Mailing List ecs-t6x@2rosenthals.com Archived Message #554

From: "Lewis G Rosenthal" <ecs-t6x@2rosenthals.com> Full Headers
Undecoded message
Subject: Re: [eCS T60/T61] OT: T30 LCD repair (was: Re: [eCS T60/T61] T60 runs pretty hot)
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:49:41 -0500
To: eCS ThinkPad T60/61 Mailing List <ecs-t6x@2rosenthals.com>

Hey, Mark...

On 01/26/10 06:27 am, driven_zen thus wrote :
Lewis G Rosenthal wrote:
Hi, Edgar...

On 01/25/10 04:43 pm, EDGAR thus wrote :
Lewis: If you really want to fix the screen communicate with 'Mamdouh Mohedelin" at Laptopdoctor.ca  His shop is next door to me and he is the best laptop repair in town (possibly Province). He does HP, Dell, factory work via Best Buy and Future Shop.  Certainly, if anyone can do it Mam can.

It's not that I *can't* fix the LCD, it's just that it's simply not worth me either spending the hour to do it properly, *and* fix the keyboard issue (parts & time), vs simply taking the opportunity to upgrade the machine.

Hello Lewis:

I think you mean "replace" rather than "upgrade."  :->

Indeed. I hadn't thought of my phraseology until your mention made me re-read what I posted.
The problem is that the perversion of the cost
structure in both national and international
commerce distorts the value of repairing versus
replacing.  But, he/she who ignores the monetary
cost is bound to be unable to compete.  So, the
only realistic way for most of us is to leave a
trail of electronic units and parts behind us,
although I realize that you certainly don't waste
resources compared to the WinTel model.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon one's POV), we live in a rip & replace world in terms of IT infrastructure. I don't particularly like that model, and strive to provide the best value to my clients. Sometimes, this means maintaining systems beyond their design life. Other times, it means "going with the flow," and simply scrapping out the older stuff. In this case, I can't see it making economic sense to maintain what would end up as an older machine with a new(er) keyboard (assuming that is the problem) and a new backlight or an old LCD (or a new LCD or a new/newer/used/replacement lid assembly).

I recall soldering motherboard components on PC & XT-class machines, when Hauppauge Computer Works' came out with their 386 replacement board (which fit the XT form factor as a drop-in replacement, although AT-sized boards were too high unless using a generic case!) which cost $1,500. However, now there is discussion on eCS-Technical of replacing capacitors on an Asus A7V8X (AMD) motherboard with a "chance" of success vs simply replacing the blasted thing. I have *never* replaced motherboard caps (though I have in audio amplifiers - several times over the years, when they got noisy/leaky). Indeed, there hasn't even been discussion of properly testing the suspect caps (physical inspection is *rarely* useful)... Factoring in the time to research, test, desolder, purchase replacement components, re-solder, and test, it hardly makes sense compared to purchasing another $60 board on the used market (to avoid having to upgrade RAM, CPU, and possibly case, drives, and peripherals)...

Yes, I still have a digital multimeter, and yes, I still use it. However, the amount of time I spend with it is considerably less than it once was, and what I do after testing has changed quite a bit over the years.
HTDATM,

- Mark
(HTDATM = hope this doesn't annoy too much...)

Not at all!! :-)

--
Lewis
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Lewis G Rosenthal, CNA, CLP, CLE
Rosenthal & Rosenthal, LLC                www.2rosenthals.com
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