My laptop has exactly the same problem as described in this video by another victim. Any reasoned ideas will be appreciated.
Description of the problem:
The laptop, when plugged in, appears to charge for a while, but then the charging light starts slowly blinking. When turned on, the laptop does little for a moment, then a single beep is emitted, and no POST screen appears. Before the beep, one of the lights on the side blinks on, and remains there until the beep. The same thing happens without the power cable attached, though obviously the power light is not on. Plugging the power cable back in causes the laptop to attempt to boot once more, but again fails before POST.
(by Phoshi (that video could REALLY have done with a higher definition!))