[TriLUG] hp laptop power problem

[Wm F]

    In my experience with the bad chipsets you generally see some sort of activity from the board (LEDs and such) even when the chipset is bad. The failure is a result of multiple issues. The components generate too much heat, the cooling is inadequate and the solder on the surface mount components is inferior. This seems to be a real problem with laptops between 2007 and 2009. I see this with more AMD CPUs (I am looking at you AMD Turion64 x2), but I have seen it with Intel chips as well.
    To the issue at hand. Based on what you described I would suspect the DC jack. If the jack is soldered to the
 MB it will be a little more difficult to replace. Hypothetically, the easy way to test that is to open the laptop and use the multimeter on the output pins of the jack while it is plugged in. Disclaimer: Doing so may or may not cause you computer to explode, may or may not end the universe as we know it and may or may not cause irreparable psychological trauma to kittens everywhere, do so at your own risk!! Many newer laptops use a DC jack on a lead. A perfunctory search indicates that this may be the case with yours. http://www.amazon.com/Original-brand-Pavilion-CQ40-Power/dp/B0056D27E8
    If you do buy a new
 machine I prefer Dell myself. But most other major brands are good as well. Just check out user reviews of the specific model. As far as Apple and their nifty break away jacks go I am pretty sure they have a patent and that's why you don't see them anywhere else.