When I connect the laptop to the power it does not power on or charge

A very good chance that the jack/socket that your power adapter plugs into is loose or faulty. The easy test for this: Make sure your power adapter has electricity. Plug your power adapter into the jack on the laptop. While watching the power/charger indicator lights gently move the adapter's plug in the jack. If you can get either light to flicker or stay on the problem is the adapter jack/socket on the lap top. Not many people have the skills to replace this themselves. You may want to take it to a repair shop. If you believe this is a job you can tackle here is the part for a reasonable price.

http://www.amazon.com/OEM-POWER-M1210-M1...

Here is Dell's online service Manual for your laptop.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/sy...