Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room

Hardware advice sought... Notebook power supply problem

(1/3) > >>

Darwin:
My soon to be six year old and his friend dumped my wife's *just* upgraded and spiffied up two and a half year old Compaq Presario R4225 notebook on the floor recently. The power cord was plugged in and the notebook landed on it, loosening the power supply thingy on the motherboard. Great. NO ONE will fix it locally - everyone wants to sell us a new one or send it to Ontario (I'm in BC) and charge me big money to solder the "power supply thingy" back onto the motherboard. I did find one electronics shop that will do the soldering but won't disassemble it. None of the computer repair shops in town will disassemble it for me, either. So... should I:

1. Take the advice of the last repair shop that I spoke with, who suggested that I take it back to the vendor and play dumb and see if they'll replace it/fix it (my guess is that this is going to simply massively prolong the length of time my wife is without it and wind up costing us serious cash. Note, however, that this is my wife's personal notebook and she still has use of her employer provided notebook so taking our time with it isn't the end of the world), as it is still covered by the three year extended warranty that I bought. I'm not seriously considering this option.

2. I have the pdf version of the maintenance manual and could disassemble it myself and deliver the motherboard to the electronics shop for repair. This is the option I'm seriously considering.

Thus, does anyone seriously think that there is any point in trying to get this done under extended warrarnty? Does anyone think that I have a hope of successfully stripping the computer down the the motherboard and reassembling it after repair? I'm quite comfortable doing this but I don't have much in the way of workspace and would need to sort out storage of the screws and things... Basically, I just need some reassurance  :o

EDIT: typo in the subject line  :-[

mouser:
your thought that it will take a long time to get it repaired under warranty is probably right, but it seems likely that they might repair it and cover it under warranty.  i've not had great experience with getting laptops repaired by company under warranty but eventually they mostly fix things and don't charge you.  rather than re-solder it they may just put in a new motherboard or even just replace your laptop completely.

the manually dissassemble and solder route sounds much more likely to result in disaster to me :)
might be worth trying if it was a spare pc you don't need or could afford to replace if it goes haywire but i don't think i'd chance it with an expensive pc i need.

tinjaw:
Darwin,

Bummer. Is it still under warranty after 2.5 years? If so, claim it came loose after normal usage and you want it repaired under warranty. If it is out of warranty, you should disassemble it yourself and have the local electronics guy solder it for you.

Here are my tips for being super hyper paranoid about taking something apart.

First of all, if you don't own a full set of the following high-quality tools, go buy some:

* Full set of screwdrivers, including torx.
* Tweezers
* three pronged holders.
* Magnetic wrist-band parts holder.
* Head visor magnifier
And a empty table with a cloth table cover.

I can't tell you how much time I have saved by having those tools for just such projects.

1. Video tape yourself while you disassemble it.
2. Take tons of digital photos while you disassemble it.
3. If you're video taping it, talk to the camera while you are disassembling it.
4. If you're not video taping it use a voice activated tape recorder and talk into it.
5. Get a box of the snack sized (smaller than sandwich sized) zip-lock bags.
6. Take a medium sharpie marker and number the bags as you remove screws and put them in the bag.
7. On a sheet of notepaper write the number and where the screws go.

mouser:
nice advice tinjaw  :up:

Darwin:
Hmm... thanks for the input, guys. I guess I'm off to Staples tomorrow with a vacant - yet exasperated - expression on my face... My wife's company provided notebook is fine over the period that her personal notebook is gone so we won't miss it. I've realised, too, that if they do conclude that the damage isn't covered I don't have to have them do the work, I can just request that they ship it back to me. My only remaining qualm is that they might charge me for the inspection?

If it helps clarify things, I bought Staples extended warranty when I bought the notebook, so it's not at this point the manufacturer that will be taking this on...

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page