sigh.  Sorry about your luck there.  Watched the vid.  No idea, unfortunately.  I can appreciate that you are more than likely a trusting, kind individual... but just a thought... power up each pc before you make a deal like that.  I hope someone else can provide you some feedback and hopefully help you solve the problem.  Sorry bud. 

If it's an Acer 5100, it's the HDD power connection. Let us know if it's the 5100...

If you have a bootdisk or rescue disk, try running chkdsk. If you can't get to that, or it hangs, the guy probably screwed you with a bad/dead HDD.... Was there no way to check if it was working correctly before purchasing? If not, I wouldn't have purchased it.

If you paid by check, have the bank stop the check, likewise if with a credit card...

Doc it's an Acer Aspire 7520. I have no way to test the HDD. I can't even get the notebook to boot off a Linux live disk or any other boot disk. I didn't pay at all. We traded. He now refuses to bring back what I traded him for and trade back so I probably will sue him. 

Well, I guess you have no choice... Craig's List isn't the best way to go if you don't have a way to verify what you're trading works or not.

My niece had a similar problem with an Acer notebook... turns out it was a faulty battery not providing sufficient power to the unit.  Yes, you are connected to your power supply and everything appears to be powered up, but that power still has to travel via the battery before reaching the unit, and if the battery is dead or faulty, the unit will not completely fire up.

Do not take this as being gospel for your issue, but it is a possibility and it may save you buying another HDD when it's not that.

Anyway, best of luck with it.

If you suspect the battery just remove the battery completely and try starting up without it.  I always run my notebooks without the battery if I know I'm not going to need to be mobile for a while.  Saves on battery longevity..... (less charge cycling)

Push down in the middle of the keyboard while pushing the power button. 

Starkers - so I should let the battery charge then try it?

I have tried without the battery with the same result.

I was unable to tell from the Video, but was the screen coming on at all (did you see any post stuff)? If no screen, then you probably have one of 2 things going on.  Try accessing the memory and re-seating it.  The other is bad news as it is probably a bad video chip. (Which is on the MB, which means a new MB to get it to work).

Listen to yrag....

Indeed. All the stuff I found on the net seemed to point to a faulty connection.

Try what yrag wrote, kona. 

I have tried what Yrag said. That did not work.

I still think it"s a broken CMOS battery clip. If it was a MB short, you'd get nothing. Remove the keyboard and look at the battery... it should be right in the middle of the MB. 

Sue the Bastard  but then again if you do He might damage yours and tell the court you screwed him to. 

I hate Ass-hole like this guy

do you know where he lives? if so take a cop with you and go get it. and if the cop tells you he can't make the guy give it back at lest you would have a witness that would see if yours works... then get the cops info name badge # etc. 

Good luck

We tried that with my niece's Acer... dead as a door nail on mains power alone.

I put in a brand new battery from another unit and all was well... unit drew power from the mains and remained fully charged.

It may help, but you might want to check the CMOS battery as yrag suggests... if that's faulty/damaged/not seated right the unit will not fire up regardless of the main battery.  Once you eliminate that as a cause or fix it, then, if you can, try a working battery before buying one to see if the unit will start up.

Best of luck with it.