Thought I'd post this as there might be others with similar laptop issues.
I've got a high spec Dell laptop I purchased for astro image processing. It's got an i7 processor, lots of RAM and dual SSD drives. It has worked well for a number of years however I started getting a message on bootup saying it didn't recognise the AC adaptor and was throttling the CPU speed to 50% and won't charge the battery, effectively turning my image processing computer into a toaster. Dell were completely useless and I tried new power supply and new battery but that didn't fix the problem.
I recently stumbled over a Youtube video that describes how to replace the DC jack in the computer. As I researched more it seemed like this was a common issue. It seems the connection between the AC adaptor plug and the laptop becomes loose over time.
I ended up ordering a replacement (genuine) Dell part from Amazon and it arrived in 4 days from the US (Fedex). Part cost was $7 and the shipping was $12.
I ripped the laptop apart this evening and managed to replace the DC jack and get it all back together. Pretty nervously pressed the power button (no blue smoke released) and now the battery is charging and the CPU is running 100% again.
The downside is I've just about talked myself out of a $2500 Ryzen 7 based desktop for now. The good news is I can get back into Pixinsight processing for dummies.
