[TriLUG] hp laptop power problem

David Burton ncdave4life at gmail.com
Thu Aug 4 19:31:31 EDT 2011


>
> Sounds like a broken power jack.  Battery is nearly empty, which is why
> machine comes on a second or two then shuts down.  Battery is nearly empty
> for the same reason the machine won't run w/o battery: it's getting no power
> from the AC adapter, because the power jack is broken.


> If you have access to another laptop of the same type, you can swap
> batteries to know for sure.


> Dave
> www.GeeksAlive.com <http://www.geeksalive.com/>



The bad news is that power jacks are a real pain to replace, which is why
the going rate locally is about $140-150 (or over $200 at places like Best
Buy).

The good news is that right now is absolutely the best possible time to buy
a replacement laptop.

This weekend (Friday through Sunday) is tax-free
weekend<http://www.dornc.com/taxes/sales/salestax_holiday.html> for
computer purchases.

There are new laptop CPUs out from Intel and AMD which give good performance
and excellent battery life at low cost
($350<http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Pentium%26%23174%3B+Processor+/+14%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+320GB+Memory+-+Pewter/2753496.p?id=1218348481450&skuId=2753496&AID=10474050&PID=3005996&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fsite%2FHP%2B-%2BPavilion%2BLaptop%2B%2F%2BIntel%2526%2523174%253B%2BPentium%2526%2523174%253B%2BProcessor%2B%2F%2B14%2522%2BDisplay%2B%2F%2B4GB%2BMemory%2B%2F%2B320GB%2BMemory%2B-%2BPewter%2F2753496.p%3Fid%3D1218348481450%26skuId%3D2753496&ref=39&CJPID=3005996&loc=01>
to
$400 at Best Buy).  The new Intel CPU is the "B940" and the new AMD CPU is
the "A4-3300M".  The AMD A3-3300M ("A Series") might be a bit faster than
the Intel B940, at least for graphics-intensive applications, but both are
decent performers.

Here's a SlickDeals search for the B940:
http://slickdeals.net/newsearch.php?firstonly=1&forumchoice%5B%5D=9&q=B940

Here's a SlickDeals search for the A4-3300M:
http://slickdeals.net/newsearch.php?firstonly=1&forumchoice%5B%5D=9&q=A4-3300M

Note: I'm not really a fan of Best Buy, but they seem to be the place with
the best laptop deals at the moment.  Comparable machines at Staples mostly
either use an older & much slower CPU (like the AMD E-350), or else they
cost noticeably more.

If you plan to get one of these this weekend, I recommend that you shop for
it *today*, and get Best Buy to hold it for you for purchase this weekend
tax-free.

I just checked the Best Buy web site.  The HP
g4-1104dx<http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Pentium%26%23174%3B+Processor+/+14%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+320GB+Memory+-+Pewter/2753496.p?id=1218348481450&skuId=2753496&AID=10474050&PID=3005996&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fsite%2FHP%2B-%2BPavilion%2BLaptop%2B%2F%2BIntel%2526%2523174%253B%2BPentium%2526%2523174%253B%2BProcessor%2B%2F%2B14%2522%2BDisplay%2B%2F%2B4GB%2BMemory%2B%2F%2B320GB%2BMemory%2B-%2BPewter%2F2753496.p%3Fid%3D1218348481450%26skuId%3D2753496&ref=39&CJPID=3005996&loc=01>
(14"
with Intel B940 CPU) is $350, the HP
g4-1117dx<http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+/+AMD+A-Series+Processor+/+14%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+320GB+Hard+Drive+-+Pewter/2715258.p?id=1218346636604&skuId=2715258#tabbed-customerreviews>
(14"
with AMD A4-3300M CPU) has gone up to $400 (from $380), and the ASUS
K53E-BBR3<http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ASUS+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Pentium%26%23174%3B+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+320GB+Hard+Drive+-+Brown+Suit/2701449.p?id=1218345396205&skuId=2701449>
(15.4"
with Intel B940 CPU) has dropped to $350 (from $380).  They also have a
Toshiba that's nearly identical to the ASUS, for $380.

All these machines have 3 USB 2.0 ports (not USB 3.0, sorry), HDMI outputs,
320 GB HDDs, and 4GB DDR3 memory.

One nice thing about the HPs is the sound quality.  The HPs have much better
built-in speakers than the ASUS & Toshiba models.  Also, HP puts their
service manuals on-line, which I really like; the Asian manufacturers like
ASUS, Toshiba, Sony & Acer don't.

One nice thing about the ASUS is that it comes with *one* 4GB memory module
and an empty memory slot, which means it costs only about $30-35 to upgrade
it to 8GB of memory, compared to a cost of $60-70 for a computer which has
2GB in each of the two memory slots.  (I don't know for sure which the HPs
have, but I suspect they have 2GB in each slot.)  Think of that: $350+33 =
$383 for a decent-performing 8GB laptop with over 5 hours of battery life!

Note #1:  if you shop at Best Buy, you need to say "no" to *everything* that
they try to "up-sell" to you at the checkout counter.  They are *all* bad
deals.

Note #2:  bring a live Linux DVD, and make sure the display model of your
chosen laptop runs Linux well before you buy it.

Note #3:  if you're going to keep the Windows installation, then after you
get your new computer:
First uninstall the trial version antivirus, then reboot, and then get
the good stuff here:  http://www.ninite.com/
Use it to get:  Microsoft Security Essentials, MalwareBytes, all
the "runtimes" category, and whatever else you want.

Dave Burton
*Geeks Alive! Computer Rescue*
www.GeeksAlive.com <http://www.geeksalive.com/>
919-481-2183
M: 244-3316
*All opinions expressed herein are mine, and are guaranteed only to be worth
at least what you paid for them.*


P.S. -- This is a couple of weeks out-of-date; latest Passmark scores for
the B940 & A4-3300M are both down slightly:

---------- Begin forwarded message ----------
To check the speed of a CPU, google the CPU model number along with the word
"passmark."  E.g., these are the most popular laptop CPUs right now:

*Faster (and more expensive) than most people need:
*Intel Core i7-2630QM: http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+i7-2630QM  *
6298*
*
*
*Very fast:
*AMD A8-3530MX (A8 "A-Series"):
http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+A6-3530MX  *4611
*AMD A8-3500M (A8 "A-Series"):
http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+A8-3500M  *3903*
AMD A6-3400M (A6 "A-Series"):
http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+A6-3400M  *3356
*Intel Core i5-2410M: http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+Core+i5-2410M
  *3326*
*
*
*Pretty fast:*
*AMD A4-3300M* (A4 "A-Series"):
http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+A4-3300M  *2508*
Intel Core i3-370M:  http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+i3-370M  *2220
*AMD Phenom II quad-core P960:  http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+P960
  *2156*
*Intel B940:* http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+B940  *1995*
*
*
*Not too shabby:
*Intel Pentium P6200: http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+P6200  *1631
*Intel Celeron P4600: http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+P4600  *1579
*Intel T4500: http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+P4600 *1545*
*
*
*Rather slow:*
*AMD E-350* (1.6 GHz "E-Series"):
http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+E-350  *732
*AMD V-140: http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+V-140  *667*
*
*
*Slow as mud:
*AMD C-50: http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+C-50  *452*
Intel Atom N455: http://www.google.com/search?q=passmark+Atom+N455  *319*
---------- End forwarded message ----------

Note -- I've read that some other benchmarks (Cinebench?) have the Intel
B940 running a bit faster (rather than slower) than the AMD A4-3300M, at
least for non-graphics-intensive applications.  YMMV.



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