Caleb writes, <I need help, to put it lightly. The infamous 190/5300 power connector issue has finally caught up with me, and I don't know whether I should call my dad and have him solder it back on for me, get a motherboard off eBay, or get a 190c or 5300c or ce and swap the hard drive out of my current 190. Cost is a major issue, however, considering I'm a lowly HS student with no job, and I *really* don't want to use my PC notebook for writing.>
1. In this position, in your place I'd call your father and ask him to give the repair a try first. I mean, obviously, if you can't make your own repairs, when you know someone else who CAN (for me personally, it's my boyfriend), well, free is always cheaper than having to buy anything, even when the purchase in question is a used item off Fleabay (or the Swap List). You know, it might or might not be the power connector -- before you or your father open up the 190 to get at the power connector, you might want to stick a voltmeter (or ask your father to stick a voltmeter) on the AC adapter first. This is what turned out to be the case when my own 190 went down. I of course had assumed it was the infamous power connector issue also started telling him the problem, and since my boyfriend was familiar with this issue also, without question he totally dissected it while heating up the soldering iron. As it happened, when he checked the connector, it was perfectly okay! THEN he voltmeters the AC adapter: Lo and behold, it was the adapter causing the mayhem: it took in wall juice, but didn't give any to my poor 190. So, to save you and your dad a possible couple hours of needless dissection (round trip: putting it back together after opening it up), use a voltmeter on the AC adapter first. If it passes the voltmeter test (24 volt output), then go ahead and open the 190 up for a connector repair job. I have a PDF document with full instructions containing what you need and how to open it up, by the way. If you'd like it, email me offlist and I'll send it to you. 2. If you and your dad can't fix your 190 after all, given the choice of another190 or a 5300c, I see no reason why you shouldn't trade up to a 5300c and swap out the hard drive. Getting a 5300c what I ended up doing since my boyfriend had told me that for more or less the same price to buy a new AC adapter (I had no choice whatsoever here), I could probably buy a 5300, and I did ($30 off the Swap List -- a little more than just an adapter, but to me, not TOO pricey even on my own tight budget, and well worth moving up to a PPC Powerbook with a color screen, a bigger HD and five times the RAM). My 190 still has a place in my heart (and in a nice safe drawer in one of my bedside tables) and I have no plans to get rid of it -- if I use the 5300c's power adapter on it, it works just fine, so if my 5300c dies, I still have the 190 to fall back on. But I'm so much more than "just satisfied" with my 5300c that I can honestly say: if you can't go with the preferred option of fixing your 190, I highly recommend getting a 5300c. You'll save money on batteries this way too, since the 5300c and the 190 take the same ones. ~Yersinia. ________ "I still miss my ex. But my aim is getting better." -- PowerBooks is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PowerBooks list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
