Dead laptop

[#1]

Hi
My son's laptop appears to have turned up its toes.  I'm pretty sure the fault lies in the power connection as it simply won't charge (or run while plugged in)  I'v tried a couple of leads, so it appears to be an internal connection.
I believe that, that means an expensive repair, so I'm expecting to have to get him a new one.  How hard is it to get the files off his old one? 
John

[#2]

You should be able to remove the hard drive and then get something like this to turn in into an external USB drive to copy the data off.

[#3]

What often happens is that the power socket (which is usually mounted directly on the motherboard) can work loose.  If you are going to move a laptop it's always a good idea to remove the power cable first so as not to impose strain on the power socket.  The repair can be expensive but a few repair shops specialise in this type of repair and would typically charge somewhere between £50 and £100. 

[#4]

Thanks
Someone else quoted around £100 for the repair, but since the laptop is about 4 years old, it hardly seemed worth it.  (The screen hinges looked a bit weak as well, so I think a replacement is the best solution.  I like the caddy idea, and will probably do that in time, but I managed to get it charged up enough to take the files off it - so an expensive day 
Thanks for the help
John