Best way to troubleshoot a Inspiron Mini 10 that won't power on?

[leeland]

My wife's cousin brought me a little mini 10 which appears to be dead. It is a second hand laptop and all I have is the laptop, an aftermarket power cord and a mouse.

Plugging it in does not appear to power the laptop...no power indicator at all with or without the battery installed.

What is the easiest way to see if the ac adapter is dead or if it is just a dead laptop?

Any advice is appreciated before I waste time taking it apart.

Thanks,

Lee

 

[Spikesoldier]

I would suspect the AC adapter first. I would see if any of my friends have a compatible adapter to try.

 

[leeland]

I thought he same...and I have no friends...so that is out of the option...

Any place like Radio Shack let me try an adapter before I toss the coin down?

can you run a power test on an adapter? If so what is the best method?

 

[leeland]

I was also wondering if a place like batteries plus would test the laptop battery to see if it holds a charge or not...

Anyone ever tried this?

 

[Spikesoldier]

I thought he same...and I have no friends...so that is out of the option...

Any place like Radio Shack let me try an adapter before I toss the coin down?

can you run a power test on an adapter? If so what is the best method?

really is no testing other than it works or not. if it included an aftermarket ac adapter as a secondhand unit, i would suspect that the original owner burned, destroyed, or ruined the original and bought a replacement, which in my experience are usually pieces of shit.

 

[mfenn]

If you have a multimeter laying around, you can test whether or not the AC adapter has voltage on the DC side. If it doesn't, you know that it's dead.

 

[leeland]

took it to the Shack after work...they were nice enough to pull out a universal charger...took 2 minutes and it started powering the battery...the laptop works just fine.


SO I am off to buy an inexpensive charger!


Thanks for the info!

 

[Spikesoldier]

glad to hear that it was just the adapter and nothing more serious.

 

[leeland]

glad to hear that it was just the adapter and nothing more serious.

So is my wife's cousin who literally had this thing sitting around for 1 year not using it...

She was mad but happy. Should have the new power cord in a week from Amazon...love the deal I got. .66 adapter...with 6 dollars shipping lol.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So is my wife's cousin who literally had this thing sitting around for 1 year not using it...

She was mad but happy. Should have the new power cord in a week from Amazon...love the deal I got. .66 adapter...with 6 dollars shipping lol.

You're damn lucky that the battery still holds a charge, if it hasn't been charged in a year. I had something similar happen to me, the battery is stone-cold dead now.

 

[mfenn]

You're damn lucky that the battery still holds a charge, if it hasn't been charged in a year. I had something similar happen to me, the battery is stone-cold dead now.

Well, to be fair, he only tested it at Radio Shack. Who knows how long it will last on a full charge.