It’s been about a year since I bought my Dell Inspiron 1550n, and for the most part it’s been very good to me. The keys feel good under my fingers. I can turn off the sound with one touch if I accidentally go to a site with annoying advertisements. I’ve never gotten a blue (or other colored) screen of death. The only thing I’d really complain about is that I often accidentally touch the DVD drive on the side and it pops open.

But yesterday while I was getting started on typing up a homework assignment, I noticed that the battery indicator showed the battery was half used up, which was really weird since my laptop was plugged in. Usually, that just means the power cord had come out a little bit, but this time pushing it back in didn’t solve the problem. I tried plugging it into another outlet. No luck. After just a year, my power adapter was dead. I tried every other cord I could find to see if I had another one that fit, but nope. By the time I finished with all my frantic attempts, the battery was depleted also.

So I had to use my husband’s computer to check Dell.com and see how much a new power cord would cost me. They had one available for the Inspiron 15, which I hoped included the 1550 (but which made no sense because all the other models were listed out fully).

As much as I hate being without my laptop, I figured I could save by opting for only second-day delivery. Still, that’s about a hundred bucks all included. And then after entering all my personal information, including my credit card number, an estimated delivery date of March 2nd was displayed–over a week away! That had to be wrong, but I couldn’t take any chances. There was no Cancel option given, but I found my way back to the cart and deleted my item.

Fortunately, my husband took care of it. He went to the electronics store today and picked up a new power cord so it was waiting for me when I got home. And this one was only 31 bucks. Note to laptop manufacturers, though: If you expect any customer loyalty, don’t cheap out on the power cords. Unfortunately, when I’m ready to get a new laptop, it’s going to require a bit more looking around.