Need help identifying a problem..

[ddiaz_2012]

My laptop has stopped recharging and well I'm guessing maybe the problem began as a loose solder joint but anyway; yeah.. I guess since I was/still am a noob at notebooks, I didn't get it fixed since at the time I didn't know what it was or that by pushing/holding the cord in I would worsen the damage. But yeah soon it just stopped charging and the back area smells like sulfur when I plug in the charger so I've stopped plugging it in to avoid any fires. But what I want to find out is what is the issue, what can I do to repair the damage or about how much would it cost to get it repaired at say bestbuy or by the company (gateway). Just to assure everyone, I'm 100% sure it's not charger that's damaged. But I assume it's got something to do with the PSU.

 

[frozenlead]

In order to repair it, you're going to need to dismantle the notebook completely, which will most definitly void your warranty. Best Buy or Gateway will probably just replace your motherboard with a new or refurbished one, so it will be fairly expensive - but if it's just the jack that's come loose from the motherboard, provided you have the tools, this repair is usually less than 3 dollars.

 

[ddiaz_2012]

In order to repair it, you're going to need to dismantle the notebook completely, which will most definitly void your warranty. Best Buy or Gateway will probably just replace your motherboard with a new or refurbished one, so it will be fairly expensive - but if it's just the jack that's come loose from the motherboard, provided you have the tools, this repair is usually less than 3 dollars.

Oh, thanks.. Well I'm sure I can get my friend to help me resolder the joints and I may have the tools (err.. I have the screwdriver that's the right size and soldering iron..) but if you know anything else I might need can you please post it? And about the warranty I was sure I got the extended warranty but I called gateway to see if my laptop was covered and they said no so yeah it sucks =/ And I'd open up my laptop but I'm not exactly sure where to start since the closest I've ever come to taking apart a computer was just enough for me to install a new video card.. I see it has some things imprinted on the bottom (i.e. m-pci) what represents the motherboard? Yeah I'm a huge noob at this T_T Thanks again

EDIT: About the sulfur odor.. what could that be? Blown capacito(s) on the motherboard?

 

[frozenlead]

Generally dismantling a notebook starts with removing all the screws from the bottom (remember where they go!) and then taking off the keyboard.

You will void your warranty by doing this, so proceed at your own risk.

Don't even worry about the motherboard yet. You've got a long, long time till you find it. Ha.

The sulfur odor could be anything. Solder melting, PCB burning, caps blowing - who knows until you get inside.

 

[ddiaz_2012]

Hmm.. I'm pretty unsure of what I'd be doing. I believe I'm better off replacing the PSU on my old desktop than trying to repair my motherboard. And yeah, I asked gateway how much they'd fee me to replace the motherboard and they said $500 so I'm not even going near that because it's really not worth paying so much to fix a laptop that wasn't exactly great to begin with that's already two years old. But thanks for the input.