written by nigelashley on 07/08/2010
I got this "Free" with AOL broadband/phone deal. However after about 18 months I unplugged it from the power and it went off. Put it back on charge, for a while, same thing again. Bough new power supply £40 Maplins, same problem. Found problem is power socket centre pin, put 1cm very thin wire inside centre hole, bent over to an L shape, suddenly charging works fine. However original battery is worn out. Bought new battery (not Dell original much cheaper, better capacity ones out there if you look £60.)Laptop now working as normal. Poor design of power connector. I am a Secondary School teacher and certainly wouldn't buy these for use in a school.