Odd Bob wrote:
> no@spam.invalid (Tannenberg) wrote in
> news:12h10k0bmt4vr89@news.supernews.com:
>
>> My Acer aspire seems to occasionally loose contact in power cable
>> plug-in.
>>
>> I decided to open it. Unscrewed all screws, both in bottom and side
>> of it. But it still won't open. I even tried to force and tear open
>> it and I stoped just after a warning crack! sound, I almost broke
>> it...
>>
>> There are no screws or whatever visible obstacles that would stop
>> laptop's case from opening... But it doesn't...
>>
>> Any ideas?
>>
>
> You have a choice: Take it in to have the problem repaired, or take
> it in to have the problem PLUS the damage you've caused repaired. I
> faced this choice. Not only could I not open my laptop, but I had
> somehow disabled the CPU fan in the attempt. I decided that was
> enough and had it in the shop the next day. The problem wasn't what
> it seemed to be (acted like it was overheating but the HDD was
> actually dying) so I never would have fixed it anyway. I got it back
> working perfectly, for the cost of 90 minutes labor plus a new HDD.
> Had I forced the case open and diddled with it first, it could have
> been much worse.
>
> Unless you know exactly what you're doing, don't do it. Take it to a
> repair center and have the job done right. You could wind up being a
> lot sorrier otherwise.
>
> -- Bob

They quoted me $196 to replace the power connector on mine, without even
knowing it was actually broken and maybe not just a borked solder
connection. Must be nice to be so rolling in it.

"Pop`ö" <nodoby@devnull.spamcop.net> wrote in
news:8sA_g.3185$fA.2654@trnddc05:

> Odd Bob wrote:
>> no@spam.invalid (Tannenberg) wrote in
>> news:12h10k0bmt4vr89@news.supernews.com:
>>
>>> My Acer aspire seems to occasionally loose contact in power cable
>>> plug-in.
>>>
>>> I decided to open it. Unscrewed all screws, both in bottom and side
>>> of it. But it still won't open. I even tried to force and tear open
>>> it and I stoped just after a warning crack! sound, I almost broke
>>> it...
>>>
>>> There are no screws or whatever visible obstacles that would stop
>>> laptop's case from opening... But it doesn't...
>>>
>>> Any ideas?
>>>
>>
>> You have a choice: Take it in to have the problem repaired, or take
>> it in to have the problem PLUS the damage you've caused repaired. I
>> faced this choice. Not only could I not open my laptop, but I had
>> somehow disabled the CPU fan in the attempt. I decided that was
>> enough and had it in the shop the next day. The problem wasn't what
>> it seemed to be (acted like it was overheating but the HDD was
>> actually dying) so I never would have fixed it anyway. I got it back
>> working perfectly, for the cost of 90 minutes labor plus a new HDD.
>> Had I forced the case open and diddled with it first, it could have
>> been much worse.
>>
>> Unless you know exactly what you're doing, don't do it. Take it to a
>> repair center and have the job done right. You could wind up being a
>> lot sorrier otherwise.
>>
>> -- Bob
>
> They quoted me $196 to replace the power connector on mine, without
> even knowing it was actually broken and maybe not just a borked solder
> connection. Must be nice to be so rolling in it.
>
>

Rolling in money? Far from it. I know my limits and wasn't about to
risk costing myself a small fortune by exceeding them. I was just
stating a simple truth: a laptop is a complicated device, if you don't
know what you're doing, you're probably going to screw it up. But hey,
it's your computer. Get out that hammer and screwdriver and go for it!
Maybe you'll get lucky.

Or maybe you won't.

-- Bob

Doesn't really matter if the connector is broken or not. If they quoted
you $196, then it's something like $192 for labor and $4 for the part.
You are lucky to get such a low quote; what usually happens is that you
get quoted $800 to replace a motherboard .... $608 for the motherboard
and $192 for the labor.


Pop`ö wrote:


>
> They quoted me $196 to replace the power connector on mine, without even
> knowing it was actually broken and maybe not just a borked solder
> connection. Must be nice to be so rolling in it.
>
>

Pop`ö wrote:

> They quoted me $196 to replace the power connector on mine, without even
> knowing it was actually broken and maybe not just a borked solder
> connection. Must be nice to be so rolling in it.

The parts cost is usually trivial. A store near me charges a flat $149.

("http://www.centralcomputer.com/services/advancedrepair.asp").

It's a good deal, unless it's something simple like a keyboard
replacement, disk drive replacement, or optical drive replacement. I've
taken apart some extremely small sub-notebook and tablet computers, and
you really want to know what you're doing. Cables are easily broken and
hard to get new ones. Sometimes you need three hands. One tablet I
worked on required removal of the motherboard to replace the DDR SO-DIMM.

Yeah, I agree with you. Support is pretty adamant about not helping me,
that's for sure! I never realized the laptop world was so secretive.
Just for grins, I've sent firm but polite demands for contact information
to their parts & repair department where one techie let it slip that the
information resides there. The computer's useless as it is, so I intend to
go in and see if I can do it on my own, but whether I can or not, I figure
I'll create a little hate & discontent along the way.
Maybe, if it's trashed, I'll even write a little tutorial about how to
get at things and put it up on my site for others to copy/use. I've
discovered a lot of companies use the same case so far, with changes to
bezels being the only major differences. Dell, Gateway and another I forget
at the moment had the same case, even the same locations for all the
peripherals. I abhor being lied to by these folks.

Cheers,
Pop`


Barry Watzman wrote:
> Doesn't really matter if the connector is broken or not. If they
> quoted you $196, then it's something like $192 for labor and $4 for
> the part. You are lucky to get such a low quote; what usually happens
> is that you get quoted $800 to replace a motherboard .... $608 for
> the motherboard and $192 for the labor.
>
>
> Pop`ö wrote:
>
>
>>
>> They quoted me $196 to replace the power connector on mine, without
>> even knowing it was actually broken and maybe not just a borked
>> solder connection. Must be nice to be so rolling in it.

Pop` wrote:
> Yeah, I agree with you. Support is pretty adamant about not helping me,
> that's for sure! I never realized the laptop world was so secretive.

Well I was pleased to find the whole maintenance and service guide for
my Compaq X1000 on the HP web site. It includes detailed information on
how to disassemble the whole system. If I ever have to change the power
connector, this is an enormous help, as the hard part is the disassembly
and reassembly, not the soldering on of the power connector.

Well, before you really trash it, consider that it may be worth hundreds
on E-Bay (in it's present condition, fairly and accurately described).

Service manuals are out there for most models. Check E-Bay. You will
probably be buying a CD of perhaps 100 to 300 PDF service manuals for
$10 to $20.


Pop` wrote:

> Yeah, I agree with you. Support is pretty adamant about not helping me,
> that's for sure! I never realized the laptop world was so secretive.
> Just for grins, I've sent firm but polite demands for contact information
> to their parts & repair department where one techie let it slip that the
> information resides there. The computer's useless as it is, so I intend to
> go in and see if I can do it on my own, but whether I can or not, I figure
> I'll create a little hate & discontent along the way.
> Maybe, if it's trashed, I'll even write a little tutorial about how to
> get at things and put it up on my site for others to copy/use. I've
> discovered a lot of companies use the same case so far, with changes to
> bezels being the only major differences. Dell, Gateway and another I forget
> at the moment had the same case, even the same locations for all the
> peripherals. I abhor being lied to by these folks.
>
> Cheers,
> Pop`
>
>
> Barry Watzman wrote:
>
>>Doesn't really matter if the connector is broken or not. If they
>>quoted you $196, then it's something like $192 for labor and $4 for
>>the part. You are lucky to get such a low quote; what usually happens
>>is that you get quoted $800 to replace a motherboard .... $608 for
>>the motherboard and $192 for the labor.
>>
>>
>>Pop`ö wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>They quoted me $196 to replace the power connector on mine, without
>>>even knowing it was actually broken and maybe not just a borked
>>>solder connection. Must be nice to be so rolling in it.
>
>
>
>

SMS wrote:
> Pop` wrote:
>> Yeah, I agree with you. Support is pretty adamant about not helping
>> me, that's for sure! I never realized the laptop world was so
>> secretive.
>
> Well I was pleased to find the whole maintenance and service guide for
> my Compaq X1000 on the HP web site. It includes detailed information
> on how to disassemble the whole system. If I ever have to change the
> power connector, this is an enormous help, as the hard part is the
> disassembly and reassembly, not the soldering on of the power
> connector.

Is that a laptop, or a notebook? I've discovered an amazing similarity
between a lot of manufacturers; maybe it'd work for me too.

Pop`

Pop` wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>> Pop` wrote:
>>> Yeah, I agree with you. Support is pretty adamant about not helping
>>> me, that's for sure! I never realized the laptop world was so
>>> secretive.
>> Well I was pleased to find the whole maintenance and service guide for
>> my Compaq X1000 on the HP web site. It includes detailed information
>> on how to disassemble the whole system. If I ever have to change the
>> power connector, this is an enormous help, as the hard part is the
>> disassembly and reassembly, not the soldering on of the power
>> connector.
>
> Is that a laptop, or a notebook? I've discovered an amazing similarity
> between a lot of manufacturers; maybe it'd work for me too.

I guess it's be considered a laptop, but who knows. It's kind of funny
how we went from laptops to notebooks, back to laptops.

"http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00072544.pdf"

Not sure who the actual manufacturer is. Could be Inventec, could be Compal.

I searched on eBay and such, the problem is I know I have a loose
solder for the power connector on a BenQ Joybook 5100, but no manuals
anywhere. Anyone know where I could possibly find one? Support is
obviously trying to rake in cash, but I'd rather spend the time to
figure out how to open it without breaking anything and doing a clean
solder job myself than pay shipping 2 ways, + labor + new MB cost.
So far as I've noticed, the benQ case is slightly different from most
of the ones in the Toshiba disassembly guides, and my Pavilion doesn't
even come cloes to it.
Any directions appreciated.

On Oct 23, 4:43 pm, SMS <scharf.ste...@geemail.com> wrote:
> Pop` wrote:
> > SMS wrote:
> >> Pop` wrote:
> >>> Yeah, I agree with you. Support is pretty adamant about not helping
> >>> me, that's for sure! I never realized the laptop world was so
> >>> secretive.
> >> Well I was pleased to find the whole maintenance and service guide for
> >> my Compaq X1000 on the HP web site. It includes detailed information
> >> on how to disassemble the whole system. If I ever have to change the
> >> power connector, this is an enormous help, as the hard part is the
> >> disassembly and reassembly, not the soldering on of the power
> >> connector.
>
> > Is that a laptop, or a notebook? I've discovered an amazing similarity
> > between a lot of manufacturers; maybe it'd work for me too.I guess it's be considered a laptop, but who knows. It's kind of funny
> how we went from laptops to notebooks, back to laptops.
>
> "http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00072544.pdf"
>
> Not sure who the actual manufacturer is. Could be Inventec, could be Compal.