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Dying laptops
https://mail.chicagofanatics.com/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=110203
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Author:  Curious Hair [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Dying laptops

Yesterday I turned it off and it didn't turn back on (well, the power lights go on but nothing loads). Happy New Year, me! Thanks for catching me at my brokest time of the year.

I found my old one that runs Vista, has 1 GB of RAM, and both feels and smells like it's about to catch fire. Hopefully it'll get me through till I can get some sort of deal on something close to as good as what I had, a 17.3"/500GB/4GBRAM Lenovo that I got for $200 4+ years ago at the long-gone HH Gregg in Arlington Heights, probably because someone ejaculated in the HDMI port or something. If anyone has recommendations on laptop necromancy or where to get good deals on 1600x900-screen laptops with minimal embedded semen, let me know.

Computers. They suck! What are they good for, anyway?

Author:  Furious Styles [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

What's a computer?

Author:  Curious Hair [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Furious Styles wrote:
What's a computer?

Shut up, Scout.

Author:  Juice's Lecture Notes [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Furious Styles wrote:
What's a computer?

:lol: CFMB coming out of the gate strong in 2018, but I don't know that we can keep this Pace up.

Author:  Juice's Lecture Notes [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Regardless of what you need specifically from the PC, I suggest rummaging through Amazon's collection of certified refurbished machines, you might be able to climb up a notch or two quality wise without having to spend much more than you have.

Here are all their refurb Windows machines, you can parse out your desired specs from here: LINK

Author:  Curious Hair [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Thanks. I can probably justify $379 if I can get four years out of it.

I don't understand the price points of laptops at all, incidentally. They're all over the place and I'm not looking closely enough to know why.

Author:  newper [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Hi Lisa, Hi Super Nintendo Chalmers -- meow -- I'm learnding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKg2ZzPKl2M

Author:  Tad Queasy [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Curious Hair wrote:
Yesterday I turned it off and it didn't turn back on (well, the power lights go on but nothing loads). Happy New Year, me! Thanks for catching me at my brokest time of the year.

I found my old one that runs Vista, has 1 GB of RAM, and both feels and smells like it's about to catch fire. Hopefully it'll get me through till I can get some sort of deal on something close to as good as what I had, a 17.3"/500GB/4GBRAM Lenovo that I got for $200 4+ years ago at the long-gone HH Gregg in Arlington Heights, probably because someone ejaculated in the HDMI port or something. If anyone has recommendations on laptop necromancy or where to get good deals on 1600x900-screen laptops with minimal embedded semen, let me know.

Computers. They suck! What are they good for, anyway?


It was the USB port, and I regret nothing.

Author:  newper [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Tad Queasy wrote:
It was the USB port, and I regret nothing.

Unlikely Semen Bucket

Author:  pittmike [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 7:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Recent Toshibas I bought for kids have been great. Less than 300 I think.

Author:  IkeSouth [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 9:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Look on eBay for latitude e6540

You can get 1080p models for like $300 and they last forever.

Author:  newper [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 10:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

I have a Toshiba Satellite C55 that i have had for a couple of years, I think i spent $250 on it. Wide screen, I am not the biggest fan of the keyboard compared to a Lenovo, but it is OK. I can even do some Visual Studio programming on it.

Author:  Drake LaRrieta [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 10:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

You have to hook up an external monitor to know whether it's the screen or your motherboard. May not be worth fixing, but you won't know until you hook up that external monitor. Also in some cases when computers don't start people sometimes pull the RAM out to see if either stick is defective.

If you can find a decent reseller on eBay you'll probably find a better deal on there. I've bought a couple of computers from these guys: http://stores.ebay.com/Regency-Technologies-Store

Author:  Curious Hair [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 10:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

I tried reseating the RAM, but I don't have any other matching RAM on hand to swap it out with. I haven't tried an external monitor yet, though!

EDIT: nope, it's at least the motherboard if not the hard drive

Author:  Drake LaRrieta [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 11:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Curious Hair wrote:
I tried reseating the RAM, but I don't have any other matching RAM on hand to swap it out with. I haven't tried an external monitor yet, though!

EDIT: nope, it's at least the motherboard if not the hard drive


Well if there are two sticks you can try booting the sticks separately. Booting with one stick would isolate the issue.

It is also possible for a graphics driver to fail in the software or for a graphics chip to overheat. If the hard drive is bad you should still be able to boot to BIOS and then be able to boot to a Linux Live CD or Linux USB jump drive. You have to also look to see if there are any flashing lights or beeps. In some cases the lights on the computer or the beeping sounds are associated with codes that mean for example that your battery is bad.

There is also a reset where you disconnect the battery and the power cord and then hold in the power button. It's usually one of the first things the online forums suggest.

Author:  Curious Hair [ Tue Jan 02, 2018 11:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Thanks, but I ran through all that already. It's dead, Jim.

Author:  Drake LaRrieta [ Wed Jan 03, 2018 12:17 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Your hard drive is probably fine. If you need data off it get a hard drive enclosure or a sata/ide to usb device.

Author:  Curious Hair [ Wed Jan 03, 2018 12:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Yeah, I ordered an enclosure yesterday. Fingers crossed that the HD is safe but that laptop is probably fried. Too bad, got a lot of use out of it. That laptop was nine months away from retirement.

Author:  Curious Hair [ Thu Jan 04, 2018 11:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Well, I went through Amazon and found a slightly newer model of what I had (same resolution, HDD, RAM), not new, for $237. Thanks for all your help, and if I disappear between now and when it gets here, it's because this beater laptop finally started a fire.

Author:  sinicalypse [ Thu Jan 04, 2018 4:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Curious Hair wrote:
Well, I went through Amazon found a slightly newer model of what I had (same resolution, HDD, RAM), not new, for $237. Thanks for all your help, and if I disappear between now and when it gets here, it's because this beater laptop finally started a fire.

You know, I did my only live gig in a $50 craptop in midtown Manhattan in 2012. It had a sticker saying "MORE FUN THAN YOU BARGAINED FOR" which I got from Uncle Fun, the old joke/gag store on Belmont thst wouldn't hire me despite me putting https://youtu.be/1-NdvFAeCis on my resume #storyofmylife =\

Author:  Curious Hair [ Sat Jan 06, 2018 9:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Dying laptops

Nice to finally be able to move up from Chrome 51 (my old computer couldn't handle whatever the new text-rendering was). I like that the search bar for this site now says "not secure" on the left. I love being reminded of my insecurity when I post here.

I have to get all my muscle memory back because this keyboard is set like three millimeters back of where the old one was, so bear with me if I type like chaspoppcap for a while.

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