Sidewalk Surfboard Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 So, my laptop at this point is thoroughly fucked. The screen keeps going so dark that I can't do anything without struggling to see, and the fan barely works so I have to constantly keep fans on around it so it won't overheat. If it overheats, the motherboard freaks out and sends random signals to the keys on the keyboard. My laptop is coming close to its death, and knowing how poor we are, it's unknown whether or not I'll be able to get online without this thing. I'm saving all my files onto my USB stick, and I'm worried as all hell. I seriously don't know what I'll do without this laptop. Accessing Phoenix will be possible at school, but again, when summer comes along and if my laptop is dead by then, I might not be able to do anything. I'm fucked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terminal7 Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 No phone? The site seems to work decently on mobile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Shit man... I hope it at least lasted for a long time. For how many years did you have this thing? Is there possibly something you can do to scrounge up a little cash to buy a new one? If you're on a budget and are willing to sacrifice the portability of a laptop, you might order PC components to make your own rig. Laptops, at least from what I've seen, while nice for being portable are often overpriced when compared to fixed computers with the same or even better specs Say, tell me the desired price range and the specs of your current machine: I'll do some component searching on Newegg or some shit to see if it's possible to build a as cheap as possible computer with the same specifics, assuming you'd be interested in one. There's this free program that let's you make a scan of your computer specifics with the clic of a button, super easy, check it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelwell Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 39 minutes ago, Terminal7 said: No phone? The site seems to work decently on mobile. Don't know what mobile you've been using... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidewalk Surfboard Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 1 hour ago, Terminal7 said: No phone? The site seems to work decently on mobile. No phone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArielMT Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 What's the model of the laptop? I may be able to find the service manual for it, which tells how to take it apart and put it back together. If you're mechanically inclined enough to handle eighth-inch screws and 16th-inch ribbon slots, or if you have a trusted friend who is, then that might be the least expensive repair option. Overheating, especially in a well-used laptop, is almost always caused by dust and small hairs building up between the fan exhaust and heat sink fins and blocking air flow. Removing that build-up, or even just most of it, will solve the overheating problem. The display problem could be a failing backlight, dust in the motherboard connector, a symptom of the general overheating problem, or just a Windows setting that needs tweaking. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidewalk Surfboard Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 4 minutes ago, ArielMT said: What's the model of the laptop? I may be able to find the service manual for it, which tells how to take it apart and put it back together. If you're mechanically inclined enough to handle eighth-inch screws and 16th-inch ribbon slots, or if you have a trusted friend who is, then that might be the least expensive repair option. Overheating, especially in a well-used laptop, is almost always caused by dust and small hairs building up between the fan exhaust and heat sink fins and blocking air flow. Removing that build-up, or even just most of it, will solve the overheating problem. The display problem could be a failing backlight, dust in the motherboard connector, a symptom of the general overheating problem, or just a Windows setting that needs tweaking. The model of the laptop is Compaq Presario CQ61 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArielMT Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 I found the service manual on HP's website and skimmed through it: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01740724.pdf The instructions for removing and replacing the fan and heat sink start on page 4-38 (page 81 in the PDF file). But it requires taking almost the whole bottom half of the clamshell apart and removing the motherboard. It's doable, but it would probably take a whole day of nothing but this taken nice and easy, like a fragile science fair project. For someone like me who sometimes does this for a living, it would easily take two or three solid hours and I'd still feel like I was rushing it. It was worth a shot, but unless you're in-your-element comfortable with something like this, I wouldn't recommend doing it with your only link to the wider world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArielMT Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 It also mentions needing thermal compound for replacing the heat sink, so removing the heat sink from the CPU and northbridge chips are a definite no-go. :c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endless/Nameless Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 (edited) Hey, can you maybe possibly afford $75?? You could buy THIS. It's nothing super powerful, but for low-intensity computing it will get you by no problem. I can verify the quality because i just bought one myself from the same seller. EDIT: The hard drive capacity is nothing to write home about, but you could always use that USB stick; at least temporarily. Edited April 4, 2016 by Endless/Nameless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidewalk Surfboard Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 8 minutes ago, Endless/Nameless said: Hey, can you maybe possibly afford $75?? You could buy THIS. It's nothing super powerful, but for low-intensity computing it will get you by no problem. I can verify the quality because i just bought one myself from the same seller. EDIT: The hard drive capacity is nothing to write home about, but you could always use that USB stick; at least temporarily. I dunno, I'll save the link and ask my mom about it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidewalk Surfboard Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 2 hours ago, Amiir said: For how many years did you have this thing? A little late, but we've had this laptop for 7 years, and we found it again and it became mine on 20th of this month last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spot Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 4 hours ago, Sidewalk Surfboard said: So, my laptop at this point is thoroughly fucked, then I threw it across the room because I'm a less tolerant person. It was fun Highly recommended Would do it again ftfy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spot Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 1 minute ago, 6tails said: Ugh, a Compaq. First off, you MUST replace the thermal compound every couple of years, because they DON'T COME WITH ANY. They instead come with a crappy urethane conductive pad that turns to crap as it ages and gets heated. $7 for a tube of Ceramique2. I can attest to that. In fact, HP released a whole line of the Compaq Presario that had heat issues; that was the 9000+ line (I owned a 9700 and it cooked.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spot Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 (edited) It's actually a shame the engineering was so crap with those because they are quite elegant laptops. I have to source a motherboard for mine, it was nice having a remote. Edited April 4, 2016 by Mr. Fox Great, now I look like a fucking retard for the edit. Oh well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spot Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 2 minutes ago, 6tails said: FYI any Windows remote would work. I hated that flimsy thing and got a full-sized remote with mouse navigation added-on. That made it into a perfect media center. Well yeah, but would it fit in the injector tray? Not all models of that line had the same size remote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#00Buck Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Check out the local pawn shop. You can probably find a cheap ass laptop or iPad or something. You can always take some crap to the pawn chop that you don't need any more and trade it for the laptop. If you are really poor sometimes there are places that donate old computers to poor people. Get a part time job? Make your boyfriend or girlfriend buy you one. If you don't get on the forum I'll miss you and your shitty shit and rock afire and stuff. You're a main staple of this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidewalk Surfboard Posted April 5, 2016 Author Share Posted April 5, 2016 Ripparooni in Pepperoni, Compaq Presario CQ61, I hardly knew ya. I do want a job, by the way, but I have to be 16 in order to get one, and my birthday is in like 2 weeks. Also, even if I did get a job, transportation would be difficult because our car is royally screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#00Buck Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 1 hour ago, Sidewalk Surfboard said: Ripparooni in Pepperoni, Compaq Presario CQ61, I hardly knew ya. I do want a job, by the way, but I have to be 16 in order to get one, and my birthday is in like 2 weeks. Also, even if I did get a job, transportation would be difficult because our car is royally screwed. Get a skateboard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 This is why I now think long-term with computers. I invest money and/or time in business-grade equipment, namely Lenovo. I wish IBM was still in the PC market, but Lenovo's professional computers really aren't that bad. I admit they're a bit expensive, yes. With a bit of luck though you can probably find off-lease machines, they're usually a good deal, if you don't need monstrous computing power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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