General problem areas I've encounted with these models

[daveC]

I know I'm coming in late on this forum but I thought I post a few things that might help some of you still using these models.  I've sold a few lately to people who just want to port their HD over to a working machine so they can keep using their data without buying into a different model.

Here are a few problem areas that I find quite often -

The dreaded power jack...this is a common problem caused by several things.  It gets loose because the solder doesn't hold it firmly.  I've replaced and destroyed a few main boards because the multilayer construction of the main board won't let the jack come out easily unless it is heated up enough before trying to remove it and that takes a lot of heat to get the power layers hot enough.  If possible, if the jack is just loose, try to reflow it first but if it is broken - plastic, metal pin, etc. it can be replaced.  If you don't use it as a portable all the time and buy a PR1000 docking station, you can charge it when it's docked plus you get a more comfortable typing position and more USB ports too...you just have to get the right power adapter for the docking station 19V at 4.7A with the bullet tip end, not the 18V 3.5A model that you use for the side power jack.  One more thing about this jack...it's a swaged connection from the pin to the electrical contact plate that solders to the main board.  This connection gets loose, gets heated up and gets unreliable.  I've found I can repair that connection by scraping the 2 parts down to clean metal and soldering a jumper across them and down to the inductor on the main board.  Just make sure the connection is tight to the jack or you'll short it out to the top when it's reassembled.

If you really want to beef up the capabilities of these models, you can buy the PR1005/6 to add floppies and/or extra DVD drives too.

THE DREADED POWER BUTTON  What good is a machine you can't turn on?  Again, the docking stations have a power button so at least you can use it but I've found the problem to be almost always that the contacts are dirty...environment or flaw?  No way to tell, just use contact cleaner injected into it from the top of the switch to clean them up...work it around for awhile and it should be better.

The boot but no screen  Okay, we know it's normally the video card that becomes intermittent or totally dead because of bad solder ball contacts on the ATI9000/9200 chip.  At least the card is removable for replacement or repair.  I've successfully reflowed alot of them with a standard heat gun, rosin flux, and about 3 minutes of heat up time but it's still an iffy repair.  They tried the red epoxy on the corners of the chip to hold it down but I've still seen failures.  Myself, I've made brass shims, used heat compound, and done nothing but clean the fan/radiator and keep the laptop elevated AND change the CMOS default setting to having the fan run constantly when on AC power...whoever made the default to OFF should have their head examined.

Well that's enough for now unless there are others who want to know more problem areas or have problems not yet covered!