Laptops I serviced

Here is the list of the laptops I have serviced. Friends and family members are primary customers. I seldom do software trouble-shooting for others except, of course, for my wife. It is too tedious and others can often do an acceptable job.

The most frequently failing part is hard disk. It is usually easy to replace, but I had to grind off some plastic when I upgraded Sony R505. CD-ROM/DVD drives are different. Although the form factor and the connector are standardized, that's not the case for eject button and bezel. Some are easy to match, some are not.

Keboard is next on the list. Some models have inherent flaw that makes keyboard fail early. LCDs do fail eventually, as the lifespan of backlight is limited. It is not easy but possible to replace the backlight. There are two different configurations: vertical and horizontal. So the length of backlight lamp can be different even for same size panels. Sometimes it is just the inverter.

Quality: In my opinion, IBM is the best. Sony is okay. Dell is catching up and getting better. I will never consider buying a Campaq.

Compaq Armada 7730, 7770 hdd, cd-rom, lcd
Compaq Armada 110motherboard, hdd, cd-rom
Compaq Presario 700hdd
IBM ThinkPad 760C, 760XL keyboard, hdd
IBM ThinkPad 760XDkeyboard, sound card(DSP), LCD
IBM ThinkPad 380Dhdd
IBM ThinkPad 600Keyboard, hdd, CPU(MMC-1)
IBM ThinkPad 600Ekeyboard, hdd, LCD backlight, motherboard
CPU(MMC-2), CD-ROM drive retrofitting, battery repacking
IBM ThinkPad T23hdd, miniPCI, keyboard, LCD backlight,
CDRW/DVD drive firmware hack, keyboard bezel(fitting T22's bezel)
Sony R505 JL/Chdd (after grinding off some plastic)
Sony FX150, FX270hdd
Dell Inspiron 4000hdd, hinge
Toshiba Portege 2000nice but non std everywhere