MacBook Air Hinge Defect?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Over on Engadget's site here, it is reported that more than one customer has broken hinges on their MacBook Air. The article reads "the hinge becomes loose over time, then suddenly catches and cracks from normal use". Apple is currently not covering the issue under warranty.
Some models, such as HP's DV9000, have hinge defects (which are "known problems"), which are covered by a special warranty enhancement, even for machines out of warranty.
At the moment we're not sure how many MacBook Air laptops are affected.
Labels: Mac
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 8:33 PM,
,
Another DV9000 bad Nvidia GPU not Covered
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Another DV9000 came in today, with a defective Nvidia GPU.
This unit had very bad distorted video. On occasion it will not POST. The GPU is bad.
This particular DV9000 was a DV9074cl (P/N EZ457UA). Motherboard P/N = 432945-001.
As of right now, HP will not cover it.
HP's website says they will not cover EZ457UA models but they will cover EZ457UAR models. These are almost the identical model and both use the defective 432945-001 motherboard. The only difference is EZ457UA were sold new and EZ457UAR models were sold as refurbished. They both have the Nvidia GO 7600 GPU.
GPU reads:
NVIDIA 42N3RH 0642A2
A TAIWAN
NA2041.00
GF-GO7600-N-A2
Hundreds, possibly thousands of people have defective GO 7600 GPUs.
There is a thread on HP's site here with several unhappy customers.
At the moment (02/24/2009) HP wants around $460 for a motherboard. We're able to repair these machines for around $449 right now, that is both parts & labor.
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 7:41 AM,
,
Knock-based commands for your Linux laptop
Sunday, February 22, 2009
If you have a 2003> ThinkPad laptop with an accelerometer running Ubuntu or another flavor of Linux, you must check out the knock-based commands here on IBM.com.
Labels: accelerometer, Linux, ThinkPad
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 7:16 PM,
,
HP Pavilion s3100n Slimline home PC (GJ474AA) Problem
Thursday, February 19, 2009
We had a HP Pavilion s3100n Slimline home PC (GJ474AA) come in this week. The motherboard was bad. We started pricing up the motherboard RX890-69001 (which has been replaced by 5188-7102) and discovered that this machine has the Nvidia GPU problem. HP will fix the machine as stated on their website here.
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 9:31 AM,
,
Asus X83VB Laptop Screen Repair
An ASUS X83VB came in last week. Our customer cracked the screen.
According to our customer the manufacturer wanted over $1000 to repair the machine.
According to our customer he took it to G*** Squad and while diagnosing it they ripped the LCD cable in half. We've never seen that before, but whatever.
He found us online & promptly brought it here.
The screens for these are LED lit and cost a little more than regular screens. We sell them for $399.
The cable is another story though. We asked Asus eStore customer service for a quote on the cable and 8 days later we received a note asking to check back in "2 - 3 months". Yikes.
We'll likely be able to rebuild the cable here but it will be very time consuming.
Either way our customer will end up with the machine being repaired at half price.
Labels: ASUS
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 8:38 AM,
,
Vonage Lawsuit
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Click here for more information on the Vonage lawsuit. We don't like to see people get sued but sometimes, well, see for yourself..
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 6:11 PM,
,
Installing Linux via USB just got Easier
From the UNetbootin site:
UNetbootin allows you to create bootable Live USB drives for a variety of Linux distributions from Windows or Linux, without requiring you to burn a CD.
UNetbootin may be downloaded here.
Cool utility! We just found it earlier- one of our walk in customers wanted to load Ubuntu onto his Eee PC. This will do the trick!
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 1:56 PM,
,
HP Warranty declined (Nvidia GPU Failure)
Friday, February 13, 2009
Another DV9000 came in today, with, of course, a defective Nvidia GPU.
This unit had very bad distorted video. There were lines over all text- green lines, red lines, the GPU was ruined. Open and close case you'd think- send it off to HP. Well... HP tech support said if the screen turns on that the unit will NOT be covered. Anyone can glance at this machine and realize the GPU is shot but the rep insisted unless it met one of the guidelines (No video, no power, etc) it would not be covered. For a small charge we'll handle the warranty here. It WILL be covered.
It is bad enough these machines were sold with so many problems (the DV9000 has wireless issues, a LCD hinge that breaks, a defective GPU, etc) but to not be covered is just wrong. Hopefully it was just the rep. We'll find out Monday...
This particular DV9000 was a DV9250UA (P/N RP250UA) which came with a 434659-001 motherboard.
Printed on the GPU:
NVIDIA
U702B310 0707B1
S TAIWAN
NA 8639.OOP
GF-607600-H-N-B1
This particular GPU had red glue all the way around it.
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 12:28 PM,
,
Clearwire is here
Thursday, February 12, 2009
We're now an authorized Clearwire mobile broadband dealer. You can come in and get set up with Clearwire broadband the same day. We have in stock:
Broadband modems
Broadband PC card modems for laptops
Broadband PC Express modems card for laptops
To see the coverage areas please visit Clearwire's site here.
Labels: clearwire
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 1:48 PM,
,
AbsoluteRaleigh joins NFIB
AbsoluteRaleigh joins NFIB.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is the leading small business association representing small and independent businesses.
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 1:43 PM,
,
Sony Trinitron KV-32HS500 Fixed
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Josh over here inherited a broken Sony Trinitron KV-32HS500 TV. After doing some research online it turned out that the issue has happened to more than one of these TVs.
The problem: Some KV-32HS500 can develop an issue, when the TV is turned on, it will run its startup tests then there will be no picture at all and the standby light will blink 6 times.
The solution: To repair the machine here we replaced the two MCZ3001D semiconductors on the D board. The two semiconductors are labeled on the D board as IC6501 and IC8002. We replaced the two $8 chips and were up and running again.
The entire D board may be purchased from Sony for $190 as of Feb. 2009.
Most of this info & more can be found on agoraquest.com.
And no, we're not getting into TV repair. Yet, anyways, we'll see how the LCDs behave in a year or two...
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 9:51 AM,
,
Gateway M255-E
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Another Gateway in for repair that should have been covered under warranty.
This one was here for our backlight repair service.
The Gateway M255-E is the same machine as a NX260. The M255-E was marketed as a "business machine" and the NX260 was marketed as a "consumer machine".
Labels: backlight, Gateway, MPC
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 8:33 AM,
,
Gateway Warranty Info
We'll be following up with a more detailed blog about about the Gateway warranty problem shortly with a Gateway Warranty FAQ.
Right now we're getting in Gateway laptops which should be covered by someone under warranty but are NOT being covered.
One of our good customers, a police department, has several of these laptops. You try to contact Gateway for warranty, and they tell you to call MPC Computers, which is CLOSED. In late 2007, Gateway sold most of it's business to MPC and a few months later MPC went Bankrupt, conveniently leaving tens of thousands of people with NO warranty. Acer bought "Gateway" a few days later and does not have to deal with the warranty problems.
Let the class action lawsuits begin.
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 8:27 AM,
,
Some DV2000 Nvidia GPU failure NOT covered?
Apparently, some of the DV2000 laptops with a bad Nvidia GPU are NOT being covered.
Today a DV2418NR came in with a bad graphics chip and HP would NOT replace the motherboard for us.
The model's P/N is KA253UA.
The rep we spoke to could not explain why the unit was not covered. He said maybe it was sold outside of the US. We're pretty sure that info is incorrect.
According to HP's page here, the only DV24xx models they ARE covering are:
GA532UA GA535UA GM035UA GM039UA RX693AV
GA533UA GA536UA GM037UA GM040UA RX694AV
GA534UA GA537UA GM038UA RX692AV
We'll dig further into this and see if thy use the same GPU or not. If it does not use a known defective GPU then obviously HP will not cover it. But, we've seen so many dead DV2000 laptops w/ bad Nvidia GPU......
You can read more about the Nvidia GPU problem here.
posted by AbsoluteRaleigh @ 8:07 AM,
,
