"Michael Kennedy" hath wroth:

USB connector peels itself off the motherboard.

Oh so I guee that it is all surface mount.. Thats not as bad as through hole
with a huge ground plane then I guess. I can't believe they don't use a
through hole connector for the USB ports.. They should know that the usb
ports are going to take abuse.

Well, you might be right. My memory isn't prefect and I've seen both
types. The surface mount variety relies on the metal shield to
provide mechanical strength. I don't think the thru hole USB
connector pins provide much additional strength.

Looking at my photograph of the A75-S213 insides at:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/A75...5-S213-02.html
the USB connector on the right side appears to be through hole. The
rear USB connectors appear to be a single assembly, also through hole.

Even with a through hole connector, the leverage of a USB memory or
mouse dongle is going to destroy the connector. They could bolt the
connector to the motherboard, as they do sometimes with parallel and
serial connectors, and still sustain damage. I've seen fatally
cracked motherboards on parallel connectors.

Dealing with the huge ground planes is a problem but not impossible. I
use an 850F 1/4" chisel point on a Weller solder station to get it
hot. No need to use a gas torch. The idea is to use a very hot iron
and work VERY quickly to minimize the heat affected area. To preserve
the motherboard, I sometimes destroy the broken connector with a pair
of cutters, and then extract one lead at a time. If necessary, I use
my Pace vacuum desoldering station to suck the solder out of the
holes.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558