If your laptop is more than 3 years old and you can afford to do so, make it a desktop. The reason is that even the extended warranty does not last past 3 years because in my opinion and experience the design lifetime of a laptop is 3 years. After 3 years multiple failures can occur at any time. Since by its nature, the laptop get a lot of wear and tear you can extend the time to a catastrophic failure by treating the laptop as a desktop. This means putting the laptop in one place and not unplugging the power supply to keep the battery fully charged and preserving the power jack.
Archive for the ‘Breakdown Prevention’ Category
If your laptop is more than 3 years old make it a desktop
Thursday, October 9th, 2008Make Sure the Used Laptop You Buy Comes with a System Disk
Thursday, May 15th, 2008Occasionally we work on laptops that have failed hard drives. One such customer said that he bought his used, and it did not come with a system disk. The normal fix would be to install a new hard drive and re-install Windows XP and the drivers that came on the system disk. But in this case the restoration would be more expensive without the system disk since you would either have to buy a replacement system disk from the manufacturer or buy a new Win XP operating system and hunt for the drivers. This was a customer with a tight budget, so he was not able to afford the more expensive restoration procedure. If he had the system disk, he would be much better off.
Consider Repair Costs when Choosing Laptop Screen Size
Monday, May 5th, 2008We repair/replace lots of laptop screens. About half are from accidental damage and half from age-related breakdown. When looking at replacement costs, its is intuitive to think that smaller screen sizes would cost less. But the opposite is true. Replacement of 12.1″ and 13.3″ laptop screens costs considerably more than 14.1″ and 15.4″ screens, and also more than 17″ screens. So when choosing a laptop that may be subject to frequent use and possible screen breakage, go with a 15.4″ screen. These are the least expensive to replace and have the highest availability.
Laptop Power Jacks
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007One of the most common repairs that we do is resoldering detached laptop power jacks. The cause of this malfunction can be roughly broken down into two reasons:
- Manufacturing defect – When the power jack was soldered at the factory, the solder joint was not made strong enough to withstand normal daily wear. We have seen very-well taken care of laptops with this problem.
- User misuse – If the AC adapter plug is left in the laptop while its being moved around, or if the AC adapter plug is worn or damaged, premature failure of the power jack will result. We have seen power jacks literally split in half because of a damaged AC adapter plug.
While there is not much you can do about 1.) simple preventative maintenance can help avoid 2.). If the AC adapter plug is worn or its a very tight fit into the power jack, replace it. Its cheaper than a power jack repair.
Laptops Restored Blog
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007I’m the owner of a laptop computer repair business in Tucson, and since I see recurring problems with laptops day in and day out, I have decided to share my insights with the community at large on how to keep your laptop properly maintained and from having to visit our facility or someone else’s. I will also include content on virtual and physical security and any products that have caught my eye. Please feel free to comment and share your knowledge also.