The insides of a laptop

Yesterday saw the arrival of an IBM Thinkpad R61.  This particular laptop, as the owner described it, was bereft of life.  It was obvious from the first examination that something terrible had befallen this piece of hardware as the telltale signs of crushing injuries were apparent on the LCD screen.  A strange nebulous pattern of dark and light shades separated by meandering cracks were a certain indication that problem number 1 was going to be replacing the screen element. 

Hoping that the damage was limited to the visual impairment of a wrecked LCD (liquid crystal display), the machine was introduced to mains power and switched on.  Well switched on is something of an exagerration as pressing the On button resulted in absolutely nothing.  No attempt to power up, no charging light on the dashboard, no click, fizz or whine.  This laptop wasn't looking like a candidate for a resurrection. 

I checked the power supply, and it was found to be in good health.  I checked the battery and again it proved to be a healthy specimen.  I even checked the resistance of the DC power in jack and that looked healthy although a little battered.  To investigate further I decided to start the process of disassembly. 

Taking a laptop apart isn't really a significant challenge but what's interesting is the variety and unusual locations of the screws and clips that hold the machine together.  With a little research I found a manual online that very closely matched the make and model of the laptop and proceeded to operate. 

What I found inside wasn't pretty.  It may well be that the computer suffered a power surge given the blueish tinge and crusty residue, whilst difficult to assess with the naked eye it certainly seemed that the system board had blown and without replacement it was unlikely to be fixable.  The subsequent investigation into the price of new and used parts for the replacement of system board and LCD screen were quite surprising.  Even with refurbished parts and some shopping around it looked like the screen would be at least $100 to replace (besides the cost of labor) and the system board might be in the region of $350(!).  Given that the price of a new laptop of a similar processing and storage capacity would be in the rang

e of $500-$800 it wasn't going to be worth fixing.  This IBM paperweight had completed its destiny. 

As an aside, it proved relatively simple to discover files on the hard drive so if this happens to you don't give up completely.  Give Redcoat Computer Services a call and we'll see if we can, at least, give you a recommendation rather than you having to dump your machine. 

Tony