Dual Laptop DEATH! HELP!

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:29 am

My mom, who is about as computer savvy as an ape on crack, has toasted TWO laptops in two weeks.

One of them is still running. The other one is not.

The symptoms are the same:

Runs fine...Boots down at the end of the night (Usually after around 14 hours non-stop use)...And when she boots it the next day, the LCD is all sorts of screwed up. The first one (Dell) had waving diagonal lines. That was a $4500 computer. Less than 2 years old. It hasn't booted up since.

The resent one (Still working...for now), is a Gateway, its five years old, and rather than diagonal lives, it has perfectly straight ones. They BOTH are "Wavy", meaning that the screen is glitching-out. The Gateway is a $1500 computer.

Both are high-def 17" widescreens. Both are Windows XP. Both are virus checked multiple times a day with AVG.

Obviously, this is a very heavy budget impact. So I'd like your opinion. Are they REALLY frying/fried, or am I missing something? What needs to be done?

Post by **bicostp** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:33 am

Sounds like the cable that connects the LCD to the laptop's motherboard came loose.

Plug an external monitor in and see what happens.

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:36 am

Tried that. Nothing happened. But I think is worse that it just coming out.

I had a similar theory:

The monitor cables broke.

Shes very hard on her laptops. Both screens have 2.5" to 3.5 swing in the hinges. In other words, they flop around after you open the screen. Those hinges should be TIGHT.

nitro2k01 · Post by **nitro2k01** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:49 am

When plugging in an eternal monitor, you usually need to press fn+F8 or some other combo to activate the external screen.

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:02 pm

The Gateway (to Hell) seems to have fixed itself for now. The Dell won't even boot.

How do I fix that one?

thehackerinside · Post by **thehackerinside** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:25 pm

Try cleaning out the heatsink, unplugging the harddrive and re plugging it in. Also try switching it on with out the battery,ram, HD and any thing else like that when connected to external power, Just remember to keep the CPU in.

Joe

Dr. KillGood · Post by **Dr. KillGood** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:43 pm

thehackerinside wrote:Try cleaning out the heatsink, unplugging the harddrive and re plugging it in. Also try switching it on with out the battery,ram, HD and any thing else like that when connected to external power, Just remember to keep the CPU in.

Joe

It wont boot if it has no RAM in it.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:09 pm

Dr. KillGood wrote:
thehackerinside wrote:Try cleaning out the heatsink, unplugging the harddrive and re plugging it in. Also try switching it on with out the battery,ram, HD and any thing else like that when connected to external power, Just remember to keep the CPU in.

Joe
It wont boot if it has no RAM in it.

Won't boot an OS, but it should come up with a screen saying it doesn't have ram, or at least beep a few times.

Why is a computer illiterate person using a $4000 laptop? Get your mom an older Panasonic Toughbook and replace the hard drive with a 4 or 8GB CF card. She probably doesn't need anything better than a 800MHz cpu and 256MB of ram.

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:16 pm

vskid wrote:
Dr. KillGood wrote:
thehackerinside wrote:Try cleaning out the heatsink, unplugging the harddrive and re plugging it in. Also try switching it on with out the battery,ram, HD and any thing else like that when connected to external power, Just remember to keep the CPU in.

Joe
It wont boot if it has no RAM in it.
Won't boot an OS, but it should come up with a screen saying it doesn't have ram, or at least beep a few times.

Why is a computer illiterate person using a $4000 laptop? Get your mom an older Panasonic Toughbook and replace the hard drive with a 4 or 8GB CF card. She probably doesn't need anything better than a 800MHz cpu and 256MB of ram.

Because shes a digital artist. Like myself. Computers that use programs like that (Photoshop, Corel, etc etc etc) require a**-loads of ram and HD space. That costs money.

Dr. KillGood · Post by **Dr. KillGood** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:30 pm

Get a desktop.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:32 pm

Get her a desktop. No moving one of those around the house, so it won't get damaged as easy. Plus desktops are usually half the cost of a laptop with similar power (I made up the half, but it should be close enough).
Or, if she just has to have a laptop, get a newer Toughbook. Not quite as fast, but will take a beating.

The best solution is to just teach her that you can't thrash them. It doesn't matter if she doesn't have a clue how a computer works, anyone can treat one nicely. If she doesn't want to change her ways, then tell her to expect to get a new laptop every year or two.

EDIT: killgood beat me to the desktop idea

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:44 pm

She doesn't want a desktop.

Post by **bicostp** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:18 pm

HBN wrote:She doesn't want a desktop.

Well, since she's rough on laptops, to that I say "tough crap".

You get a LOT more bang for your buck, and you can get those awesome Wacom Cintiq tablets and you won't have a peripheral larger than your computer.

Desktops are a lot cheaper, more versatile, more durable, and can be upgraded a lot easier. Seriously, you can build a kickass desktop for 4 grand.

Besides, does she ever move the laptop around? Laptops don't do any good when they die in a matter of months because you beat them up.

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:05 pm

You can't treat any computer the way she treats them. Laptop, desktop. Wont much matter. I shudder the day that she gets an Alienware because I know for a fact she'll forget to refill coolant tank. Such a waste of a fine piece of equipment, that is.

And she uses a Wacom on the laptop. Works perfectly, so I don't follow what you mean by that.

EDIT: And shes my mom. I can't exactly tell her "Tough crap".

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:13 pm

No offense, but your mom doesn't seem to get it. Does she like paying $4000 every few years for a new laptop? Even if she does need a new one, you could sell the old one if it wasn't thrashed. What does she do to abuse them? Sounds like you need to explain that the her abuse is the cause of the problems.