I had to replace the input plug on the laptop on a friend's Inspiron. It started working more and more sporadically and finally wouldn't do anything no matter how she moved the cord. The cord was fine, but the plug wasn't. Got a new one off Ebay for less than $10. Disassembled the laptop, installed the new plug, reassembled laptop, and good to go. Been working fine every since.
There's a ton of cheap parts for laptops and such. Beats throwing a good computer away. I even fixed my Kindle DX with parts off Ebay since they don't make the DX anymore.
