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?
Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Informative)
Toshiba laptop with broken hinge and extended warranty...
$75 for the hinge,
$56 for four screws.
Extended warranty invalid as the broken hinge was due to "misuse"
BP
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:3, Interesting)
i even told them i dropped it
you must have bought the wrong support option
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Interesting)
If so, your treatment will differ quite a bit from some Joe who bought his laptop on his own.
My experience with Dell through work was completely different than with my personal equipment. Our helpdesk was able to get laptops replaced with no charge, even if they had obvious signs of abuse (droppage, etc).
With my personal laptop, I was unable to have a similar issue corrected as the author, except the hinges that hold the screen on were badly constructed and managed to come apart after 6 months of use.
My final solution was to swap the hinges from my work laptop onto the personal one, then getting Dell to fix my work system for free.
Good thing the office issued Dell Latitudes, otherwise it would have been $89..
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Informative)
IBM wanted $450 for the DVD. I bought a wrong model on Ebay(my bad, but IBM's whole FRU thing will drive you crazy until you figure it out). Then I bought another that's showing a corrupt firmware(AS-IS, damnit).
I've wasted hundreds of $ and time and I still have a otherwise nice Laptop with no DVD/CD player. I finally gave up and went out and bought a new one 2 months ago.
Circuit City? Figures :p (Score:3, Informative)
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:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:3, Informative)
I drop the thing , spill coffee on it (which has happend with every single previous laptop I have had) and they still cover the replacement.
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Complete Care (Score:3, Interesting)
I went down and told them I wanted an exact replacement of the laptop (166 I think). They told me that they can't get me a 166, but they will give me a new 800Mhz, which was about the same price when both were new. I told them no, that I wanted either this one fixed or an exact replacement, and nothing e
Re:Complete Care (Score:4, Interesting)
No I think Best Buy is misleading in their advertising, inept in their support, and their salespersons lie. This is my experience. Their prices are usually somewhat reasonable. My experience with Internet stores has been better service, primarily since I don't buy from internet only stores, and only from those that have physical stores. And I have yet to be able to try much before I buy at Best Buy. Usually, the salesperson will explain that he doesn't have the key, batteries, it requires a supervisor, etc. I have tried many times, and frankly, I just don't buy from them anymore. I did use my instore credit to buy what was then a new Nikon 990, but I didn't get to try it before I bought it, either.
If none of those reasons fly with you, consider that maybe their prices are higher because of dishonest, predatory behavior by people like you.
Not only was my behavior NOT predatory, but the extended warranty was transferable, and the terms of the warranty said exact replacement or store credit, which I recieved.
Seems to me that I demanded they honor their own warranty, and for once, they did, except I had to talk to several people and talk loud to get them to do it. If there were as honorable as you seem to think they are, they would have given me store credit immediately instead of giving me the run around hoping I would just give in.
So pardon me if I knock you off your high horse, since I did nothing dishonest. The problem is that Best Buy is the one usually dishonest, and its rare that someone can actually get them to honor their own warranties, to the letter.
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Informative)
Ebay is not the answer, extended warranty is no the answer.
The answer is JB-Weld (www.jbweld.net) or a similar epoxy. It's the modern nerd answer to tape on your glasses. My old Toshi ain't much to look at, but it still works.
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Interesting)
Unfortunately now the battery has died, and that one is *way* trickier to find. Ironically my old 486SX IBM PC110 Palmtop PC uses standard batteries that I can replace at any DV camera shop.
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:3, Informative)
By standard I mean one of about 2 dozen sizes, not just the consumer sizes you cay buy at the grocery store.
I have no idea what the battery for a palmax looks like, but there is a good chance that you can get suitable replacement cells for it.
Plastic Welder (Duro et al) on ABS (Score:3, Informative)
Plastic Welder is designed to glue ABS.
Wal Mart, True Value Hardware stores, and lots of other places sell it.
If they call it "Plastic Welder" its the Duro stuff under licence.
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:3, Insightful)
You may be waiting many years then. You would be pretty unlucky to get less than ten years use out of a Sony Trinitron. They build those things pretty damn well.
Over Xmas I spent some time looking for a replacement for my parent's 14 year old Sony TV. The tube wa
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Insightful)
We have a 27" XBR that was purchased in December 1985, with all kinds of inputs, including digital RGB, and its still just fine.
So, when I needed two new TVs this Xmas, guess what I bought? The 36" and 21" have joined their older sibling and all is well, and I know I'll never have to have them repaired.
As for plasma/LCD, why? Just because they are available doesn't mean that your CRT TVs are obsolete. I love to buy at the back side of the tech curve. Home computers are ~1Ghz, CRT monitors, 80G drives, 32x CD-ROM instead of 52x, etc. I've got 1 and 2 year old Palm/Handsprings and they work just fine.
I love to allow other people to pay the development and launch costs of new products.
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:3, Interesting)
$3000 plus for a TV is a heck of a lot, but $3000 on home repairs or decorating vanishes pretty damn quick.
I suspect that quite a few of the people buying plasma TVs are doing so because it is cheaper to buy a plasma TV at current rates than to try to work a decent sized CRT TV into a decor scheme.
My Sony Wega works really well in the corner we have put it in, but there is no way we could have a CRT TV
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:3, Informative)
For instance, your 15 year old CRT probably has a 4x3 aspect ratio and only supports standard NTSC interlaced video (480i I believe). So it's already stuck with crappy resolution and a poor refresh rate, and if you watch movies in letterbox the resolution will be even worse. Newer high-end TVs have progressive scanning, higher resolutions (540p, 1080p), and 16x9 aspect ratios, all of which are
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:3, Informative)
I would like to point out that a new, high-end TV does NOT need to be made in a 16x9 ratio. I've got a 61" 4x3 ratio RP TV that I use exclusively for DVD and hi-def TV service. Because I'm still watching "normal" TV channels (broadcast in 4x3, 480i), I prefer to have a TV that won't cut the top and bottom off the picture, nor will stretch it out horizontally making everything look "fat". The TV has a 16x9 mode that will compress the scanlines into what looks like a
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:3, Interesting)
Sometime in the 80's, manufacturers found that the American consumer would pay for cheaper products that don't last as long. There are still some people who would rather pay more for a product that lasts longer, but a company can't build two separate products for the same niche...so the "extended warranty" was created for the latter group, who wanted some assurance of a longer product life.
Unfortunately, the presence of an extended warranty has no effect on the quality of the product itself. It's just a w
Two Words..... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:4, Insightful)
You have 100 people shell out 400$ for a warranty on a 1600$ laptop. 10 people may have to use the warranty so you make
100*2000 - 10*1600 = 184,000$ or 1840$ per laptop. If you sell the laptop at a profit for only 1600$ you definitely make more than you're share off the warranties.
So far I've had my laptop since October [ok so only three months] and it's been churning along fine. I can you one thing though, if my laptop dies before October 10th, 2006 I'll definitely be on them about the warranty.
Chances are my laptop will die October 12th, 2006 at which point I'll probably be able to afford a new laptop. So I'll donate my laptop to someone [who can then shell out less money to repair it then a new laptop costs] and go on my way.
The trick is to have a family lawyer available and treat your equipment properly [e.g. hard shell case, leave it off when not in use, don't turn the LCD up all the way, etc...]
Tom
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Insightful)
The other reply to this post sort of indirectly said this, but to put it more simply:-
In theory what you say is true, but relies on money having the same 'value' to everyone. Of course, if I'm penniless (and, say, need something to eat), $2 will be 'worth' more to me than it would be to a millionaire.
Would you risk everything you owned on a double-or-nothing bet; even if the odds were 60:40 in your favour? Probably not.
It has been shown (don't ask me for a reference for this) that the value of money is logarithmic compared to the amount you already have.
So a big insurance company can make a profit with little risk, even if the odds are only *slightly* skewed in their favour, and the small guy who doesn't have tons of cash in the bank will accept this (otherwise) unfair bet as protection against him being destroyed by a single disaster.
Re:Everything is made cheap and unrepairable... (Score:5, Interesting)
In the UK the household insurers have taken to offering equivalent insurance to the shops but at much better prices for product failure.
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, Insightful)
>> If you're the worrying kind, it's not a lot of money.
Actually, the problem is that extended warranties do cost a lot of money. They're mostly just cash cows for the manufacturers. Eg. for the cheapest $1000 iBook, AppleCare is $250 - that's 25% of the list price to extend the warranty from 1 to 3 years. By the end of the first year your $1000 laptop will only be worth around $500 anyway. So effectively you've spent $250 to insure something worth $500 at the time the insurance kicks in. And by the end of the third year the laptop will probably be worth less than $250.
Yes, if it breaks down in that time and you have the warranty, you'll be ahead. But think, how many consumer electronics are you going to buy over your lifetime? What proportion of those will break in the extended warranty period? Under 10%, I'd hope. But you're paying around 50% of the value of the item at the time the warranty kicks in. That's what I call a rip-off, not peace of mind.
Here's a suggestion. Every time you buy something new, instead of buying the extra warranty, put the same amount into savings. In a couple of years, you'll have saved enough to cover any repairs that might be needed. In 20 years you'll be able to retire.
Can't find a replacement bezel? One answer (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Can't find a replacement bezel? One answer (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And, if you are from the south... (Score:5, Interesting)
According to the Ministry of Duct Tape and High Voltage, the tape was a by-product of World War II. In 1942, after numerous cases of ammunition were destroyed by humidity, the United States government turned to wartime supplier Johnson & Johnson, hoping for a fix. J&J promptly responded with a waterproof tape dubbed "duck tape" by the military due to its ability to repel moisture like water off a duck's back. It did the job admirably, and soldiers soon found an assortment of other uses for it as well.
After the war ended, the resultant housing boom inspired yet more uses for the material. Homeowners soon realized how effective the tape was at sealing off ducts -- leading to a change in name (from "duck" to "duct") and color (from army green to silver).
They don't use duct tape for ducts (Score:3, Informative)
-ccm
Re:And, if you are from the south... (Score:3, Funny)
You got the letters wrong again! It's gnu/duc[tk]tape!
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.
Computer Junkyards (Score:5, Informative)
When I took a job in the IT field and began repairing computers, I applied this same logic. If I had a laptop with a cracked case, but the internals were still fine, then I would try and scavenge a laptop with a dead motherboard that still had a good case and was discarded because it just didn't work. You can easily swap out things like that. I've done it on several Dell Inspirons and IBM ThinkPads, you can have a couple "parts" machines going at once and just get replacements from those. Sometimes on eBay you get lucky and find an auction for something like "Pallet of 100 Broken ThinkPads" for $50 and you can get some serious finds. If you want to take a bit of a risk you can even try "dumpster diving" outside of office buildings, schools and libraries. Often times when something breaks or is very obsolete these places will just toss it out. My favorite find so far was an IBM ThinkPad 486, complete, with two working batteries and all the cables in a case, that was just sitting in a dumpster because it was too old to run modern software.
Re:Computer Junkyards (Score:5, Funny)
But enough about dating sorority girls - back to Slashdot!
Re:1982 Volvo GL to Mustang Conversion (Score:3, Insightful)
Also, I have a personal theory that old station wagons appear to be moving 5-10 MPH slower than they actually are. This comes from years of driving one and having people pass me and then slow back down in front of me.
Re:1982 Volvo GL to Mustang Conversion (Score:3, Interesting)
>block pushrod tractor engine shoved in its throat
The 140 and 1975 240's had Volvo B20 engines. These engines are as much tractor engines as anything Ford ever made.
Speaking of tractor engines though.. ever read the story of the origin of Lamborghini?
Find out the case manufacturer (Score:5, Informative)
My sollution (Score:4, Interesting)
Same goes for the keyboard
The touchpad (which is already honky cause it took a static electricity shock)
And the CD drive
etc etc etc.
If you are just going to buy and sit and never work to get shit replaced, then yes -- the warrenty coverage is worthless. Buy it and use it, and then you have gotten something.
Re:My sollution (Score:2)
Dell has basically replaced my entire laptop, one part at a time.
Really, getting a 3-year warranty on a laptop HD is like getting one free, it'll ALWAYS wear out...
And I don't even have to hunt for parts, just phone and whine
Re:My sollution (Score:5, Funny)
Touchpad: "What did you call me, punk?"
In their best interest (Score:2, Insightful)
Even batteries, that ought to be a commidity, are still expensive. $147 for a 760e ThinkPad battery? The laptop isn't worth that much.
Dell (Score:3, Interesting)
You're Probably Out Of Luck (Score:5, Informative)
I recently broke a wiring harness on my girlfriend's Pontiac Aztec. I could replace it in about five minutes if I could get Pontiac to sell me the part. But they won't, not without purchasing the entire headlight module, for 300 dollars.
Your best bet is to do what I'm doing for that part - namely, hitting junkyards(in your case, eBay). Another possibility is to find a user's group/forum for these laptops - I know when I had a Sparcbook, there was always a guy or two with broken ones who would send you some weird random part.
Re:You're Probably Out Of Luck (Score:2)
Good suggestion on finding a computer 'junk yard'.
-CPM
Technology is expensive. (Score:2)
Why isn't this acceptable?
If its due to cost, what did you expect from a laptop? How much do you think that piece of plastic is going to cost you?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Technology is expensive. (Score:5, Interesting)
To use an analogy from a car. Say you need to replace a spark plug -- it's not just like an expensive spark plug -- this is like a manufacturer refusing to sell you a spark plug without the entire replacement motor.
Now I hear what you're saying about laptops just being "that way"...but it doesn't make it OK. I don't have much intention of buying a laptop until they're user servicable and suitable replacement parts are available (it's probably clear by now that I have no specific need for a laptop and when there is, my job will probably provide one). Point is, it's about as lame as Apple's iPod battery debacule, except it's an accepted industry-standard parctice.
Same here (Score:2, Informative)
He tried eBay... (Score:3, Informative)
...idiots. RTFP.
Suits up fireproof jacket...
For Apple Laptops (Score:5, Informative)
Go with Small Dog. (Score:5, Interesting)
feh (Score:5, Informative)
The manufacturer should have replacement parts as long as the thing is under warranty and possibly a while after.
I've probably replaced about 4,000 LCD bezels by now and I know exactly what you mean.
The place that was trying to replace the ENTIRE assembly on you was doing nothing more than trying to rip you off BIG TIME. LCDs can cost more than the laptop their in, and that piece of plastic probably costs $.50 to make. (Even though IBM charges ~$50 for one)
I recommend just trying harder to contact the original manufacturer.
Making do with what you have (Score:3, Informative)
When it comes to plastic parts, like bezels, I usually resort to delicate use of epoxy and super thin reinforcements.
My experience with plastic repair parts is that they are usually not sold separately, and are hard to find unless you can cannabalize.
Repair Manuals (Score:2)
Same here (Score:2, Interesting)
Try ebay, if you can't find it there you may be in trouble. :)
How did it break? (Score:3, Insightful)
Laptopsforless.com (Score:5, Informative)
You could always buy a sacrificial laptop on eBay and use it for parts. If it's old enough, it won't cost you too much.
Wood? (Score:5, Funny)
To likely mis-quote Aldous Huxley (Score:4, Insightful)
Plastic and LCD are generally one part (Score:2)
While the plastic is worth very little, if the factory will only ship them as one part, you are out of luck. I doubt you could find a store who would split them apart.
I know that on my old compaq (Armada 7400), when the repair-man came to fix the LCD, he took the plastic surrounding it with him. I believe it is simpler for repairs as you only have to put a couple o
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
No good options on this (Score:3, Insightful)
Or, what you do, is you buy from Costco and return the machine every 5 months... that ruse was cooler a while ago when you could have it for a year and then return it...
My neighbour bought appleCare and boy did THAT pay for itself. His screen just up and DIED. First it turned weird colours and then it just died. Luckily he had appleCare, because at the time it was a $1200 repair!
So, extended warranties (the more extended the better) are WORTH every penny on laptops. You hope and pray you never need it, but when you do need it, and you don't have it, yer fucked big time.
good luck,
RS
similar problem, dell helped (Score:5, Informative)
I had snapped off the metal hinge that attaches the LCD panel to the base. (And my laptop is out of warantee) I looked up part numbers in dells online manuals, called a Dell representative, and $40 later, they sent me the part, no fuss whatsoever.
I was actually really surprised that the process went so smoothly.
Re:similar problem, dell helped (Score:3, Insightful)
But they also told me that the bezel of the monitor itself, because I also broke the clips that hold the thing shut, were unreplaceable. and to my eyes it does seem glued together.
I was
No User Serviceable Parts Inside (Score:3, Informative)
If you buy through authorized dealers, you get this thing called a warranty and a service contract. They're pretty good for getting your laptop fixed. I broke the LCD on my Sony Vaio, and they fixed it and the noisy fan which I didn't even ask about. Same with a co-worker and his Dell, he broke the hinge and Dell fixed it.
My best solution for you is to find another dead one on Ebay and scavenge the corpse. The other solution is to make friends with someone at a repair depot so they can backdoor you a piece here and there.
Re:No User Serviceable Parts Inside (Score:3, Interesting)
Some people don't like them (Score:2)
At work some of my colleagues use Dell laptops, when something breaks, a Dell tech shows up fixes/replaces things, makes you sign and leaves.
Get extended warranties for laptops.
Doink! (Score:2, Interesting)
Anyway, tiBook. The best 'user-replaceable/serviceable' laptop you can invest in. *tons* of after-market parts.
I've replaced the case on mine 3 times. Not easy, definitely like gutting a fish and expecting it to swim again, but hey
Had similar issue with Compaq (Score:2)
I also have a cousin who works for Compaq nee HP, and he looked it up and sure enough, there was no way to replace the 50 cent hinges without replacing the $850 screen.
Needless to say, the laptop was retired to the kitchen (used as a wi
yep, I got the warranty. (Score:3, Interesting)
I dropped the laptop while it had a wifi card sticking out of it. PCMCIA slot now can't register any cards. Brought it in to the Warranty shop, they gave me a new motherboard. 1 day turn-around time.
Dropped again, Harddrive died. Asked for a a new harddrive and they did it while I waited.
Best money I ever spent.
Re:yep, I got the warranty. (Score:5, Insightful)
Considering the two repairs to your laptop have been produced by dropping it, my humble submission would be that a padded bag would have been the best money you could spend.
If its plastic, make your own. (Score:5, Interesting)
Plenty of books out there to teach you how to create a mould and cast your own out of scrap plastic.
All it takes is a bit of patience.
Re:If its plastic, make your own. (Score:3, Insightful)
IBM is great with Thinkpads (Score:5, Informative)
A few years ago a friend of mine dropped her T20 Thinkpad onto asphalt from about 4 feet. It made quite a mess. I thought that it was going to be a total write-off, but I found the IBM info, ordered about $150 of little broken bits and restored the thing to perfect working order in about a week. It was great.
I've been a devoted Thinkpad fan ever since. I bought a new keyboard for my T23 recently, it took about 5 minutes to order the right part and another 5 minutes to install it. IBM really does do service manuals and parts the way you think a big company should do it.
jeff
Thinkpad support has been excellent (Score:3, Informative)
You can download full service documentation (with exploded parts diagrams) from their public web site, and the parts organization does a good job of (a) helping you figure out the right part number and (b) actually selling it to you.
The prices for what I've needed seemed generally reasonable (~$50 for a keyboard). In one instance, though, I discovered that to fix an intermittent DC power input jack they wanted me to replace the DC converter module for $150. Since I only paid $450 for the machine in the first place, I wasn't about to do that, but I was able to use the on-line manual to disassemble the thing far enough to resolder the DC jack myself.
Compare this to my Sony Vaio, where they won't even tell you how to replace the hard disk.
So, at least until something changes I'm sold on Thinkpads for serviceability.
Getting plastic repaired (Score:3, Informative)
Buy Corporate Models (Score:5, Informative)
Then I dropped it, and it landed on the inserted wireless card. The machine seemed fine, but the PCMCIA guts inside got sheared off the daughterboard. Compaq's durability was not at fault, IMO, just my stooopidity.
I went to the HP partsfinder, and _every_ little piece was available, most of them at good prices. The daughtercard was $35, and the instructions to replace it were online. Strangely, the only expensive things were the commodity parts - memory, cpu, hard drive, etc. And the LCD, of course - they always are.
However, not satisified with that, I went to ebay and searched for the part number - and got a new daughercard for $15.
Moral: stick to models that the big corps are buying, if possible. Their IT shops don't suffer the higher prices and foolishness that consumers buying consumer models do. Corollary: see if there's a corporate version of your consumer notebook, and then look for parts again - Compaq/HP use the same guts in their presarios as they do in their corporate line, for example.
Jonathan
Tough... (Score:3, Informative)
My school required us to buy a certain laptop, and I carried that laptop with me every day for four years, in a backpack full of books, in all kinds of weather, subjected to all kinds of impacts.
The service center on campus was certified to repair all the student laptops, therefore they had all kinds of replacement parts. In addition, the mass purchase included a four-year warranty on each laptop, in case you did something like subject it to a direct lightning strike and it had to be sent back. But they had all the case parts. I had two front bezels replaced, a back bezel, top and bottom of the case, hard drive, motherboard, power control board, and floppy drive as well. I did not think I overly abused my laptop, it's the wear and tear you get from running it 24/7 and packing and unpacking it every hour between classes.
Virtually everyone I knew at school had to get their laptop serviced at one time or another. I have to say that for a laptop, the best accessory you can add to it is a warranty for however long you plan to use the laptop. If it's impossible to get individual parts six months out, how about two years?
Of course you need to realize why they won't just sell you little plastic parts cheaply: the parts are being kept on reserve, based on statistical analysis, to service the laptops coming in on extended warranty. When you buy a warranty, you are basically reserving all those esoteric little parts you won't find anywhere else.
If you don't want to shell out a hundred or so dollars more for a warranty on your laptop, you don't need that laptop bad enough to begin with.
Dell (Score:3, Informative)
I have a Dell Inspiron laptop, the bezel started cracking about 18 months after I purchased it, and there were also cracks in the case. Dell replaced both free of charge. They also carry the bezel in the online store for a pretty reasonable amount.
Not everything about Dell is right, but replacing the plastic parts for free or reasonable cost? They were wonderful.
Just one experience, of course.
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!
Fix it!!! Glue the damn thing!!! (Score:5, Informative)
1) plastic welding is a viable repair - you will find that if you contact your local panel banger (autobody repair shop) that they will be able to offer advise how to proceed.
The laptops are injection moulded plastics - possibly a TPE same as is used in the auto industy so the same techniques may apply.
2) glue it yourself. Call up your local 3M representative and ask them what structural glues they have for the plastic your lap top is made of. One product that MIGHT work is DP8005.
Another option is to contact polyurathane supply company. Those people have a nice website with good technical information.
------------
The type of equipment you need to plastic weld is generally an injection hot melt gun - they typically sell for about $5000 bux and are not too difficult to learn how to use. These guns force plastic under pressure into the crack and form a seam that is over 80% as strong as the original. The plastic comes in rods and is available in ABS, TPE, TFE,
You may want to check your Yellow Pages - look under PLASTIC WELDING equipment - call a supplier of the equipment and ask for a referal to who has the gun. Try to get to know the guy a bit and pay him well - broken plastic parts are a fact of life and these guys can do magic!!!
Plastic Welding (Score:5, Informative)
Since fairings are made out of PVC, it was a simple matter to repair cracks in them with a soldering iron and a strip of raw pvc (or some old bits of fairing laying around). The welds would come out as strong or stronger than the original PVC. The only side effect would be an awful scarring effect, which we would then sand out, fill with bondo and apply primer. Good as new.
Your laptop bezel is made out of PVC or a similar polymer. It would probably be a simple matter to weld the crack back together, or whatever (hinges, clips &etc).
The most important part of this technique, however, is to work in a place with good ventilation and *WEAR A GODDAM FACE MASK*. The fumes and smoke of the process are toxic, carcinogenic and easilly filtered by a cheap paper mask over you mouth and nose. You know, like Michael Jackson would wear on the streets of Hong Kong. Eye protection is a good idea, too. This is why I still have lungs and vision.
I would always do the plastic welding in the paint booth, with the painter's mask and the fans on high. Since you'd only need to do a small amount, the face mask and a kitchen or bathroom fan would probably suffice.
And remember: this is slashdot. think before you take any advice.
My personal choice. (Score:3, Interesting)
Build a barebones? (Score:3, Informative)
Anyhow, I'm interested in your problem for selfish reasons, family and friends have been asking me about building/upgrading existing/fixing their notebooks for years. I've dodged them this whole time because I couldn't afford one myself, but this is finally starting to change.
So, anyhow, if I where going to buy a computer today I'd look seriously at building a 'barebones' notebooks. A few familiar companies seem to be building barebones notebooks, which is basically a motherboard and graphics card wrapped up with a keyboard, LCD screen and a case. ASUS, ECS, AOpen, Arima (??) and FIC seem to sell them. I couldn't guarantee it, but I bet you'd have much better luck getting a replacement part from someone like ECS or ASUS, plus you get to pick out or upgrade things like your CPU, hard/cd/dvd drive and memory.
Here are a couple of quick links to product pages for a few of the manufacturers:
Aopen [aopen.com.tw]
ECS [ecs.com.tw]
ASUS [asus.com]
Arima [arima.com.tw]
FIC [fica.com]
Most of these links came from this [it4profit.com] site, which seems to specialize in mobile computing bare bone systems and hardware. Man, is it lunch time yet?
Cheap, but not always unrepairable. (Score:3, Interesting)
Repairing laptops is getting harder and harder these days, because the manufacturers, in general, are getting very picky about what is in and out of warranty. It used to be that you could get by with everything under the sun short of a cracked screen. That's all changed with all the big manufacturers.
And more than that, often you have to mail your laptop in, rather than take it to someplace local. When you do that, the manufacturer cuts you off from your equipment, and the tech off from your plea as to why this wasn't a case of "misuse."
It's been my experience that what you need to do is to just plain know someone who does warranty repairs on the type of laptop you own. I mean know the technician by his first name. This is the part where you need a friend, badly.
Those horror stories about the $75 hinges and $56 for four hinge screws...they're true, because there's markup in there! A company has to make money at repairing things, and service is where companies get margin. Usually that margin on 'little' stuff like this is in the neighborhood of 100% or more. Cut that $75 and $56 in half, and isn't that more reasonable?
The trouble is, the company has to make a profit on the item, plus they likely had a 'shipping and handling and administrative fee' for having their folks order the parts for you, recieve them, etc.
If you're in a big company, surely you have in-house folks, or people on-staff from then manufacturer (or who come around on a regular basis.) Get to know them, they can be your best of friends right now. Ply them with a lunch, and a soda now and again! You'd be surprised how far a good Tech will go if you feed him once in a while.
And the average tech isn't deaf to your pleas. They understand how badly it sucks to have a broken laptop that you depend on day in and day out, at home and at work. Usually if you treat them well, they'll work to take care of you when you really need it.
Small Dogs (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Do you know the way..... (Score:2)
Re:Do you know the way..... (Score:3, Insightful)
No, the answer is JB-Weld (www.jbweld.net) or a similar epoxy. It's the modern nerd answer to tape on your glasses.
Re:eBay. (Score:4, Interesting)
The problem with ebay is that all the electronics sellers have decided that $10 is the minimum shipping charge, even on a small part. I had a guy charge me that for an LCD inverter (weight: less than 1 ounce) and mail it to me unprotected in an envelope 1st class ($0.37 stamp).
If the part prices are truly a problem, he can desktopify the laptop and get another, they are cheap these days. I did that with a Thinkpad T23 with broken LCD -- it is now a firewall/spam filter left on 24/7.
Re:eBay. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:eBay. (Score:2)
Re:eBay. (Score:2)
Re:Laptops (Score:2)
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