Thinkpads Forum

underclocker wrote:OK, this is awesome. Two suggestions, 1) update the first posting of this thread with this information, 2) take an ad with Bill to be on the page header. Great service options! Thank you.

Brad wrote:Excellent suggestions.

I thought I saw an ad at the top?

Brad

I just updated the first post to make it more clear, thanks for the suggestion!

We did have an ad up for about a month, but we weren't getting enough traffic to make it worthwhile. Also, it's less crowded with only four spaces up there.

I think these are pretty important services for ThinkPad enthusiasts, that are not typically easy to find or reasonably priced.

I vote to make this thread a marketplace sticky.

underclocker wrote:

I vote to make this thread a marketplace sticky.

As someone who has personally used both types of services offered by James, I second this recommendation wholeheartedly.

Thanks for the votes!

:BUMP:

On Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:06 pm this was posted:

Kaervak wrote:Bump for one hell of a crazy person. I just replaced the backlight on my T23 and man was that fun. Definitely one of the most nerve wracking computer repairs I've ever done. Jamiphar more power to you for being nuts enough to offer this as a service. Guys, for $75 installed given what it takes to change a backlight, it's well worth it.

Today you are asking $150.-
That is a price increase of 100% in 6 months! Rather steep!

RealBlackStuff wrote:On Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:06 pm this was posted:

Kaervak wrote:Bump for one hell of a crazy person. I just replaced the backlight on my T23 and man was that fun. Definitely one of the most nerve wracking computer repairs I've ever done. Jamiphar more power to you for being nuts enough to offer this as a service. Guys, for $75 installed given what it takes to change a backlight, it's well worth it.

Today you are asking $150.-
That is a price increase of 100% in 6 months! Rather steep!

It might seem steep, but look at the fact that he is now including shipping BOTH ways..in a special laptop box. Furthmore, $75 was a little low in the first place just for the work. He has stated that the work itself is $115, if there is local pick up/drop off involved.

RealBlackStuff wrote:Today you are asking $150.-
That is a price increase of 100% in 6 months! Rather steep!

if you don't like the price or can't afford the service then there's absolutely no reason to comment negatively in the thread.   many small businesses start out with low introductory prices to help generate business then increase prices over time to help stay in business.

Kaervak wrote:Bump for one hell of a crazy person. I just replaced the backlight on my T23 and man was that fun. Definitely one of the most nerve wracking computer repairs I've ever done. Jamiphar more power to you for being nuts enough to offer this as a service. Guys, for $75 installed given what it takes to change a backlight, it's well worth it.

Even at twice the price, I suspect that this work will be much better value than the $120/hour I pay my BMW and Lexus dealers to change my oil!

I've sent off my daughter's T41 to James to check out (and repair) what I think is the BGA/Graphics chip problem.

I've done a few of these and I won't even think about it for under $150.00. In fact I send them to jamiphar now and let him deal with them. I charge a few bucks for my time and sell it to the customer.

@ RBS

It does seem like a steep hike if you're just looking at the numbers. But if you factor in the shipping and other improvements to the whole process (like Steve pointed out), it's not that much of an increase. It's definitely not my goal to keep raising the price, I plan to keep it the same unless my costs for it change.

By the way, I do offer discounts if multiple laptops/LCDs/motherboards are sent at a time.

I just had my R51 repaired by James and I'm completely satisfied. I was under a time crunch and James was very accommodating. I would use his service again in a heartbeat.

As for the price, if you can find a better deal, take it. I checked around the local repair shops and the best option was $75 to diagnose the problem, which I was already well aware of, and if it was the CCFL they would replace the entire display. Not the bulb, the entire display. That's $400 minimum. James' service is an excellent value.

Thanks for the testimonial, Dave!

Hat off to James.

Yesterday I replaced the CCFL in a T23 SXGA+ screen.
Took me about 2 hours, but the end-result was perfect.
It's not something I would do for anyone else though!
It's a fiddly job, best described as a huge PITA.
Unless you have been a tinkerer all your life (like me), I would recommend to give such a job to the experts.
Give it to James to get the best treatment, because (like L'Oreal) "you're worth it".

RBS, They only get more difficult with the newer screens.
I started off by doing a 600 screen and I thought it was pretty easy. Then I did T20 and T23 screens and it wasn't as easy. After doing a few T4x screens I started looking for someone else to do the work for me. I've been a tinkerer all my life too but the new screens are a major PITA as far as I am concerned.
It is well worth it to me to pay James to do the job. It is a lot easier on my nerves.

:BUMP:

Been a few months since I visited the forums, you started a business! Congrads!

Happy to report that my T42 is still going strong, been about half a year now. I find myself going back to it even with the T61 I have on hand. It's either Vista, or I just like the IBM-made (well when they were still controlling the quality I guess) ThinkPads =P.

Sadly, my wife's T41 has fallen to this malady. I'm going to recommend she contact this thread's author for the repair.

I wanted to point out that in the T42 sticky thread the link that should lead to this thread (on the last page) is dead.

Thanks for the heads up, I fixed the link in my post.

I just wanted to let everyone know that the GPU repairs have been taking longer than expected lately due to the amount of business I've had. Instead of the 7-10 days turnaround I had mentioned before, it would be more like 1-2 weeks on average. I'll be doing what I can to cut down on the wait, but I wanted to make sure everyone knew what to expect.

The turnaround for a backlight repair is the same as usual (5-7 days).

i would like to try the same in the UK.
so far I restored 4 motherboards - all working perfectly well now.

So if you have a T4x laptop with the above problem - - when it stops working when moved even slightly - contact me on kvlebedev@gmail.com
I should be able to repair it for you.
UK only.
Hope to hear from you.
Konstantin.

Just got back my A31p from James with a new backlight and I wanted to give my highest recommendations for the job he did. Very bright and I would never be able to tell that he had the thing apart. Also, the prepaid shipping both ways with the padded box was a great service and made the whole thing hassle free. Thanks for extending the life of my Thinkpad!

Another A31p refreshed by James here...yum yum yum...

Falling in love with it all over again...thank you, sir!

I just changed out my CCFL tubes in both my A31s and it was well worth the 2 hours of my time. I think the screens are brighter than they were brand new. This is a worthwhile upgrade to anyone with a decent older Thinkpad especially the IPS models. Mine are not IPS and it was still worth it to me. I want to thanks James for bringing this possibility to my attention (I didn't even know how LCDs worked before this thread), and for helping me find the parts.

Any chance to do this GPU rework in the UK? Do you know some company/individual that could help me?

Roark wrote:Any chance to do this GPU rework in the UK? Do you know some company/individual that could help me?

You also/already asked exactly the same question in the thread GPU rework in the UK in the T4x sub-forum, and you received a reply there (actually pointing to this very same page that you are looking at now!).

Please do not post the same question multiple places - it makes it hard for those wanting to help to follow your progress... (!).

Johan

proaudioguy wrote:I just changed out my CCFL tubes in both my A31s and it was well worth the 2 hours of my time.

I just changed the CCFL tube in an A31P and the difference is huge. Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. If you do not have the time or skills (mechanical aptitude, patience, good eye sight etc) then talk to James. $150 sounds like a fair price and it includes a warranty.

Are you still doing GPU work? Your web site shows that this is temporarily unavailable. It'd be on a T42.

Thanks,

-Ted

I wanted to let everyone know that we're able to offer the GPU repairs again. If you want to send your laptop in for this (or any other) repair, please fill out and submit the form found here: http://arndtcomputer.com/form.php

If anyone has any questions, feel free to e-mail me at james@arndtcomputer.com.

:BUMP:

James -
Re: reballing GPU.

What's your take on the T43 (& late T42) units where the ATI chip is tacked down at the factory with epoxy at the corners?

Can you fix these?