On Sep 4, 7:58 am, w_tom wrote:
On Sep 3, 7:33 pm, Sam Goldwasser wrote:

Have you ever actually worked on a laptop computer? It's no where
as simple as you make it out to be.

I believe you are confusing w_tom with news.rcn.com. The latter is
going to open a laptop, look at a power supply, and know whether that
power supply is defective on sight. He is going to solder a loose
connector but even declares voltage measurements with a meter as
complex. He is even going to *fix* bad electrical contacts withWD-40.

He wasted money replacing a power brick ony because he speculated it
might be bad rather than do what a 12 year old even does - use the
meter. The meter being so simple that it is even sold to K-mart
shoppers.

news.rcn.com does not even know how to open a laptop but somehow
*knows* the meter is too complex. Meanwhile, if he had used the
meter, then basic information on power supply operation, power
connector, and battery state could have been learned without opening
the laptop.

Most interesting is the speculation. news.rcn.com has assumed the
power supply will be on a separate board. I have yet to see that on
any laptop. But then news.rcn.com is using speculated symptoms to
know what is wrong.

If news.rcn.com cannot use a simple meter, then he most certainly
cannot use an iPod. Therefore he is the last person who should be
opening a laptop. Appreciate why HP would fear letting too many have
service manuals. Somehow news.rcn.com is going to look at a power
supply board and visually know it is good or bad? Well had he taken a
few voltage measurements without opening the laptop, then his replies
here could have been far more useful. Currently every reply is only
speculation. Even more absurd is that he will reflow solder on a
connector - but fears the multimeter as too complex. He will fix a
connector withWD-40. Others never questioned his technical grasp?

Ouch, using WD-40 for electrical contacts - BAD. Will degrade
plastics and make things worse in the long run. The only thing I use
for electrical connections is DeoxIT. It not only deoxidizes
oxidation, but actually improves the conductivity (not sure how, but
it does). Works on ALL metal surfaces and is perfectly compatible
with plastics. Here is the link: www.deoxit.com
I use it on everything from light bulbs to computers to audio/video
stuff.

Mike