A common problem with laptops is that the power receptacle on the mainboard stops making a reliable connection to the barrel connector on the power brick. Often this leads to intermittent battery charging unless the connector is in just the "right" position. Eventually the connector fails completely and the laptop will not power on.
The entire job took about three hours. Getting to the connector to desolder it is a bear. A complete disassembly was required. Thus the mountain of parts in the right side of the photo.
Some newer laptops have daughterboards containing the power receptacle so that desoldering is not necessary. Not having good desoldering equipment made it difficult to get the through holes in the mainboard clean and ready for a new connector but a cheap solder sucker and solder wick eventually did the trick.
If your laptop is worth less than the cost of a professional repair, give it a try. If your laptop is worth much more I would leave this repair to the professionals.
