Warranty expired on my laptop, but it broke down. What should I do?

First of all, don't rush into repairs at the first service you find and don't pay for anything right away. The battery might not be charging for different reasons - it's not necessarily the battery itself that's the problem. It could be the connector, the charging controller, or the adapter. Different issues = different costs, so you need to figure out what exactly is broken first.

Call the official Asus service center and ask about the cost of diagnostics - they often do it for free or for a small fee. After diagnostics, you can decide whether the repair is worth the money. At the same time, check the cost of parts and labor at regular service centers (not official ones), it might be cheaper. If the repair comes to half the price of the laptop, it might be easier to sell it as is and buy a new one.

One more thing: if the laptop has been used in harsh conditions (constant overheating, frequent drops, liquid damage), the battery could have failed earlier than expected simply from wear and tear. That doesn't mean you're owed anything, but it's worth knowing. In any case, get diagnostics first, then make your decision.

Since the battery won't charge at all, try something simple - shut down your laptop completely, remove the battery if it's removable, wait about 5 minutes, and put it back in. Then turn it on. Sometimes the contacts get oxidized or some software glitch happens, and this fixes it. If the battery is non-removable, just shut it down and leave it unplugged for a couple of hours.

After that, definitely check whether the charger is working at all. Turn on your laptop, look at the battery icon in the corner of the screen - if it says "not connected" or shows zero percent without changing, the problem is most likely with your charging cable or its connector. A new cable costs less than a battery, let alone a repair. Grab a different power cable (if a friend has one) and try it.

If the cable is fine and the battery really isn't working - then yeah, you'll have to pay. But here's what matters: check the battery price at a few service centers, including the official Asus one. Sometimes unauthorized places are cheaper, but an original battery can cost a decent amount. If your laptop is otherwise still decent, better to overpay for the original than deal with issues from a battery system that doesn't work properly later on.

If the battery isn't charging at all, it's worth checking whether the battery itself has swollen. A swollen battery is a serious problem and you can't ignore it, because it can damage the motherboard or even create a safety hazard. Look at the battery from the side - it should be flat, with no bulges. If there's swelling, don't turn on the laptop at all and take it to a service center, this won't fix itself.

If the battery looks normal, then before you pay for repairs, call a few authorized Asus service centers and ask how much a power adapter and battery replacement usually costs separately. Often it turns out the problem isn't the battery itself, but the charger or power controller - and that's way cheaper. Tell them your laptop model and they'll give you a rough price and repair time right away.

As for warranty after a year has passed - there's a chance the battery might fall under consumer protection if it failed due to a manufacturing defect rather than mechanical damage or overheating. But it's very individual and depends on your country and Asus's policy. It's worth asking about this at the same service center.