5 ms·

> So, there's labor, etc. But you're going to tell me that to repair something, that by your own diagnostics, is fine except for this one part costs 70% of the

> So, there's labor, etc. But you're going to tell me that to repair something, that by your own diagnostics, is fine except for this one part costs 70% of the new purchase price? That's what a highly integrated machine gets you. Charge circuit defective => replace entire main board, including CPU, probably memory and storage too nowadays. No one is doing component-level repairs any more.

15155 9y ago
> No one is doing component-level repairs any more. There is a vendor on eBay who does this, cannot recall his name. But they will definitely desolder and replace any component wherever this is possible.
- martyvis 9y ago
  If you go to any of the electronics mega-malls in Asian cities like KL or Singapore the top floor is full of little shops of guys armed with soldering irons and loupes that will repair anything for a hundred dollars or two.
beenBoutIT 9y ago
If you look at The current situation with ThinkPads it's obvious why no OEM would want to end up where Lenovo is now. ThinkPads built a decade ago are so durable and well-built with readily available replacement parts that they will most likely never go away entirely. CPUs haven't improved enough to make them a compelling argument for upgrading, and the end result is that modern day Lenovo is stuck competing with its own product.
- nothrabannosir 9y ago
  Those Thinkpads were built by IBM. Lenovo took a stallion of a brand and drove it face down into the ground. I tried to stay with Lenovo, but after the endless waves of shitware, spyware and low quality hardware (!) I had to give up. Thinkpad’s great name is thanks to IBM, and perhaps, maybe, a bit of early Lenovo. Maybe. If Lenovo is competing with anything, it’s with IBM.
  - blattimwind 9y ago
    > Those Thinkpads were built by IBM. Lenovo took a stallion of a brand and drove it face down into the ground. I don't think this is particularly true, 2009-2012 era hardware designed/built by Lenovo/Quanta is also around in plentiful numbers.
    - StudentStuff 9y ago
      The Thinkpad T440 and newer are easier to work on than the T400 thru T430. You can do a heck of a lot more while removing fewer screws. than in older Thinkpads.
  - ahartmetz 9y ago
    The expensive / business models (T, X) are still proper Thinkpads and extremely durable. Only the cheaper models suck in various ways.
- znpy 9y ago
  As a consumer, I gladly pay a premium (in respect to regular laptop prices) and buy ThinkPads because of their reliability and ease of upgrade/repair. This way I can upgrade to a new model when I feel it's time to.
vinceguidry 9y ago
Sure they do, you just have to go out of your way to find someone. I've sent my laptop to this guy in NYC, and had a pleasant experience, even if he couldn't find my problem. (intermittent shutdowns) https://www.rossmanngroup.com/ https://www.rossmanngroup.com/
mitchty 9y ago
> No one is doing component-level repairs any more. Not entirely accurate, its just a highly skilled bit of work that you have to work to find people that can do it. This guy does it: https://www.rossmanngroup.com https://www.rossmanngroup.com Watch his youtube channel here and you can learn how to do it yourself: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl2mFZoRqjw_ELax4Yisf6w https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl2mFZoRqjw_ELax4Yisf6w That said, in general you're right. Component level repair on multi layer pcb's with BGA or reflow soldering is... not all that economical in the amount of labor and skill and equipment involved.
coolio2657 9y ago
That's a valid counterpoint and one I'd be open to discussing. However, my own experiences support the owner you're replying to. I also possess a 2013 MBP with a Retina screen, proudly running well all these years later after many AAA games, overclocking, and innumerable HD repartionings. However, I broke my MBP's screen twice, and both times I called the closest Apple repair shop, and once the main "independent" repair ship in my city, and all three times the price came back as a nice, round $1000: nearly half of the original price! So I looked around online (always had been vaguely aware of Right-to-Repair, and ifixit.org). After reading the excellent repair guide online and ordering what seemed a high-quality screen online, the repairs, which cost me no major headache or extreme difficulty, materially ended up costing around $300. Also, I want to mention that the aforementioned ifixit guide listed the highest difficulty grade to this type of repair. So you are telling me, someone that had never engaged in computer or mechanical repairs before in his life, performed $700 of labor in just under an hour? No, the likelier answer is that Apple is simply rent-seeking in the sector of product repairs.
blattimwind 9y ago
I would like to take this moment to thank the numerous repliers to my comment for proving my point.

15155 9y ago

> No one is doing component-level repairs any more. There is a vendor on eBay who does this, cannot recall his name. But they will definitely desolder and replace any component wherever this is possible.

martyvis 9y ago
If you go to any of the electronics mega-malls in Asian cities like KL or Singapore the top floor is full of little shops of guys armed with soldering irons and loupes that will repair anything for a hundred dollars or two.

beenBoutIT 9y ago

If you look at The current situation with ThinkPads it's obvious why no OEM would want to end up where Lenovo is now. ThinkPads built a decade ago are so durable and well-built with readily available replacement parts that they will most likely never go away entirely. CPUs haven't improved enough to make them a compelling argument for upgrading, and the end result is that modern day Lenovo is stuck competing with its own product.

nothrabannosir 9y ago
Those Thinkpads were built by IBM. Lenovo took a stallion of a brand and drove it face down into the ground. I tried to stay with Lenovo, but after the endless waves of shitware, spyware and low quality hardware (!) I had to give up. Thinkpad’s great name is thanks to IBM, and perhaps, maybe, a bit of early Lenovo. Maybe. If Lenovo is competing with anything, it’s with IBM.
- blattimwind 9y ago
  > Those Thinkpads were built by IBM. Lenovo took a stallion of a brand and drove it face down into the ground. I don't think this is particularly true, 2009-2012 era hardware designed/built by Lenovo/Quanta is also around in plentiful numbers.
  - StudentStuff 9y ago
    The Thinkpad T440 and newer are easier to work on than the T400 thru T430. You can do a heck of a lot more while removing fewer screws. than in older Thinkpads.
- ahartmetz 9y ago
  The expensive / business models (T, X) are still proper Thinkpads and extremely durable. Only the cheaper models suck in various ways.
znpy 9y ago
As a consumer, I gladly pay a premium (in respect to regular laptop prices) and buy ThinkPads because of their reliability and ease of upgrade/repair. This way I can upgrade to a new model when I feel it's time to.

vinceguidry 9y ago

Sure they do, you just have to go out of your way to find someone. I've sent my laptop to this guy in NYC, and had a pleasant experience, even if he couldn't find my problem. (intermittent shutdowns) https://www.rossmanngroup.com/ https://www.rossmanngroup.com/

mitchty 9y ago

> No one is doing component-level repairs any more. Not entirely accurate, its just a highly skilled bit of work that you have to work to find people that can do it. This guy does it: https://www.rossmanngroup.com https://www.rossmanngroup.com Watch his youtube channel here and you can learn how to do it yourself: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl2mFZoRqjw_ELax4Yisf6w https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl2mFZoRqjw_ELax4Yisf6w That said, in general you're right. Component level repair on multi layer pcb's with BGA or reflow soldering is... not all that economical in the amount of labor and skill and equipment involved.

coolio2657 9y ago

That's a valid counterpoint and one I'd be open to discussing. However, my own experiences support the owner you're replying to. I also possess a 2013 MBP with a Retina screen, proudly running well all these years later after many AAA games, overclocking, and innumerable HD repartionings. However, I broke my MBP's screen twice, and both times I called the closest Apple repair shop, and once the main "independent" repair ship in my city, and all three times the price came back as a nice, round $1000: nearly half of the original price! So I looked around online (always had been vaguely aware of Right-to-Repair, and ifixit.org). After reading the excellent repair guide online and ordering what seemed a high-quality screen online, the repairs, which cost me no major headache or extreme difficulty, materially ended up costing around $300. Also, I want to mention that the aforementioned ifixit guide listed the highest difficulty grade to this type of repair. So you are telling me, someone that had never engaged in computer or mechanical repairs before in his life, performed $700 of labor in just under an hour? No, the likelier answer is that Apple is simply rent-seeking in the sector of product repairs.

blattimwind 9y ago

I would like to take this moment to thank the numerous repliers to my comment for proving my point.