| Today we are going to discuss the methodology and | | | | Centrino Duo, and Duo core seem to be holding there |
| the principles behind a successful repair to any | | | | value better and not suffering such big drops, the |
| Toshiba Laptop. | | | | reason being is that these laptops are still reasonably |
| I am not going to assume that you don't have any | | | | fast and can run either Windows Vista or Windows |
| knowledge on this subject or to deduce you | | | | XP. |
| capability. | | | | Availability Of Parts and Cost |
| Most Toshiba Laptops are in fact very easy to work | | | | I would venture to say most people who are |
| on, well made and accessible. The driving factor that | | | | considering a non critical repair are completely |
| governs whether a machine can be repaired is as | | | | unaware of cost of spare parts, the most costly |
| follows below. | | | | parts for any Toshiba laptop is as follows |
| - Market value. | | | | - Screens |
| - Availability of Parts and cost. | | | | - Motherboards |
| - Time involved in the repair. | | | | - Batteries (2008 Model onwards) |
| - General state of the machine taking into account | | | | And the least costly parts are as follows (second |
| any other defects. | | | | hand not new) |
| - Tools and equipment required | | | | - Memory |
| Market Value | | | | - CD drives |
| Determine the current market value of your laptop, if | | | | - Keyboards |
| the motherboard on your laptop has failed but its | | | | - Plastics |
| costs more to buy the motherboard than it does to | | | | - Hard disks |
| replace the entire laptop, then its not worth | | | | - Invertors |
| undertaking the repair. Generally speaking if the | | | | Screens are the most expensive by far, for 15" 30 |
| laptop has a simple fault, for example such as a | | | | pin screens are still commanding very high prices but |
| faulty keyboard, then in most cases its worth the | | | | curiously enough these machines second hand are |
| time and the cost of fitting a replacement. Most | | | | commanding very low second hand values, another |
| Toshiba parts are interchangeable with others | | | | pitfall here is that 15.4" wide screen prices are still |
| especially on older laptops. Research the market, | | | | quite high for new screens although more reasonable |
| older laptops have now become so cheap its really | | | | for second hand screens, and at the moment 17" |
| not necessary to become involved in a repair of an | | | | Xblack and ultra bright high resolution screens can |
| old laptop, but for modern Toshiba Laptops say from | | | | cost the same as the identical laptop in question |
| 2005 onwards, any simple fault can be repaired easily | | | | particularly on the G series and some of the ultra light |
| and in most cases inexpensively. | | | | Porteges. |
| Also it not advisable to fall into the trap of buying a | | | | This means that if you own a Windscreen Toshiba |
| new Toshiba laptop because the screen on the old | | | | Celeron Laptop but the screen might cost you about |
| laptop was perceived to be expensive, if you | | | | 125GBP(145USD) or more but the laptop is only |
| approach the right repairers or if you can source the | | | | worth 175GBP(200UD) then if is the case you might |
| parts yourself, it makes sense in many cases to | | | | be better looking for a superior Toshiba laptop to |
| replace the screen on a Toshiba laptop, rather than | | | | replace it, and for only a little more on the second |
| buying a new laptop from scratch. If you purchased | | | | hand market. |
| a laptop say in 2007 for £649 (750USD) and it | | | | Motherboards are out of the question and out of the |
| was a wide screen 15.4" X black(high brightness) you | | | | scope of this book, unless its viable go for a |
| might get a quote for a replacement screen as high | | | | replacement but otherwise don't bother refitting it is |
| as say (180GBP or 210USD), but if you shopped | | | | not for the faint hearted. better to buy a working |
| around and found a screen for 125GBP(145USD) and | | | | base and then migrate all your parts into it. |
| if the laptop is still worth 250GBP(300USD approx) or | | | | Batteries have come down a lot in recent years, and |
| upwards, then it makes sense to replace the screen. | | | | I would always recommend buying a new battery |
| Perhaps you decided that you wanted a new laptop, | | | | after two years of use, batteries do degrade over |
| then a really cheap unbranded 15.4" Wide screen | | | | time and its the simplest of all to do. If a machine |
| laptop new at any leading supermarket chain might | | | | starts to exhibit memory failures assuming that the |
| offer you one for 245GBP(295USD), which might turn | | | | motherboard is not faulty, memory modules are now |
| out to be technically inferior to your original Toshiba | | | | cheap readily available from anywhere and very easy |
| Laptop. And don't forget you will have all the hassle | | | | to fit. If you have seen my other post about |
| of re-installing programs, transferring data, and | | | | upgrading Toshiba laptop CDROMS, replacing any |
| extracting passwords and your security details and | | | | drive in any Toshiba Laptop is well within most |
| setting up your Internet and email accounts, these | | | | peoples ability, and very affordable. Keyboards are |
| operations alone will take a lot longer than just | | | | the only weak point on many Toshiba laptops older |
| changing the screen on your Toshiba laptop and if | | | | than 3 years old, most exhibit one or two keys that |
| you factored in the labour charge if you were doing | | | | no longer function the good news here is that is very |
| this as a paid employee you can see straight away | | | | easy to fit a new or second hand keyboard on most |
| the costs can spiral upwards. | | | | Toshiba laptops. keyboards are around |
| This is why you should always research the market, | | | | £15-£25 or 20USD-45USD (second |
| compare what you would have to spend now to buy | | | | hand). Hard disks are very easy to replace on 90% |
| the equivalent rated machine then, and in most cases | | | | of all Toshiba Laptops as are screen inverters, and |
| you will discover its cheaper to repair than replace. | | | | most plastics, but removal of plastics is a time |
| Be aware on all laptops that they all suffer from | | | | consuming occupation, but the plastics are very |
| depreciation from new, the worst depreciation seems | | | | cheap to buy. |
| to be with Toshiba Laptops that are Celerons, next | | | | I would like to thank you for reading this far, in the |
| the PII series, and then PIII series. Centrino's, | | | | next part we will move onto part two. |