Toshiba Satellite M30X-156

[domsq]

Hey guys

I got myself the laptop mentioned in the title not long ago, and while I'm happy with it so far, someone told me there's a known issue with the DC-in jack.

I came across this article, and it's made me a little worried now.

Has anyone here had any experience with this PC? If so, what are the chances of the DC-in jack crapping out on me? I should mention that the laptop spends most of it's life sitting on a desk, plugged in (so virtually no wear and tear on the power jack)...

 

[domsq]

Oh well... will have to just hope that if something happens, it happens within the warranty period.

 

[6000SUX]

I had the same problem with my wife's Dell Inspiron 300m. It's a pretty common problem with laptop designs; I've never known why they didn't float those connections off the motherboard to avoid the problem. Everything you touch should be reinforced and give a little.

All I can tell you is to treat it carefully and make damn sure everything is tip-top the month before your warranty ends. With that same laptop I called in the issue a few weeks prior to the end of the three-year warranty. Dell sent a tech out a week later, and he caused two other problems in fixing that one. I called in another ticket, and they never got someone out in time. Then they refused to fix the laptop, on the grounds that the warranty had expired. This is one reason I will no longer order from Dell, after purchasing over $40,000 worth of hardware from them over the years.

 

[domsq]

Sorry to hear about your unpleasant experience with Dell PC's... You'd think $40,000 worth of hardware would have them consider you a good client (and give you decent service).

I wasn't aware this was such a problem, across pretty much all laptops that is.

 

[phisrow]

I had a buddy's older HP laptop do the same thing. It was out of warranty, and the repair guys wanted 600 for a new motherboard, so I just opened it up and replaced the DC jack. Not too difficult; but really unimpressive design.


Edit: This seemed logical to mention. Laptop boards are multilayer things, which would make repair pretty much impossible without serious rework kit; but, conveniently, DC in jacks usually go all the way through the board(presumably to handle high current). Thus, although taking apart the laptop is a nuisance, as you usually have to go all the way, the soldering is actually quite trivial.

 

[ai42]

If your skilled with the soldering iron you can maybe fix it yourself. Apple for a while was putting the DC in jack on a daughterboard so you wouldn't have to replace the entire motherboard (expensive) for a small part. I sent in a G3 ibook a while ago to get repaired and even with their overinflated charges for labor etc it was under $200. Of course now Apple has the magsafe connector on the MacBooks which all but eliminates this problem. However, there is a lot manufactuers can do to help with this problem. First of all don't use right angled connectors on the AC adpater so when you yank on the power cord or laptop you don't get torsional force and if your lucky it just slips out. Also power connectors on either side of the laptop will often cause torsional force, so the rear is the best placement.