Andrew Errington wrote re:
Is anyone here a laptop repair specialist, or able to recommend one?
I repair my own. It's a bit fiddly, and the ease of fixin' depends on
exactly what is wrong. It's handy that I have about 4 instances of the
same model for moving parts around. The trickiest fix I have done is to
replace the backlight on the LCD screen. Next time I won't replace the
CCFL tube, I'll hook up some white LEDs instead.
Sounds like a genuine talent! :-)
Whereas PC boxes I've happily serviced many of, fiddly little
misc.devices I shy away from, because I inevitably break the casing
trying to figure out how to open them. :|
Anyway, are you able to give us some details of the fault? It might help
narrow down the recommendations to more specialist repairers, or it might
bring out some timely and helpful advice.
..Typical!.. A nice laptop bought new 37 months ago, and well looked
after since. Came with a 1-year warranty ex-Shanghai, with a purchasable
extension to 3 years. ..Now I'm wondering if I saved that cost, or could
I have argued that I just slipped inside the warranty period somehow?
Planned obsolescence??
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?lc=en&product=320163&cc=uk&dlc=en&#
There's cool online diagnostics available from HP, once you log the
system in using (Win)ActiveX. These have confirmed my thoughts on the
symptoms - video subsystem fault - producing a quick blue screen of
alarm before crashing the system dead. Erratic fault. Blank screen from
boot, unless it's cooled off a bit. Then it can almost run normally (tho
not in *nix yet).. I got XP up to do the tests, look for driver etc
updates, but immediate reboot = no go.
First failure was a lockup of GRUB, then it wouldn't show a picture.
Sometimes the Compaq logo shows, starts flickering & breaking up. Ubuntu
startup scroll does the same - halting. Holy graphics (batman), & odd
spots of colour spread about! Bugger!!
It's my work platform, and has worked hard & served well for 3 years.
Local agents for HP servicing are Visual Group in Barbadoes St, so I was
wondering if anyone had experience of them in particular. Checking
online the HP parts are abundant (a nice surprise), but mobo c$US400 -
ouch! - Any other ideas?
The screen itself seems normal & fine.
Cheers, Rik
