P150HM in Auckland

Bit of a long shot here. I bought a P150hm from a retailer in the US, and then moved to NZ. The AC adapter has been squealing since I received the unit. I've contacted the vendor, and while they won't ship to AustralAsia they will replace the adapter under warranty if I ship it to them and it's found to be faulty.

The squealing sounds depend on what is happening on the screen. It makes rhythmic noises if it's displaying an animated .gif, it gets louder if the screen dims to save power, and gets louder still if I close the lid (makes a sound like WEE-Ohh – you'll know what I mean if you've ever watched Kung Pow – Enter the Fist).

I'm pretty confident the issue is with the AC adapter, but before I consider purchasing a replacement or shipping away my only adapter for warranty...I'd love a chance to test with a different adapter to verify the cause of the problem isn't actually something wrong inside the laptop.

I don't suppose there is anybody on this forum with a P150HM living in Auckland, who wouldn't mind my testing for 5 minutes? I'll buy you a beer!

(X-posted to the Whirlpool forums where the Aussies hang out)

 

One of the signs of a failing adapter is that whining noise and probably should be replaced. I notice some of my chargers will make that noise only when the battery is just about fully charged. When the battery is nearly full, that's when the adapter has to work the hardest to get that last bit in there.

From what I've researched in my problems, it's due to the capacitors in the adapter itself. Banging around the adapter can cause a certain amount of damage and this can result. It also might just be bad components from the get go. I've been using mine making this noise for several years but I definitely can't recommend doing this as there is something wrong with the adapter.

 

Thanks Derek. What's bothering me most is the fact that it appears to be getting worse - that's never a good sign when discussing component failure.

Evidently there are MSI/Asus laptops with a 150W adapter that fits ours...if I happen to run into one of them I'll do a short test just to see if it squeals - but I'm going to go forward with a replacement when I'm back in Canada for my wedding this summer.

Thanks!