exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

So I was using an old Compaq laptop to test my Zip drive under Windows because it actually had a parallel port, but one major problem was the rubberised coating on the top shell of the machine.

So I decided it was time to give the machine a new lease of life and disassembled it, since every time I touched it I got sticky blue goo on my hands!!!

This is the end result:


Apart from the top part under the screen, where all the buttons where, everything that is now silver was actually blue and sticky (Sorry I forgot to take a before picture)

I had to clean it with IPA, but it came up just fine.

Next up I want to look at this Lenovo:


It served as a firewall for some time, but the screen has gone all stripy, and as it's a decent laptop, I think it's time I gave it some love. Fingers crossed I can get the screen sorted, it's a good laptop and would be a useful workshop machine like the Compaq.

One thing - how tiny are the trackpads!! The one on my daily driver Mac is about 4 times the size of either of those!

rubber_jonnie wrote: 10 Oct 2023 11:19 One thing - how tiny are the trackpads!! The one on my daily driver Mac is about 4 times the size of either of those!

I suppose its a small mercy that you have that trackpad option and dont have to use that...whatever that red thing is called... in between the keys.

Thats my nightmare memory of using old ThinkPads. :lol:

mrbombermillzy wrote: 10 Oct 2023 11:27

rubber_jonnie wrote: 10 Oct 2023 11:19 One thing - how tiny are the trackpads!! The one on my daily driver Mac is about 4 times the size of either of those!

I suppose its a small mercy that you have that trackpad option and dont have to use that...whatever that red thing is called... in between the keys.

Thats my nightmare memory of using old ThinkPads. :lol:

I never really got on with the 'nubbin' thing either, and it was a bit weird just how many mouse buttons there are.

So, I had a cart arrive for the Game Gear today (Sonic, what else :) ), and there is good news and bad news.

Good news is that it's part working. I can hear the game sound, and it's definitely running, and you can hear the demo kick in.

Thea bad news is that I don't see anything on screen other than pale stripes...

The back light is fine, but having pulled it apart it looks like the screen is bad, as I can see something when I press around the edges, but no amount of pressing restores the full image.

So, it looks like I'll have to look at screen replacement options. I may opt for a Ben Venn screen as I had one of those in my Lynx II and he does do an excellent screen.

mrbombermillzy wrote: 10 Oct 2023 11:27 I suppose its a small mercy that you have that trackpad option and dont have to use that...whatever that red thing is called... in between the keys.

https://xkcd.com/243/ :?

BW

Badwolf wrote: 11 Oct 2023 14:45

mrbombermillzy wrote: 10 Oct 2023 11:27 I suppose its a small mercy that you have that trackpad option and dont have to use that...whatever that red thing is called... in between the keys.

https://xkcd.com/243/ :?

BW

:lol:

Haven't looked at XKCD in a while, it usually makes me laugh :)

Badwolf wrote: 11 Oct 2023 14:45

mrbombermillzy wrote: 10 Oct 2023 11:27 I suppose its a small mercy that you have that trackpad option and dont have to use that...whatever that red thing is called... in between the keys.

https://xkcd.com/243/ :?

BW

Ooh, er! I think I would be at the less formal end of the spectrum with my naming, when I was made to use one. :lol:

mrbombermillzy wrote: 11 Oct 2023 15:29

Badwolf wrote: 11 Oct 2023 14:45

https://xkcd.com/243/ :?

BW

Ooh, er! I think I would be at the less formal end of the spectrum with my naming, when I was made to use one. :lol:

Me too!!!

Well, I managed to find a seller in France on eBay who had a suitable screen for the IBM R60 laptop a few posts back with a dead screen, and they also had replacement ribbon cables. All told it came to just £34.25 including postage from France and arrived in just 4 days, which is quite impressive.

Here's a reminder of the problem, which is rather like the problem my Game Gear had:


Here it is at the start of reassembly:


And finally finished.


This machine has travelled around a fair bit with me, and I've always been meaning to fix it, but with most other screens coming in at about £200 - £250, I've just not done it, I mean it just wasn't worth it at that price.

I have to say props to the seller on eBay, great value, fast postage and great parts.

Laptops though, soooo many screws, but at least I had none left over :)

I do like those old thinkpad, I’ve got one so used that the palm test has worn through to the plastic underneath but it still runs happily all day long. Nearly bought it for the cyber legends worst computer comp