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From: Godsrick on 20 Sep 2006 09:38
This laptops screen is blank and there's a fan on the bottom that's
not working.
I'm a novice in PC hardware repair.
It's going to cost $200-$300 to repair.
Anyone have any suggestions as to how I should troubleshoot this
problem on my own? :crybaby:

From: Johanna on 20 Sep 2006 13:09
I have worked in IT for a while and I can tell you that fixing laptops
is normally not considered a good idea for novices, or even fairly
experienced people. (That said, it wouldn't surprise me if there are
people on this list who built their own laptop, so never say never... !)
..
However personally I don't have a personal laptop for this very reason.
I want something that I am able to troubleshoot and fix.
Laptops to me are a black box..... I once watched somebody put in
additional RAM in a work laptop that I had. That was straightforward.
But other than that I think it is fairly unusual for the majority of
(even) fairly technical people to play around with laptops. I am in
software though, not hardware.

If you have no previous hardware experience it seems like a risky
undertaking. You'd also forfeit the warranty which might apply if it is
found that there is a genuine hardware malfunction.
Be very careful so you don't make the problem worse!

Hopefully somebody else can give you more useful advice.

If I was in your shoes, I'd do one of the following:

1) Go back to where I bought the laptop and say that I'd followed the
manual to the letter and was appalled at this obvious component
malfunction.... Politely demand that they sort it out.

2) Check the vendor's forums and support pages, or search for people who
have experienced the same problem with the same model. See what they
did. Then take it from there (Sometimes with technical things as you
know, there is a super-easy fix (once you know what it is.. )

Good luck!
Johanna


Godsrick wrote:
> This laptops screen is blank and there's a fan on the bottom that's
> not working.
> I'm a novice in PC hardware repair.
> It's goinapg to cost $200-$300 to repair.
> Anyone have any suggestions as to how I should troubleshoot this
> problem on my own? :crybaby:
>

From: JAD on 20 Sep 2006 13:20
laptops are not easy to take apart. Get a digital camera and take pictures
as you dis-assemble.
The monitor being blank is not enough info to even guess at what the problem
might be.
Do you get any signal at all, splash screen?
The fan may or may not run contiuosly. LT's are very aware of power
consumption.
If the LCD is the issue then the 200 300 dollar repair is mostly the cost of
the monitor. (inflated as it may be)


"Godsrick" <no(a)spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:12h2h1rap88l742(a)news.supernews.com...
> This laptops screen is blank and there's a fan on the bottom that's
> not working.
> I'm a novice in PC hardware repair.
> It's going to cost $200-$300 to repair.
> Anyone have any suggestions as to how I should troubleshoot this
> problem on my own? :crybaby:
>


From: Johanna on 20 Sep 2006 16:09
Godsrick wrote:
> This laptops screen is blank and there's a fan on the bottom that's
> not working.
> I'm a novice in PC hardware repair.
> It's going to cost $200-$300 to repair.
> Anyone have any suggestions as to how I should troubleshoot this
> problem on my own? :crybaby:
>

Just do one thing before you write off the laptop though: If you haven't
already done that, try plugging it into a monitor!

It is not uncommon for people to bump the laptop and damage the
connection between the screen and the unit. The laptop itself could
still be working. Perhaps it is not booting (e.g. you do not hear the
fan) because it senses that the monitor is broken..

I get the impression you took it to a repair shop though to get the
quote that you mention? If you did that, they would have checked with a
monitor.

If you don't have a monitor, just try with a friend's or at the library.
Let us know if you found a solution!
Jo
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