archived post from SillyDog701 Message Centre

[tinyuser]

Hello. I wonder if anyone can help.
I have a tiny A440 notebook with the small 12" screen which I used and loved as it is so small and compact.
Unfortunately it now refuses to boot up. The power on light comes on (and the charge light if battery is down), and the hdd light and a couple of the others at the back flicker and then go out, the unit clunks once as if to fire up but just stays in a non started state with no fan, post beeps or anything on the display.
I have tried a substitute PSU/Charger.
I have swapped memory from a different laptop, removed the modem and all other external components, but still the same problem.
I am a retired electrical engineer, but know little about computers, but learning fast.

HELP.

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; Win 9x 4.90; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)

[Tidus]

[tinyuser]

Thanks for the reply Tidus.
The memory I tried was pc100 the same as was in it. But only 1 bank (128mb) instead of the original 2. I have also tried both original memory banks individually in both slots without success. They work fine in a friends laptop.
In the faulty condition the cpu gets hot after a while, so it could be a faulty processor as you suggest.
The processor is an Intel Celeron 800Mhz.
I will have a look on ebay for another cpu, and let you know how I get on.
I do not want to spend a lot on it in case it is totally u/s. (Flogging a dead horse!).

Thanks again

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.0.3705; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; Media Center PC 4.0; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)

[Tidus]

I could always send one of our engineers down to you, we've just opened a new workshop in Wrexham, and one of our technicians is due to start a Dell laptop job down there soon. I just want you to be happy, for your laptop to be working, at the cheapest possible price. Laptop repairs like yours can be expensive, and due to its age, is what we call an uneconomical repair. It would be cheaper to replace your machine with a brand new one than repair it. It really depends what the extent of the fault is. We pride ourselves here at KJC for our customer satisfaction. At least we know there's power to your machine, and that it does a little bit of action, that is a start!

I'll keep you informed!

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1)

[tinyuser]

Thanks for the offer tidus, but I have decided not to bother at the moment I will watch for the same notebook on ebay with a smashed screen or some other fault and then make one good one out of the two.
Last night I removed the hard drive and fitted it in a caddy to test it on another laptop. It works fine and I am now able to transfer my files from the hard drive, but I am having problems finding where my emails are stored.
My other laptop is a 15" widescreen advent. It's a nice fast machine but rather cumbersome to take around when I am out and about, that is why I like the A440.

Thanks and regards

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.0.3705; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; Media Center PC 4.0; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)

[Tidus]

No worries tinyuser! At least now you know we're here if you need us. Our engineers will never rip any of our customers off, we are a caring company. Your satisfaction is our priority, customers come first. When you get sorted, let me know, and i'll always be here if you need us in the future when you get your A440 up and running.

UserAgent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1)