AbsoluteRaleigh Laptop Repair Blog

ASUS A8J Video Card Not Available

2010-02-04T11:29:00.001-08:00

We had an ASUS A8J come in for repair this week. It just needs a video card to work again We called the ASUS Estore and they insisted there is no A8J. Obviously they are incorrect. We were left to conclude that the part is not available. That is a shame, it would have been an easy fix. We're big ASUS fans here, but not supporting a $1,500 computer with a simple part is disappointing.

Toshiba Tecra A8

2010-02-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

We've had a few Toshiba Tecra A8 laptops come in for power jack repairs as they were running on battery only. The jack for them is not currently available, however, all of them we have had in did not have a bad power jack. The problem was a few loose components on the motherboard near the jack. It is possible that applying pressure to the power cord or holding it in a certain position would work temporarily. This is not recommended. We can fix the problem here with our standard power jack repair service.

We will be closing at 5PM Today!!

2010-02-01T11:16:00.000-08:00

We will be closing at 5PM Today!

The roads are going to freeze again.

Monday we will open at 12PM

2010-01-31T19:13:00.000-08:00

We will likely be up and running earlier, but due to ice we will be opening at 12PM.

Outgoing packages may or may not ship. We'll be shipping but we're not sure if UPS will be on schedule or not.

We will be Closed Saturday 01-30-2010

2010-01-29T08:51:00.000-08:00

We will be Closed Saturday 01-30-2010.

It is going to snow in North Carolina! That means everything will be shut down.

Even us!

Lenovo Warehouse Sale in Greensboro, NC

2010-01-29T08:46:00.000-08:00

It is just a rumor but the Greensboro Lenovo Warehouse sale may take place on a Saturday towards the end of February.

Will's HTPC

2010-01-29T07:16:00.000-08:00

Here are pics of a HTPC (Home Theater PC) we built for someone in 2009. The case was black to match the rest of the customer's stuff (cable box, blueray, DVD players, tuners, etc). We used a slim case- it almost looks like a VCR or DVD player! The case we used has nice ventilation on the top and a fan on the side to remove heat floating around the case. The case fan was a standard size so if it burns out in a few years it will only be about $3 to replace.

Up front we have a DVD+-RW which wil play DVDs, record CDs and DVDs. On the right is a card reader which will read flash memory, SD cards, etc. & also provides a front mounted USB port.

Inside, nice and neat. We have a 3Ghz Celeron D in there, nice & cool. A fanless, low profile fan keeps the noise down while giving the machine dedicate graphics and SVGA, DVI, HDMI & S-Video outputs.

Audio ports on the back allow the unit to interface with the customer's stereo system.

As requested by our customer, this unit is running XP Pro w/ SP3. As of now, it has been up and running approximately 6mos with absolutely no problems.

Thanks Will!

Lifted Cadillac?

2010-01-29T07:12:00.000-08:00

This was in our parking lot not too long ago and has been seen around Cary and Apex, NC.

What is it?! Looks like a dually truck frame w/ a Caddy on top.

Cockroaches Living in a Laptop

2010-01-29T07:03:00.001-08:00

We’re used to seeing lots of “computer bugs” but we only see this kind about once a year.

This filthy laptop came in the other day full of cockroaches. Live cockroaches. We promptly put it in a large contractor trash bag and blasted it with fogger. We’re not even going to look at it again until next week. But we will. It is very rare we say this, but this will need major cleaning and additional labor if these people want it fixed. All the fecal matter and other legs and such floating around in there are not good. We had many more pictures, but we’ll just share this one. You get the idea.

Most of the dead cockroaches were under the keyboard. The big fat ones were living in the bottom of the laptop near the heatsink/fan area. Must’ve been nice and warm in there. A couple were so large they couldn’t get out, which means their only source of food was- other dead cockroaches!!!!

Custom Soldering job

2010-01-29T06:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a pic of a custom soldering job that we did not too long ago. We were just brought the board and a schematic but we're pretty sure we were adding a mod chip to an old Playstation 2. We charge by the hours for this.

Clear 4G Wireless Internet Map

2010-01-27T22:50:00.000-08:00

Clear, which we sell here, is now 4G. Here is a map of the current coverage area.

We may be Closed on Saturday January 30 2010

2010-01-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

We will be closed on Saturday, January 30, 2010 if it snows out or if there are icy conditions. The forecast has changed 7 or 8 times this week, so we're leaving it that simple: if it snows or ices out in Cary on Saturday morning, we'll be closed all day long. We're normally open from 9-2.

Thank you & drive safe.

Looking for a Motorola WPC1810G driver?

2010-01-27T21:34:00.000-08:00

Solved, driver for WPC1810G. A customer of our was looking for this driver. A quick search online revealed many others are looking for it, too. After talking to the customer for a minute or two we realized they were looking for a WPC1810G but they actually had a WPCI820G.

That is the letter I instead of the number ONE.

=)

DV2000 Coprocessor Driver

2010-01-27T21:26:00.000-08:00

Solution for your DV2000 SMBUS & Coprocessor driver problem in Windows Vista. If you've done a clean Vista install, when you go to download the drivers from HP, surprise, they're not all there! The drivers are hidden on HP's site.

The file to get which contains the drivers is:
SP37730.EXE

N610c 233411-001 Wireless Driver

2010-01-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

Get the driver here. Compaq N610c Wireless Driver. If you need a driver for compaq p/n 233411-001, aka Compaq 802.11b Multiport Module (PE3010) which shows up as a (USB Device) in Device Manager, you need to download a driver off of HP's site. The magical driver name is:
SP21123.EXE

This is not to be confused with the W200 driver.

iPad release

2010-01-27T20:56:00.000-08:00

The iPad was released today. There are some reviews online, good & bad...

Read the reviews below:

Engadget review:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/apple-ipad-first-hands-on/

An article on Gizmodo "8 things that suck about the iPad":
http://i.gizmodo.com/5458382/8-things-that-suck-about-the-ipad

Windows 7 GodMode

2010-01-12T08:29:00.000-08:00

Coined "GodMode" by people online, below is a link to developer shortcuts to play with in Vista & Windows 7:

http://tinyurl.com/yeq5m6g

ACER AS-Series Laptop Recall

2010-01-08T18:39:00.000-08:00

Acer recalls laptops due to burn hazard 01/07/2010.

Recalled models: AS3410, AS3410T, AS3810T, AS3810TG, AS3810TZ, AS3810TZG.

Problem: In the affected units the microphone cable may overheat.

For replacement ACER may be reached at 1-866-695-2237.

For more information visit the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's website here:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10103.html

We'll be Closed New Years Day

2009-12-31T07:11:00.000-08:00

We'll be closed New Years Day. Normal hours will resume Saturday 01/02/2010.

Have a Happy New Year!

We will be CLOSED Dec 24 & Dec 25

2009-12-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

We will be CLOSED December 24 & December 25.

We will open back up for normal business hours on Saturday, December 26.

We will also be CLOSED Friday, 01/01/10.

Capacitor Replacement

2009-12-23T11:56:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of a capacitor replacement on an older AGP graphics card.

The heat next to the cheap caps made them expand and break. EVGA is a good company - there is a big debate you can read about online regarding the capacitors used by many manufacturers... If you're interested in that kind of thing.

As a note, we do not normally replace caps on graphics cards, we were just experimenting one day. We have the tools and capacitors in stock, so why not?

DV9000 numeric keypad problem

2009-12-23T11:42:00.000-08:00

Even though the DV9000 has its own dedicated numeric keypad, some DV9000 laptops will suddenly go into numeric keypad mode and the user will not be able to use the keyboard; pressing U will type a 4, I 5, O 6, etc. Without replacing parts the easiest way to remedy this problem is to follow these steps:

1. Open up the on screen keyboard by using Run | osk.exe

2. When the on screen keyboard opens up click the [numlock] button on the onscreen keyboard, by doing this the [numlock] light on the physical keyboard should light up.
3. Exit the on screen keyboard.

4. After this the keyboard should print the numbers from the numpad and not alter the keys in the main keyboard.

The fix works till you toggle the [numlock] button on the physical keyboard, if you do the problem reoccurs.

We're a Favorite Place on Google

2009-12-14T11:54:00.000-08:00

This just in, we're a favorite place on Google.

But you already knew that, didn't you? :)

The Wake County Guardian ad Litem Program

2009-12-14T11:52:00.000-08:00

The Wake County Guardian ad Litem Program was just brought to our attention in a nice Christmas card from our insurance agent.

You can learn more about it here:

www.wakecountygal.org

XPS M1710 Runs on Battery Only

2009-12-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

Today we had a DELL XPS M1710 laptop in that would only run on battery. The customer had taken it to another shop that replaced the power jack which did not help. We signed it in and checked it out. The jack repair job was better than we expected but not quite up to our standards so we replaced it. The rear jack pins only showed 6v when the 19v AC was connected to it. We were able to locate the problem and repair it. We can not repair all boards but we can fix DELL XPS M1710 laptops that run on battery alone. When we do a motherboard repair we typically just charge the customer for our standard DC jack repair service.

Our customer was thrilled! He had been quoted $599 by the other shop. We completed the repair at 75% off! Our experience over the years with other failed Dells helps us troubleshoot and repair the newer models.