SandyBeach

I was reading my paper online this morning when I suddenly got a message that the battery on my laptop was critically low. That was surprising since I keep it plugged in at all times (except during thunderstorms). Fortunately, I'm still under a maintenance agreement and Dell with send out a new one next week. They'll also send a new motherboard because the tech decided that may also be bad. I also have a loose hinge so she said she would send two hinges, and the outside cover just to make sure it gets fixed correctly. Go ahead and rebuild my computer right for free. You won't get that kind of service from most other computer companies.

But like all of you, I don't have a spare AC adapter lying around. My son is home from college and I'm able to use his in the meantime. Otherwise, I'd be going crazy with no internet. You never realize how much you use a computer until it's not available!

tim_tenn

Yup. Had one that was bad on an external CD driver/burner. It would power the unit up, but was not supplying enough power to actually let it do anything other than spin the disk. We fought this problem for days trying to figure out why the drive wasn't working, assuming it was the drive itself.

afs9

I love Dell laptop's and their customer service is great. Have had 4--oldest was brought back from the dead (thanks, Don!) and giving it to my brother (replaced adapter and upgraded memory). My sister bought my 15" Inspiron and I got the (pink) 17" Studio as a replacement "desktop".

I did indulge in the 9" Mini for school (got a great deal on it from Dell Outlet). Really tiny and cool! Oh yeah, also have their Axim 51v PDA

But if the 'net is down, I have Windows Mobile on my phone to keep me wired!

I need a life.

@...

SandyBeach

Would you recommend the 9" Dell? Does it have two USB ports? I considered buying one because I travel for business and carrying a full size laptop to read email is a pain. I bought a PDA but can't use it for my government email account. I don't want to go broke trying new things until I find something that works.

afs9

It has THREE usb ports (my 17" has four!)

This is the front (customized by TkHHR!)


and open



The 17" is too big to schlep for school and work (I travel a lot too). The Axim PDA is great, but can have access issues sometimes.

I got a refurbished, full loaded (XP, 16G HD, 1 gig memory, bluetooth, WiFi, camera, etc) black one--wanted pink, but saved about $200 getting it on the Dell outlet page: http://www.dell.com/content/products...343&lid=543237

Not even my govt. employee or student discount could match it--no problems so far. They have no dvd/cd drives.

HP and ACER have 9" laps out too with bigger HD's.

I also have MS Office/student (Word, PP, Excel 07) and still have about 10 gigs left on the HD. I have a portable mouse and will get a 32Gig flash card to insert for more space.

Check it out!

@

Rcflyboy

I have a Dell Inspron that has had the no charge problem 6 different times. "Yep I said 6 times" Each time I spoke to them on the phone and each time they said it must be the AC adapter. ( They even sent me a replacement AC adapter 3 times) Not once was it the adapter. Each time the connector that the AC adapter plugs into went bad. Seems the plug-in connector would break loose from the mother board and they had to replace the mother board to repair it. Fortunately at the time the PC was still under the extended warranty.

You may want to plug the AC cable into the PC's connector. Then wiggle it around a little, at the same time watch the charge light on the PC to see if charging starts. If so the connector is loose and needs resoldered. The same applies if the connector wiggles around a lot and wont charge.

You could also easily take a meter reading of the AC output to check if your getting the voltage your supposed to be getting. This voltage output is listed on the charger.

Dr_Jekyll

If it's a Dell D600/D610, they were known for the connector coming loose where the AC adapter plugs into the laptop and not charging the battery. The good thing about it, is the system board is easy to replace.:)

calgaryhhr

I had an A/C adapter get fried when I was in Europe. I had my smartphone charging over night and when I grabbed it in the morning I noticed it was almost dead and part of the A/C adapter was melted. It was rated for the European standard and it was also plugged into a converter but still fried for some reason.

It was a tragedy because I was using it as an MP3 player and was also going to use it for WiFi internet but it died the second day I was there with no other way of getting a charge.

SandyBeach

I never thought about the AC plug in connector going bad. But, that explains why Dell was sending a new motherboard. I thought maybe it was because the unit freezes while running the bios occasionally. I have an XPS M140. It's really a Inspiron with an XPS name. I don't know why. No matter what, I'll definitely have a new and improved computer.

Thanks for the tip on the Dell outlet. I used my DoD discount and saved $500 on this system. Any way I can save even more is always good news!

afs9

I work for a university but got a better deal on the 17" Studio from the university I attend and got a free camera tossed in too! The wireless printer cost me less by not using my student or staff discount. weird.

The Mini I chose and the one I got were different, in my favor. Didn't ask for the webcam, but the one I got did have it.

It's all good!