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23 Jul 2007, 03:10
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#1
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Angry Young Man
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Mister Cacciatore's down on Sullivan Street
Posts: 7,518
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Laptop Problems
So for no reason at all, i turned on my laptop and it appears my display is ****ed. Imagine the screen is made up of four quarters, divided by vertical stripes. Well, the far left quarter is greyed out - as if the lighting is on at half power. gr8!
I've checked the drivers, etc, but its clearly a hardware issue - i restarted and went into the set up screen, and you can clearly see the same quarter of it is greyed out too.
SO;
1. Is this a problem that you reckon can be easily / cheaply fixed? Any ideas on approximate costs? Im not sending it away to Asus again as that was a complete ****ing disaster last time. Im also not paying £50 to get it looked at before anything is even done to the machine, especially as its a good couple of years old now.
2. Where is good to buy a new laptop? And by good, i mean reliable/cheap. I dont game, and i dont really use my machine for anything other than downloading, playing music, watching films and being a butte on IRC.
3. How far have prices dropped / has technology marched on in the last 2 years? Am i naive in thinking my mid-range laptop of 2 years ago may be a low-range laptop of today?
My current machine Specs:
ASUS A2D Mobile AMD Athlon XP-M 2800+ 2.13GHz
2.13 GHz
512MB RAM
15" Screen
35GB HD
DVD +/- RW
HD not an issue because i use an external one now; A bigger screen and i'd have to get a bigger laptop bag and i'm tight, DVD +/- RW prefferable but not essential as i have an external one now, and i wouldnt settle for a slower processor or less RAM than i have now obviously but i dont care about adding too much more.
Any help, much appreciated.
__________________
Believe in me, cause i don't believe in anything
And i wanna be someone, to believe, to believe in
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23 Jul 2007, 05:07
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#2
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Old Man O Deh *****s
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: In spelelpee land
Posts: 3,516
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Re: Laptop Problems
__________________
Dead_Meat
You dont need to keep beating a dog to get it to stop shitting on the carpet
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23 Jul 2007, 05:57
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#3
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Good Son
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Finland
Posts: 3,991
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
2. Where is good to buy a new laptop? And by good, i mean reliable/cheap. I dont game, and i dont really use my machine for anything other than downloading, playing music, watching films and being a butte on IRC.
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A long warranty?
Beyond that, it's hard to say. Each brand seems to have it's bombs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deffeh
3. How far have prices dropped / has technology marched on in the last 2 years? Am i naive in thinking my mid-range laptop of 2 years ago may be a low-range laptop of today?
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A *lot*. A two-year-old midrange will probably barely make it to the low budget notebooks. 512mb is absolute minimum RAM you get nowadays, and the processors have hopped miles.
The Acer DM mentions seems good enough, but you'd probably enjoy a 14.1"er.
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23 Jul 2007, 11:44
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#4
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:alpha:
Join Date: May 2002
Location: London, UK
Posts: 7,871
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Re: Laptop Problems
Hiya
Deffeh
can
you
read
this
as
it's
on
the
left
of
your
screen?
PS
sorry
I
can't
help
your
thread
__________________
"There is no I in team, but there are two in anal fisting"
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23 Jul 2007, 12:46
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#5
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Old Man O Deh *****s
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: In spelelpee land
Posts: 3,516
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tietäjä
...but you'd probably enjoy a 14.1"er.
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[predictable]
IN THE ASS!
[/predictable]
__________________
Dead_Meat
You dont need to keep beating a dog to get it to stop shitting on the carpet
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23 Jul 2007, 13:19
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#6
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Angry Young Man
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Mister Cacciatore's down on Sullivan Street
Posts: 7,518
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomkat
Hiya
Deffeh
can
you
read
this
as
it's
on
the
left
of
your
screen?
PS
sorry
I
can't
help
your
thread
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Its greyed out; but not blacked out. Also your avatar and shit was in the way. But i appreciate the effort.
Man expensive stuff sure is expensive
__________________
Believe in me, cause i don't believe in anything
And i wanna be someone, to believe, to believe in
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23 Jul 2007, 13:28
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#7
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Old Man O Deh *****s
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: In spelelpee land
Posts: 3,516
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Re: Laptop Problems
Also from what was Simply
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/...273054&CatId=0
Price:
£289.99 ex VAT
(£340.74 inc VAT)
Intel Celeron-M 430 1.73GHz
512 MB DDR II SDRAM - 667 MHz - PC2-5300
80 GB - Serial ATA Hard Drive
DVD±RW Dual Layer
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home
Wireless 802.11a/b/g LAN
15" XGA TFT Display
Fingerprint Security
Bluetooth
I'm sure you can get more features, but I'd say that's pretty much base price for a new unit.
__________________
Dead_Meat
You dont need to keep beating a dog to get it to stop shitting on the carpet
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23 Jul 2007, 13:46
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#8
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Good Son
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Finland
Posts: 3,991
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Re: Laptop Problems
Unless you want to hit the Ebay wheel of fortune.
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23 Jul 2007, 13:59
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#9
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Good Son
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Finland
Posts: 3,991
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Re: Laptop Problems
In fact, a Dell Inspiron 1501 which fits DM's rectal better for 14.1" WXGA, 512mb RAM, AMD Sempron 3500+, and the other gadgets starts at 348.99£. With a DVD/RW it's 372.49£, and 401.87£ if you want to go hi-tech and grab 1GB RAM (although guessing you're not after any performance, so a sluggish WinXP cuts it for your needs). Including VAT and shipments.
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23 Jul 2007, 14:00
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#10
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so f*cking zen
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Hitting Bottom
Posts: 8,499
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Re: Laptop Problems
Def, have you tried switching it off and on at the wall? That might solve your laptop problems.
__________________
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
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23 Jul 2007, 14:18
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#11
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Old Man O Deh *****s
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: In spelelpee land
Posts: 3,516
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Re: Laptop Problems
How about we switch you on and off? That might solve your sexlife problems.
__________________
Dead_Meat
You dont need to keep beating a dog to get it to stop shitting on the carpet
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23 Jul 2007, 14:20
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#12
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so f*cking zen
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Hitting Bottom
Posts: 8,499
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Re: Laptop Problems
My sexlife is pretty good at the moment thanks.
__________________
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
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23 Jul 2007, 14:23
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#13
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Old Man O Deh *****s
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: In spelelpee land
Posts: 3,516
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Re: Laptop Problems
Somehow, I suspect this is related to the appearance of the new Harry Potter book, which brings more children into the streets and shops.
AM I RITE?
__________________
Dead_Meat
You dont need to keep beating a dog to get it to stop shitting on the carpet
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23 Jul 2007, 14:27
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#14
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so f*cking zen
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Hitting Bottom
Posts: 8,499
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Re: Laptop Problems
Actually if anything the Harry Potter book is a bad thing. Sure the kids are out getting the book but they're out with their parents. Then they're stuck at home, inside, reading away. As such it means alot less young poon out and about.
Also you'd be suprised at the number of Harry Potter fans, young sweet girls, who don't actually want to see a magic wand.
__________________
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
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23 Jul 2007, 14:30
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#15
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Old Man O Deh *****s
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: In spelelpee land
Posts: 3,516
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Re: Laptop Problems
You've put some thought into this, haven't you?
__________________
Dead_Meat
You dont need to keep beating a dog to get it to stop shitting on the carpet
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23 Jul 2007, 14:31
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#16
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so f*cking zen
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Hitting Bottom
Posts: 8,499
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Re: Laptop Problems
I like thinking things through. It helps that you've got your story straight when the Police start interviewing.
__________________
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
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23 Jul 2007, 21:09
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#17
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Emperor
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: in front of a computer
Posts: 490
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deffeh
So for no reason at all, i turned on my laptop and it appears my display is ****ed. Imagine the screen is made up of four quarters, divided by vertical stripes. Well, the far left quarter is greyed out - as if the lighting is on at half power. gr8!
I've checked the drivers, etc, but its clearly a hardware issue - i restarted and went into the set up screen, and you can clearly see the same quarter of it is greyed out too.
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At first it is important that you make sure it is a real hardware problem. Verify that it is independent of your installed OS and driver configuration (a quick and easy test would be to run another OS installation from a bootable CD/DVD - for example some kind of linux like KNOPPIX).
Now if you made sure it is a hardware problem, a common problem could be the connection between your display panel and the lower part of the laptop containing the motherboard/cpu/memory/fans/hard disk/keyboard etc. Sometimes its enough to verify and re-adjust the cable connection responsible for carrying the signals to the display panel. Sometimes you can verify this problem without even disassembling the notebook by gently applying pressure around the place where the cables are connected. In case of a tear/wear cable problem you should see the display problem change and with a bit of luck even disappear if you apply pressure at the correct place.
It is a common problem for some types of laptops and i have extended the lifetime of several notebooks by an additional year or 2 by repairing it myself (disassemble notebook carefully, check and redo all cable connections, remove dirt from keyboard/mainboard and sometimes fix cables).
You should look around the internet and maybe you are lucky and somebody documented how to disassemble your laptop before you try it yourself. Some of them (esp. Sony) are tricky.
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23 Jul 2007, 21:15
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#18
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Insomniac
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 3,583
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deffeh
So for no reason at all, i turned on my laptop and it appears my display is ****ed. Imagine the screen is made up of four quarters, divided by vertical stripes. Well, the far left quarter is greyed out - as if the lighting is on at half power. gr8!
I've checked the drivers, etc, but its clearly a hardware issue - i restarted and went into the set up screen, and you can clearly see the same quarter of it is greyed out too.
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I had a similar problem with my laptop after one particularly bumpy bus ride. Sent it off under warranty repair.
Turns out the cable that connects to the lcd inside the monitor housing had came loose on one end, and that was the cause of it.
Its not something i recommend repairing yourself, given its the monitor of a laptop we're talking about here but its reasonable simply to fix if the cause is the same for you.
Otherwise, the fix would be for them to replace the entire lcd and associated components and that costs a wee bit.\
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deffeh
2. Where is good to buy a new laptop? And by good, i mean reliable/cheap. I dont game, and i dont really use my machine for anything other than downloading, playing music, watching films and being a butte on IRC.
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dabs, ebuyer perhaps, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deffeh
3. How far have prices dropped / has technology marched on in the last 2 years? Am i naive in thinking my mid-range laptop of 2 years ago may be a low-range laptop of today?
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Its moved on quite a bit, and no you are not naive to be thinking that - but it wont be as bad as low-end but its close to it.
You should find laptops around the approximate spec below for ~300-400 max
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23 Jul 2007, 21:57
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#19
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: London
Posts: 3,347
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil^
Otherwise, the fix would be for them to replace the entire lcd and associated components and that costs a wee bit.\
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He could get a broken version of his laptop off Ebay and switch the bits over, assuming of couse that a broken screen isn't part of the problem.
__________________
The 20th century has been characterised by three developments of great political importance. The growth of democracy; the growth of corporate power; and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.
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23 Jul 2007, 23:19
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#20
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Angry Young Man
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Mister Cacciatore's down on Sullivan Street
Posts: 7,518
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Re: Laptop Problems
some very useful advice, and some non ironic thankyous from me
Im not going to take the thing apart; i dont have time, and i dont trust myself to not make it worse. I put a little bit of pressure down but it doesnt seem to have done anything, i'll try again in a bit i guess.
RE repairs:
Where would you reccomend - any chans, a local place, etc?
What can i expect to pay?
The laptop is no longer under warranty and even if it was i wouldnt be sending it to ASUS because im not waiting 3-4 weeks for them to bill me for
Parts
VAT
Labour
Delivery
in total about £120ish.
__________________
Believe in me, cause i don't believe in anything
And i wanna be someone, to believe, to believe in
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24 Jul 2007, 05:49
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#21
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Good Son
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Finland
Posts: 3,991
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Re: Laptop Problems
If the problem is with the graphics card being just plain broken, it's going to be tough to repair. Those are often very much interconnected to the motherboards, and most laptops don't really have an option to reasonably change one without going through major revamps. Then again, assuming it's an intel GMA, I'm astonished it's broken in the first place.
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24 Jul 2007, 10:44
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#22
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I am an idiot
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,145
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Re: Laptop Problems
in my experience it will almost certainly be the LCD panel that is faulty. You could try replacing the harness (the cable that connects it to the motherboard) but they wont only cost you pennies to buy and if it doesnt fix the problem you will have wasted the £30-£50 it will probably have cost to buy plus the time you spent installing it.
It might be a loose connector as suggested but unlilkely in my experience considering you have had the laptop for years without problem. That sort of thing doesnt just waggle about in there its pretty snug and in cases of loose connectors its usually evident fairly early on and down to poor assembly.
You could try to download some ASUS diagnostics and see if there is a video chipset test to run, but this will most likely be integrated on your motherboard so to replace will require a new motherboard.
IMO your best bet is to ensure it is not a loose cable problem or a graphic chipset problem first then try and get an old broken ASUS laptop from ebay and swap the LCD panel over, it wont be too tricky if you are careful but looking around on google I cant find any disassembly instructions to help you.
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27 Jul 2007, 15:11
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#23
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: London
Posts: 3,347
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Re: Laptop Problems
Which is best?
this
Or
this
?
__________________
The 20th century has been characterised by three developments of great political importance. The growth of democracy; the growth of corporate power; and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.
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27 Jul 2007, 15:20
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#24
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Registered Awesome Person
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 5,676
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
Originally Posted by All Systems Go
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Have you thought about whether or not you want to be running Vista?
__________________
Finally free!
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27 Jul 2007, 15:27
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#25
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Good Son
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Finland
Posts: 3,991
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Re: Laptop Problems
The Acer is by hardware superior. Smaller (as you won't be gaming with those anyways, 14.1" WXGVA is enough for office use), otherwise mainly identical with a little better graphics. It's not going to run Vista anywhere near good enough, though.
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28 Jul 2007, 16:23
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#26
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The Twilight of the Gods
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,481
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Re: Laptop Problems
GB2FYAD, but this time make it the FYAD of a few years ago so you actually manage to improve your posting rather than just making it into some sort of idiotic circle jerk.
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28 Jul 2007, 16:53
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#27
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Aardvark is a funny word
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: I'm No Nino Rota
Posts: 5,923
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Re: Laptop Problems
how do you circle jerk on your own?
__________________
Efficiency, efficiency they say
Get to know the date and tell the time of day
As the crowds begin complaining
How the Beaujolais is raining
Down on darkened meetings on the Champs Élysées
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28 Jul 2007, 17:52
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#28
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The Twilight of the Gods
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,481
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phang
how do you circle jerk on your own?
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Horn has an unusual penile defect.
Posting multiple times in series is another way.
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28 Jul 2007, 18:34
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#29
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Henry Kelly
Join Date: Apr 2000
Posts: 7,374
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Re: Laptop Problems
Acers can be bought reasonably cheaply and I've had mine for two years now with absolutely no problems. My girlfriend just bought a newy, £500 or so, with a staggeringly pretty rigid screen though she went for an AMD Turion proc in it which feels less than awesome in Vista (though she's got all the bells and whistles turned on so ymmv). You even get surprisingly good graphics chips in them (there's a decent enough ATI Mobility chip in this to run C&C3 quite happily), large HDDs and good amounts of RAM for very little money really.
Notebooks are frankly absurdly cheap compared even with a year ago, especially considering the spec you can get for your money. For twice what you'd likely pay for a consultation and repair on your existing one you can get a new one that'll probably be spec'd about twice as good as the broken one was anyway.
And if you're thinking of going down that route, you might as well see if you can get some of the case removed near the screen hinges and check it's nothing obvious like a loose/broken cable. Even if you can't fix it, you can probably sell it for parts to pay for a few bevvies so it's pretty much win-win.
Just don't buy it from EBuyer, which would pretty much be my standard advice for any purchase that you can't afford to make again if it arrives broken and you're left waiting two months for a damned RMA.
__________________
You're now playing ketchup
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29 Jul 2007, 00:52
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#30
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Good Son
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Finland
Posts: 3,991
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
Originally Posted by horn
overall i would say i do not trust this brand.
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I was mainly refering to the video card.
Quote:
just popped in 2 let u guys know that intel have dropped their 1333mhz fsb chips' price tag. lookin' like some hot deals. hot. so um, hope that helps and stuff, catch ya later (haters)
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Doesn't help with laptops though, spite maybe an Asus C90S.
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29 Jul 2007, 09:03
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#31
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: London
Posts: 3,347
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
Originally Posted by furball
Have you thought about whether or not you want to be running Vista?
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I honestly have not. How unreliable is Vista atm?
I've not considered it because I doubt I will need Vista for anything as I don't really play games or do anything to need it.
__________________
The 20th century has been characterised by three developments of great political importance. The growth of democracy; the growth of corporate power; and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.
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29 Jul 2007, 10:29
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#32
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cynic
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Bishop Auckland Co. Durham
Posts: 8,809
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Re: Laptop Problems
vista is still at least a year away from being a sensible choice of OS
__________________
lazy
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29 Jul 2007, 10:37
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#33
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Good Son
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Finland
Posts: 3,991
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
Originally Posted by All Systems Go
I honestly have not. How unreliable is Vista atm?
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The thing is, why you'll probably want to pick up the laptop with XP on it. Generally, XP is a little bit of a soak in what comes to RAM. I run excessive useless programs (55 processes running at the moment), and I've got around 500mb RAM in use. Whatever exceeds the RAM is paged from the hard drive, and that's piss slow in compared to RAM. Vista will be more hardware greedy than XP, and the gains are very tiny. What I am saying, that it's going to be uncomfortable to use.
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29 Jul 2007, 11:42
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#34
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: London
Posts: 3,347
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Re: Laptop Problems
Is there a reliable 'build-your-own' laptop shop on-line?
I'm not too bothered about the HD or RAM (as long as it is upgradable to a decent amount) as I'll probably get an external HD.
I've got a copy of Windows XP on disk to install so I'm not to bothereed if it comes with an OS or not.
I don't really play games so that's not going to be a great issue so as long as it's got a decent processor and sound card, I don't really mind.
__________________
The 20th century has been characterised by three developments of great political importance. The growth of democracy; the growth of corporate power; and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.
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29 Jul 2007, 16:01
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#35
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Emperor
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: in front of a computer
Posts: 490
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Re: Laptop Problems
You shouldnt rely on using swapspace nowadays. RAM prices are pretty low right now and 1gig of 667/800 DDR2 so-dimm costs about 40 Euro including VAT here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by All Systems Go
I'm not too bothered about the HD or RAM (as long as it is upgradable to a decent amount) as I'll probably get an external HD.
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The problem with upgrading existent RAM in a notebook is that in most cases you dont have slots free. So you need to replace the existing RAM instead of adding to it.
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29 Jul 2007, 23:47
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#36
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Registered Awesome Person
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 5,676
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
Originally Posted by All Systems Go
Is there a reliable 'build-your-own' laptop shop on-line?
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www.laptopsdirect.com was recommended to me when I bought mine, and they did a very good job.
__________________
Finally free!
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30 Jul 2007, 00:29
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#37
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Angry Young Man
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Mister Cacciatore's down on Sullivan Street
Posts: 7,518
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Re: Laptop Problems
Also you all lose internet points. If someone else here had started a thread called 'laptop problems' the very first thing i would have done is come in and say 'the problem with ur laptop is theres a butt typing on it' before trying to be helpful
__________________
Believe in me, cause i don't believe in anything
And i wanna be someone, to believe, to believe in
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30 Jul 2007, 16:07
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#38
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Banned
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Further to the right
Posts: 19,441
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Re: Laptop Problems
I'm pretty sure using those dreadful smilies is the step beyond post-irony back into utter shitness.
__________________
Some might ask what good is life without purpose but I'm anticipating a good lunch.
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30 Jul 2007, 16:18
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#39
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Banned
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Further to the right
Posts: 19,441
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Re: Laptop Problems
Quote:
Originally Posted by horn
maybe you could write a funny post about your reasoning behind that conclusion
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Veni, vidi, buttum.
__________________
Some might ask what good is life without purpose but I'm anticipating a good lunch.
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30 Jul 2007, 17:27
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#40
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: London
Posts: 3,347
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Re: Laptop Problems
http://geek.pricegrabber.com/search_...terid=43031148
this is an American site then? So a $599.99 laptop will cost £296.50
So does this site give you a collection of the best prices from prope shops or is it more like E-bay?
__________________
The 20th century has been characterised by three developments of great political importance. The growth of democracy; the growth of corporate power; and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.
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30 Jul 2007, 18:47
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#41
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: London
Posts: 3,347
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Re: Laptop Problems
Before I buy a laptop could someone answer this for me, what is a warranty?
If I have a one year warranty and I leave my laptop on continuously for 364 days and the power supply burns out (which might be an exaggeration of what happened to my curent laptop ), can I get it fixed for free?
__________________
The 20th century has been characterised by three developments of great political importance. The growth of democracy; the growth of corporate power; and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.
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30 Jul 2007, 20:56
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#42
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Good Son
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Finland
Posts: 3,991
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Re: Laptop Problems
Yes. You should. Of course, it depends on the terms of the given warranty - a lot of warranties are somewhat limited. You'll get a ticket with the terms with the package, or you can ask them about it.
Also, a place worth visiting when it comes to laptops is NBR.
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