Dc Jack Broken - Tips?
So, I own an Alienware M15x, and the DC Jack is really loose. Because of this, my computer will not charge anymore, the battery has died, and now I have no computer hence I cannot charge the battery. I called a few PC Shops as I've never encountered a technical issue like this before and they all gave me estimations and didn't seem very confident in their abilities to resolve the issue, until I called a shop a few towns over from me. The representative there told me to call Alienware Customer Support and have them tell me about the design of the DC Jack so he could determine what to do with it - and Alienware said it would be impossible to remove the DC Jack in the particular model I own without destroying the Mother Board - meaning I'd have to replace the Mother Board. I called the guy back, and he told me to order a new Motherboard it would cost me $500 for the part alone, plus more money for labor. I then tried going through Dell technical support, and they offered to fix the thing for $475.00 tax included - No shipping costs. However, this is SO pricey and I honestly cannot afford to do that right now - but I NEED a computer.
My question to you, Basil, is, are there ways of getting my computer/battery power without charging it through the DC Jack? Possibly a Laptop battery that plugs directly into an outlet, or a USB-Charging Cord? Or maybe even something like a Cellphone Powermat, but for laptops?
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Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew Alienware. Is the warranty still going on? If it is call up Alienware customer support.
[quote=BobR]@Jigglypoof I just googled around a bit and came up with this: http://www.brilliantstore.com/laptop_battery_chargers.html
They have external battery chargers for a wide variety of laptop brands, and while they're not cheap, it's a lot better than replacing the entire motherboard just for the charging jack.
They don't list Alienware specifically, but you might be able to contact them and see if they have a charger they know is suitable for the battery in your laptop.
Also, under the "Other External Chargers" they have a page of chargers identified by the type of battery they fit. If you can determine the brand and model of the battery you might be able to find one of these that would work.
It's too bad that it appears most of the cost of these chargers is the external power supply box which you probably already have.
All you really need is the cable with the special plug to plug between the power supply you already have and the battery connector, but finding that (or getting them to sell you the one you'd need) would be the trick.[/quote]
This is PERFECT! Thank you so much! Luckily I know the exact make of my battery and there's an external model for it on the site. I'll be ordering this after work today and I'll comment back when I recieve it and let you all know how it worked.
@Jigglypoof I just googled around a bit and came up with this: http://www.brilliantstore.com/laptop_battery_chargers.html
They have external battery chargers for a wide variety of laptop brands, and while they're not cheap, it's a lot better than replacing the entire motherboard just for the charging jack.
They don't list Alienware specifically, but you might be able to contact them and see if they have a charger they know is suitable for the battery in your laptop.
Also, under the "Other External Chargers" they have a page of chargers identified by the type of battery they fit. If you can determine the brand and model of the battery you might be able to find one of these that would work.
It's too bad that it appears most of the cost of these chargers is the external power supply box which you probably already have.
All you really need is the cable with the special plug to plug between the power supply you already have and the battery connector, but finding that (or getting them to sell you the one you'd need) would be the trick.
[quote=Hiraku]Do you still have warranty? Alien Ware customer support is actually really nice.
You could try to find an external laptop battery charger (ex. digital camera battery charger) if it exists.[/quote]
My warranty expired about 4 or 5 months ago, and they wanted $362.00 to renew it. Now that they're aware of my issue & the fact that I'm not under warranty the repair is $475.00 and they're offering me a 1-year renewal of the warranty for an extra $100.00 - But I think I'm going to decline and buy a more reliable machine when I can get the money together. I've never owned a computer that has had as many frequent hardware issues as the Alienware M15x had. It's ridiculous. I've had to replace countless amounts of things on this machine, it had numerous bugs on the pre-installed OS, the CPU sounds like a washing machine, and it overheats when doing something as simple as browsing the internet...
[quote=Sikiru]I do not understand why interior design of computers have to be so.... complicated. My last computer (HP DO NOT TRUST) To get to the fan, I had to apparently remove everything... just to clean out my fan. That's insane. Nothing should be so hard to reach, really... and to have to break the motherboard to get to something is absolutely ridiculous.[/quote]
making laptops compact isn't trivial (assuming it's a laptop because mine is a dell and is also like that)
Do you still have warranty? Alien Ware customer support is actually really nice.
You could try to find an external laptop battery charger (ex. digital camera battery charger) if it exists.
[quote=BobR]If you can find someone who's good at "board level repairs" (meaning able to remove and replace components on a printed circuit board (ie: the motherboard)), they might be able to at least take a look at your computer and decide whether replacing the DC power jack is at all possible.
Failing that, it -might- be possible to solder in an "external power jack", meaning a DC power jack on a wire that goes into the case where the old loose jack is located now.
Then you'd plug your existing charger into the power jack on the wire.
It would be ugly, and you'd have to be really careful not to rip it out by accident, but it should be possible to do.
And a lot less expensive than replacing the entire motherboard.[/quote]
That's what I had figured originally, so I had been calling around to different shops asking them - and they all said that because of the way its soldered into the Motherboard it would be near impossible. Go figure =/
I really like the idea of this "external power jack." I had a very similar idea myself once my dad suggested it earlier. I have an uncle who does soldering for a living so maybe I'll give him a ring and we can combine our computer knowledge, soldering knowledge, and some Youtube tutorials into hopefully succeeding in doing something like this. However, if there is some kind of way to charge without the DC Jack, I'd like to find out before I start screwing with my system internally and doing dangerous things. But, I'll do whatever it takes to save $500.00, lmao...
[quote=Jigglypoof]My question to you, Basil, is, are there ways of getting my computer/battery power without charging it through the DC Jack?[/quote]
If you can find someone who's good at "board level repairs" (meaning able to remove and replace components on a printed circuit board (ie: the motherboard)), they might be able to at least take a look at your computer and decide whether replacing the DC power jack is at all possible.
Failing that, it -might- be possible to solder in an "external power jack", meaning a DC power jack on a wire that goes into the case where the old loose jack is located now.
Then you'd plug your existing charger into the power jack on the wire.
It would be ugly, and you'd have to be really careful not to rip it out by accident, but it should be possible to do.
And a lot less expensive than replacing the entire motherboard.
[quote=Sikiru]That sounds ridiculous - You can't replace the DC Jack without smashing your own motherboard..? ugh.
Unfortunately I don't quite know another way.. I've never really heard of a great powermat either to be honest.
But a bump, hope you can find some help.[/quote]
Isn't it ridiculous? They acted like I was crazy for expecting it to be a removable part! When I was talking to the computer guys, they all sounded confident until I expressed the fact that it was an Alienware - indicating to me that Alienware has some pretty weird design faults... I think my next machine will be something a bit more reliable. I'm extremely dissatisfied with the performance of my Alienware, and the customer service Dell has provided throughout the years.