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bachippy · Joined: 28 May 2006 Posts: 31 Location: Kent

I recently (6wks ago) bought a HP Pavilion ZT1260 2nd hand. When I got it I was told that the battery was knackered so it needed a new one. Until then I ran it on the mains though the connection was temperamental and if the laptop was moved/lifted then the mains connection sometimes cut out.
I then got a brand new battery, as per part number on HP site, and it charged fine straight away though sometimes again the mains connection failed and the lead had to be wiggled about to get it charging again.

This poor connection now seems to have totally failed for charging though the icon in the taskbar says it is charging - when you open the power meter the battery charge can be seen to gradually go down as it would normally when being used.
According to the HP built in battery test the battery is good though I can't get the calibration function to work - mainly I think because the mains has to be on for the whole time and sometimes that was failing even when not touched - it just came up with the process had stopped because the mains had been disconnected!

Can't afford mega repair bill as at uni. Anyone know if this is likely to be uneconomic to repair?
Am I just looking at some soldering or something more ominous?

Thanks.

NickAskew · Moderator Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 112 Location: Thirsk

Hi,

A quick google reveals a lot of people are very unhappy about the quality of the power jack on the back of the Pavilion series of HP laptops. A good few people also noted that they had personally stripped their laptop down with a view to resoldering the connector onto the motherboard but owing to the poor quality of the connection inside their fixes barely lasted a month if possible at all. A few of them noted that they had to send it back to HP for the motherboard replacing.

I wouldn't recommend you attempt to strip your laptop down unless you are fairly good with electronics which from your post I'm guessing isn't the case - a few of the people noted that when they opened their laptops they could see scorch marks from the power jack arcing to the loose wires connecting it to the motherboard which means you would be risking it starting a fire or melting components if you failed to resolder it correctly.

Do you have any electronic hobbyist friends that may be able to see whether a solder is possible? If not then you are probably right with your guess that it would be uneconomical to repair.

thescruff · Moderator Joined: 03 May 2003 Posts: 4472 Location: Bath

Strange you should say that Nick

I have an HP Pavilion DV 1000 and other than the Mac Note Book Pro it is the best machine ever.

It is sat on me desk and running on average 18 hours a day, and quite often I leave it running through the night, so it would be switched on for anything up to 48 hours.

It was recommended to me as an best buy, and I really can't praise it enough. Ok so it has the usual windows problems, and the inbuilt wireless is slow sometimes, but other than than brilliant.

Battery last for 2 hours ish if I don't use the mouse.

bachippy · Joined: 28 May 2006 Posts: 31 Location: Kent

Thanks for the replies.

Will try some local laptop repair people and see if they think it can be fixed by soldering.
Would be a shame if it couldn't be repaired as other than that it's a fab laptop.

Out of interest just how much would I be looking at if the motherboard needed replacing?

Any recommendations for repair places in Kent or nearby?

Cheers

NickAskew · Moderator Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 112 Location: Thirsk

I didn't mean to pooh pooh your lappy! - It was just interesting (interesting eh? how sad does that make me look?) to see how many people had actually posted on the web with their unhappiness with the Pavilion series of laptops power connector, you must have had a second or third generation where the issue had been fixed Very Happy

bachippy · Joined: 28 May 2006 Posts: 31 Location: Kent

That's ok, I hadn't taken it personally!

Cheers.

NickAskew · Moderator Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 112 Location: Thirsk

Authentic replacements come direct from HP -> http://h20141.www2.hp.com/hpparts/default.asp?cc=GB&lang=EN, enter your model number ZT1260, you will also need to establish which specific model you have [F3448HR] or [F3448H]. Having looked at the list that is presented I couldn't tell you which part you needed, what appears to be a mainboard replacement reads like it is a modem.. so you may have to ring HP direct and enquire.

This american site http://www.impactcomputers.com/f5535-69001.html would seem in to indicate the "Hewlett-Packard Motherboard (System Board) - F5535-69001" is the one you need and their price is US$485, which you'd instinctively halve owing to the conversion rate but in reality they usually just replace the dollar sign with a pound sign.. so that challenge will be to buy it cheaper than £485! (which brings it straight into the realms of a new laptop.. after you consider what someone will charge to fit it for you)

(My pooh pooh comment was at Scruff.. I thought he had posted in defence of his lappy!)

EDIT: Found this: http://www.notebooksolutions.ca/zc/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2260 which may be the cheapest option available to you if you can use a soldering iron! (you'd have to ignore my safety warning in first post tho!!)

thescruff · Moderator Joined: 03 May 2003 Posts: 4472 Location: Bath

I did