Add a touchscreen to your current laptop

We just ran across an article on a blog that shows a NAVIsys touchscreen add on that lets you add on a touchscreen to almost any laptop.

The article is here.

Swollen batteries affecting 17-inch MacBook Pros too?

The engorged battery photos you see above and in the gallery below were sent to us by a reader named Brian. He claims that he was watching a movie on his 17-inch MacBook Pro (core duo) when it suddenly shut off. This happened twice before, only this time with a notable difference: his battery was fit to burst.



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Raleigh, Durham NC Laptop Users join the Laptop Owners Frappr

Since mentioning it a week ago, several Raleigh and Durham users joined the frappr, or more specifically, the Laptop Onwer's Frappr.

If you are wondering what a frappr is, well, visit frappr.com. The Laptop Owners Frappr is basically a neat map of laptop owners- wrldwide! Check it out and see who uses what kind of laptop. Don't be shy, sign on and give a shout out!

COMPAQ R3000 LAPTOP Problems Cured!

The Compaq R3000 Laptop problems are finally cured.

Yes, this is a model we get in almost daily here. They're a great laptop, but they're finally developing problems that need cures for.

Unfortunately, a lot of stores will tell people that their laptop is beyond repair, but usually this is simply not true.

- The power jacks break. We fix that here for $149 flat. (See our jack repair page here.)

- Displays go out. This is normally nothing major and we fix most display issues for around $149.

- Fans break. The units overheat or need maintenance to the cooling system. Again, nothing major.

- Video chips fry. This normally requires a new motherboard. At this point a $400 motherboard is needed (They're that much as of 03/2007). It is questionable- it may or may not be worth repairing. The money may be better off invested into a newer machine but we do still replace boards for people. We also buy broken laptops...

- LCDs crack. No, not on their own! (Even though some people say they do, hehe..) We do replace these and can beat most prices out there. There are a few different screens used in the R3000 so we won't get into pricing details here, but many of the widescreens are only around $275 or even less.

Well, there you have it. The most common problems with the R3000 can be cured!

DELL Latitude D600 Laptop REPAIR

Dell Latitude D600 laptop... Repaired!

Ah, the Dell D600... Where do we begin... These are actually a fairly decent machine until the motherboard fails... (Note: We repair many of the motherboard issues, please see our Dell repair page here.)

The Latitude D600 and the Inspiron 600m are basically the same machine. The LCD hinges and a few of the plastics are different, but that is it for the most part... A lot of people insist that the Latitude is for business users and that the Inspiron is for home users, but that is just the way that they were marketed.

Anyways, these were nice units but after a while components come loose on the motherboard, the power jack breaks, displays go out, etc. We get this model in particular in on a DAILY basis. And no, that isn't because Dell sells a lot of laptops... Unless the motherboard is totally shot, these are normally worth repairing and keeping around for a bit longer...

If yours is broke, get it repaired (here)!

HP NX9500 Laptops Repaired!

Yes, it is true. The good old NX9500 laptops are here for repair. There must not be many of these out there, as we've only had 10 or 15 in for repair to date. These are basically an HP ZD7000 laptop in disguise. They have the same problems that the ZD7000 has, including, overheating issues, video issues, no display, bad power jacks, etc. HP/Compaq is famous here for making the same laptop repeatedly and slightly changing the appearance and calling it something completely different. In this case the NX9500 is marketed towards business users and the ZD7000 was marketed towards end users.

ASUS W5Fe - World's First SideShow Notebook

ASUS W5Fe - World's First SideShow Notebook

The compact 12" wide notebook with cutting-edge SideShow, external auxiliary display on the LCD cover, offers high mobility with quick and easy data access convenience. Known for its strong engineering strength, ASUS once again takes the lead into the new Vista era.

(Full story.)

The current laptop owner's frappr!

video: A jet powered laptop!

What is error: 550 Your HELO string is incorrect ?

We commonly hear "What is error: 550 Your HELO string is incorrect" ?

To fix this in Outlook, you must check the box "My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication.

GeekSquad "Turned in to garbage"

GeekSquad turned into garbage?

Hear what one of their emploee's has to say.

The full article is here.

We've heard a LOT of nasty stories about them lately- it has become a daily event...

Apple QuickTime contains multiple vulnerabilities

As of right now, the QuickTime site does not mention the vulnerabilities exist! People who use the quicktime player (almost everyone) are vulnerable.

Apple QuickTime contains multiple vulnerabilities. Exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial-of-service condition.

This applies to Windows and OSX. Details:

http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA07-065A.html

Solution: Upgrade to v. 7.1.5.

The latest version of QuickTime is here:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

No Paypal help?

It reads: “Thank you for registering your complaint about this transaction. Unfortunately, this type of transaction is not elgible for Paypal dispute resolution. We encourage you to continue to work directly with your seller, as we have found that many misunderstandings reach amicable solutions through communications.”

Yeah, ok. If we were able to reach an amicable solution would we be complaining? In order to get this message we filled out all of the silly forms, provided tracking details, etc, etc, just to get this completely stupid message. Our guess is that these are considered big words by most eBay employees and they think it will make us give up hope.

Nah, that is why we use credit cards.

An image of a missing power jack

This customer sent in a pic of his laptop before sending the unit in. The power jack was loose- they twisted and yanked on it until it was completely missing. Parts of it were bouncing around inside the laptop. The unit made it in and the area around the power jack was complete destroyed. With some re-wiring we were able to repair the machine.

42" Plasma TV

One of our customers had us order him one of these. We're not in the TV business but we were able to find him a good deal on one and he wanted to keep the business local. =)

Apex Waste Fire Pic

A pic of the waste fire in Apex, NC on 10/05/06.

IBM ThinkPad T30 LCD Repair

We had an IBM ThinkPad T30 come in earlier. One of the local shops had misdiagnosed this one and told the customer that they needed a new motherboard. The problem, however, was the LCD...

Here's a pic of the screen.

A Movie Star's ThinkPad laptop setup

One of our customers, who happens to be an actor, emailed us some pics of his office. He uses several ThinkPad laptops- a few of them have been here for repair at one point or another. His favorites are the T and X series.

Can you guess who he is?