Whoops!.....think We've Killed The Boy's Laptop

[OnOff]

So the missus and I shared a Samsung R530 laptop until I while back. The screen cracked which I replaced and it's never been the same since! Has sat there gathering dust. I posted on here about it and did dabble running Ubuntu ion it from disc which worked fine. It does indeed appear to be a "Windoze" issue. Kept meaning to "fix" it but never have.............................

So........we "borrowed" the boy's Acer 7535G that we got him for passing his 11+. Nice spec, 17.3", 500GB HDD, separate graphics etc. He hardly uses it, occasionally if we go visiting friends etc. Anyway, it's been getting a tad hot underneath. Probably NOT helped by the wife and I using it on the leather chairs - restricted air flow?

He turned it on yesterday and nothing as in the fan runs for maybe 5 seconds then stops. Blue power light is on and DVD ejects under power but that's it. Screen remains off. No beeps nothing. Tried searching and leaving the battery off and running from just mains etc. Took the HDD out and ran in a caddy on the boys gaming pc. Found a trojan but the HDD appears to fire up and run. So.......overheating issue? Is all lost? 

Cheers

 

[ProDave]

Tried plugging an external screen in, in case the internal one is dead?

 

[NozSpark]

Our laptop was awful a couple of years ago.... Wouldn't stay on for very long etc...

I eventually opened it up and found a quilt of fibres and dust blocking the heatsink,,, cleaned that off and its been fine since

 

[OnOff]

Tried plugging an external screen in, in case the internal one is dead?

Surely it would still "beep" / fir up etc? Will try...................though doesn't the thing need to be running in the first place to toggle between internal screen and the VGA port via the F keys?

Would a duff screen stop it like this?

Our laptop was awful a couple of years ago.... Wouldn't stay on for very long etc...

I eventually opened it up and found a quilt of fibres and dust blocking the heatsink,,, cleaned that off and its been fine since

Will try the external screen then it's cover off if no dice! Can't be typing on a 7" Monster High themed tablet for too much longer! Lost the first post and had to re type!

 

[pewter]

People always post problems with windows computers.

I have never seen a post about an apple computer not working properly.

 

[Steve3948]

I also have an Acer Laptop "Aspire 5742G" and they do get hot, very hot.

I also used to have it on the arm of our settee and found when streaming in full screen it would sometimes just shut down.

I purchased one of those vented wedge things off Ebay and its been fine since, however I did take it into the garage and put the air gun through it and a fair bit of dust and fluff came out.

I know when mine has overheated it has just crashed and rebooted almost instantly so yours sounds a bit more severe.

Could it be the boot sector corrupted, can you get into the Bios.

 

[OnOff]

People always post problems with windows computers.

I have never seen a post about an apple computer not working properly.

Pretty sure it's a numbers thing, 400 million PC user vs 400 Apple fans................. :slap

I also have an Acer Laptop "Aspire 5742G" and they do get hot, very hot.

I also used to have it on the arm of our settee and found when streaming in full screen it would sometimes just shut down.

I purchased one of those vented wedge things off Ebay and its been fine since, however I did take it into the garage and put the air gun through it and a fair bit of dust and fluff came out.

I know when mine has overheated it has just crashed and rebooted almost instantly so yours sounds a bit more severe.

Could it be the boot sector corrupted, can you get into the Bios.

It won't even boot up as far as allowing the "Del" / "Press F*" for setup..........so guessing I can't get into the BIOS?

 

[pewter]

Pretty sure it's a numbers thing, 400 million PC user vs 400 Apple fans................. :slap

It won't even boot up as far as allowing the "Del" / "Press F*" for setup..........so guessing I can't get into the BIOS?

I couldn't agree more,

The majority of the population are stupid.

 

[steptoe]

People always post problems with windows computers.

I have never seen a post about an apple computer not working properly.

or Linux/Ubuntu 

have you tried running a ubuntu live DVD/CD on it?

you should be able to look at the fan state and turn it on and off manually to make sure its actually working,

you can also monitor the temp of various parts, ie, CPU cores and HDD etc

 

[OnOff]

Seriously, I know loads of Apple users who are extremely happy. But, cost being one main reason I'll stick with the PC and then probably go over to Linux!

So back to the Acer, tried an external monitor on the laptops VGA port, nothing happened. Tried the Ubuntu Live DVD, you could hear it running up as in the drive reading the disc then all stopped. Guess it's case off time!

.................accidentally pressed I think F4 and now TEF screen text etc has gone VERY SMALL. Other websites AOK...........???

 

[OnOff]

The rear vents appear a bit blocked with the 1/4" dia grey "furball":

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Acers do seem  to run hotter and need more airflow than other makes. Mine used to shut down on overheat fairly often & since it was re-jiggy-poked with W7 the fan would never operate after sleeping  (Acer fault which they are not bothered about on older stuff as W7 was not out then)  Maybe yours has fried its last egg.

 

[OnOff]

Acers do seem  to run hotter and need more airflow than other makes. Mine used to shut down on overheat fairly often & since it was re-jiggy-poked with W7 the fan would never operate after sleeping  (Acer fault which they are not bothered about on older stuff as W7 was not out then)  Maybe yours has fried its last egg.

It came with Vista when new along with an ACER offer of a free upgrade to Win7 which I sent off for. Was a biatch to set up and died on me so sent it back under Warranty. ACER returned it "working", diagnosing "loose memory" with Win7 now put on but it was never really right, slow etc. I then had another go with the Win7 upgrade disc and it was up and running spot on until now.

Wondering whether I should put it into one of these local bods who advertise laptop repairs?

 

[steptoe]

send it to me,

or Deke,

if we cant sort it then its a goner,

:slap

 

[Bruspark]

From a practical point of view there is only a certain amout you can fix in laptops, memory seating, graphics card/module seating, heat transfer pads, heatsink dust. Fan, screen/backlight, power connector, plug in wifi/Bluetooth etc. beyond that it is rarely economical to fix.

And I have to say that having spent a number of years working with web and graphic designers I've seen LOADS of defective and written off apple kit, desktop and laptops. It is generally good gear but is not immortal or free from defective design

 

[OnOff]

I've been in touch with this lot, picked at random and easy for me to drop off in London:

http://www.creativeit.tv/

[SIZE=11pt]"Thank you for your email. Since we repair motherboards to a point that is possible, the best way forward to resolve your fault is to bring/ send laptop in to our workshop. We have a minimum charge of £45+vat which will blend into the cost of the repair if repairable and you agree to go ahead with the repair cost. If you would like to book your laptop, please click on the link below and fill out a customer service form."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Kind regards[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Sam[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]No doubt the £45 is just to reel you in and I'll be left weighing up whether it's cheaper to ditch it and buy a new one! If the repair cost was like £100 I'd go for it but much more etc is it worth it?[/SIZE]

 

[OnOff]

Well, had the repair done today at Creative IT:

http://www.creativeit.tv/

Phoned up this morning and the guy said bring it in anytime. I'd pre-booked last night anyway with the symptoms etc. Got there at 3pm and they took it off me straight away, pretty much as I walked through the door. Offers of tea, coffee whilst waiting. Couple of comfy chairs and flat screen in the waiting area. Stripped it down and diagnosed the GPU. Quoted me £135+VAT to fix inc the £45 diagnostics.

Had it done  there and then and walked out at 6PM. Had a tour of the workshop, got shown the IR re-flow machines and microscopes they use etc. Was show the boys laptop in pieces on the bench and the offending item.

Lot of sentimental value in the thing anyway so I'm happy. Staff there very nice too. 90-day warranty given. Would recommend.

 

[OnOff]

Forgot to add they said the biggest "killer" of laptops is using in on anything that restricts airflow, bed's, duvets, carpeted floors etc. The fan in this one was a tad dusty but the little finned "radiator" was well clogged. They reckon every 6 months whip the back off and blast with air cleaner. Going to get something like this:  

http://www.ebuyer.com/244041-coolermaster-notepal-u3-black-laptop-cooling-pad-r9-nbc-8pck-gp

Though NOT if I can help it from eBuyer!

 

[steptoe]

they have them here  

I had one of these , it lasted about 3 years, then finally gave up, but it done the job, I actually noticed my old laptop ran noticeably faster due to not getting hot at all.

 

[husky2013]

Iv officially left the windows and gone over to apple, got sick of having nothing but problems with windows7,  i had a dell inspiron 1545, age 12month and 1 day the hard drive failed frying the sata cable, and the motherboard, had to argue with dell to repair it for free and even threw the sale of goods act at them etc,   it came back more or less with brand new internals...

was very weary about using it after that but i persevered with it...   iv had Acers in the past and they do run a bit hotter then others not sure why etc, most Acer Laptops run off an 85w Charger pack where others tend to be on a 65w so not sure if that would make any difference.

I can highly recommend the Mac Book Pro  Graphics and Resolution is amaaaazzing