Soldering.....Smoldering

So the power jack on my laptop is going out. I have to wiggle the cable and hold it just right for it to work. Kelli and I have the same model laptops. Hers is dead. Her old one. Well I figured I would just take the port off of hers and put it on mine. I haven't used a soldering gun in 17 years. Off to Radio Shack I went. I bought a "cold heat" soldering gun thinking it being high tech and all. I bought some solder and a desoldering device. The "cold heat" gun lasted about 3 minutes. The tip broke off. Apparently it is very different from the soldering fun I remember. I didn't read the instructions....can't be held on very long. Back to Radio Shack...a different one though. Gotta save face. I bought a normal soldering gun. Went home. Fired it up. Took apart the old laptop. Soldering away. I couldn't get the old power jack off! Solder...smolder....cuss....damn. $50 down the drain. I am sure the gun will come in handy at some point in the future. So what now? Either spend $800 on a new laptop...or $200 on a new motherboard. I went for the latter. Stay tuned.