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Computer Repairs
Repairs: My laptop – Dell XPS M1210 LCD failure
Mar 9th
Patient: my Dell XPS M1210.
Symptoms: Reddish screen, backlight would turn off by itself.
Possible Problems: LCD backlight failure.
Solution: Replace backlight or Replace LCD.
Cost: $75 for a used AUO B121EW02.
My laptop is more than 3 years old, and the LCD decided to die on me right after my warranty is over.
To get it recertified for warranty would cost me $300. To get it repaired without the warranty would cost me $400 from Dell.
The LCD had a red tint to it, it is most likely the inverter or LCD backlight that is failing, but a reddish screen would most likely indicate a failing backlight. I can replace the backlight tube for $10, which is something I would like to avoid because it would require tearing the LCD apart and solder the new tubes. Too risky and much work for $10.
Other 3 screens used by Dell for this M1210 laptop is a AUO B121EW03 (AUO3214), Samsung LTN121W1 (SEC3157) and the Toshiba LTD121EXPD (LCD58E), listed in the most desired to the least desired. The LCD came with my laptop was a Toshiba LTD121EXPD. It is one of the worst LCD with light leakage from the bottom.
Toshiba LTD121EXPD (LCD58E) (Dell XPS M1210) vs AUO B121EW02 (AUO2114) (Dell 710m)
source: http://www.notebookforums.com/thread165050.html
From the picture above, you can see how faded the color is compared to a Dell 710m screen.
| AUO B121EW02 (710m) | AUO B121EW03 (M1210) | |
|
Typical White Luminance |
185 typ. (5 points average) |
200 typ. (5 points average) |
| Contrast Ratio | 400 typ. | 500 typ. |
| Viewing Angle | 120/100 | 80/60 |
Why I chose a B121EW02 instead of B121EW03? Because it has a better viewing angle.
Here’s the reddish screen.
After replacing the LCD.
Conclusion: LCD are not hard to replace, but is it worth it to replace? You can get LCDs for ~$80 from eBay claiming that they are new (They will provide a compatible one). Different LCDs have different quality, it depends if you are picky as me or not. Since my laptop has a 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM and GeForce 7400 (not great but better than onboard graphic cards). It is still worth it to replace the LCD considering that a similar spec new laptop would cost at least $500.
If you laptop is slower than a Core 2 Duo, consider upgrading.
Repairs: Hillary’s Laptop – BSOD
Jan 10th
Patient: Hillary’s HP DV2700
Symptoms: BSOD in Windows
Possible Problems: Software/Driver compatibility problem.
Solution: Reformat.
Cost: None!
The laptop will have BSOD in Windows itself. Too many software installed, hard to trace which software/driver was the culprit. Windows reinstalled using an unaltered Windows DVD. This means no HP JUNK SOFTWARE! Most of the time, you don’t need them and they use too much resources.
Used compressed air to clean the heat sink from the outside. Hopefully no big pieces of dust are stuck inside like the David’s Dell. Didn’t want to disassemble the whole laptop (keyboard, top plate, wires, motherboard) just to clean the heat sink.
Conclusion: Don’t install too many conflicting software.
Repairs: David’s Laptop – Hard Disk Failure
Oct 31st
Patient: David’s Dell Studio 1535.
Symptoms: Computer crashed, unable to load Windows. Reinstall doesn’t help.
Possible Problems: Overheat, Hard Disk Failure.
Solution: Replace Hard Disk.
Cost: $75 for 320GB Western Digital Scorpio Black
The heat sink was completely clogged with dust. Cleaned the heat sink with compressed air, here is one big chuck of dust.
After cleaning the heat sink, reinstalling windows did not work. Windows installation crashed. Now that is not a good news. Took out the hard disk to determine the manufacturer and model. In this case, it is a 250GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue 5400rpm (WD2500BEVS).
Since it is a WD hard disk, I downloaded the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic tool and ran the basic & extended test. The hard disk failed both test.
I ordered a 320GB Western Digital Scorpio Black 7200rpm to replace this hard disk.
10/05/09: David’s new 320GB Western Digital Scorpio Black! One of the fastest hard disk available for laptop. 5 years warranty!
Windows installation went smoothly. No more problems now!
Conclusion: Hard disk failure can happen, and sometimes you can tell if the hard disk is going to fail. Possible symptoms of a failing hard disk includes: Corrupted files & operating system, sluggish performance, noisy hard disk.
Conclusion: Computers will collect dust in the heat sink. If you notice slow performance or overheating, it is possible that the heat sink is clogged. When a computer overheats, it will try to cool down by slowing down (throttling), hence the slow performance. I would recommend cleaning the heat sink every 6 months depending on the usage and surrounding.
