Any laptop tech savvy here?

[theultimatebrucelee]

So my HP laptop when turned on, the black screen saids it detected a cooling fan problem and that continue operation is not recommended and that it would shutdown in 15 secs.

Can any computer guru tell me what to do if I want to replace the cooling fan on this thing? I'm thinking about buying a new fan on HP part store and find a local repair store to install it.

and on the side note. in case I want to get a new laptop, can anyone here recommend me a good brand and model for it(homework and entertainment preferably less than 1K)? I'm thinking Dell now since Hp laptops always overheat on me.

[KuroiTsubasa4]

If your warranty is still good I'd just call the manufacturer. My Dell laptop had a crappy fan and they came and replaced it for free. Unfortunately, it had some other problems and completely crapped out soon after, but they then replaced the whole computer, which I've been using now for three years with no problems ^_^ If you want a new laptop, I hear the Dell Alienware line is really good (based on gamer friend recommendations), but I'm not an expert...

[theultimatebrucelee]

Thanks for the reply!

my warranty expired sadly, its been more than a year. I called them and got transferred to an idiot, can't tell me what the problem is(its fan problem according to the computer screen but he just ignored me and went on with his own speech) and took 30 minutes for him to ask me to ship it back for a $200 fix.

so I did end up ordering a replacement fan. and next week I'd probably get a local tech to install it and see if that fix the problem. hopefully it does its got a giant load of files on it and I should have purchased a new backup drive. need an anti-drop one this time.

I look at all the dell laptop...they have deals on a bunch of 15 inch ones, but since my previous 2 are both 17 and I use them to watch anime I wonder if 15 would be too small and hard to get use to lol

[zerospace]

Even if you can't get the laptop itself to power on, you can always easily yank out the hard drive, plop it into an external drive enclosure that fits 2.5 inch laptop hard drives, and hook it up to another computer (a new one, perhaps?) to get your files off of it. That's if the replacement fan (which might cost you an arm & a leg to get someone to install because laptops are notoriously horrible to work on) doesn't work. It should, though, provided the fan is the correct one. Most fans transmit speed data to the computer's motherboard (which usually controls the fan speed accordingly, based on heat generation), and I'm guessing that either the dead fan isn't sending anything or it's speed is so low that the machine refuses to run to protect the hardware (this is actually a GOOD thing). A simple swap with the correct fan type/size, should fix that -- however, laptops usually require near complete dis-assembly to access a lot of the internal hardware, so expect that a tech bill even just to replace a simple tiny fan might not be as low as you might think. Swapping a fan in a desktop PC is much easier than in a laptop.

Yes, I work on computers. A lot. Too much, maybe . Which reminds me... I have a laptop to fix for a friend.

[theultimatebrucelee]

Thanks a lot zerospace!! was hoping maybe you would answer this one

So I'm hoping the fan I ordered is right. its suggested by HP by online chat, I also called them ealier and the person answered give me a different part ID, but I ended up getting the one the online chat person recommanded. the fan is like $50, but then I called the local tech shops and they charge between 80-100$ to install. now hopefully they knew what they're talking about. I'm planing on getting a new laptop in the summer, so if they charge any more than that I'd prably end up getting it sooner instead.

I ended up getting an external harddrive and forcefully turned on laptop and then put it back to sleep billions of times in 5-10 min increasurments(to avoid overheating) to relocate hundreds of gbs of data. this way in case the fan isn't the only problem or tech mess it up I'll still have backup lol

[zerospace]

It would actually be easier if you just find the hard drive caddy, unscrew it, remove the hard drive, go to Best Buy or someplace like that (or even amazon) and by a 2.5" drive enclosure and then plug it into another PC via USB and copy your files. Then put it back into the laptop & attempt to get it fixed if you choose. For example:

http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-NexStar-2- ... B002JQNXZC

I'm not surprised by the repair cost at all. $80-$100 is about on par with what I expected. Laptops suck. 99% of the time, to access anything, you have to pop the keyboard off, unscrew the 5 billion screws on the bottom, then remove everything in between, including tiny, fragile ribbon cables & any add-on cards, kill your fingers wedging them into tight spaces, try not to lose all those tiny screws, and cuss a lot in the process . I hate it. Most laptops, I'd rather throw away then try to fix them. I have a semi-dead Toshiba sitting here with a busted LCD to fix and I'm not looking forward to it.

The sad part is, if you pay $50 for the fan (UGH that's expensive. WAY expensive), plus $80-$100 ... you're 1/3 of the way to a mid-range brand new laptop, which is why I'd usually just say recycle the dang thing & buy a new one (and just yank your hard drive and rescue your files).

Out of curiosity, what's your laptop model? What's the part number for the fan they recommended? I gotta see this $50 fan.

[Keropi]

You have had quite a few problems with your laptops.

Hopefully you won't be having any more trouble for awhile.

[theultimatebrucelee]

@zerospace: that'd be a great idea to save time and money, definitely what I would do next time. I just need to learn how to get the hard drive out safely since I haven't the most basic knowledge when it comes to hardware. Could also use some basic hardware install lessons too, pays off in the long run lol

The fan part is: 130314-00748, 50$ is a shipping included charge so fan is like 40$ I think.
The computer model is: G7-1075DX

so the fan came in today, and I can see what you mean by them charging too much. I had thought it would be a much more sophisticated piece of device, how wrong was I, don't think it cost them more than $2-3 to make one of those including the package.

Do you by chance know a decent relatively durable laptop model by chance(that's prably not HP)? sounds like you hate them but I really like them for the portability and wifi

@Keropi: yeah I hope so too. though I cut down quite a bit computer time last week or two I was able to finish Gilgamesh(thanks to your list), Xenoglossia and El-hazard OVA. thought its interesting how Gligamesh ended, haven't seen that kind ending in a long time. its like some kind of DVD bonus alternative ending lol and I remember me and this other anime forum poster debated how idolmaster was suppose to be about their singing career and not about mecha, thinking back now...how boring would the story be without it revolving around them??

[zerospace]

Believe it or not, I don't hate laptops as computers, I just hate repairing them. When a part that isn't a simple swap (so basically, something other than the hard drive, memory, add-on video card, or maybe an optical drive) dies, I'd just rather replace the whole unit than actually fix it. Why? Well, you're finding out the hard way why:

1) The parts are hella-expensive. The reason is because they're largely proprietary. You can't put Toshiba parts into an HP, nor can you put Sony parts into a Compaq, etc. etc. If the motherboard goes, eeek! Replacements can cost $100+, even on eBay.

2) Doing the actual repair is a boatload of work (as I described in my other post above).

I generally feel that it isn't worth the time to fix, because usually by the time they die, they're old enough that repair cost vs. price tag of a new machine just isn't worth it. I gave up my laptops a long time ago -- I now stick to my desktop PC (which I built), and a tablet for portability. If I bought a laptop today for myself, it'd be a core i5 or i7 ultrabook with a touchscreen, a crapton of memory (at least 8GB, maybe 12-16GB), a SSD/regular hard drive combination setup, and Windows 8. Of course, a machine with those specs would probably run you close to $1k .

Believe it or not, HP is a brand I can generally recommend. They do build quality products, it's just that everything is very proprietary inside, but that is true for every laptop brand. If I'm buying for myself, I like Sony, Toshiba, Asus, and perhaps Dell. Acer is OK -- you can get something decent for relatively cheap, but their support is pretty lacking, IMO. My hubby owns an Acer netbook, and the repair disc creation tool they had (so you can upgrade the hard drive) doesn't work, and they KNOW it, and they never fixed it, they just let it go. Nice, eh? I haven't used a Lenovo (formerly IBM) in a long, long time, so I'm not sure about them these days. The Lenovo Yoga ultrabook looks pretty cool, though. I'd be tempted by it. My general preference is also to stay away from AMD processor units (I'd stick with an Intel Core i5 or i7 personally, but an i3 may suffice for you, don't know).

So in a nutshell -- you get what you pay for. Buy a $300-$400 laptop, and that's what you get. Expect a couple of solid years out of it, but definitely no more than 3-4 tops (that isn't to say that some lower-end units won't last longer, but you can't be certain of it). Buy a mid-range to high-end unit, and you can probably expect to get a good long lifetime of at least 4 years (which should put you on the edge of being obsolete at the rate computer parts advance), assuming the manufacturer doesn't have a problematic part in the one you pick. And for that... well, it's a crapshoot, really.

[Keropi]

@Keropi: yeah I hope so too. though I cut down quite a bit computer time last week or two I was able to finish Gilgamesh(thanks to your list), Xenoglossia and El-hazard OVA. thought its interesting how Gligamesh ended, haven't seen that kind ending in a long time. its like some kind of DVD bonus alternative ending lol and I remember me and this other anime forum poster debated how idolmaster was suppose to be about their singing career and not about mecha, thinking back now...how boring would the story be without it revolving around them??

El Hazard OVA? Which one the first OVA? I rather liked the first one especially back when I hadn't watched much anime. I remember a lot of people were trying to get Ifurita cels...especially the gold colored ones.

Xenoglossia was pretty weird with the idol mecha storyline. They stuck the idols in a mecha story.

I don't remember much about Gilgamesh because I barely seen any of it. What kind of ending are you talking about?

Oh yeah, "yangire" characters...those are the types of characters that I like. I learned the term "yangire" last week. "Yangire" is like turning to the Dark Side of the Force but instead of feeling free to embrace dark emotions you feel free to embrace your psychosis. I think that's why I find yangires "losing their marbles" to be so amusing.

Rarely are comedic yanderes done very well. They nearly always end up either not being funny (as with "Akarui Sekai Keikaku") or they end up losing their sense of danger (maybe both). It's difficult to portray both aspects in the same character in the same story. I think the most eccentric and psychologically deranged harem I've ever come across in a manga is "Abnormal-kei Joushi". I have no idea where that story is going. There is something mentally defective with at least a couple of the girls in "Iinazuke Kyoutei" manga too. I dropped that manga early on, but picked it up again when I heard that the girls were starting to turn whacko.

[theultimatebrucelee]

@zerospace: I can see why you hate laptops...heck, I should hate them myself now that you mention them lol

more than a year ago when I wanted a new laptop, HP had this deal of buy a customized laptop and get a free xbox, at the time I got a nice laptop with top spec they offered. but weeks later when the used game I got on ebay failed me on disc 2 after 40hours of grind work I done on disc one..I realized that I wanted nothing to do with xbox ever again and ended up returning it, and subsequently the computer lol at the time I found this on sale and thought to myself what could possibly be the difference besides the price tag and the less powerful system? afterall same brand=same quality right? and so a year and some later...-_-" funny my first HP laptop I got in 2009 still works today, except I need to reinstall the system due to some virus and I don't want to because of all the games I installed on it lol

HP seem to heat up quite fast though and I don't like that, think this time I'll try dell or maybe sony, always liked the brand. I should prably start to put some money aside for a better new laptop, knowing that not only do I get more powerful system and quality service, the hardware would last longer too as a side benefit. and then at the end of 4th year if I'm lucky, I can just recycle it and get a good one all over again, positive cycle

@keropi: I did watch the first El Hazard. thought it was cool but nothing I haven't already seen in the past...Ifurita is a character with pretty unique circumstances, but she seriously reminded me of ice queen from wild arms 5 and so it feels wired the anime I watched this year seems to copy the same idea as game I played in 2007/08 but actually its most prably the other way around. Kiriya kind character on the other hand never gets old though, a good cel of this character would be nice but that's like wishing for a cel of queen's substitute from Arslan since they hardly got any screen time.

for Gilgamesh...I'm talking about the prevention of world destruction failed and the world ends and reborn anew type ending, its been a long time lol

I always thought yangire is a variation of yandere. whats the difference again lol does that mean yandere can switch back and fourth from crazy to normal and yangire can't? its been a long time since I read any manga, but I prably need to give those titles a try since wahcho characters done right is like some kind of rare spice in anime.

[Keropi]

Yeah, El Hazard first OVA is from 1995.

Yandere's psychosis is caused by love or extreme, obsessive devotion like:

Code Geass season 2:

Rolo

Yanderes include characters like Kotonoha (School Days), Yuno (Mirai Nikki), Harley Quinn (Batman) and Kaede (Shuffle).

Yangires have behavior similar to yanderes, but are driven by other things such high anxiety, extreme anger, brainwashing and/or bloodthirst.

Technically speaking Rena (Higurashi) is a yangire.

There could be three shows from the Spring 2013 season that have yanderes or yangires in them so I'm looking forward to seeing that. Lol

[theultimatebrucelee]

yup...Rolo saids it all, I think his prably one of the first gay yandere what about shion/mion from later eps from first season of higurashi, are they considered love obsessive or demon possessed/high anxiety?

regarding the 3 shows in spring, I'm guessing higurashi is one, what are the other two?

one thing about older favor anime with unique ideas plus amazing execution, few and far in between can really withstand the test of time. I remember kotonoha to be one of the best yandere for years(thanks to sekai), then comes along yuno with more extreme ideas which totally overshadows school days making it no longer that impressive. the other thing being season 2/sequel/rewrite being better thus overwrite season 1/prequel, ex. code geass/full metal panic/fate/full metal alchemist. if one watches them in reverse order they might even be disappointed contradicting the person that watched them as they came out.

[Keropi]

what about shion/mion from later eps from first season of higurashi, are they considered love obsessive or demon possessed/high anxiety?

I'm not sure. I kind of forgot the details since it's been seven years since I seen it.

regarding the 3 shows in spring, I'm guessing higurashi is one, what are the other two?

I heard we might get some yandere-ness and/or yangire-ness in "Aku no Hana" and "Date A Live". ^_^

Regarding the second anime title I mentioned above in the spoiler - the character I'm looking forward to seeing the most:

Personally...I'm waiting for Kurumi to show up in "Date A Live", but she probably won't show up until the end of the anime.

one thing about older favor anime with unique ideas plus amazing execution, few and far in between can really withstand the test of time. I remember kotonoha to be one of the best yandere for years(thanks to sekai), then comes along yuno with more extreme ideas which totally overshadows school days making it no longer that impressive. the other thing being season 2/sequel/rewrite being better thus overwrite season 1/prequel, ex. code geass/full metal panic/fate/full metal alchemist. if one watches them in reverse order they might even be disappointed contradicting the person that watched them as they came out.

Yeah, whatever the popular trends are they make more of those kinds of anime.There are a lot of hero/demon king anime/manga right now. There are a lot of survival game and lets-practice-with-each-other-so-we-can-get-the-courage-to-ask-out-the-ones-we-really-have-a-crush-on genre manga too. Then we seem to be getting stories that have ren'ai game aspects applied to real life (such as flags/decision points/restart points/multiple stories and heroines at the same time). They play it safer now so we see less varied anime than we used to.

[theultimatebrucelee]

I heard we might get some yandere-ness and/or yangire-ness in "Aku no Hana" and "Date A Live". ^_^

most excellent well doesn't that mean that in the future there'll be more anime of this genre since they like to play it safe? and I thought I heard future dairy didn't do well in Japan, must be my hallucination lol

There are a lot of survival game and lets-practice-with-each-other-so-we-can-get-the-courage-to-ask-out-the-ones-we-really-have-a-crush-on genre manga too.

that's not good. back in the days I used to like this kind of anime and thought they were cute, but its been a few years since I watched this genre...must be because of the shaping up society done to me over time

They play it safer now so we see less varied anime than we used to.

its like they are trying to copy the movie industry. good news its that genre others like I do as well, bad news would be that less anime will be watched because I'd only pick maybe a few from each of the handful type...or maybe thats a good thing too lol