So, as you may or may not remember/care, the AC jack to my notebook died a while ago. After some wicked-good-awesome soldering on my part, all was working well... for about 48 hours.

About that time, my daughter, Phebe, dropped the notebook, and it landed on the AC jack. Wah, wah, waaaaaah. Luckily, the jack saulder held (*cough, I rule, cough*), but now the AC adaptor was destroyed.

*sigh*

I found a replacement on eBay for a reasonable price: $26. However, when it arrived, the adaptor had the wrong connector. Contacting the seller didn't resolve my worries either: this person could barely type in English:

"sorry about that,please verify the item again, if the adapater seems defeat or wrong order, please return it for exchange, please with a brief problem, a note with the order id and order date, when you return, just return the adapter , don't included the power cord, we will replace the adapter please return to:"

I paid for a return, and received a second adaptor. This time, the adaptor type was correct, but the size was too large. Also, the adaptor appeared used. Furthermore, the adaptor only gave 8-9V, when it was supposed to give 18-19V.

Then, I went on the hp website, and looked at their online store.

Brand new, official replacement AC adaptor for $53. Sold

Let this be a lesson to you: sometimes, you get what you pay for.