Personal computing discussed

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atcrank
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Laptop repair-worthiness

Tue Mar 20, 2018 5:46 am

My Lenovo Helix got dropped, the screen panel and the motherboard popped and the screen data cable popped out at the screen end. The cable and the clip both look a bit damaged. Most repairers in my neighbourhood want ~$40-$80 for an appraisal, but I'd rather save that for the replacement laptop if it will be beyond economic repair. Second hand equivalents are $450-650; lower spec models $350. Anyway, does this look like it needs a new cable or a new whole screen assembly or just someone with fine motor skills?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zCHaFY1IzQD7LiQm1
Athlon 620e, Asus 7790 (1GB), 8GB KVR 1333, Asus M4A785T-M, Samsung 830 256GB, WD Green 1TB, WD Green 2TB, E-mu 1212m, Dvico HD Dual Digital 4 TV tuner, Hyper 212 Evo (mounted ironically), Antec Earthwatts Platinum 450W.
 
Duct Tape Dude
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Re: Laptop repair-worthiness

Tue Mar 20, 2018 6:43 am

The connector is damaged. Parts are probably cheap but that's going to take the better part of an afternoon with a microelectronics grade soldering iron and years of soldering skills.

Unless your neighborhood repair shop is Louis Rossman, it's time to sell as-is on eBay or use the machine as a headless unit.
Last edited by Duct Tape Dude on Tue Mar 20, 2018 6:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
 
Aranarth
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Re: Laptop repair-worthiness

Tue Mar 20, 2018 6:45 am

I do this sort of thing a couple of times a year.
In your case I would get a new mainboard and cable.
Those surface mount sockets are almost impossible to fix by hand.
The cable is usually easy to find and replace.

BUT looking on eaby:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... d&_sacat=0
There is a working replacement on the page for $80.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPa ... SwQ19arBot
Get that and you're golden! (as long as the tablet part is fine of course)
Main machine: Core I7 -2600K @ 4.0Ghz / 16 gig ram / Radeon RX 580 8gb / 500gb toshiba ssd / 5tb hd
Old machine: Core 2 quad Q6600 @ 3ghz / 8 gig ram / Radeon 7870 / 240 gb PNY ssd / 1tb HD
 
ludi
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Re: Laptop repair-worthiness

Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:43 am

Those push-in flat ribbon connectors can sometimes tolerate one or two accidental jerks but it does look damaged and I I wouldn't count on this working reliably ever again.

The downside risk of doing any repair that includes a motherboard replacement is that Windows Activation might throw a fit. In this case, the UEFI firmware of the replacement board SHOULD have a Windows 10 ID already hardcoded, so worst-case you might have to perform a clean installation to re-activate Windows on the new ID.
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atcrank
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Re: Laptop repair-worthiness

Tue Mar 20, 2018 3:11 pm

Thanks everyone. There are some sales on new laptops at the moment and it would be nice to upgrade a little. I'll have to see where the budget is at.
Athlon 620e, Asus 7790 (1GB), 8GB KVR 1333, Asus M4A785T-M, Samsung 830 256GB, WD Green 1TB, WD Green 2TB, E-mu 1212m, Dvico HD Dual Digital 4 TV tuner, Hyper 212 Evo (mounted ironically), Antec Earthwatts Platinum 450W.
 
atcrank
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Re: Laptop repair-worthiness

Thu Sep 06, 2018 6:19 pm

I've been thinking I should update this with the good news that this turned out to be repairable. The site of the damage in the pictures was actually the ribbon cable ripping away from the plastic 'male' end. It cost me <$50 australian to get the replacement ribbon sent from a US ebay seller, did the job myself. It was a Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance thing - after looking at that darn socket and wondering how it worked about once or twice a day for a week and being puzzled, I finally saw it correctly and just took out the broken-off header, leaving a perfectly functional socket on the screen. I also found and removed a little stick that one of my children had broken off in the headphone socket.

Next up: my wealthy little sister slung me an old basic Vaio with an early i3 she had sitting round. It's main strength is a 15" 1366x768 screen, which after a 1920x1080 on a bare 11" is actually OK. But, it turns out its from the era of socketed laptop chips and I have bought an i7 740QM for $32 that I aim to install just as soon as everything else in my life is going very very well.
Athlon 620e, Asus 7790 (1GB), 8GB KVR 1333, Asus M4A785T-M, Samsung 830 256GB, WD Green 1TB, WD Green 2TB, E-mu 1212m, Dvico HD Dual Digital 4 TV tuner, Hyper 212 Evo (mounted ironically), Antec Earthwatts Platinum 450W.

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