I'm guessing the tech's "static discharge" explanation would probably be more correctly described as discharging capacitors? I had a similar issue with an Asus

I'm guessing the tech's "static discharge" explanation would probably be more correctly described as discharging capacitors? I had a similar issue with an Asus u36sd laptop. I first realized it might the problem when I originally gave up on it(it already wasn't my primary daily driver, just a work bench laptop) and put in away for a bit and then it worked a few months later after being totally discharged and when the problem repeated, I was able to bring it back with a similar incantation of pressing and holding the power button with not power or battery attached. Luckily the capacitor causing the issue was a decent sized electrolytic of the through hole variety(even though it was surface mounted laying on its side hanging off the board) so it was relatively easy fix once I figured that out.