Obtaining Replacement Parts for Your Laptop? 688
halosfan asks: "I recently broke the LCD bezel (the plastic thing that holds the LCD and related wires together) on a laptop that I bought half a year ago. I checked eBay as well as a few online stores specializing in laptop replacement parts, but still couldn't find the replacement. I contacted the manufacturer, but they were absolutely useless. Local laptop repair shop said they wouldn't replace the bezel without replacing the LCD, which isn't acceptable. It is an extremely frustrating situation, as the bezel is a minor part that I otherwise couldn't care less about, but it is necessary to carry the laptop around. I am wondering what other ways are there to obtain a laptop replacement part? Also, any recommendations for manufacturers that are good about making obscure replacement parts for their laptops available to the general public?" Does your laptop manufacturer make it easy or hard to get the necessary replacement parts?
Ask Slashdot: I'm hungry (Score:1, Funny)
Can't find a replacement bezel? One answer (Score:5, Funny)
Wood? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:eBay. (Score:2, Funny)
Generally, there's only one part available ... (Score:3, Funny)
Seriously, though. I used to fix laptops. Typically the LCD and bezel came as one part, and couldn't be purchased separately.
Compaq/HP (Score:5, Funny)
1. Have a lot of money
2. Compaq/HP actually has the part listed
3. Compaq/HP actually has the part in stock
4. Compaq/HP actually ships the order
5. I finally give up and buy a new laptop
Hope this helps
Sorry I almost forgot:
6. ???
7. Profit
Re:Ask Slashdot: I'm hungry (Score:2, Funny)
I thought flamebait was a bit harsh dude, I thought it was funny !.. The obvious answer is
Obviously there is / has been a lack of interesting submissions on slashdot today.
You pose an interesting dilemma. My personal solution is kellogs cornflakes with a splash of fresh semi-skimmed milk (half fat) and a liberal sprinkling of sugar. I am sure other slashdotters may have a different preference. I hear Cheerio's or Chex are quite popular stateside.
nick
Re:Computer Junkyards (Score:5, Funny)
But enough about dating sorority girls - back to Slashdot!
Re:Can't find a replacement bezel? One answer (Score:5, Funny)
Re:eBay. (Score:2, Funny)
Two Words..... (Score:4, Funny)
Re: Answer #2 (Score:1, Funny)
Oh wait, that was a different thread...
Re:Can't find a replacement bezel? One answer (Score:4, Funny)
We have the technology.
We have the capability to build the world's first aluminum laptop.
This computer will be that laptop.
We can make it better than it was before.
Better. Stronger. Faster.
My laptop took a nasty fall... (Score:4, Funny)
Upon examination, the left hinge was broken, the front bezel, and the screen didn't light up.
Boy was I upset. I had to sit in a jury room all day with no laptop.
Once home, I took the laptop apart and discovered that I'd broken the FL inverter board(what causes the screen backlight to illuminate). Now, this is a Toshiba Laptop, and I had taken the thing into be serviced - so I called up the service center and asked them to order in some parts for me. They did, and I replaced everything myself - becoming intimately familiar with my laptop in the process.
Once I got the FL inverter board replaced, the screen still didn't light.
I called the Toshiba Service Center (Compar in Minneapolis, great guys) and they said, "It's gotta be the fluorescent bulb..."
Huh? Fluorescent bulb?
They explained to me that the way the screen illuminates is there is a tiny fluorescent bulb that runs along the bottom of the screen. You have to remove the LCD panel, take off the tape and some screws and you'll be able to access a tiny fluorescent bulb that is the thickness of a #2 pencil lead (about 1mm dia) and it is the length(width) of the screen. Turns out the FL inverter board is nothing but a high-tech ballast. They told me that they weren't sure if they could replace the bulb without replacing the screen - but just about any bulb from any screen, provided it was the same length, would work.
Now, my friend had a DELL laptop that he'd stepped on and cracked the LCD, but the backlight still worked. It too was a 15" screen, so I took out his old bulb and put it in my screen, but his bulb was about 3mm to long! SO, I pulled out my Dremmel and cut away the metal & plastic so the fluorescent bulb could extend beyond the side of the LCD Panel. It only extended about 1mm out from the edge of the panel. When I put the screen back into its mounting, it barely fit. I had to cut the wires to the bulb, and solder on the ones for my old broken bulb, but when I powered it up, I had my laptop back.
It was only then that I noticed that the piece of glass that runs behind the LCD was cracked (NOT the LCD panel itself) but the glass that distributes the light emitted from the bulb. All that means is that the upper left corner of the screen has a wavy shadow. I can live with that.
All told? The drop cost me just under $200 to repair, and the income earned from jury duty wasn't even enough to cover half of it.
Oh, and the trial I heard? Some guy that was charged with being a male prostitute (ouch!). We found him guilty. I dunno why he even fought the charges - he could make a killing on the inside. The entire time I was in trial, I was thinking of Goatse. Damn you Slashdot.
Silly faggot, dicks are for chicks!
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:My sollution (Score:5, Funny)
Touchpad: "What did you call me, punk?"
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:2, Funny)
I guess if you never plan to carry it on board, you might be OK with that. Otherwise you basically have to suck it up and buy a new one. It wouldn't surprise me if other solutions (like duct tape) caused similar problems at the airport.
Re:1982 Volvo GL to Mustang Conversion (Score:1, Funny)
The 240, which had 4-wheel disc brakes in the early 70s as the 140, doesn't deserve the injustice of having the cutting edge 1950s technology of a Ford iron-block pushrod tractor engine shoved in its throat. Why not jam that hideous Mustang interior in the car as well, just to make sure NOTHING works in six months?
Makes me sick.
Re:And, if you are from the south... (Score:3, Funny)
You got the letters wrong again! It's gnu/duc[tk]tape!
Boy, Duct Tape is popular (Score:2, Funny)
I think we have a winner!
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:1, Funny)
But now you know it that they know it that you know that they know more than you!!!
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Funny)
This proved to be a lot of fun when we were out shopping for a small second vehicle. We had decided on a Nissan Sentra, because it was highly regarded as very reliable, and a good buy, and I didn't want to worry about my wife being stranded anywhere while I was out of town. So we go and talk to the dealer, and he spends half an hour telling us how great the mechanical system in this car is, that the average lifespan of Nissan engines are about 14 years, and since we were buying a base model, there was little if anything to go wrong with it, other than the air conditioner.
Then after we signed on the dotted line, we are taken into the back room where this woman tries to sell us an extended warranty. I should mention that the standard warranty is 5 years on the powertrain and 3 years on everything else, and we were only getting a 4 year lease. So here she is selling us an extended warranty for 48 monthly payments amounting to $2000. I told her that our salesman, Mike, just said we'd never have a problem, these are very reliable cars, and the only thing that could go wrong after the 3 years and cost us money was the air conditioner, and I was pretty sure I could replace the whole system for under $1000. She looked pretty mad. She said, "do you think that a car with 10,000 mechanical parts isn't going to have one mechanical problem?"
I told her she needed to have a word with Mike.
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:4, Funny)
> crazy until you figure it out
There's somebody who's figured it out?
This is OT, but the IBM part number system is legend amongst repair depot techs... my best story about it involves a 3-day odyssey of trying to find the right part number to order a replacement floppy drive for a PS/1. Hours on the phone just trying to find the right department (and I had the special support numbers and access codes they give to places which do warranty work for them), etc etc - skipping to the climax, I was on a conference call with 3 different IBM employees (in 2 diff states), and they were ALL arguing over what the part number was. The best bit:
guy#1 - "I just asked my supervisor and he's sure this is the right number."
guy#2 - "I AM your supervisor, and I'm telling you it's not!"
Anyhow, we eventually got the right drive. (I couldn't use just any one 'cos the button had to fit through the bizarre bezel of the cabinet)
Re:Plastic Welder (Duro et al) on ABS (Score:2, Funny)