hTTi

Right then,

let's see what the Hivemind says here. There is a good friend of mine locally who is no only challenged with anything electrical / technical, he hates the stuff! The stories I could tell....

He came to me in January 2023 with a laptop that had given up the ghost completely, even though I had been begging him to buy a new one in 2022. Aye, he waited until it was so dead I couldn't gather his old information (i.e., passwords, usernames, favourite sites, etc.). We got him a new one in February 2023 for the ridiculous cost of 399€... against my pleading.

No surprise today when told that the hinges have broken. A rubbish laptop. Oddly, he can still use it. No chance of closing the lid.

An option I had was to transfer the T14v2 Mainboard to a new, better made notebook housing. He's rather frugal so I thought this might be an idea.

To the question: Do any of you lovely folk know of someone who does this type work? I'm no convinced this is the best way forward, most as I am no fan of notebooks, laptops or netbooks.

If this is a non-starter, he will learn to tolerate my suggestion of a desktop. No hinges.

Please name and shame the brand of that P.O.S. laptop. It does appear to be blunt force trauma, though. He must had dropped it.

Thanks.

Sorry, I can't advise. I am equal to your friend on tech knowledge.

Yeah that's dead, same way that mine went last month, although to be fair to mine, it did get knocked off a kitchen table onto a hard tile floor.

In the end I bought a Framework https://frame.work/de/en laptop, they are somewhat more expensive than others of similar spec, however replacing a hinge (which was all that was broken on mine) would cost 30 euro's and parts and instructions are on the website.

What I especially like about it is that I can swap and replace any/all of the pieces, they offer hardware schematics and CAD drawings of every board and connector, tear-down guides etc.
The general philosphy of the company is "if you can't fix it you don't own it" and that appeals to me.

Obviously the alternative is to go for something cheaper which depending on how you feel might offer better value for money, but I'm hoping this will be a long term choice for me and that I can upgrade this thing as it goes.

In ballance, I don't know if I think this was a good purchase or not, but whenever someone thinks about getting a laptop fixed, I do feel that it needs to be suggested as an alternative. I'm not sure the model I bought (The framework 16) is quite ready yet, the battery life isn't ideal and it's a bit heavier than I would like.

Anyway, TLDR, this is not a recommendation to buy, but it is a serious recomendation to consider.

Fraufruit wrote: ↑Sun Aug 31, 2025 2:53 pm Please name and shame the brand of that P.O.S. laptop.

Looks like a HP.

Fraufruit wrote: ↑Sun Aug 31, 2025 2:53 pm Please name and shame the brand of that P.O.S. laptop. It does appear to be blunt force trauma, though. He must had dropped it.

Thanks.

Sorry, I can't advise. I am equal to your friend on tech knowledge.

Sorry FF, no name house laptop. I've bought parts from them in the past for my various desktops. 399€ for a notebook us seriously on the cheap. Their parts and complete desktops are solid made. I've no complaints. This was just a bad idea.

Nae, he didn't drop it. I explained how best to raise the lid for ease on the hinges, but he admitted to ignoring my advice.

PandaMunich wrote: ↑Sun Aug 31, 2025 4:14 pm

Fraufruit wrote: ↑Sun Aug 31, 2025 2:53 pm Please name and shame the brand of that P.O.S. laptop.

Looks like a HP.

HP would have been a few steps up from this paperweight.

As you didn't write what kind of a user this bloke is, it is impossible to recommend an appropriate device (how much RAM, SSD size, Display type and so on).

However, I've had good experience in the past with former leasing laptops ("refurbished") from this place:

https://amso.eu/de/menu/laptops-mit-qwe ... tatur-9365

The last three laptops bought from them have been a good experience.Just my two cents.

Please let me also point out that I have stopped recommending stuff to people who are clumsy: No matter how tough the product is they'll break it anyway and then point the finger at you for recommending "shite".

Also be aware of those people with zodiac sign "askhole": They'll ask for your recommendation, then don't listen, and finally come back to you to fix verkackte tinnef that you explicitly warned about from the beginning.

"HP would have been a few steps up from this paperweight."

Meh. My quite expensive HP all-in-one PC was a nightmare. Sent it for repair 3 times and then had to fight them tooth and nail to get a parital refund. It was still under warranty from the last repair. Never again. I went for a nice Samsung monitor with a mini PC attached to the back.

Franklan wrote: ↑Sun Aug 31, 2025 5:05 pm Also be aware of those people with zodiac sign "askhole": They'll ask for your recommendation, then don't listen, and finally come back to you to fix verkackte tinnef that you explicitly warned about from the beginning.

Thx for this gem. I am studying for my German exam that takes place on Wednesday morning and needed some comic relief.

Franklan wrote: ↑Sun Aug 31, 2025 5:05 pm As you didn't write what kind of a user this bloke is, it is impossible to recommend an appropriate device (how much RAM, SSD size, Display type and so on).

However, I've had good experience in the past with former leasing laptops ("refurbished") from this place:

https://amso.eu/de/menu/laptops-mit-qwe ... tatur-9365

The last three laptops bought from them have been a good experience.Just my two cents.

I will give this another look. These have Window10, which is to phase out next month for updates. Perhaps no the best for him, unless MS does the freebie upgrade to Windows11 again. Might be worth a go.

Bayrisch_Dude wrote: ↑Wed Sep 03, 2025 1:25 pm I will give this another look. These have Window10, which is to phase out next month for updates. Perhaps no the best for him, unless MS does the freebie upgrade to Windows11 again. Might be worth a go.

You can still upgrade from windows 10 to windows 11, assuming it is a valid "windows 10 professional" version.

a.) Grab the license key from the installed Windows 10
b.) Create a Windows 11 installation usb stick
c.) Boot from it to have a fresh installation
d.) Activate it with the key from a.)

Let me know if you need help with that.

On this topic....

thoughts on a mini PC. His PC usage surrounds mostly his need to watch YouTube videos, Facebook, the odd documentary and checking his email a few times a year. He does little else.

I've never used a mini PC, but can well understand it's target audience, which I believe him to be.

Thoughts?

We have 3 mini PC's. Two are mounted on the backs of monitors and used as normal PC's and one is connected to our TV. It can also be used as a PC with a keyboard and mouse but mostly it is used for streaming on the TV.

Himself got the first one and liked it so much that he got one for the TV. Then, after fighting with HP for over a year about the horrible all-in-one that I had bought from them, I opted to go with the same setup as Himself had. I only got a partial refund from HP for my under warranty PC and it was more than enough to pay for a good monitor and mini PC. I'm quite happy with it.

The brand is Minis Forum but don't ask me the specs. I don't have a clue and Himself is sailing.

Bayrisch_Dude wrote: ↑Tue Sep 09, 2025 10:37 am He does little else.
Thoughts?

Definitely teach him how to do backups on a usb-memory stick *regularly*.

I've had lots of situations when people had their PC/laptop broken and couldn't access their data anymore. The "usual" solution is to take the SSD out of the broken system and attach it to a running PC to access/salvage the data.

The problem with some of those mini PCs: The SSD is soldered onto the mainboard, so this way of solving an amateur's fault is blocked.

The combination of "Not giving a shit about backup" and "mini PC" might be a real problem in the future.

bethannbitt wrote: ↑Sun Aug 31, 2025 9:45 pm Thx for this gem. I am studying for my German exam that takes place on Wednesday morning and needed some comic relief.

How did it go?

kiplette wrote: ↑Tue Sep 09, 2025 5:47 pm

bethannbitt wrote: ↑Sun Aug 31, 2025 9:45 pm Thx for this gem. I am studying for my German exam that takes place on Wednesday morning and needed some comic relief.

How did it go?

In 4-6 weeks the result will arrive and you’ll either see a post in the Happy or the Unhappy thread from me. I’m optimistic.

My money is on the happy thread. You have worked very hard and I'm sure you aced it.

Bayrisch_Dude wrote: ↑Sun Aug 31, 2025 2:32 pm We got him a new one in February 2023 for the ridiculous cost of 399€... against my pleading.

No surprise today when told that the hinges have broken. A rubbish laptop. Oddly, he can still use it. No chance of closing the lid.

"cheap can't be good" is a mantra I always have problem with, I found too many counterexamples either side (economical and yet very good, pricey but bad) to accept it.
Beside, I don't think 399eur is a "ridiculous" price for a home computer.

Alberto wrote: ↑Thu Sep 11, 2025 9:38 am

Bayrisch_Dude wrote: ↑Sun Aug 31, 2025 2:32 pm We got him a new one in February 2023 for the ridiculous cost of 399€... against my pleading.

No surprise today when told that the hinges have broken. A rubbish laptop. Oddly, he can still use it. No chance of closing the lid.

"cheap can't be good" is a mantra I always have problem with, I found too many counterexamples either side (economical and yet very good, pricey but bad) to accept it.
Beside, I don't think 399eur is a "ridiculous" price for a home computer.

It's pretty low for a laptop and I wouldn't expect much for that price.

Yes, unfortunately they are just an expensive thing.