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I was working on my main laptop, a Samsung N102 netbook, last Sunday and the 7% battery left warning msg popped up. I immediately plugged in the power, but it wasn’t charging – no lights at all, once it was totally discharged.:confused:
I checked the fuses and connections – all seem good, although the power connector pin on the netbook was slightly bent. I’ve had it for eight months and probably charge it twice a day.
I took it back to PC World New Malden for them to return to Samsung for repair under warranty. I also pointed out the slightly bent pin, and their eyes lit up, as the perfect get out. Funnily enough I returned a Samsung Galaxy phone the same day for the same reason – no power.
Sure enough, today I received a call from PC World saying Samsung had refused to collect it as it appeared to be wear and tear (after eight months). I called Samsung, who were very helpful but as it was being dealt with by the store I had to go there. I spoke to the branch manager and sure enough Samsung are claiming I have damaged the power supply. It still has four months warranty left and I could see the connection pin was bent on netbook, and pointed this out to the store. All I have done is plug it in and out – it’s not my fault if the components they use aren’t up this.:(Samsung are prepared to repair it, but if they feel it is my fault they will charge £25 carriage and for the cost of the repair. I wouldn’t put my mortgage on them admitting liability!
They say it’s a widely used connection across ranges and they have NEVER come across this problem. I do feel quite strongly about this – ok it’s cheap netbook, but I had an Asus netbook that only lasted lasted 18 eighteen months, which is why I went for a better brand in Samsung.
I pointed out to PC World that with the new Samsung N102s they had on display, the flimsy pin had been replaced with a much tougher socket, but they made some excuse, and repeated they had NEVER had a problem with the pin.I am a bit off Samsung at the moment, I’m using my old Blackberry while my 9 month old Galaxy 2 is repaired and a heavy old IBM Thinkpad while I sort the netbook.
OK, what I would like to know is:
1. Is there a known problem with the pin on Samsung netbooks? If others have had the same fate, I can tackle Samsung’s claim of my problem being unique.
2. If no-one has had this problem how difficult is it to repair it myself? I’ve repaired notebooks but alway end up rescuing the hard drive and chucking the rest of the netbook.
3. Is it better to admit defeat, whip the drive out and get another netbook (with magnetic connections) and replace the Galaxy when my contract expires.I’ve always felt Samsung a much improved brand, but this has left a really bad taste in my mouth.
Thanks for any ideas.:)
Mike
mikesh27 – Welcome to the forum
I’ve not heard of this problem before so it could be construed as ‘unique’ but is it not retrievable? ie. can the pin be bent straight again carefully? Else a new power socket will need to be soldered in no doubt.
However you say it is ‘slightly bent’ so it may be the power brick that is faulty and not charging. Try another brick maybe at PC World or check for output volts.Did Samsung quote for the repair and identify how they intend to fix it?
Hope this helps
@jeepers01 111791 wrote:
mikesh27 – Welcome to the forum
I’ve not heard of this problem before so it could be construed as ‘unique’ but is it not retrievable? ie. can the pin be bent straight again carefully? Else a new power socket will need to be soldered in no doubt.
However you say it is ‘slightly bent’ so it may be the power brick that is faulty and not charging. Try another brick maybe at PC World or check for output volts.Did Samsung quote for the repair and identify how they intend to fix it?
Hope this helps
Thanks Jeepers, if it’s not a known problem I guess it’s down to me, so at least I can move on and tackle the problem.
I have attempted straightening the pin, but as soon as I connect the power to the pin it shorts the power supply, green light on the power adaptor goes out.
Although I regularly take apart and build PCs it may be easier to have Samsung do it. They quoted £25 for delivery and collection, but could not say how much the repair may be and, I want to keep within a reasonable amount, taking into account the strong posibility of the problem reoccurring.
A few questions:
1. Do you know if they have a fixed price scale (maximum charge) for jobs like this?
2. Is there anything like an external charger that would allow the battery to be charged independant of the netbook?
3. Do you know if the N102s is likely to take the same battery as the N102, so if I buy one, I can use both netbooks and charge both batteries off the new one? The N102s appear to have a far more durable socket connection on the netbook rather than a pin. Not yje most efficient way to work, I know.I upgraded the netbook to Windows 7 Ultimate and it also has Office 2010 Professional and several hours of data that I hadn’t backed up, so no point in me being stupid about it.
Many thanks for any suggestions. 🙂
mikesh27 – If it were mine I would repair it and it might be a lot easier/cheaper to buy a replacement motherboard on ebay, there are several for sale at the moment. Or replace the power connector which should be available from Farnell or RS Components (check samsungparts.com as well). It shouldn’t be too difficult to de-solder as there will only be 2 x connections and grounds but do not overheat the board.
Hope this helps
Thanks Jeepers, I will check it out later today.
Is there a good online technical manual for Samsung netbooks you could recommend so I can check it out? Do you think it better to replace the complete motherboard?
Many thanks,
Mike
When I needed to replace internal components on an Asus netbook I found good technical information (manual and youtube) for the model I had on the Internet. Do Samsung such info, I’ve looked high and low and can’t find anything?
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