I'm not going to commit suicide over this as it's a machine where I
work (home owners, I feel your pain), but does the entire Advent series

have some sort of design flaw at the screen hinges? I work in a lab and

the Advent 7060 is connected to an analyser by USB. The screen has
mostly, but not totally, blacked out, so someone has connected it up to

an old CRT monitor.
Now I know this is probably a blown backlight, but closer inspection of

the hinges, particularly the left one, shows that use has eaten away at

the plastic casing of the LCD. There are shards of plastic falling off
and a large crack too. From Googling around I've found this isn't the
only machine to have suffered such a fate.
Basically I'm wondering if it can be fixed reasonably easily and
reasonably cheaply. I might get to keep the thing if I replace it with
an old banger laptop with a working LCD....
Thanks everybody!

DanSolo wrote:
> I'm not going to commit suicide over this as it's a machine where I
> work (home owners, I feel your pain), but does the entire Advent series
>
> have some sort of design flaw at the screen hinges? I work in a lab and
>
> the Advent 7060 is connected to an analyser by USB. The screen has
> mostly, but not totally, blacked out, so someone has connected it up to
>
> an old CRT monitor.
> Now I know this is probably a blown backlight, but closer inspection of
>
> the hinges, particularly the left one, shows that use has eaten away at
>
> the plastic casing of the LCD. There are shards of plastic falling off
> and a large crack too. From Googling around I've found this isn't the
> only machine to have suffered such a fate.
> Basically I'm wondering if it can be fixed reasonably easily and
> reasonably cheaply. I might get to keep the thing if I replace it with
> an old banger laptop with a working LCD....
> Thanks everybody!
>

There are no design, reliability, merchantability standards for notebook
computers. Your only recourse is Advent, whoever they be. Otherwise, if
your requirements are not intensive, there are new notebooks at say
$400, or there is eBay (where you pays your moneys, and largely live
with your choice).

Q

"DanSolo" <daniel.otoole@ucd.ie> wrote in message
news:1163778859.084271.14620@j44g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> I'm not going to commit suicide over this as it's a machine where I
> work (home owners, I feel your pain), but does the entire Advent series
>
> have some sort of design flaw at the screen hinges? I work in a lab and
>
> the Advent 7060 is connected to an analyser by USB. The screen has
> mostly, but not totally, blacked out, so someone has connected it up to
>
> an old CRT monitor.
> Now I know this is probably a blown backlight, but closer inspection of
>
> the hinges, particularly the left one, shows that use has eaten away at
>
> the plastic casing of the LCD. There are shards of plastic falling off
> and a large crack too. From Googling around I've found this isn't the
> only machine to have suffered such a fate.
> Basically I'm wondering if it can be fixed reasonably easily and
> reasonably cheaply. I might get to keep the thing if I replace it with
> an old banger laptop with a working LCD....
> Thanks everybody!
>
This is an amazingly common mechanical failure mode for laptops.

Someone posted on here a while back a possible solution. He suggested
injecting into the crack the glue used for glueing lengths of plastic pipes
together. Apparently this glue partially disolves the plastic around the
hinges and effectively bonds the whole lot together as it sets. It is
necessary to flex the hinges to squeeze excess glue out and remove it from
the outside. I might suggest a smear of silicone grease to prevent it from
bonding (but take care not to get it in the cracks, or it won't glue there
either).

I have not tried this myself yet, but of the hinges are cracked and broken
there is probably not a lot to lose.

M.I.5¾ wrote:
> This is an amazingly common mechanical failure mode for laptops.
>
> Someone posted on here a while back a possible solution. He suggested
> injecting into the crack the glue used for glueing lengths of plastic pipes
> together. Apparently this glue partially disolves the plastic around the
> hinges and effectively bonds the whole lot together as it sets. It is
> necessary to flex the hinges to squeeze excess glue out and remove it from
> the outside. I might suggest a smear of silicone grease to prevent it from
> bonding (but take care not to get it in the cracks, or it won't glue there
> either).
>
> I have not tried this myself yet, but of the hinges are cracked and broken
> there is probably not a lot to lose.

Wouldn't you have to do this pretty much before you ever used the
laptop? Also, isn't that fluorescent backlight in there somewhere, so
you'll never be able to change it. If the hinges were kept well greased
would that take some of the strain of the plastic casing?
Ta for that.

"DanSolo" <daniel.otoole@ucd.ie> wrote in message
news:1164156601.123361.280160@m73g2000cwd.googlegr oups.com...
M.I.5¾ wrote:
> This is an amazingly common mechanical failure mode for laptops.
>
> Someone posted on here a while back a possible solution. He suggested
> injecting into the crack the glue used for glueing lengths of plastic
> pipes
> together. Apparently this glue partially disolves the plastic around the
> hinges and effectively bonds the whole lot together as it sets. It is
> necessary to flex the hinges to squeeze excess glue out and remove it from
> the outside. I might suggest a smear of silicone grease to prevent it
> from
> bonding (but take care not to get it in the cracks, or it won't glue there
> either).
>
> I have not tried this myself yet, but of the hinges are cracked and broken
> there is probably not a lot to lose.

Wouldn't you have to do this pretty much before you ever used the
laptop? Also, isn't that fluorescent backlight in there somewhere, so
you'll never be able to change it. If the hinges were kept well greased
would that take some of the strain of the plastic casing?
Ta for that.

----------------------------

The suggestion was only intended to reglue the broken plastic. It was not
intended that you fully encapsulate the screen assembly in pipe adhesive.