Re: Home Office Laptops Its a plugable USB 2.0 docking station. Two front USBs and two in the back. One DVI out for the 1st monitor plus I have a 2nd video card adapter thingie for the second monitor both monitors are connected via hdmi to dvi. Battery life will rarely be an issue, it will spend most of the time in the docking station but I would like to keep the ability to travel with it if necessary. Most of the time it will be general browsing/word processing. There is potential for a moderate amount of data analysis mostly using Access for some the IS classes I have left to take. My wife would like to do some amateur photo editing (I bought her a beginners DSLR a couple years ago). So nothing super intensive....I just want to get as much life out of the machine as I can. Thanks again.
Just picked up a Asus Zenbook Prime 13.3" Awesome laptop with 5-6 hours of usability, 1080p IPS screen (Read this as awesome, IPS is the better LCD technology, wide viewing angle, super bright and awesome color rendition), SSD, super slim, and a bunch of other goodness such as back lit keyboard Worth looking into it
Yeah... for simple needs, I'd seriously consider an Ultrabook like the Asus Zenbook, Samsung Series 5 or Series 9, Thinkpad X1 Carbon, etc. The Samsung Series 7 is also a very nice little package, with more replaceable components but still light and compact.
Decent deal - not a laptop I've ever used, but it's a good price: <a class="postlink" href="http://gizmodo.com/this-11-inch-laptop-with-a-1080p-screen-is-your-deal-of-507607871?utm_source=feedly" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://gizmodo.com/this-11-inch-laptop- ... rce=feedly</a>
Well, I mean, anything with a motor in it can wear out but optical media drives have a pretty freakin' long lifespan. What are you experiencing?
It won't burn DVDs, no matter which program I use. I've tried different brands of DVDs, lowering the burn speed, etc.
...does the drive not spin up? Does it spin up and the program acts like it's burning, but the disc is still blank at the end? Is it 100% blank at the end - that is, you can look at it and see that there are no burned areas?
Yeah, probably just a broken laser. That's not really an "it wore out" thing - it broke, and I have tons of CD/DVD burners at work that are more than 10 years old.
I don't know what laptop you have, but almost assuredly yes. Look on the bottom, or get on the manufacturer's website and find the manual. There's a way to remove the drive, probably even without using tools.
I actually found a step by step video on YouTube. Ordered a brand new drive off Ebay for $30. Here's hoping.
My Asus laptop's motherboard is fucked. A friend in IT diagnosed it as probably a sodering issue, since it was flickering from battery to AC power for about a week before it died, until it wouldn't sense the AC power at all and now it's dead. The AC plug was firmly in place, no looseness at all. I do not want to replace the whole motherboard if possible because that will be pricey. I took it to best buy and they will charge $35 to ship it to their people to diagnose it, but I am worried they will tell me to just replace the whole motherboard. Does anyone know 1) How easy it might be to take it apart and figure out how to fix it ourselves, or 2) how reliable the best buy computer fixers are? I am about to see if there is a computer repair shop around somewhere, but I have had pretty shitty luck with local businesses here so I am hesitant to go that route. I just want to kick myself because the extended warranty expired in May and I forgot to renew it. fucccccckfuckfuck. Since they replaced the motherboard in 2011 and did a couple other minor repairs, I might have gotten a free laptop out of this deal.
I don't have any experience with Best Buy's repair service, but I kind of doubt they make any kind of soldering repairs given that all they list is "Find a Replacement Part" on their website: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Geek-Squad/Computer-Setup-Services/pcmcat138100050019.c?id=pcmcat138100050019" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Geek-Squad/ ... 8100050019</a> You might check with Asus directly and see if they can repair the board, but my guess is that they would just want to replace it as well. It's possible that a local authorized service vendor might be able to help. Short of that, you might be better off shipping it back to the mainland and have someone get it repaired for you. I can't speak for anywhere else, but I know of a few places in Texas that can do board level repairs.
That's pretty much what binary repped me as well regarding soldering when I originally posted an R&R about it. Blech. I guess it is going to sit here for the next 2 months until we can move back. I can't see paying shipping on that heavy ass laptop when we are going to be moving fairly soon.
If you have a local computer repair shop, they might be more inclined to talk to you about soldering it. Best Buy doesn't do stuff like that, but I worked for a small shop that would often customize repairs for the customer. I would never warranty or guarantee a repair like that if I still worked for a shop (soldering the power connector back on), but I'd be happy to do it for not much money if they customer wanted to take a shot. Otherwise, they'll all recommend you replace the motherboard. The other thing you could try is to see if it's the power adapter itself. This is super simple if you have a volt meter, and it's a normal-ish plug. Just put one contact on the "pin" on the laptop side plug, and one contact on the metal surround. Laptops are usually not as intimidating to take apart as most people think. You need to be clean, careful and make sure you know where all the connectors/screws go, but often there are instructions online or on YouTube on how to do it.
Thanks for the tip about the volt meter. I am starting to feel more confident about taking it apart myself. My friend was also encouraging me to get a cheap solder gun and some silver solder and do it myself. I need to get a baby screwdriver to get the back of the laptop removed but I have made up my mind to at least try. The solder gun and volt meter really aren't very expensive and I like to have these kinds of tools at my disposal in the "you never know" cabinet. I hate feeling helpless when shit goes wrong (usually either computer or car) so I am making an effort to learn a few things and be more capable.
A volt meter is one of those things that you only need occasionally, but there is absolutely no possible substitute when you need it, and they last forever, so it's a good item to have in the toolbox. It's likely, if the power connector on the motherboard is broken, that it has broken off at the trace in the motherboard, which can be a problem to fix if the motherboard is such that there are many little traces that surround it - if you put a blob of solder there, it can cause a short. You basically have very little to lose here, though - you are either going to fix it for a few bucks and a few tools, or burn out your motherboard which you would have had to replace anyway. All I'm saying is don't be discouraged if you can't fix it - next time something breaks, just open 'er up and try again. If you want, you can post pictures once you get the thing apart and I can try to help diagnose the problem.