new motherboard not less you can take it apart and fix it. MB is about 500.00 from dell.

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@ejn63 wrote:
Unless you can find a scrapped board with a good power connector (or this one is OK but simply detached from the mainboard), you're likely going to have to repalce the entire board. That is not exactly going to be an inexpensive proposition.

It is not easy to solder on multilayer PC boards, as well.

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Thanks for this information. I was afraid I was going to be going down this path.

I have a couple of other questions given what you have said.

First question:

Is that little square piece of plastic with metal "leads" on the back which the AC adapter plugs into the laptop called the "power connector" or does it have some other name. I had no idea what to call it.

The second question:

Is that little black square that is now detached from the mother board, suppose to be attached by the metal leads that come to it from the mother board? Or does this little black square (what I think you called the power connector) just rest up against those metal leads?

Again, there is nothing I can find that shows a picture or description of how this is suppose to look prior to the accident.

Would it help if I posted a picture of this little square? I am not sure if that would help you help me or even if posting pictures is allowed on the forum.

Thanks again for the info and quick reply! :smileyhappy:

nekton

Unless you can find a scrapped board with a good power connector (or this one is OK but simply detached from the mainboard), you're likely going to have to repalce the entire board. That is not exactly going to be an inexpensive proposition.

It is not easy to solder on multilayer PC boards, as well.

dell does not offer that as a part. it is part of the MB and thats the only way you can get it.

You'll have to call to ask. The $500 is likely the part only, not the installation. If you can't do it yourself, I'd order the board and have a trustworthy local shop (NOT the Geek Squad, CompUSA, or Circuit City, etc.) install it - they should charge you about an hour's labor for the service.

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@boppo wrote:
dell does not offer that as a part. it is part of the MB and thats the only way you can get it.

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Hi boppo,

OK. I guess that settles that.

It appears that I need to decide whether to pay $500 for the mother board and also to decide whether to let them do the work or see if I can tackle it. I have never replaced a mother board before on a laptop. :smileysurprised:

Does anyone know off hand if that $500 for the mother board includes them installing it? I can ask Dell, but was just curious if anyone knew.

Thanks again all for the information. Very helpful.

nekton

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@ejn63 wrote:
You'll have to call to ask. The $500 is likely the part only, not the installation. If you can't do it yourself, I'd order the board and have a trustworthy local shop (NOT the Geek Squad, CompUSA, or Circuit City, etc.) install it - they should charge you about an hour's labor for the service.

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Thanks ejn63.

I also appreciate the information on the approximate expected labor charge and who to steer clear of. That helps a lot.

I will let you all know how advenureous I ended up being as well as any other interesting results of the repair effort.

nekton

There's no external charger for this model - and if you buy a board on EBay make sure the seller is reputable and willing to guarantee there are no passwords on the board.

ejn63,

What is the deal with "passwords on the board"? Would these be CMOS/BIOS administrative security passwords that could not be reset?

Again, I guess I am asking for a bit of an education here a little bit of digging on my own might turn up so I appreciate your helping me avoid the self-research!

nekton