If Margret opts for the refurbished laptop I found for her IĀ“d have to put on some Linux distro on it. It goes without saying. Mind you, I wouldnĀ“t be able (or willing) to provide any help other than for a Linux system.
ThatĀ“s a bargain. I guess your customers will beat a path to your door after getting hold of your kind offer.
Thanks for providing your thoughts on the matter.
IĀ“ve done quite some research on the SSD in the meantime and I have all the specs covered, I think. To the best of my knowledge the ADWITS should be the right one for the purposes of rescuing MargretĀ“s personal data. LetĀ“s hope so.
I have a refurbished desktop with about the same specs. I have had no trouble with it.
I think that is a better choice than repairs to the current laptop.
In the recent years I definitely look for them. I have good experience using them, and since I use Linux, I donāt really want the most new and shiny, and I get the necessary hardware for the fraction of the price of some new-out-of-the-shop pieces. My current Dell G3 laptop was a second-hand purchase. It was in a good shape and condition, except the battery, which I donāt care.
Now it has some wear on the touchpad already, other than that still works great. Itās even possible to run Davinci Resolve on it and do some simple edits.
Those with their partially metal chassis are durable, still Iād ask Margaret be bit careful with it.
Just personal choice. I have not bought a computer for over 20 years. My workshop is full of things I have claimed when other want to discard so free and I refurbished them myself. Memory from one with disk from another screens from broken towers all destined for the bin.
My laptop is one from a client who would not pay with a disk and memory from a failed Mac and the screen no longer works hence plugged into a separate screen. Keep promise to take the laptop screen off to gain space but several years later itās still connected
About purchasing refurbished items (especially laptops): I keep wondering what the refurbishing process consists of .
I guess the service people lake the laptop apart and clean it well. They might be looking for any components that may need mending or replacing. But what about the laptopĀ“s keyboard? I suspect it wonĀ“t be replaced by a new one if it isnĀ“t necessary. But what about cleaning the keys? Just consider how many people touched them in the past (with dirty fingers?). I myself wouldnĀ“t be comfortable with a situation like thatā¦ .
I did have a friend who could not get the keyboard to work, I did not have a spare as the connection was one I had never seen before or since. Desperate times so desperate measured.
I removed the keyboard
Pit it under running water to wash the dirt and what ever she had spilled into it.
Then left it in the sun to dry at an angle to let the water drain.
He presto a fix !
But for me it was a last point make or break, I was lucky plus i was ready to order a replacement from the company who now no longer exist.
You are right, usually they are proud of what they did. I used to see mentioning āthermal pasteā changed. Sometimes broken or partially broken hinges are fixed. If a touchpad is extremely weared (like the one that my Dell has now because of my hard fingers )they may replace the touchpad. As it looks then less used, and easier to sell I think. I used to see old used laptops having the original factory made protective foils, I donāt beleive, such a foil survives 6 years for exampleā¦
That case was surely broken, and the broken part was replaced with a brand new part. That does not scare me, because I see, someone did care.
I donāt think keyboard is usually replaced, but early this year I had a problem with a Lenovo T580 which I bought for my wife. The original keyboard was still usable, but some of the caracters worked unreliable. For example I pressed ā0ā and nothing was entered, then pressed ā0ā again (the same pressure) and it was entered correctly. I notified the seller about the problem, and he sent me a replacement keyboard (I got a brand new backlit hungarian keyboard), which I changed myself. I could have returned the whole laptop to replace the keyboard, but this solution was way quicker.
I returned only the bad keyboard afterwards, so after all I was happy.
My wife has a refurbished laptop, which also has now the keyboard replaced.
Looks and works like a brand new, and the couple years old T580 with the i5 8350u is much more powerful, than an entry-level celeron based something from the shelf of the cheapest store.
Still costed less than 40% of the price of that brand-new-entry-level-something.
So I leave shopping in stores to the rich.
I do it regularly. Switch off the laptop. Apply a little amount of window cleaner onto the keyboard.
(I like Tandil from ALDI, Iām quite sure you can get it too).
So apply some cleaner, not so much that it could flow in, but enough to make the surface wet.
Then wipe with a cloth or a paper towel.
VoilĆ”, keyboard is clean.
Why not? Can it be anything worse? If yes, then the warning is justified. Otherwise what Nike said:
I donāt think itās a matter of dirt, or not only. Iād rather assume the key can no longer release from the contact/switch, due to a broken spring or similar.
But I think itĀ“s a huge thing that the method you described worked for you. IĀ“m sincerely impressed.
As Margret seems to have set her mind on getting a new laptop (the refurbished one) thatĀ“s settled then. Well, trying your method wouldnĀ“t do any harm as her present laptop would be a spare one at best. So thereĀ“s nothing to lose.
That said, I may rule out any spilling. ThatĀ“s if she is to be believed. I tend to believe her that she never switched on the device by herself. She wouldnĀ“t know her password, and even if she did, she wouldnĀ“t be able to turn it on.
I for myself definitively know I havenĀ“t done anything awful to the machine. So that leaves me with the conclusion that she indeed might have bumped the machine against some hard object in an unruly wayā¦
And youĀ“re right. Seeing that someone does care is nice.
Great achievement, LĆ”szlĆ³. I admire you for being able to do that. Fiddling with (internal) hardware parts would give me the creeps. I doubt my capabilites would extend to this level.
Applying the liquid with the help of the spraying mechanism would certainly allow the liquid to enter the space between the keys? It might even flow down deeper inside. Perhaps applying a bit of the liquid on a soft cloth and then rubbing each key separately with it would be o.k.?
I guess afterwards IĀ“d do the same with clean water to get rid of the chemical components. Oh dearā¦ I might be a bit paranoid.
the contact/switch, due to a broken spring or similar
[/quote]
Desktop keyboard have Springs on older models but not laptops or newer slim line models they tend to be two membranes of plastic cushion not the same technology.
I just spray. That produces so tiny drops, that the liquid does not flow in. And only one, maybe 2 pushes on the pump for a keyboard and palmrest surface on the laptop, and spread as evenly as possible. Then wipe before it dries up, hurry, as it dries up quite quickly.
If you pump too much, so that more droplets may gather and form bigger drops that may flow in.
If you feel safer, do it the way @pdecker likes better, apply the liquid to the cloth, and wipe with that.
I never do this.
May work that way too, I think that method needs more liquid.
Why?
I used it since years. And before that something similar.
Iām tempted to show you a video about how I do it.
Iām just worried Iād horrify the community
There are many posts and I may have missed some answers, so I apologize in advance if there are identical answers.
This is just one opinion among many, and I apologize if it contradicts some of the answers on the forum; that is not my intention.
Dear Rosika,
do not use this cleaning product or any other directly on the keyboard. Spray a paper or cloth with this product and then clean the keyboard. If the keyboard has a lot of dirt under the keys, any cleaning product you use will create a paste with that dirt as well as other issues.
We should always clean with compressed air, but since most users probably donāt have that at home, you should use a brush and try to clean under the keys - gently so as not to damage the membranes (springs) or the key support mechanism. After cleaning under the keys with the brush and also removing the dirt that comes out from under the keys with the brush, you should spray the paper or cloth with the cleaning product, for example, the one recommended by LĆ”szlĆ³, and clean the keyboard with that paper or cloth. Finally, wipe with a dry cloth or papel to remove any cleaning product residue.
I see. O.K., seems spraying has to be done quite gently.
IĀ“m glad the method you described works well for you. You certainly have quite a lot of experience with that.
I can imagine. I just mentioned this possibility as IĀ“m a bit parainoid with such things, as I already mentioned. Perhaps you know the notion of the diligent houswife that cleans her house with the vaccum cleaner only to clean the vaccuum cleaner with a smaller one afterwards and so on. Seems IĀ“m a bit like her.
No need to apologize. IĀ“m always glad of any input.
Thanks for your recommandation as well.
I didnĀ“t think of that. You may indeed have a point here.
About compressed air: good suggestion.
Although I doubt any significant amount of dirt would have been under MargretĀ“s keyboard (because it was hardly ever used at all in slightly less than 2 years) thatĀ“s a very good recommendation. Thanks for bringing it up.
So the keys would have to be detached first, right? This might pose a problem: e.g.: Margret helped me remove the T key and her help was a bit brutish, IĀ“m afraid. The effect of it was that although I could put the key back where it belonged afterwards, it remained in some sort of shaky state. It couldnĀ“t be fixed tightly, in a way the opther keys were.
For the sake of comparison I also removed the āZā key but glady was able to put it back exactly as it was before. No shakiness afterwards. It seems you have to be extremely careful when dealing with keys.
Thanks for your detailed instructions, Jorge.
Huh, if it can be avoided, IĀ“d rather refrain from doing so.
That said, it might still be a later project all the same, because yesterday I ordered a refurbished laptop for Margret:
She opted for this solution. Of course, when it arrives at her place thereĀ“s much work for me to be done. Nuking WIN 10 and putting a fine Linux distro on it. Saving her personal data from the old laptop, etc.
Thanks again to all and many greertings from Rosika
[/quote] Dont like to comment negative against jorge as I think he is a great technician and a value member of our site. But compressed air contains water which even in small amounts can cause damage. Only do this if the keyboard is detached and can be left to air dry for some time before using or fitting.
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)they may replace the touchpad. As it looks then less used, and easier to sell I think. I used to see old used laptops having the original factory made protective foils, I donāt beleive, such a foil survives 6 years for exampleā¦
)
Seems IĀ“m a bit like her.