archived post from SillyDog701 Message Centre

[Necromancer]

Hi guys, found this forum through google and I'm wondering if you can help me with a wee problem I have.

Its been working absolutely fine for ages (although it does chug a log a bit hehe!) but over the last couple of weeks the screen gets 'corrupted' let me just quantify what that means, around the edges of windows, there the title and close button thingy is, there are messy squares, i haven't installed anything for ages (it only gets used now and again) and my friend at work says it might be a video memory problem. He checked the drivers and installed some updates and it made no difference, it even does it in "safe mode".

any help or suggestions would be really great. also, how much is the video memory for my laptop, and does anybody know of a good supplier/?

Thanks
Danny

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[Rikku]

Welcome!

This is a tricky problem! Tidus might be more help but at the mo he's just popped out with his missus, and i don't know when they'll be back. Generally though, it sounds like your onboard video adapter is failing. The video RAM isn't dedicated on these laptops, the VGA uses your system memory, so your problem isn't with the memory itself, otherwise, more likely than not, you'd be experiencing blue screens a lot, faulty memory causes them a heck of a lot more than i thought. The problem appears to be down to the graphics chip and sub circuitry itself, which are part of the motherboard, and are expensive to replace, and require specialist equipment, a hot air rework station, i think TJ said it was. We can do it for you if it comes to it, but it would be uneconomical, it would be cheaper to replace your laptop due to it's age.

See what Tidus says, he's KJC's chief technician, and ex Tiny engineer, i'm just the humble old SEO, the bird at the top! If you can, have you got a picture of it we could see, then we can determine exactly what is causing it?

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[Tidus]

Hello, just got back!

This seems to me, after thinking it through, that it isn't your motherboard itself, but your actual LCD panel. If the spots are always there (They'll be a mixture of colours), then they're dead pixels, which is a faulty TFT panel.

Rikku was right in a way with what she said, it could be the graphics chip, or the interface cable, but let me know if they're always there, and change your desktop to black background, and a white background, and see what happens, and let us know, but i'm pretty sure it's your LCD panel, which are expensive to replace, with the machine being so old, and if you got hold of a 2nd hand panel, you can't be sure of how it's been treated, or it's condition.

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[Necromancer]

Thank you for your help,

Thinking about it, I think a new laptop is probably a better idea.

I'm not too great on these things, what laptop would you recommend i buy?

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[Tidus]

Well, your decision is based purely on what you intend on using your new machine for.

What did you use your Tiny for mainly? If you are going to scrap your Tiny, i'll gladly buy it from you, i actually have a customer on this very forum in need of parts for one!

List me your requirements, and we'll work something out!

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[Necromancer]

Hi Tidus

Thanks for your help

I'd like to use the laptop for general office work, writing letters, spreadsheets, internet.

i'd also like to be able to watch dvd's on it, that would be really useful.

I'm quite a light user, but i do need something reliable and solid thats going to last me a good few years.

Thanks again

D.

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[Necromancer]

oh and btw, let me know where you want me to send the laptop to and i'll get it organised for you.

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[Tidus]

I've found Toshiba laptops to be very reliable, i use one myself, a Satellite P10-304, it's a Pentium 4 2.6GHz. It replaced my elderly Tiny A440 just a month ago, but cost around £1,500 brand new. Where do you live? If you live in the UK i can recommend some local companies we work with, and i can get them to do you a deal on a nice machine. The laptops i recommend, after working with them for so long, are:

Time (Tiny's parent company, before Tiny went bust)

Toshiba

Acer

Samsung

Gateway

Acorn, who recently made a comeback to the PC Manufacturing industry, i had a chance to test one of their new systems the other day, and they're 100% spot on!

The ones i don't recommend are:

Dell (crap customer support, but great machines, unlike their desktops, which are proprietary disposable throwaways!)

Fujitsu Siemens (Cheap failure prone systems and hard drives, that die on you when you least expect it, and lose all your data)

Advent (A cheap PC World clone brand, along with EL-Systems, they're the same manufacturer, EliteGroup)

I'll see what i can do in pricing you up a laptop for your requirements, and i'll get back to you on your Tiny laptop. Name your price, and we'll do a deal!

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[Necromancer]

Hi Tidus, thanks again for your prompt response!

Well i'm only down the road in eccles, where is kj computers based in stretford? i know it well. i could drop it in on the way to work.

i had a look on your website but can't find a manchester address

also, what laptops do you supply, what have you got in stock i could look at?

i have used acer - they are good value so i'm fine with that... you got any of those in stock i could pop in and have a look at?

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