Be Excellent To Each Other

Dear the internet.

My laptop is broken.
Firstly the battery is fucked, doesnt hold it's charge (this isnt a problem for me though as I use it as a desktop due to problem 2)
Problem 2, I spilt tea on the keyboard and some of the buttons do not work (not a problem as I have an external keyboard)
Problem the third. It won't charge or run with mains power now.The end of the powerlead bit is a bit fried, so I bought a new one... still does not work.
I went to a computer shop, they said the inverter?(I just googled and there were links to forums talking about the screen ) was knackered and I need a new one or something and I should call this guy, but Im leaving for Birmingham on friday so wont have time to get it done down here...any idea how much this will cost to get fixed. It's a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Li1818 laptop, I only want the power issue sorted so I can at least use it.

Cheers thanks.

Send it to me - I'll fix it.

Will you really?

How much?

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

There are some good places in brum that fix laptops and such like..

Nah, I just wanted to get that in before Kovacs piped up.

I was not going to bite... (have you not fixed it yet anyway)

Nik look up speedy computers in Brum they do reconditioned PCs and Laptops, and were mentioned on the Gadget Show..
Might be cheaper to get a replacement that works..

Seriously though, I'm sure Myp would fix it for you if you sent it to him.

No-one has said what kind of price im looking at...?

Im sure it's probably an easy job of just getting the part and slotting it in.
Im not in Brum yet,and nor do I have a lot of money to spend as I are poor student

Buy this and try it: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0478491258

Or send it to myp, he'll fix it.

Depends if the inverter is a sperate part or soldered onto the MB. The part would be a lot easier, but it is not easy to take a laptop apart as you might think..

Myp will fix it...

I haven't looked at it since that fateful day at work. You forget I am very, very lazy.

Done that... still no work, guy in the shop said it wouldnt work anyway.

Is myp really unreliable then? As I'd need it repaired fairly sharpish...

What laptop was it, and what is wrong with it?

Toshiba Satellite something or other, and I expect it's that I've forgotten to plug a cable in somewhere when putting it back together.

It's always a separate part, but it's almost certainly nothing to do with the laptop not charging or running on mains power. As nik noticed, the inverter is the backlight supply.

Either the problem is the external power brick (which you can fix) or the connector on the laptop itself (which you can fix) or it's the switching / conversion circuitry on the main board (which you can't fix, but I can, but it's not worth doing).

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ei ... am&spell=1

Laptop folks in birmingham

After it developed this problem, did it still run off the battery until it went flat or did it die immediately?

It's not the brick,as I got a new one, and it's still not working.When it did work sometimes there would be a burning smell coming from it... I didnt really take any notice at the time. Is the power connecter cheap?/easy(ish) to get to. I've taken the back bit off before to put some new ram in, but the outside casing I think will require some brute force to get off, either that or I've been unable to find a couple of screws

Battery wouldnt hold charge, but it still worked off mains power...
I didnt really care as long as it turned on.

If it's the connector then you'll notice that it's damaged or loose without taking anything to bits. If it's not that either then I'm afraid you're out of the realm of stuff that's easy to fix.

Bollocks!

Sorry mate. Buying another second hand laptop, pulling the drive out of your old one and copying everything over (or using your backup) is going to be the least hassle way of getting going I think.

All right, all right. I'll fix it. £20.

Send me your toshiba and I'll fix that.

I was gonna buy a desktop at some point over the next few months,is transferring data from laptop hard-drives straight forwards enough?


If I was to take it to a repair shop I take it it would be an expensive job then? And not really worth it...

I'd never get it back would I

I think kalmar recommended this one because it does the job of the inverter did he not...?

Everyone send me their iPhones, quick.

Gilly, I bought that, and it still no work.

I thought initially that because the adaptor was fried, that might be what was wrong. Turns out it wasnt

Nik, USB caddies for the hardrives are cheap. Pop your HDD in, plug it into a another PC.. you can access your data then.

just need to know if it is a SATA or IDE HDD.

Ah right, I thought you had said you had bought a different power lead and it didn't work.

Yes, you'd need either an enclosure for a 2.5"HDD or a USB-IDE interface cable (which is the same thing but without the box). Either could be had for a tenner on ebay I would think.



That's my feeling.




I was just suggesting to try a new power supply (brick) - nick says he has tried that (not just the power cable), and it didn't help.

The "inverter" powers the screen backlight and is on a separate board in the edge of the the screen usually.

If it is that (i.e. the inverter is shorted out), you could find out by ripping it out and seeing if the computer then powers up. You could plug an external monitor in as well then

I'll take it to a shop in Brum when I get up there. See what they say, probably get charged £50 or something just for showing it to them...

Looks like I'll have to borrow some more money of my parents to buy a new pooter... Balls!

Get JC to recommend you a new one

Seriously though if money is a problem, 50 quid would buy a serviceable desktop with XP on it, which would solve your current problem.

No.

I know.

not you Nik the other Nik

I was going to do a RMD thread when the time came..hoping that JC would show me something cheap and cheerful that wasnt alienware (£3-400or so for something with a decent amount of RAM as Im gonna be doing some modelling, and preferablly a decent monitor/tv/thing so I can have HD xbox)

Money's just an issue at the moment, Im getting paid £10k to do my masters (not a great deal, but better than nowt) but I don't get my first pay til the end of october, and being unemployed all summer, Im a bit screwed for cash. Already gonna borrow a load of money off the parents for rent and the first month or so of uni.

FTFY

Yeah, of course you would. It'd probably be a piece at a time, though.

kalmar: SRSLY?

Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of, lots of people put themselves through college that way. I hear.

@myp yep, I'll fix it or send it back.

How much for?

Free, but don't expect it back fantastically quickly.

ZOMG WERE IS MY PUTER

I'll obviously pay for postage both ways.

Have you checked the fuse?

On the plug to the brick?

Well the brick lights up (the new one) and the old one makes a hissing sound when turned on, so I presume power is running.

If there's a fuse in the laptop... then no...

I have an Amilo which I have no need for whatsover. Worked fine last time I used it, so I could send it to Myp for parts?

Fucked if I know who actually has the fucker though, come to think of it.

But I still wouldn't get my laptop back would I...

I'd send you back one little bit at a time until you paid the ransom.