Strange V2000 Static Electricity Issue

My father asked for my advice on what laptop he should buy and I told him to just get the least expensive thing he could find. He just writes and browses the web, so the V2000 by Compaq was perfect for him. It's a bit chincy, but hey, $600 is fine.

Recently he told me that his computer was just randomly turning off. Once he couldn't even turn it back on and he had to take the battery out and press the on/off for a minute (per the customer service help). He even sent it in to be "repaired," although the technician did nothing to the machine according to the packing slip.

Tonight we were vexed over the problem and I motioned to the computer, touching the left JBL speaker grill and the thing turned off. We realized the machine was grounding out via static electricity discharge. We repeated this experiment a dozen times!

We called customer service and asked the issue to be escalated and to see if this is a model specific thing or just our machine.

Any of you have this sort of problem? Can anyone build up some static electricity and try it out?

Thanks,

Bryce

 

It seems strange...you don't have a microwave nearby, do you? Try changing the place where you plug in the notebook. Does it turn off when on battery? There might be something wrong with the isolation of the notebook but try changing its place and/or plug because most often static electricity builds up for some reason external to the notebook.

 

The static is built up on the human hand from the carpet-feet rubbing. Just touch the left front speaker grill and the thing turns off. Computer is on a desk, position doesn't matter.

 

After searching the internet concerning the static discharge problem on laptops, I finally found your two year old posting. I have had the same problem for nearly a year and have found nobody who can help diagnose the problem. I can touch the chassis anywhere when I have static build up on my fingertips, clothing, and even my cat touching it, and it shuts off. I have an HP Pavilion dv1000 (coincidentally a Compac spin-off). HP has been no help. Did you ever resolve the static short problem?

 

Very bad insulation on the chassis... all i can think of is wearing an anti-static wrist band or find something that will neutralize the static

 

On the unit's Logic board(MB) there are stickers to keep it from shorting the board.... Chances are when you sent it in for service they removed a/some sticker(s) which where needed to keep the unit from case shorting...

The way that your describing it makes sense, the left side is where the logic is most likely to short out. The fan, and lcd display cable is located... it sounds like the power button is shorting on the fan assembly...