13 replies to this topic

[Amethyst]

Just found out today the connection of the AC power adapter to the back of my laptop is loose, so a little movement of the cord and the connection gets lost. It's not plugging in snuggly, and it might be time to replace it. The one I have, which came with my laptop (a Lenovo), is 65 W, according the the laptop's power manager program. The power adapters I am seeing online are 90W, including one "universal" unit I was looking at which has ends for a variety of laptop brands, including Lenovo. Does it matter? Would it do any harm to use one with 90W rather than 65W?

Edited to add: It's not the fit after all, it seems to be something within the cord itself, and it seems to be rapidly getting worse. The slightest bit of movement and the power connection gets lost. The laptop is under warranty and I've got a service ticket started, but I don't know if Lenovo would replace it, or if I can even wait that long, although it would probably save about $100 or so if they would just send out a new one. But I think this one is on very borrowed, very short time. Still would like to know if the watts matter, though, if I do buy a new one. Thanks!

[exile360]

It does matter, but they generally have a switch on the universal AC's so you can adjust it to the desired wattage.

Also, in most cases the problem you describe is actually caused by a loose power connector which is soldered to the motherboard, not the cord, so replacing the AC adapter might do you no good at all.

[Amethyst]

Hello, Exile.

I think the problem is the cord, as I can actually reproduce the problem by moving the power cord, and it's at the part right close to the laptop. I move just the cord ever so slightly, and I can see the light go on and off (the one that looks like the end of an electrical cord plug in) on top of the laptop when the laptop is closed and in standby. I just read over my post and realized I wasn't very clear, I meant moving the cord itself caused loss of AC power (and it would switch to battery...with a beep that was annoying everyone in the household!)

I was fortunate enough to find a new laptop with a 3 year warranty (no extra cost for that, it was just available), and here it is, after 10 p.m. where I live and I just got off the phone with a Lenovo tech. He called me after I submitted my service request online. And this part is under warranty and they are going to send a replacement out by courier, so that's rather nice.

(Ya'll need a 'happy dance' smiley!)

Thanks, Exile. I figured a person should find out about this and not just go out and buy another one. Didn't want to fry the laptop.

[exile360]

You're lucky you found one with a warranty . I hope you're right about it just being the cord though, otherwise you'll have to ship it to them to have the motherboard replaced (they don't do soldering, they just replace faulty parts ). Post back when you get your new cord to let us know how it worked out.

[mountaintree16]

Eh, something similar to this happened to a laptop that I use :/

It was sent off to a repairperson, had to be really careful with it and baby it

Glad you were able to get it resolved!!

[Amethyst]

Exile, Mountaintree,

I see there were 2 posts submitted while I was editing my last one. I'm going to be an optimist, I'm sure it's the cord. I sure wouldn't want to have to send the laptop away. Actually, I think the place I bought it from does some warranty work for Lenovo, which was a factor in my purchasing decision. I didn't want something that would have to be shipped off for weeks on end if anything needed work. I mean, the HP's and the Sony's and the Dells and Toshiba's are a lot 'cuter' and sharper looking. My Lenovo is just a plain black box, but it's been solid and stable and it had good service and warranty options. So...My son has the big flashy Alienware MX17 with the light up keyboard, and I have the little plane jane Lenovo.

[mountaintree16]

Amethyst

I hope its just the cord in your case!

I had thought that too, but it turned out to be inside the computer. I also had a scary blue screen with a check disk/dump message... its alright now though.

"Alienware MX17" er, whats that? hehe

[exile360]

Lenovo's are excellent . They're designed to be work horses, not flashy or anything, but they get the job done and they're generally very well constructed. Most retailers that have a tech shop can do warranty work on anything from certain manufacturers including HP/Compaq, Gateway and sometimes Sony. That comes in very handy, but if they do ever need to replace the motherboard they'll likely have to send it off (but the tech shop will do it for you free of charge) and they usually get them back much more quickly because they get priority over normal customers, at least that's the way it is with HP (I used to work as a technician at a computer tech shop).

edit: @mountaintree: http://www.alienware.com/ I used to have an Area 51 desktop, it was a monster .

[mountaintree16]

I'll keep that in mind for any future laptops I may purchase Exile

exile360, on Nov 10 2009, 12:12 AM, said:

Lenovo's are excellent . They're designed to be work horses, not flashy or anything, but they get the job done and they're generally very well constructed.

[exile360]

Keep in mind that they're usually pricier too . For most regular users I recommend Toshiba or HP because you can get a lot of power for little money, but Lenovo/IBM laptops are great for business users who do a lot of travelling.

[mountaintree16]

Ah, there had to be catch, huh? hehe. They sound great though. Ah, cool. I've not really used an HP before, other than at school I think, but I have used Toshiba, they seem pretty good

exile360, on Nov 10 2009, 12:15 AM, said:

Keep in mind that they're usually pricier too . For most regular users I recommend Toshiba or HP because you can get a lot of power for little money, but Lenovo/IBM laptops are great for business users who do a lot of travelling.

[Amethyst]

The new AC adapter arrived yesterday. It looks like everything is working properly, but I did have a moment of heart failure. The laptop doesn't like it if you happen to move the lid or unplug the mouse from the USB port during the time interval between the Lenovo splash screen and the Windows splash screen, and I had this blank screen and thought, Oh no, wrong wattage or something, fried the laptop. Tried it again (without fiddling with anything this time!), and things have been fine ever since.

[exile360]

Yes, adding or removing hardware during the Post can cause issues, as that's where the PC first begins hardware detection .

Glad to hear the new power adapter is working .

[Amethyst]

Hi Exile,

I'm glad you mentioned that. I had wondered and had been hoping it wasn't a sign of some pending hardware problem. It makes sense, though, that a computer shouldn't be disturbed during that stage on startup.