ultraportable full powered laptop

[rockymtnhigh]

The Toshiba laptop went through surgery tonight. It took me about 90 minutes; used a guide on tearing apart the laptop from the web, and managed to get into the guts of the laptop, and then replaced the power jack. A few scary moments, but I got the power adapter in, and after a few tries, got the keyboard working again. Everything is back together, the power jack now works, and all screws appear to be accounted for.

Total cost $20. And Toshiba was claiming a $450 repair? Yeah, I think the customer service rep had his head up a McDonald's Anus Snack wrap.

I am psyched; while I really like the Dell for travel, and even the library; as a daily workhorse, it is seriously lacking. My Toshiba is back in action! Thanks guys!

 

[JAG72]

The Toshiba laptop went through surgery tonight. It took me about 90 minutes; used a guide on tearing apart the laptop from the web, and managed to get into the guts of the laptop, and then replaced the power jack. A few scary moments, but I got the power adapter in, and after a few tries, got the keyboard working again. Everything is back together, the power jack now works, and all screws appear to be accounted for.

Total cost $20. And Toshiba was claiming a $450 repair? Yeah, I think the customer service rep had his head up a McDonald's Anus Snack wrap.

I am psyched; while I really like the Dell for travel, and even the library; as a daily workhorse, it is seriously lacking. My Toshiba is back in action! Thanks guys!

Great to see everything worked out for you Mike.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Great to see everything worked out for you Mike.

Thanks especially to you Jason!

I'll admit there were a few scary moments; but it was easier than I thought.

 

[avg1joe]

Fix it.

A new power jack for this is about $20. ... This jack comes with a cable so it may just plug in with no soldering involved.

I couldn't tell when originally looking at that ebay listing. Was there any soldering involved with that part or does it just plug in?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I couldn't tell when originally looking at that ebay listing. Was there any soldering involved with that part or does it just plug in?

It just plugged into the board and the jack slid into a clip. The ebay-purchased jack was a bit bigger than the original, but it still fit.

Its remarkable how snug the power adapter fits now; I suspect the part had begun to break a long time ago.

 

[Ramy]

If it just plugs in, then why doesn't Toshiba sell that plug?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

If it just plugs in, then why doesn't Toshiba sell that plug?

I suspect they do, but most likely had a moron CSR when I called. But since they claim it wasn't "under warranty" they would have charged me a boatload for labor, assuming I could even convince them to fix just the $20 part.

I'm just happy to have my Toshiba back and working!

 

[avg1joe]

Taking a laptop apart and getting it back together again in one piece is tricky no matter how skilled you are. A lot of times a plastic piece looks fine while everything is together but you start removing screws and you realize there was a crack in the piece that is being held together by the compression of all the parts. Once the screws are out, it falls apart and it is never going back together. Chances are this plastic isn't important. If you are doing the job yourself and just saved yourself hundreds of dollars then you don't care. If you are paying a professional $50 or more to fix, then you will be pissed when the laptop comes back with a piece cracked or missing.

They charge high prices to discourage you from putting them in this position. If you go through with it then they charge you enough to replace the laptop if you aren't satisfied with the work (or at least enough to replace a high percentage of the ones they work on).

Mostly they charge that much because they can. Few people know how to fix a laptop or where to find the parts at decent prices. Now you are one of them.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Taking a laptop apart and getting it back together again in one piece is tricky no matter how skilled you are. A lot of times a plastic piece looks fine while everything is together but you start removing screws and you realize there was a crack in the piece that is being held together by the compression of all the parts. Once the screws are out, it falls apart and it is never going back together. Chances are this plastic isn't important. If you are doing the job yourself and just saved yourself hundreds of dollars then you don't care. If you are paying a professional $50 or more to fix, then you will be pissed when the laptop comes back with a piece cracked or missing.

They charge high prices to discourage you from putting them in this position. If you go through with it then they charge you enough to replace the laptop if you aren't satisfied with the work (or at least enough to replace a high percentage of the ones they work on).

Mostly they charge that much because they can. Few people know how to fix a laptop or where to find the parts at decent prices. Now you are one of them.

I think there is a lot of wisdom in your post.

While I know I can do it, it was NOT a fun process, nor one I would want to do on a regular basis, that is for sure!

 

[jayn_j]

I think there is a lot of wisdom in your post.

While I know I can do it, it was NOT a fun process, nor one I would want to do on a regular basis, that is for sure!

It's a lot easier the second time, Mike

I can see it now. IT Boot camp where the IT Drill Instructor orders each recruit to field strip and clean his laptop in under 1 minute.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

It's a lot easier the second time, Mike

I can see it now. IT Boot camp where the IT Drill Instructor orders each recruit to field strip and clean his laptop in under 1 minute.

Oo-rah! Funny. I would need skinnier fingers to be proficient at this stuff.

 

[Ramy]

I think there is a lot of wisdom in your post.

While I know I can do it, it was NOT a fun process, nor one I would want to do on a regular basis, that is for sure!

I have replaced screens and it really isn't that big a deal to work on them. Just take your time and remember where everything goes and you will be fine.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I have replaced screens and it really isn't that big a deal to work on them. Just take your time and remember where everything goes and you will be fine.

that's what I did. I laid out all the screws based on a diagram of where they came from! And I had a tool from when I changed the battery of my kindle2 that worked really well for separating the top of the laptop from the case.

 

[TheForce]

Isn't a great feeling when you salvage something expensive with a low cost fix like that?

Like when I recently repaired my wife's laptop. Well, she wasn't so happy as she thought I was going to buy her a new one ( ipad). Oh well, can't win them all.

A suggestion for all of you next time you take apart a complex device. Take close up pictures of your cables and where they go. Much faster and more accurate than drawings. I keep my digital still camera handy whenever I venture into a complex teardown. Also, do a search on You Tube for how to disassemble your device. Chances are someone has done it before and did a You Tube video that makes things easy. I used one of these to take apart my XBOX360 for repair the first time.

 

[jayn_j]

A suggestion for all of you next time you take apart a complex device. Take close up pictures of your cables and where they go. Much faster and more accurate than drawings.

I had a friend do this when he re-did the wiring harness of his old Jaguar limo. He told his wife to get under there and video everything he did. After it was all done, he looked at the tape and saw 2 hours of his knees wiggling around and a big black hole where he was working.

Morale: always do a test shot first

 

[TheForce]

My wife wouldn't do something like that. She actually takes pride in showing me a good job when it comes to photography. Of course I'm a pro and she has had my 6 on a number of jobs.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Isn't a great feeling when you salvage something expensive with a low cost fix like that?

Like when I recently repaired my wife's laptop. Well, she wasn't so happy as she thought I was going to buy her a new one ( ipad). Oh well, can't win them all.

A suggestion for all of you next time you take apart a complex device. Take close up pictures of your cables and where they go. Much faster and more accurate than drawings. I keep my digital still camera handy whenever I venture into a complex teardown. Also, do a search on You Tube for how to disassemble your device. Chances are someone has done it before and did a You Tube video that makes things easy. I used one of these to take apart my XBOX360 for repair the first time.

I actually had the advantage of an online guide to taking this specific model apart in 15 steps with 15 annotated photos showing it step by step. Without those photos, I doubt I would have tried it on my own.

But good advice for sure.

 

[b2run]

Help with eBay Search for part

OK, my Toshiba E105-S1802 laptop is just shy of one year old, and the power adapter has gotten loose, so that when you try to put the charger in, it no longer will stay put and actually charge. Two weeks left on warranty, so I call Toshiba. They confirm it is hardware (as I knew it was), and they then tell me "sorry" it is not covered in the warranty. It is "physical damage." So I ask how much to fix it? $450 to replace the mother board. I hung up on them. Its a nice laptop, but not that nice that I will spend 60% of the original cost for a repair.

I experienced this same problem and read in this thread that someone bought the part needed on eBay for about $20. What is the part name that I should search for on eBay? I don't have concern trying to take apart the laptop to gain access, so I'd like to get the part I need. Thanks so much for helping me find it by name. I have the same make and model laptop as listed in this post (Toshiba E105)

 

[diogen]

Toshiba E105 power jack items - Get great deals on Computers Networking items on eBay.com!

Diogen.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I experienced this same problem and read in this thread that someone bought the part needed on eBay for about $20. What is the part name that I should search for on eBay? I don't have concern trying to take apart the laptop to gain access, so I'd like to get the part I need. Thanks so much for helping me find it by name. I have the same make and model laptop as listed in this post (Toshiba E105)

Diogen posted the link for it. I bought this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/DC-POWER-JACK-w...ultDomain_0&hash=item41537ddcd5#ht_1810wt_719


The job took me about 90 minutes total.

I used these instructions: How to take apart Toshiba Satellite E105 and remove hard drive

I needed a guitar pick and a very small phillips screwdriver.