However, he's a bit rough with it sometimes, maybe not taking care where he leaves it, so it's inevitable that in a busy house like ours, someone is going to knock it off of the footstool, sofa or some other inappropriate resting spot where he's left it.
Yesterday, he said that "someone" knocked his computer on the the floor and it landed on the power cord. Which, if you know even the tiniest bit about netbooks, laptops, etc., have the most delicate attachments known to mankind. Long story short, the pin that holds the power adapter in (so the battery can charge) broke off.
Doing a quick search online, I found that sending it somewhere to be repaired would be expensive (most quoted about $100, plus 2-3 weeks turnaround). It was almost cheaper to buy a new computer at that price!
So, I being the "hacker mom" that I am, decided to try to take the netbook apart and fix the pin myself. Two frustrating hours later, I still couldn't figure out how to separate the top from the bottom. Usually, it's pretty simple but this just would.not.budge.
Another hour searching on the internet for instructional videos, photos, SOMETHING were fruitless. A lot of puffed-up tech geeks spouting of their useless knowledge, trying to show each other up yet providing no answers.
Finally, logic hit. What was broken? The little copper pin. What was its purpose? To conduct power from the adapter to the computer to charge the battery. How did it work? The pin was soldered to the power jack inside of the computer and the external plug fit onto the little pin. Since I have no experience soldering (beyond 7th grade shop class), I wondered "what would happen if the pin was sticking out of the adapter plug instead?"
So, I asked my husband if he could find a little piece of copper wire for me. As luck would have it, he had an old piece of wire in the garage:
I cut off a little piece of it and stuck it in the end of the plug:
Plugged it into the netbook and voilà! The little green light on the charger came on and began charging the netbook. 45 minutes later and my son was back to mining and crafting.
Disclaimer: Only do this with the battery removed from your computer. This solution worked for me, I'm making no guarantees that it will work for you. I'm not a professional computer repair person, just a mom trying to save a few bucks fixing something on my own :)
