power to the LCD; the inverter has to be exactly matched to the machine or it
could easily blow out the backlight and the LCD.
And so I sent the machine off to Forrester and http://www.portablecomputers.com.
About a week later I had my surprisingly pleasant answer: After hundreds of
thousands of miles of travel all around the world by plane, train, automobile,
and ship, my Gateway was still in very good condition. Somehow, though, the
tiny cable that connected the LCD to the inverter and the motherboard had
worked its way out of the socket. Plugged back in firmly, the laptop was now
as good as ever. That will be $200, please.
Could I have found the problem by myself? Probably. I’ve never been afraid
to take equipment — cars to televisions to computers — apart. But I know
how difficult it is to work within the tiny confines of a laptop, and I also know
that replacement parts aren’t something that can be found at the nearest
SuperCompAmericaCity Store.
Basic repair news from the shop........................................................
With my repaired Gateway back in service — I use it as an extra Internet dis-
play, monitoring the news or a baseball game when not on the road — I called
Forrester to discuss the work his company had done on my machine.
A basic repair costs about $200. Most of that expense involves labor. The
same approximate charge likely applies to reseating a disconnected internal
cable or replacing a basic component like an inverter or LCD backlight (more
about those in a moment). The worst case for most laptops — or at least the
most expensive repair worth considering — is replacement of a fried, cracked,
or otherwise damaged motherboard, a project usually priced at about $300.
After determining the motherboard problem, the shop tries to fix it. Failing
that, they replace the board with a refurbished motherboard of the same
design and maker. Apparently upgrading a laptop’s motherboard is tough
because each computer and maker are so proprietary about products.
With my machine, Forrester said, the problem was relatively rare but an
easily fixed one. The work and expense in reattaching a loose cable or restor-
ing a loose connection comes with the time it takes to properly disassemble
and reassemble the laptop.
More common causes of problems with laptops are actual component fail-
ures. About 50–60 percent of all laptop breakdowns are related to the LCD,
Forrester said, and the most common point of failure on modern laptops are
the LCD’s backlight or inverter. The backlightis a specialized lightbulb, usu-
ally fluorescent and located along the bottom of the LCD; Forrester described
Chapter 4: When to Repair and When to Recycle 59