even tells you this) They can only handle so much of this and conditioning is unneeded as they are not nickel based. The most you need to fully discharge a laptop battery is once a month to reset the battery meter.

Actually, just about the worst thing you can do to a laptop battery is leave it plugged in all the time. That will kill them in pretty short order. Check your manual, but generally, if you're using your laptop on house current, the battery should be removed. This is not true of all laptops, though, so you should, as I said, check the manual.

 

[ldg]

The manual doesn't say anything other than that the battery should be periodically fully discharged for the meter to read battery life properly.

It also says that the battery should be removed if the laptop isn't going to be used for longer than 8 hours. Doesn't say anything about removing the battery with house current use - only that to discharge the battery, it should be unplugged.