Laptop Data Recovery?

Unhappy Camper asks: "I had a Presario 1800 laptop go bad. A couple of months out of the 1 yr warranty. The local Compaq approved repair shop blames a bad power connection at system board. Their proposed solution: $1500 replacement system board. I could replace the laptop for less. What are my options to recover data off of the functional hard drive? The computer works, but it doesn't get a charge from the battery or a wall outlet. Does anyone know of a $200 rig to allow me to connect it to a desktop IDE controller/USB slot/whatever?"

Comments

LET this be a warning!

[His name cannot be s]

When buying a laptop, purchase at _least_ up to 2 years, and realistically 3 years of warranty protection.. Its quite inexpensive...

I Bought a DELL Inspiron 8000 laptop, loaded 512 mb ram, cdrw and dvd, 30 gig hd p3-850, 15" 1600X1400 screen, etcc.. cost me $8000 canadaian, including the 3 year complete care warranty($200ish)..

The complete care warrantee will replace anything that wasn't done on purpose... Accidentally drop the laptop, and break the screen, it's replaced.

what is covered

Don't be cheap, pay for the protection next time...