I had an old presario (the boxy light silver one) I can't remember the model, anyway the power cord is the problem, not the computer. With my old presario I found that the layout of the power suply was the problem, very poor design, as the plug inlet is derectly in the path of the hot air outlet. The cord constantly gets heated, cooled and bent over time, this breaks the wires inside the cord it'self. So don't anyone spend the money to have it "looked at" until you determine if it is infact a problem with the pc and not just a broken cord. My new Presario (like the image above) is just about perfect (appart from needing a boost of extra ram) and I've had no troubles with the power cord as now the inlet is no where near the hot air outlet.