Samsung NC10 - Dropped - worth repairing?

[joydivision]

I have a client who has dropped her NC10 at 4ft. The screen is smashed and the front bezel is cracked. The rest of it seems fine, I have tested the hard drive and it has amazingly survived though have not done a surface scan on it yet the SMART is fine and I am able to access the documents folder.

The problem is while the keyboard responds to cap lock and the HD light suggests it is booting windows fine when I press the FN and external monitor key there is no output on the monitor, is this normal for this model? Does it need to be booted in windows for it work?

My client may decide its not worth spending £120 or so on getting this repaired anyway but if she does want it repaired I am worried I will buy a new screen and there will be no output although the screen does light up and changes colour slightly after about two minutes and the HD light goes out (I assume that is the users screen on XP).

[Cadishead Computers]

It's not normal for it not to work on a external device Ian. However what I have done in the past, is to connect the vga cable, and then turn on the laptop, and occasionally it goes straight to the external, instead of the screen. May be worth a try.

Do you have an old screen lay around (even a smashed one), to swap over, to see if the screen cable etc itself works?.

If not, drop the laptop round, I am positive I have one in the workshop mate. Save you the cost of a screen just in case

[joydivision]

Thanks Nige,

I have a few spares but would they have the same connector?

The spares I have are much larger, would the NC10 provide enough power to light up a larger one?

[PCX]

Originally Posted by joydivision

I have a client who has dropped her NC10 at 4ft. The screen is smashed and the front bezel is cracked. The rest of it seems fine, I have tested the hard drive and it has amazingly survived though have not done a surface scan on it yet the SMART is fine and I am able to access the documents folder.

The problem is while the keyboard responds to cap lock and the HD light suggests it is booting windows fine when I press the FN and external monitor key there is no output on the monitor, is this normal for this model? Does it need to be booted in windows for it work?

My client may decide its not worth spending £120 or so on getting this repaired anyway but if she does want it repaired I am worried I will buy a new screen and there will be no output although the screen does light up and changes colour slightly after about two minutes and the HD light goes out (I assume that is the users screen on XP).

If you simply plug in the hard drive and looked at the SMART data (with something like crystaldiskinfo) or run a short test, it will not tell you much of anything about the hard drive. The SMART data will tell you if it has failed in the past, the short test will tell you if there is something severely wrong (not counting bad sectors) and the extended test (which only needs to be run if it passes the short test) will test everything including a surface scan.

My point is, before you jump for joy, run the extended test. I wouldn't be surprised if it failed.

[14049752]

Originally Posted by PCX

My point is, before you jump for joy, run the extended test. I wouldn't be surprised if it failed.

Exactly what I was going to say. It seems like too much credit is given to the smart data on these forums.

[joydivision]

I realise that, and I won't be even considering a new screen until I have backed up the drive and done a full surface scan on it.

However the seek time is very quick and there is no obvious signs of any issues with it. I was surprised myself as I was expecting to be shattered.

[PCX]

Originally Posted by joydivision

I realise that, and I won't be even considering a new screen until I have backed up the drive and done a full surface scan on it.

However the seek time is very quick and there is no obvious signs of any issues with it. I was surprised myself as I was expecting to be shattered.

Yeah, no doubt. With at least half the screen replacements we do, the hard drives are also damaged.

[joydivision]

I would say 1/3 or even nearly a half of all the laptops I get in the workshop have a failing hard drive regardless of being dropped

Is just beyond a joke the mount of laptop hard drives that fail.

[KompuKare]

Originally Posted by joydivision

I would say 1/3 or even nearly a half of all the laptops I get in the workshop have a failing hard drive regardless of being dropped

Is just beyond a joke the mount of laptop hard drives that fail.

If they haven't been dropped, I bet it's people turning the plane of their laptops while the drive is spinning. Even a 2.5" platter @ 4200RPM has enough momentum to wear out it's bearing. Despite the google HDD survey, heat must be the other factor.