Inspiron 1550 Intermittent Power Button Problems

Over the last week, my laptop has been having a problem with the power button. Sometimes I need to press it two or three times for it to work. Tonight, it wouldn't work at all. Then I tried again 10 minutes later, and suddenly it is working. The issue doesn't appear to be related to the battery or AC adapter, as it has happened before when plugged into AC power and also when running off battery.

Tonight, when the laptop button finally responded and the computer turned on, the battery was fully charged at 99%. So, it is definitely not a low power issue, either. I just checked my warranty, only to discover that it expired only 10 days ago. This is my first Dell laptop; my previous laptops were HP. But if I'm going to have hardware issues begin only a week after the warranty gives out, I certainly won't be buying another Dell.

Is there any other possible solution to this intermittent power button problem, now that I am apparently out of warranty?

Thanks in advance for any advice.