Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad Mel
If that were me:
1) laugh at guy. 3 hours? Is he joking? Ask him if you can stand there and watch for the three hours.
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While most laptops don't take 3 hours to completely take apart, some can get close, especially if someone is unfamiliar with the process for that particular laptop and it's a complicated one. And especailly if they miss a screw or something and get almost all the way done and have to re-disassemble it (I've done that before).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad Mel
And I'm sure the fan is actually a $10 part.
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Not often, many fans are fit specifically for a model so you have to get it from the manufacturer, which is more expensive.. they'll charge whatever they want. Most fans I did were way more than $10.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad Mel
2) I'd just try to take it apart. Really, you're just pulling the casing apart, it's not like if you feel like you're getting in over your head you can't just put it back together.
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Again that depends. Some laptops require a special tool to separate the casing and if you don't have it and just pry with a screwdriver you'll end up bending the plastic or snapping a plastic tab.
I used to be a certified tech for Toshiba, HP, Compaq, Dell laptops.
Laptops vary widely, from extremely simple to pull apart to fiendishly complex with tiny plastic pieces that have to be put back just so (Thinkpads!).
Try and find a service manual for your laptop and see how easy / difficult it is, HPs used to not be that bad. Finding the service manual can be hard sometimes though, Toshiba used to treat them like they were state secrets while I think Compaq had them online.
Key is organization, when you remove parts keep the screws for those parts with those parts, screws can be almost the same but not quite and its VERY easy to lose track of what went where. Have a big work area and just keep putting parts in a row as you take them out, then when you put it back together work backwards in your row.
Sometimes they take quite a bit of force in the right places to come apart which is annoying, because if you do it in the wrong place or before removing all the screws you can snap pieces.
See if there's a youtube video of someone doing it too.