PC Repair Shop Recommendations

[GuyJean]

AAARRRGGHH!

As I was unfolding my futon for bed, I knocked my Compaq Presario laptop off the table and snapped the electrical input jack... The actual AC plug is fine, it's the female part attached to the motherboard that's busted off, inside the computer. From what I can see, only the female part needs to be replaced. The motherboard is fine.

Any recommendations for computer repair shops that cater to problems like this? The computer is about 3 years old, I think. It's a Japanese model of the Presario 1200..

Arrgh!.. I know they're going to charge me 30,000 yen take 2 months to fix.. Any other recommendations?

What about just buying a battery charger, and forgetting an AC adapter?

Thanks in advance.

GJ

[Big Booger]

How handy are you with a soldering gun? I have a spare motherboard that has a fully functional internal Plug if you want it.

It is a Compaq 1200 series motherboard.. I got when I purchased a CPU 4 months ago. The motherboard itself is junk, but the plug works fine.

It is easy to fix, if you have the soldering skills and patience. I think there are 4 prongs you have to solder.

[devicenull]

same thing happened to me and my laptop. however it was under school warranty at the time.. basically it is a motherboard replacement if you get it repaired. take it all apart and see what you are dealing with. however, this is only if you are in anyway skilled with a soldering iron. the board is multilayered, but the jack is independant of that. the leads are probably ruined though. goto ratshack, get a soldersucker and clean up the area. get a new jack and solder it in. ONLY DO THIS IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. pay attention to where each lead is connected before you clean it up... write it all down, make a diagram, etc.

[GuyJean]

It is a Compaq 1200 series motherboard.. I got when I purchased a CPU 4 months ago. The motherboard itself is junk, but the plug works fine.

Wow. Buying the plug from you would be cool. I haven't used a soldering gun in awhile, but I'm usually pretty good at things like that. I have a neighbor that has a gun I can practice with.

Let me know if you want to get rid of the 1200 motherboard..

Also, I use this computer a lot and frequently for encoding. What about buying a separate battery charger, and using the battery until I have the time to solder the f*cker. Is that a strange idea?

Thanks again, guys!

GJ

[Big Booger]

You can have the motherboard. It is actually worthless other than the plug, just pay for the shipping.


But you have to be careful as devicenull suggests.. if you snuff it up, it's a new motherboard for your Compaq 1200 series.


As for the charger sounds interesting. Might be worth a shot.

[omae mona]

Anybody know of a place in Tokyo or vicinity that's willing to do diagnostics on a home-grown machine? I have a box put together from individual parts (I bought the motherboard, power supply, CPU, etc., and slapped 'em together early last year). Last week it decided it didn't want to turn on any more (the fans spin once or twice, then stop). I am 90% sure I have a bad power supply or a bad motherboard, with a 10% chance of a bad CPU.

I really don't want to buy all three parts to find out which one is broken. Looking for a shop that can swap out parts one at a time until we find the culprit.

sankyuu

[Big Booger]

If you lived in Kansai, I'd recommend TNT PC. They do quality work and are 100% foreigner friendly. They even do onsite repair.

http://www.tnt-pc.com/services.php?osCsid=9a36430b1da9cf8b0ab4c1e7dfa2405b

ONSITE SETUP AND REPAIR (We support any language, make or model)


Our service technicians are fluent in English and have many years of on-site and technical experience helping the foreign community in Kansai.
Limited service within the Kansai area with certain exceptions.

Sorry that doesn't help you. Maybe someone can offer a similar solution in Tokyo. You could go down to any wako denki and they should have a service department. At least the 4 I've been to have. Take your PC in and ask them to help you to find the part that is broken.

If the PS is only 1 year old, you might have a warranty.. something to look into.

[omae mona]

Maybe someone can offer a similar solution in Tokyo. You could go down to any wako denki and they should have a service department. At least the 4 I've been to have. Take your PC in and ask them to help you to find the part that is broken.

BB, thanks. Any pointers on how to find a wako denki? I've tried every speelling I can think of and can't find any references on the net.

P.S. I am also open to foreigner-hostile stores. In fact, I am thinking of special ordering a rare part, and then backing out when the part arrives, just to see what happens!

[Big Booger]

Sorry Mona,
I meant Yamada denki:

http://www.yamada-denki.jp/

You might also want to give this site a look:

http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyotechknow/372/tokyotechknowinc.htm

[omae mona]

Yamada Denki: "sorry, won't work on a PC that's built from components."
3-4 other major stores: either "won't work on a PC built from components" OR "won't work on a PC unless bought from our store."

The problem, as it turns out: I had asked Mrs. Omae Mona to call these places on the phone and ask. Looks like she got the ol' "stupid lady doesn't know what she's talking about" treatment and they just made up policies to stop her from coming in.

I decided to go into Yamada by myself and just buy a power supply replacement to see if it solved my problem. While at the register, the sales guy struck up a conversation about why I was buying the power supply, and I told him I really wasn't sure if my problem was the power supply or motherboard. Within moments, he was behind the counter with my old power supply (which I had fortunately brought with me), wiring it up to a test PC. Took him 10 minutes or so, but sure enough, it turned out the power supply was bad.

So in the end they were more than happy to do the diagnostics I asked about in the first place. And for free, too.

It's good to be a man.

(and maybe good to be a gaijin too?)

[Big Booger]

Yamada Denki: "sorry, won't work on a PC that's built from components."
3-4 other major stores: either "won't work on a PC built from components" OR "won't work on a PC unless bought from our store."

The problem, as it turns out: I had asked Mrs. Omae Mona to call these places on the phone and ask. Looks like she got the ol' "stupid lady doesn't know what she's talking about" treatment and they just made up policies to stop her from coming in.

I decided to go into Yamada by myself and just buy a power supply replacement to see if it solved my problem. While at the register, the sales guy struck up a conversation about why I was buying the power supply, and I told him I really wasn't sure if my problem was the power supply or motherboard. Within moments, he was behind the counter with my old power supply (which I had fortunately brought with me), wiring it up to a test PC. Took him 10 minutes or so, but sure enough, it turned out the power supply was bad.

So in the end they were more than happy to do the diagnostics I asked about in the first place. And for free, too.



It's good to be a man.

(and maybe good to be a gaijin too?)

You hit it. Their policy is no help unless you bought it from their store. But if they are going to make a sale, at least in the 4 times I went, they help you out.



Glad you got it sorted.

[omae mona]

You hit it. Their policy is no help unless you bought it from their store. But if they are going to make a sale, at least in the 4 times I went, they help you out.

BB, thanks again. Incidentally, my expectation going in was that the help WAS the sale.

For future reference, does anybody know places that will take my hard cash in exchange for diagnostics / repair, regardless of what equipment I bring them or where I got it? Damn, even the king of crappy service, CompUSA, is willing to take my money in this kind of situation back home. Since I manage to blow out my power supply, motherboard, CPU or disk around once a year (and it's often impossible to tell which one), I expect to need diagnostic service again.

Ultra's suggestion of finding a friend and swapping parts is a good thought, but everybody I know has notebooks.

[kotatsuneko]

maybe when i get back to Sapporo I`ll have to start a pc repair centre for gaijin fcked or otherwise ^^

very glad you got it repaired, I figure the guy`s help may have also been affected by perhaps an element of respect on seeing a self built deck?

either way, a result