I recently bought an older Toshiba Satellite 2180CDT laptop on eBay. It did not come with the original cord, so I'm using a 30v ac adapter I had around the house. However, I cannot get the laptop to turn on. Even plugged in, there is no "power" light lit, so I don't think it's getting power. It is on a good outlet, as I have a lamp plugged in as well. The seller said that it worked fine when I bought it, but has yet to reply to why it wont turn on. Any suggestions as to why it's not working? Can Toshiba laptops run with a dead battery (as that could be a problem -- seller wasn't sure if the battery was good).
Hey. I would first check to make sure that the volts as well as the amps are the same for the laptop -- they need to be. If that doesn't work, I'd take the battery out and then try to turn the computer on, with the cord plugged in.
If all else fails, you can purchase a multimeter from radio shack or an electronics store and use it to see if the power adapter is pulling the correct amount of power. A lot of times, those places might even test it for you. 
Good luck.
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