On Tue, 16 Nov 2010 23:02:51 -0800, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:34:59 -0500, "Wild_Bill"
wrote:

Nearly anything man-made can be repaired.

Yes, but it might not be worth fixing, especially if a replacement is
low cost. I constantly run into problems spending inordinate amounts
of time fixing some trivial device. Sure, it can be fixed, but I
can't build a business on such repairs. Expensive and exotic hardware
is about all I can make a profit on. For example, it takes me about 4
billable hours to clean up and upgrade a virus infected computer. At
$75/hr, it's almost more economical to purchase a newer and faster
machine, than to fix the old one. So, in order to keep from losing
the customer, I have to heavily discount my time and do it for less
than posted rate. Otherwise, they run to their favorite discounter
and just start over with a new machine. Same with some low end
entertainment electronics. It's even worse with hardware. I can
easily fix a typical PC power supply for a few dollars in parts and
about 1.2 billable hours. However, who's going to pay me $100 to fix
a $25 power supply?

What's needed is some assistance from the manufacturer. Schematics,
test points, easily available parts, troubeshooting info, easy access,
diagnostics, etc will all reduce the amount of time I burn fixing
something, which translates to a lower cost repair.
Very true. I've got one on the bench behind me. It's a Thinkpad R30.
The original problem was trivial - the CMOS battery was dead. The
fumble fingered fool who tried to replace it popped the battery holder
off the main board. (Poor design - it should have been glued in
place). Now it gets more difficult - the entire top of the case must
be pulled to allow clearance for a soldering iron. Once that has been
accomplished a couple of touches with a soldering iron and the holder
is back in place. Only two more problems. The same fumble fingered
fool has managed to mangle both USB ports. One is broken free from
the motherboard. Fortunately, the present owner doesn't care. As it
is, he's going to cringe at the bill.

PlainBill