Question : Problem: Laptop will not power up. What are my options?

I have been given a laptop to sort out for a friend and basically there is no sign of life at all. My first idea was perhaps the battery is just completely dead, however, I removed battery and tried to run with only power adapter to no avail.

The story they told me was they broke there initial power adapter, and replaced it with a universal one....without actually checking that it is the correct voltage they plugged it into the laptop and it worked for 5 minutes and then turned itself off. Therefore, I have came to the conclusion that it can be only 1 of 2 things....the actual power supply which powers the board has blown or the mobo has blown.

Any suggestions or ideas to what may have happened? or does anyone know how I can test each element to eliminate them from the equation?

The laptop in question is a Medion notebook MIM2120

Thanks,

James.

Answer : Problem: Laptop will not power up. What are my options?

Your situation has two possible cases:

-Power supply/charging system failed, resulting in no charging of the battery, or powering of system. In this case you could technically recharge the battery on another identical system, and would boot with the charged battery (this never happens, just saying for instance)

-Motherboard/Power supply inoperative, resulting in no case where power can reach the system

You could try a voltmeter on the battery to see if there is any charge. A strong voltage coming from the battery would lead me to believe the battery is fine. If your battery is dead, it could just be that the power supply you were using was not enough power, and you just need to get the correct one.

Unfortunately, in my opinion it sounds like you fried the motherboard/power supply. I tried to find a site selling this model, but nobody has it. If it isn't a very new one, I would definitely steer away from paying to have it repaired. Most likely in the $300-$400 range for a new motherboard installed (parts/labor), and you can get a new one for around $500. What are the specs on the model?