Laptop not charging.

Jim Yanik Inscribed thus:

Very definitely SWMBO... or else... ;-)

--
Best Regards:
                          Baron.

Jim Yanik Inscribed thus:

Thats very much my sentiments ! The cheap Chinese clones look identical but don't always work as expected. I would guess that they come out of the same factory, but by the back door, with or without approval.

--
Best Regards:
                          Baron.

Ah, but luckily this 'Mrs right(now)' is on the scene because Mrs-No-1 was given her marching orders. This one can stay as long as she continues to behave herself and cooks me the best 'full English' once a week that I've ever tasted.

This is the right way and how it was meant to be. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Yes, but not as many features as options available I bet? And how much energy is going into this duplication.

What I'm suggesting is that there are netbooks, notebooks, laptops and desktop replacements and IMHO most people would be happy with many of the examples of each, especially if they were given them for free for example.

I guess the issue is (and this is an oft seen human trait) of the constant bastardisation of utility things for (what could be seen as if you get down to the nuts_and_bolts) an irrelevant cause. Like, IC engined 'cars' evolved for transport, to carry you and you goods from A to B. Easier to keep than a horse and quicker to get ready than a steam plant. So, as soon as two get side by side we invent 'racing'. ;-(

There are only two types of car for me. An estate or 'free' (or very cheap) as long as it can work for me.

The only car I've bought from new was my Company Sierra Estate and I had that in the end for 23 years. Not once during that period did I even consider anything else (other than for better fuel economy) as that did all I ever wanted and more. Further it was very very reliable. The other support guys chose hot-hatches and guess who they came to when they wanted to move house etc. I always declined a temporary 'swap' as a hot hatch was no use to me and especially so without a towbar.

I guess my point is that most people could make good use of an estate car but fewer could manage with a two seater or afford to run a Lambo. But apparently that's not what it's all about (any more)? We are sold the imagery of cruising the open road in the sunshine when the reality is far from that for the vast majority.

If I may play devils advocate for a mo, they might also try to ensure a bit of compatibility quality control and / or better design? Don't get me wrong, I don't like being ripped off on anything and won't buy a 'name' just because. However, there are times said name = quality or safety and that sometimes can be good VFM.

And /could/ include some better quality control? OOI, the obviously rip off / clone 'Dell' charger I have here (with Dell on the case and everything) weighs half of that of a genuine charger? Do they use lighter components or less of them I wonder. If less I wonder what sort of stuff they left out?

Horses for courses (and racecourses) I guess. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

T i m Inscribed thus:

Its true ! The way to a mans heart is through his stomach. :-)

--
Best Regards:
                          Baron.

e

Maybe you could explain the vernacular, such as "hot hatch" (sporty hatch-back?), "tow-bar" (trailer hitch?), and is a Sierra Estate a Chevy or what? Thanks! bob

Ah, sorry. ;-)

Yup ...

Yup ...

Ford Sierra 2L GL estate. I think it was sold under the Merkur brand in the States and possibly only the 3 door and a couple of other variants?

And I drove it on the road not the pavement, it has bumpers, bonnet and boot but wasn't converted to run on 'gas' (it ran on petrol). ;-)

(looks very much like mine)

So, you got the first two right and it didn't really matter what the estate car was (as long as you got it was an estate car as such) as it was more the function than the make, model or size I was eluding to. ;-)

However, /this/ estate had the 2L Pinto engine that was good because it was pretty unbustable and was very common across a wide range of vehicles and years. That means spares were readily available should you need them. The cam belt went once and 12 GBP and an hour later I had fitted it myself and was driving home (safe engine = such things don't wreck the engine).

I generally towed my 14' sailing dingy about but also a 1/2 tonne goods trailer I built. We also have a folding caravan (trailer?) that it towed easily. Daughters Yamaha TY80 trials bike would fit across the back on a towbar mounted rack. My electrathon motorbike, my mates electrically assisted cycle, my Sinclair C5 and all associated kit would fit in the back a treat. ;-)

The 2/3 split rear seats folded down to provide a very flat loading bay and the shape of the glass in the tailgate meant even if something looked like it was sticking out it would often be encompassed by the tailgate easily.

The long roof with gutters mean I could fit a decent roofbars (for carrying canoes, timber or even 5m lengths of steel stock. ;-)

5 speed gearbox with a long 5th meant 70 mph motorway cruising was pretty comfortable.

I never had any problem with the power steering, central locking, electric windows, alarm or electric sunroof because it didn't have any of them. ;-)

FWIW it could have been anything that offered the same versatility as long as it offered the same reliability etc.

Being 'common' (they were std issue 'rep-mobiles' for quite a while) and using parts common to several engines meant I rarely had to wait for spares to be ordered from overseas, they were pretty cheap (pattern parts) and were available anywhere. Comforting to know you can get a fan belt or hose at most motorway services. ;-)

Same logic re my BMW R100RT or Honda CB250 'Nighthawk' motorcycles. Also why we used a Ford Escort donor when we built the kitcar (reliable and easy / cheap parts). Also why I have always built my own PCs and may have had a Mac at the time had I been able to build my own. And I've therefore always run Windows (still happily on XP) because most things are available for and run on it.

If I buy a new soldering iron one of the things I would look for is the availability of spare tips etc and would pay more for one with better (parts) support.

These days though we have the extra choice of 'disposable'. ;-(

I put little value on named brands and even less on 'designer'.

We have few photos or pictures up at home and no 'mood lighting'.

Rather than worrying about the fact our car was now 3 years old or if our walls were in the 'in' colour we would rather be out cycling, boating, motorcycling , flying power kites or camping etc.

Luckily it takes all sorts though or how else would I get good but broken stuff given to me to fix for myself! ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Have been watching this thread with some interest. We travel with a Dell Vostro 1400 (Aug08 delivery), and in late 2008 we left the PSU behind in sthn Calif. Noticed its absence in Vegas, and happened upon a pooter shop who had new generic (non-Dell-branded) PSU's at a decent price compared to the genuine Dell product. On first use - as they explained - the Vostro reported a non-genuine PSU but has worked fine for the last two years.

Ok.

Including charging the battery you mean?

I have two 'non Dell' power adaptors here. One looks very Dell, runs but won't charge and another that is not so Dell looking that both runs and charges on the D520 and 1545 (as does my Targus 90W adaptor). We don't know if either will charge the 1535 yet as we don't have a good / recognised one to try. ;-(

The copy charger that works has the spec of a 90W (if anything is to be believed) but is reported (on all 3 Dell laptops) as being 150W! ;-)

I think what can actually happen may depend to some degree the particular model. Daughters D520 is very happy with a clone battery whereas the 1535 doesn't seem to want to play. That could be as much down to the batteries of course.

Cheers, T i m

Well Tim, now I know what "estate" means (station wagon) and the "Sierra" and "Cierra" names belong to GM in the States. We have 2 cars...a Buick LaSabre (considered an old man's car) it's large with excellent mileage (35mi/gal). The other is a 16 yr old Saturn (the beater). With the Buick, and its electronic readouts I realize how much gas we waste "getting up to speed". If everyone "actually" knew how much gas they were wasting "with a heavy foot" we would save an immense amount of "petrol"!

Hello ;-)

We used to have styles we called 'Countryman' I would more typically associate with what would come to mind when you said 'station wagon.

As opposed to an estate which is more like this:

Or even this!

but I'm probably thinking about The Waltons. ;-)

Ah.

I have what sounds like the equivalent, a Rover 218SD. Nearer 50 UKmpg though.

K.

;-)

Our company had a basic Ford Escort 1.1 (hatchback) that had 'economy' lights. Basically they were just connected to sensors on the inlet manifold and measured the vacuum. Green was good, amber you were pushing a bit and red, well. If you were bothered it was actually quite revealing (as you say) with even a slight headwind or incline seeing the lights go from green to amber as you automatically compensated with your right foot to keep the road speed constant (and noting you couldn't do with a vacuum gauge of course). ;-)

And as they say 'you can manage what you can measure'.

Getting back on topic I guess that's partly why I got into electronics at a fairly early age (17). For most people 'electricity' is invisible but with the right tools (scopes, DMM, magnetic pickups, frequency counters and spectrum analysers etc etc) it often becomes very visual. Add to that Ohms law and an understanding of basic components and you are away.

Not quite the same for digital I don't think. Plug in diagnostic interface and click on 'Run'. ;-(

Cheers, T i m

Yes

Ok ta.

Thinking outside the box a bit and looking at this external / universal charger ... if I had a known good Dell battery with the same parameters as required by the laptop but that just didn't fit /in/ the laptop a short extension lead might do the trick. Certainly sufficient enough to ensure it /was/ a battery problem before buying another one?

Cheers, T i m

p.s. When I worked for British Telecom (and then later Kodak on their Microfilm side) we regularly used 'external' cards / cables to allow us to check the card / module whilst connected to the machine but so we could still get to it.

We use extender cards...and "stack" the card you were working on. I worked on Rockwell based archaic PMOS. *L*

They were Positive ESD was going to wipe their MOS. ;-)

--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

T i m wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

perhaps you mean "extender" cards or cables?

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

Probably but the function of the thing was to make the card / module appear /outside/ the unit so it sorta works for me. ;-)

I was thinking that I only need an old (compatible/ Dell) laptop base / mobo and I've already got a dead battery and I should be able to put something together (in the best Frankenstein stylee). ;-)

Assuming these batteries only report 'I'm a Dell battery' rather than "I'm a Dell battery for a Studio 1535 with a pink lid ..."? ;-(

Cheers, T i m

Cheers, T i m

T i m wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I used to build my own custom extenders (and dummy loads for switchers)while at Tektronix. they helped a lot. Designers just don't make things accessible like they used to. or provide useful test points.)

I guess it's part of the "throwaway" culture. :-(

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com