Daughter Broke Her New Laptop

neilmcl

mgfvvc said:

I would guess that it will need a new PSU (power supply unit) and maybe a new motherboard. Can you find a recommended local repair guy and get a proper assessment? Maybe you can get a recommendation on a local facebook group?

Also, if it was paid for on a credit card, some credit cards used to provide accidental damage cover on purchases. I don't know if that's still a thing?

Very good point. Most credit cards will offer a certain amount of purchase protection, including damage to purchases for a limited time period after purchase.

Username03725

Too late in this case, but from experience if there's any chance of it being a claim don't touch it yourself as the claim will always be rejected as 'you tried to do something / fix it yourself and broke it doing that'. Had it myself with a simple fix on a bike, and a tv. Lesson learnt - it just gives the warranty people a reason not to cough up. To repeat; not applicable in this case, but useful as general guide.

TELLIT01

It could be a simple fix or it may be uneconomic.  The only way to know is to take it to a repair shop.  They probably won't be happy that you've stripped the screw heads but will be able to overcome that.  Many have a minimum charge which will be payable even if it's fried.  Let them know she is off to Uni in a few days and they may try to check it out quickly.

[Deleted User]

About 1 hour of patience, organisation, right tools, good light and some online guides and all laptops can be torn down to components. This is what I did with a laptop worth £1200 new. Cost me £10 to get this one repaired but even if it was a major component like the motherboard that needed replacing it would only be a third of the price of a new laptop in this case.

Some key tips:

1. Take a photo of each stage as you remove components to refer back to
2. Batch up your screws as per photo below and label them so you know what goes where
3. Write down anything you did if you aren't following a set of reversible instructions.

The harder part is diagnosing which component(s) have failed but with red wine it should be fairly obvious what has been affected.

PoGee

[Deleted User] said:

About 1 hour of patience, organisation, right tools, good light and some online guides and all laptops can be torn down to components. This is what I did with a laptop worth £1200 new. Cost me £10 to get this one repaired but even if it was a major component like the motherboard that needed replacing it would only be a third of the price of a new laptop in this case.

Some key tips:

1. Take a photo of each stage as you remove components to refer back to
2. Batch up your screws as per photo below and label them so you know what goes where
3. Write down anything you did if you aren't following a set of reversible instructions.

The harder part is diagnosing which component(s) have failed but with red wine it should be fairly obvious what has been affected.

If it was my laptop, I'd definitely have a go but DD won't let me so she's asked her brother to take it into a computer shop for her. He's a bit rough and ready looking. She's scared they'll go through her selfies; nothing compromising but she gets guys getting the huff if she rejects their friend request on Facebook etc. She thinks they'll do an unwanted friend request if they go through her pictures.

prowla

I've done repairs on some laptops; there are usually YouTube videos telling you where the screws are and pointing out which wires/connectors to take care over.

However, if it's a very slim laptop, then the likelihood of anything in it being user-replaceable is low, so you could just end up with the case & screen, a motherboard with everything soldered onto it so you can't do anything, and a pile of screws.

You may find mobos available on ebay, though..

But, if you've already mashed the screws (little sets of weird-headed screw bits are really cheap), then you could be onto a loser.

[Deleted User]

PoGee said:

She's scared they'll go through her selfies; nothing compromising but she gets guys getting the huff if she rejects their friend request on Facebook etc. She thinks they'll do an unwanted friend request if they go through her pictures.

Another reason to always have a password enabled and disk encryption on a laptop or desktop PC as a bare minimum for security and privacy.

So many people on here reject the idea when I mention it with objections like "it never leaves the house" or "I trust all the people I live with" etc.

PoGee

[Deleted User] said:

PoGee said:

She's scared they'll go through her selfies; nothing compromising but she gets guys getting the huff if she rejects their friend request on Facebook etc. She thinks they'll do an unwanted friend request if they go through her pictures.

Another reason to always have a password enabled and disk encryption on a laptop or desktop PC as a bare minimum for security and privacy.

So many people on here reject the idea when I mention it with objections like "it never leaves the house" or "I trust all the people I live with" etc.

Is that different from password on laptop? 

PoGee

prowla said:

I've done repairs on some laptops; there are usually YouTube videos telling you where the screws are and pointing out which wires/connectors to take care over.

However, if it's a very slim laptop, then the likelihood of anything in it being user-replaceable is low, so you could just end up with the case & screen, a motherboard with everything soldered onto it so you can't do anything, and a pile of screws.

You may find mobos available on ebay, though..

But, if you've already mashed the screws (little sets of weird-headed screw bits are really cheap), then you could be onto a loser.

Yes it's very slim. I managed to get the correct torx and screws came out easily. On opening it, it looked healthy with just a 5mm by 5mm area of corrosion which I used a tiny brush to clean off. But the wine would have spilt on the underside of what I'm looking at (below keyboard). Daughter won't allow me to unscrew and take a look at underside. Charger ok but laptop not turning on 

poppellerant

PoGee said:

prowla said:

I've done repairs on some laptops; there are usually YouTube videos telling you where the screws are and pointing out which wires/connectors to take care over.

However, if it's a very slim laptop, then the likelihood of anything in it being user-replaceable is low, so you could just end up with the case & screen, a motherboard with everything soldered onto it so you can't do anything, and a pile of screws.

You may find mobos available on ebay, though..

But, if you've already mashed the screws (little sets of weird-headed screw bits are really cheap), then you could be onto a loser.

Yes it's very slim. I managed to get the correct torx and screws came out easily. On opening it, it looked healthy with just a 5mm by 5mm area of corrosion which I used a tiny brush to clean off. But the wine would have spilt on the underside of what I'm looking at (below keyboard). Daughter won't allow me to unscrew and take a look at underside. Charger ok but laptop not turning on 

While I understand how your daughter could be seen as being ungrateful for rejecting your help, I understand her reasoning.  With all due respect, but you stripped some screws before getting to the innards of the machine.  At this stage, what makes you think you're proficient enough to identify the problem and recommend a fix? From what you've said, I'm not confident in your abilities - but fair play for at least trying, which is only what any other parent would do for their children.

The chances are that the wine has shorted out an SMD component.  These are notoriously hard to trace and repair - just watch a few videos on YouTube by Louis Rossmann to get an idea of what I mean.  Warn your daughter that the laptop probably isn't repairable and that she is likely wasting her time getting it repaired.

I'd suggest you recommend that your daughter gets a new laptop, but keep the glasses of wine away from it!

I wish you the best of luck, whatever path you choose.