|
|
Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme: Technology. Join the blogroll. Visit participants. |
Wow. What a great week for this theme! First, as far as the world situation of technology goes, tech companies were showing off their newest and best gadgets at both the Consumer Electronics Show and MacWorld this week. Second, on a more personal level, my laptop died this week.
I had spent my lunch reloading the Engadget page liveblogging the Steve Jobs keynote at MacWorld. I hadn’t bothered to plug in my laptop, since I’d be going back to work after lunch anyway. So, when I got to work, my battery was just about dead.
I got to my desk, plugged in the laptop, and… nothing. The LED’s in the front did not light up. I wiggled the cord around, thinking that the AC adapter had gone bad (again). Nope, nothing. So, I plugged my iPod in, backed up everything that I needed onto it, and turned the laptop back off.
When I got home, I tested the AC adapter with the new multimeter I had gotten for Christmas. (I asked for a lot of tools this Christmas, and this was one of them.) It was putting out a constant 15 volts, which meant that it was working. The problem was the broken jack inside the laptop.
So, Tuesday night I spent an hour and a half taking apart the laptop to get to the part in question.
The pin inside had broken off inside the box. So, I set about trying to find a replacement part. Turns out that it’s a stupid proprietary part that Toshiba sells. You can’t just go to Radio Shack and buy a new one. I even tried a specialty computer repair store in downtown Spartanburg; nothing.
The average price online for this box was $40, although I saw one guy selling it for $25. That is way too much money for a little box with a metal stick in it, and since I need my laptop for work, I couldn’t wait for them to ship it to me.
So I took a friend out to lunch. Drew is a friend of mine from college who I mentioned the last time my laptop was seriously broken. I took him (and my brother and another friend) to Sticky Fingers, saving them from the terrible fate of eating in the Dining Common for lunch.
Drew was able to fix the little box, as he is much more skilled with a soldering iron than I am. After I got the part back, I was able to reassemble the laptop at home. Amazingly, it all still works. I’m typing this entry on it right now.
So, on the downside, I was without my laptop for a couple of days. On the upside, I got to work from home for a couple of days. I got to eat lunch with a couple of friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I got the experience of taking apart a laptop and putting it back together. And I got a couple of pictures for the photo hunt!
Ah…the joys of not working computers. Mine died just before xmas. Not happy….
Glad it is now working!
I played too. http://photogfrog.livejournal.com/
I have to say that I was skeptical when I saw it apart. I’m impressed you fixed it! –Dad
Computer innards!!
What a great share for this week. Tho on the same levels as most, a whole LOT MoRe Unique!!! Excellent.
Mine’s posted.
Drop by and give me a howdy if you can.
Happy weekend.
Excellent photos for this week yes!
I’m glad all turned out well, there is no fun with computer problem shivering of fear since both of us have computers that’s beginning to get old and is bound to be damaged any moment….
*biting my nails*
Great photos for today’s theme!
There has been a lot of variety this week. 
My photos are up.
I am literally shaking, I am soo scared of the inside of a computer!!! This was frightening! lol…good choice for Photo Hunt! Mines up, please visit
I was a little nervous while I was taking it apart, but I figured that I couldn’t break it much worse. And it helped that I had seen my friend Drew take apart my computer once before, so I had some idea of what I was supposed to do.
But yeah. There’s nothing to be afraid of inside a computer, as long as you remember to unplug it.
That totally stinks about your lapStop! Eek. But, it did make some some great pix this week!
I’d get withdrawl symptoms without my laptop! *S*
Great photo and good choice for the theme this week!
Happy Weekend
Mine’s up too!
L
Glad to hear that it is working now.
So small but does so much.
Mine is up too.
Wow, talk about learning by doing! Brave soul you. Do you now know everything there is to know about the inside of your computer?
frustrating in the extreme!!
Never knew the inner workings of “technology” were so colorful. An hour and a half just to take it apart? How long to put it back together?
Not as long, actually. It was actually easier to put it back together than to get it all apart.