My Dell Inspiron 700m has been used and abused by the whole family for almost 3 years now. It has gotten to the point that the AC adapter will no longer make good contact to charge the battery, combined with the fact that the battery will no longer hold a charge. I've been struggling and jiggling for months now and finally the battery is so dead, and the AC adapter will not charge (I have two and tried both) and I can't get the thing to come on at all.

The AC power problem can't be fixed because some of the plastic casing broke away and it won't sit stable. (Even if I hold the plug in, I can't get it to power on this time)

I'm thinking my only solution at this point is a brand new battery AND an external battery charger. The ONLY one I could find is this one for $73.50. Not to mention I know nothing about this company, but it's all I could find.

So $73.50 for the charger and $135 for a new battery, plus shipping and tax... This is a $200+ solution for a worn out laptop.

Maybe I should just buy the charger and give the old battery enough juice to power on, copy the files I want to keep, and toss the laptop out the top floor window...

If anyone can find a cheaper solution to my problem, I'd be grateful!

Seems to me that as much if not more than a charger/battery issue that the power plug pin has issues and may be a larger problem if correct in soldering or replacing

At $200+ just to revive a three year old laptop, I might just consider chipping off a couple hundred more for a new laptop, as well as a few bucks for a laptop HDD enclosure.

Why waste money on a charger just to transfer your files over? Pull the hard drive out of the laptop, put it into an external USB enclosure for laptop sized HDD's, and then transfer the files to any PC you want. The enclosure should run you $25 or less. Additionally, you'll end up w/ some external storage space and gain re-use of the HDD.

Diggler

if $200 is the lowest you can find for a new charger/battery, I would rather invest in a new low end laptop.

You can always find a deal for a low end laptop at BB or CC almost every week.

And if you ask dealbot nicely, maybe he/she can find you a deal on a dell laptop very soon.

If you know anyone else with the same laptop, you could always toss your battery into there and see if it'll charge in there.

Or you could always borrow that person's battery to get your files off the laptop.

thanks guys, as always, for your help!

This sounds like probably the best option. I don't know anyone near me who has the same computer.

I didn't even know about external USB enclosures, you guys are so smart.

EDIT: Ummmm, I'm a dunce. I just looked at Best Buy and I don't know which one I need. Link pretty please?????

I have a 700m and wouldn't trade it in for anything - it's nice and light

I bought a new 6 cell battery off of eBay for my 700m a while back for something like $70. The Dell power adapters are tossed all the time by tech companies, so I bet you could find one of those really cheap used.

Of course, if you're itching for a new laptop, that's fine too. Just keep in mind that if you're looking for something small like the 700m, it'll probably cost you a bit more than one of the bigger laptops.

But it's not the power adapter I need. The laptop won't take a charge with the AC adapter any more. I would need an external battery charger, and run the laptop on battery only.

I agree, the 700m is a great size! I've really enjoyed it.

I'm almost 100% positive that the 700m uses a PATA notebook hard drive.

Something like this would work for you. For some reason, the picture shows a USB to SATA enclosure, but the description says otherwise.

Let me see if I can find a better deal.

If it does use a PATA drive, then here's a cheaper enclosure:

http://www.pcmicrostore.com/SearchResult.a...:Pcms-2.5Usb2.0

$6.98 with free shipping. I own two of them and never had any problems with them.

Are you sure it can't be fixed? Have you looked into having the power jack repaired?

Check out this ebay listing:
DC Power Jack for Dell Inspiron 1501 700m 6004 9100 XPS

For $15 it's worth a try. Do you have anyone you think can take it apart and put it back together? How about calling a local computer guy? Ask around for referrals.

The 700M is a nice notebook. I'd hate to see you trash it for a problem that may be easily fixed.

WOW! Again, you guys are awesome! I'm going to get the power jack, and there is a guy near me who does computer repair at a very reasonable price...

Ya'll are so smart, I knew you'd find good solutions!

I might get one of those enclosures too, so I can remove some old files before I hand it over to him...I have tax files on the hard drive.

He can fix it without the hard drive. The end result is being able to power it up. Don't need a hard drive for that. If the laptop needs to be taken apart the hard drive would come out anyway.

BAH! Can you tell I know nothing about computer hardware? Thanks again!

You guys took my repair from $200+ to $15+ to save my laptop.

DO NOT hand your hard drive over to a stranger if it has such personal info on it!!! As Alan stated, the HD doesn't need to be inside the laptop for the DC power jack to be repaired/replaced. So remove the HD before dropping off your laptop for repair.

If you get the external enclosure and end up not using it for the suggested purpose (i.e. your laptop's HDD) at this time, at some point it'll likely come in handy.

Aw, bummer...here is my neighborhood computer guy's reply:

"Replacing a DC jack on a laptop requires an electron chip on the motherboard to be de-soldered and replaced. I'm not comforatable with soldering electronics. I'm sorry but I'm going to pass on this one."

RATS!

I wouldn't trust anybody with my laptop who calls a dc power port an "electron chip".

There should be people around who do real electronics repair, and aren't afraid of a little soldering. If you really can't find anybody, I could give it a shot.

One other thing you can try, stop by RadioShack and pick up an iGo Wallpower 6500 series Universal Power adapter. It contains several Notebook adapter tips, one of which is specifically for the 700m, as well as others which may be able to make contact with your "modified" DC jack. It sells for $80 and since it is RadioShack you can bring it back for a full refund if it doesn't work out.

We are in Chicago on a hastily planned trip and the wife forgot her AC adapter for her HP notebook. The iGo 6500 also works for her laptop so I picked one up and was looking at the other included adapter tips and realized that one just may work for you.

If you end up replacing the laptop, I wouldn't just throw it away. You might be able to eBay the individual parts (like the LCD panel, LCD shroud, keyboard, or memory) for a few extra bucks if they are in working shape. Dell has a service manual on their tech support website for almost all of their laptop models that contain disassembly instructions.

Otherwise, I agree with Garsh -- you need to find somebody that does actual electronic circuit board repair as the power jack is almost certainly soldered directly onto the motherboard. If you have a local college, you might check in the computer science or electrical engineering departments for a starving student that does electronics on the side.

"requires replacement of an electron chip..." WTF? I was a service manager for Pacific Stereo, a factory tech for Yamaha and JVC, and was Sharp authorized and trained for notebooks. Now I make GPS-based time and frequency products. I've never heard of an Electron Chip.

What has very likely happened is that the solder connections at the board/jack interface have cracked. It's really common in reflow-soldered consumer electronics. There's simply not enough solder paste stenciled onto the board at manufacture to deal with the consecutive, repetitive microscopic stresses of inserting and removing the plug, and the solder cracks and fails. It's very probable that you don't even need a replacement jack.

Find a geeky neighborhood kid who can solder. Hit Google and find the disassembly guide for your Dell. Take the thing apart and reflow the jack. Done.

If you dun wanna, send me the laptop, I'll fix the jack, and put it to good use!

Electron chip... Good Lord.

-Pink

I still haven't solved this problem, so my dead laptop still sits lonely and dejected.

Even the original external battery charger I posted above isn't even available anymore...sigh.

What about something like this external battery?

Here's the thing. If the AC adapter has to be plugged into the laptop to charge the battery, this will NOT work for me. If the AC adapter can be plugged into the external battery, then it will work. (Remember, right now I can get no juice to my laptop)

I can't tell from the description which is the case...

Bah, don't do it. If you really can't find someone qualified to solder the port back on, ship it to me and I'll give it a shot.

Also, there are google ads at the bottom of this page from people who will do it for $125 (including shipping). Wow, those ads are quite relevant, eh?

What a guy!

I'm surprised you haven't had it fixed yet. The hardest part is taking the system apart and putting back together. One thing I like about Dell is that they provide disassembly instructions online.

For future reference: Dell Inspiron 700m/710m Service Manual

Thanks Alan!

*** bump ***



BAKM, there's a chance you might be affected by the battery recall.

http://www.bargainshare.com/index.php?showtopic=148345


I read a different article http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10079317-1.html

which provided a link for dell's battery recall program http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com

Your model (700m) was listed. You just need to check your battery model and see if it would qualify for a replacement

Thanks dasnufus, I missed your "bump." I'll look into this.