Dell Studio 1440/14z power connector

Speaking as an engineer, sometimes you really have to wonder what another engineer was thinking when something simple breaks.  We have a 4 year old Dell Studio 14z that suddenly started shutting down randomly, usually within seconds of booting up.  The battery was showing a full charge.  Also, the DC power connector was strangely loose inside the case.

As the photos below show, the mounting slot in the case was a very poor structural design.  Once the undersized mounting brackets broke off, the connector wobbled around until one of the wires finally broke.  Fortunately replacement parts are available outside of Dell, since they don’t sell repair parts for their own products????  Anyway, while I could have re-soldered the wire, all the other wires would still be suspect.  Better to use a new DC plug wiring harness.  However, how to secure this in the case?  Epoxy may be the best option.