[dragosmp]

Hey guys,

I found this great offer on the web to buy a lappy that has an issue: you know the power jack from the charger, you insert it in a mother-jack in the lappy. Well this mother-jack was apparently ripped off. Now the lappy can't be powered on since there's no more power.

What do you say? For one I think if there's only one jack to solder back on (or to replace) this can easily be done. On the other hand, is it likely the jack was soldered on the mobo - thus being a chance a piece of the mobo is ripped off?

Vote, but also lay opinions as easier it's to rep

D.

P.S. It's a Toshiba Satellite L10-154

 

[Mygaffer]

I work for a computer repair shop and we charge $195 for power jack repair, $225 for motherboard repair. That is about what you'll find at other places.
Tack that price onto what the cost of the laptop is and then ask yourself if it is worth it. If you haven't done it yourself before do not think that you can do it yourself, at least not without help from someone with a lot of experience.

Btw, what kind of laptop and what kind of deal? Is this like an ebay thing or something where it is getting shipped to you and you don't get to check it out before hand? Be careful. My coworker bought a mac book with a dead board and we were unable to repair it, a replacement board he bought showed up dead on arrival, it has basically cost him time and money and he still just has a dead mac book.

EDIT: I didn't vote because honestly it can be either or, there is no way to know with out actually getting your hands on it.

 

[dragosmp]

Thanks for the reply, but where I live (France) there's no one that fixes this kind of issues, hence the lowly price of the lappy. I wanna do it myself, I have a moderate experience in lappy repairing and in soldering.

It's an ebay style purchase, so beforehand I can't tell what's wrong. Still, in your experience, when these stuff happen, what is it that brakes? I'm laying more towards the fixation of the jack than towards a bad soldering or a cracked jack.

D.

 

[Mygaffer]

Honestly it is a mixed bag. Until you tear down the laptop and take a look you won't know. Did they describe the damage in detail? Maybe knowing how it happened can give you a better indicator.

 

[dragosmp]

I've tried, but he seemed to be a tech-impaired when reading the add. When I asked some details he freaked out. Ideas?

 

[VCheeZ]

The jack will cost you $15-$35. If it was a simple break (most are) then you will be looking at some soldering. In my experience, toshibas have used a separate PCB for the power board. They usually run about $135. If this is damaged, you can get one with the jack already on it. Worst case scenario is a damaged mobo, but unlikely. Best case scenario is 20 mins of unscrewing and soldering and $15.

In short, I say go for it. If the guy is not tech savvy, chances are you have a quick fix. I would be less optimistic if it was a guy who knew his stuff trying to pawn it off...

 

[dragosmp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VCheeZ In short, I say go for it. If the guy is not tech savvy, chances are you have a quick fix. I would be less optimistic if it was a guy who knew his stuff trying to pawn it off...

This idea came after fixing 2 lappys of a friend, she was ready to throw them to the garbage and all they needed were BIOS updates and minor fixes. I'll give it a go