So I have an old HP laptop that will work if I had a good power cord. The original cord's male plug that connects to the laptop, got snagged and broke internally a long time ago, so we could never charge it again.
Now, I have many other similar style male plugs, but the power adapters attached to them do not have the correct volts/watts output that the original cord does.
So is it possible to splice in a new male plug? I really don't want to fork over $70 for a new cord off the net.
Yes, why not? Just pick a donor of equal or higher wattage, fire up the soldering iron and dont forget the heat shrink tube. Note polarity carefully.
Well crap, I just went through my donor adapters and the plugs that fit are not coaxial like the laptop power cord. 
I'm sure mouser or digikey will have the correct plug for a whole lot less than $70.
Yeah cheaper cords should be available. ebay has $5 new power cords for a variety of laptops you might want to check it out.
yup ebay is what you are looking for...
Or Amazon, about 50% of the time I order laptop power supplies and batteries from Amazon vs. eBay, just go with whoever has the better deal.
Can you pop it open and just fix the one that broke? Beware of capacitors ...
I've done it many times, but you might just want to buy a universal laptop power adapter if you're afraid of soldering.
I haven't paid more than about $20 shipped for a laptop power adapter in about 5 years. eBay, my man.
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