Does anyone know where to buy laptop parts cheap? I have a Compaq Presario Notebok 730US that may need a new mother board (I believe the power jack needs replaced but not sure). I have been searching and finding prices that I can almost buy a new laptop.
What's wrong with the motherboard that makes you think the power jack needs to be replaced? If it's just a short it's likely just loose solder connections on the board, which can be fixed easily.
If you do need a board, laptop computer components are usually proprietary (unique to the make/model), and Compaq computers in general are too, so you'll have to get a Compaq board. eBay would likely be the best place to find one, especially if it's an older (out of production) machine.
I think its more the power jack because when you plug the ac power cord in, the laptop does not recognize that it is plugged in or charge the battery. I did try to re-solder the connections for the power jacket. I may replace the power jack and see what happens. I did check the power adapter with the volt meter and it is working.
That really sucks. Like thunder chicken said you proably will have to go back to compaq. It wasn't a laptop but a desktop compaq brand I put a new MoBo in and the when trying to install the same windows it told me it could not install because it did belong to this computer. We did call windows and they fixed us up. I haven't had that problem with any other brand when replacing the MoBo. I know when I was looking at laptops there was one copmpnay from over seas that you could buy everything seprate to build the Mega latop. I can't remember the exact name of the site but I wanna say it had the word rock in the name. So good luck to you just thought I drop in my .02
You best bet would be ebay, just make sure you get the right model.. not just the XX00, has to be 00XX. Because compaq used Intel and amd. That is if you wanna reuse you cpu.
But check the jack first, you can get replacements for cheap and just solider it in.
In the past I acquired some laptops for cheap for that reason, no power at all, or working when You pry the connector on the back, all I purchased was only a solder job, only one was a board cracked, and by the chance not cracked in a several layers place...
If You don't want to do this, go at ebay and You will found one for a cheaper price, I agree with the above opinions on that...
Good chance,
Have a nice Day,
Dom.