HP Compaq laptop problems

[Lasagne]

Hi all

This is a bit of a long shot but I thought I'd see if anyone has any ideas.

4 or 5 months ago the battery icon came on on my laptop, even though it was plugged into the mains. I assumed the power lead was knackered so I bought another one and it seemed to work OK ie the battery icon went out.

A couple of months later it happened again. I took it to a repair place who tested the new lead and said it was no good, and that there must be something in the laptop causing the leads to blow. He suggested I buy a Trust mains lead because they have inbuilt surge protection.

I did this and again the laptop worked fine, until last week when the battery icon came on again.

I took the battery out of the laptop and ran it on mains, and it was working OK - however when I picked the laptop up it shut down immediately, so I suspected a loose connection.

A repair bloke came to my house last week and took the laptop and my 3 leads away. He's just called me to tell me he's baffled !! He gets the laptop working (with any of the leads plugged in), then moves it and it cuts out. He's opened it up, replced the connector, but it's the same. He's saying it may be some connection on the motherboard, but frankly he sounded like he didn't really know what to try next.

Does anyone have any ideas on what it could be ?

Thanks

[PaulF]

Which model of laptop is it?

[Lasagne]

Which model of laptop is it?

I can't remember - it's still with the repair man, but he seems stumped

[STARRIDER]

My daughter has one..think its called presario or something like that..had a similar problem,tried new lead,no good..repair man was baffled too..in the end she can now only use it plugged into mains..think he bypassed the the power supply from battery or something..works ok now,but only on mains..:|

[PaulF]

Some older compaq's had a separate DC converter, the newer ones are mainly onboard on the motherboard.
If that's the part that's duff then it would be new motherboard time, not cheap usually.

Unless you desperately need to use it on battery power I'd recommend removing the battery and using on mains only,

Sorry probably not what you wanted to hear, if you can get the model (or product) number I should be able to take a look at the service manual for anything specific.

Paul.

[Lasagne]

Maybe I didn't explain myself very well. After the battery icon lit up I took the battery out and was running it on mains only, but it powers down if it is moved, just like there's a loose connection in there.

I'd be perfectly happy to run it on mains only. Paul - it's an HP Compaq 6710b. I appreciate your help.

[neil_g]

crack in the motherboard around the power circuit maybe?

[matty]

HP are a piece of crap. i bought 1 2 years ago, the wireless packed up, then it started overheating, now its DOA, HP want $£££ to look at it. Check the HP website, there are LOADS of recalls for different HP models. My model is actually subject to extended warranty in the US but not the UK, bunch of robbing buggers wont accept an inherant fault, even though its clear from a spot of googling. They wont even do a 'free' examination to see whats wrong with it.

Poor service from Hewlett Packard, they wont ever get another penny from me for anything.

[neil_g]

HP service/support sucks ass. fact. even at a business level.

[PaulF]

I've taken a quick look at the service manual for this model, there's no separate dc converter.

Ok, it works with no battery and if it's not picked up. You may have a couple of faults not just the power issue.
I'd take a look at how secure the memory dimm and processor are first. Tighten everything up inside and see how it goes. Picking the laptop up sounds like it's 'flexing' the mother board and causing a connection issue.