HP tc4200 suddenly powers off

[sciphi]

My HP tc4200 tablet PC (Win XP Pro, SP3) suddenly will power down spontaneously. It then turns on after the "power" light illuminates, and the adapter is plugged in. It will not boot on battery after one of these random shutdowns. Windows doesn't know it's been shut down, and loads like nothing happened.

This isn't the first time this has happened. Replacing the CMOS battery a year ago seemed to fix it then. I wonder if it's that simple as tearing the whole computer apart again to replace the battery. Or, if the power jack on the back is going bad.

Answers?

 

[Colt45ws]

Main battery is toast.

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Main battery is toast.


The Windows power indicator is showing 74% for the battery, and it's not charging. The battery itself is showing 100% power, according to the little power meter on it.

 

[Colt45ws]

Yup. Toast. I have a Dell laptop here that will run on battery for about 5 minutes then it will just click off like a switch. Meter will show better than 95% battery.

 

[StevieC]

Can you run it without the battery but plugged in? (Battery removable).

If it runs like this fine the battery is the problem.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

On units that are 2+ years old, expect to replace the battery every couple years. CDW usually has most batteries in stock from non-OEM vendors so it doesn't cost too much,usually...

 

[sciphi]

Thanks, guys. Batteries are $30 or so from Amazon and Buy.com. CDW wanted $160 for the battery. Am I okay with a cheapy battery?

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

As long as the battery isn't used and from a mfr that isn't a fly-by-night one, I'd buy it for $30.

 

[sciphi]

Got a "genuine HP battery" in the mail today from a guy who deals with lots of HP tablet PC parts. I think it's genuine, as it was sealed into a HP box with HP tape, and had lots of HP paperwork inside. Plus the guy's feedback was all HP tc4200/4400 parts. It's charging right now. Seems to be working fine so far...

 

[chuckerants]

I would not buy a generic laptop battery. I recently bought a battery for my Dell Inspiron E1505 from an eBay seller from China that was marked Dell and it apparently is an OEM battery. It cost 1/3 of what I would have had to pay from Dell or anyone else that sells a genuine OEM battery.

 

[sciphi]

That's why I went with a battery marked HP, and sold in an HP-labeled box. It could be a fake. If so, it's outwardly identical to the dead battery down to the "power meter" on the bottom. I believe it to be genuine.

Runtime is excellent, and no shutdowns so far.