IdeaPad 710S Plus DC Jack

the1andonly3003

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Jul 15, 2005
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I have an out of warranty Lenovo where the dc jack seems loose and/or pushed in so when I plug my power adapter in, I need to hold in weird angles. Any suggestions on a DIY fix?

I'm in the Boston area for the weekend - anyone know a shop who would be able to give it the quick fix on the same day? MicroCenter, Geek Squad and CTS Computer in Newton have come up empty.
 

Harry Hooper

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Anything (except clearance items) at DellRefurbished.com is 40% off through Tuesday morning. Coupon code is VDAY40DELL or DELL7480DEAL

LINK

LINK2
 

Harry Hooper

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According to Sony:
Most* of the VAIO notebooks produced since 2006 come with an 2.5" SATA hard disk drive and can be upgraded with retail SSDs using this form factor. A good way to determine this very quickly is to check if your VAIO notebook has a door on the bottom through which the hard drive bay can be accessed. If it does, the physical replacement is a simple procedure.
*Some ultra mobile models (e.g. TX/TZ) are using a different form factor and/or interface and cannot be upgraded in this way.


Pre-2006ish the hard drive was an IDE type, and those can't be swapped out for the SATA type which replaced it** and became the dominant type for both SSDs and conventional spinning platter hard drives in laptops and desktops.

Depending how PC handy you are, a kit like this one with the cloning/transfer cable and software might make things easier for you. The SSD drive probably uses less power than the original VAIO hard drive as well, helping battery life. SSD also may fare better if you drop the laptop on the floor.



** Yes, there are some exotic SSDs out there of the IDE type if you hunt for them, but they are ludicrously expensive.
 
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the1andonly3003

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Jul 15, 2005
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Chicago
According to Sony:
Most* of the VAIO notebooks produced since 2006 come with an 2.5" SATA hard disk drive and can be upgraded with retail SSDs using this form factor. A good way to determine this very quickly is to check if your VAIO notebook has a door on the bottom through which the hard drive bay can be accessed. If it does, the physical replacement is a simple procedure.
*Some ultra mobile models (e.g. TX/TZ) are using a different form factor and/or interface and cannot be upgraded in this way.


Pre-2006ish the hard drive was an IDE type, and those can't be swapped out for the SATA type which replaced it** and became the dominant type for both SSDs and conventional spinning platter hard drives in laptops and desktops.

Depending how PC handy you are, a kit like this one with the cloning/transfer cable and software might make things easier for you. The SSD drive probably uses less power than the original VAIO hard drive as well.



** Yes, there are some exotic SSDs out there of the IDE type if you hunt for them, but they are ludicrously expensive.
Ok, thanks. Forgot to paste this URL https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/res/manuals/W000/W0000038M.pdf

Years ago, I upgraded the RAM on this machine. This doesn't look too hard.

edit: so I am quite dismayed by how hard Lenovo makes it to upgrade parts
 

Red Sox Physicist

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edit: so I am quite dismayed by how hard Lenovo makes it to upgrade parts
This depends a lot on the model you buy, and isn't specific to Lenovo. The Lenovo T-series business class laptops are fairly easy to upgrade RAM and the drives. The X1 Carbons can upgrade the drive easily but have soldered RAM.
The manufacturers are making trade-offs to make newer laptops thinner and lighter. They end up soldering the RAM to the board and not putting in a SO-DIMM socket to achieve that.
 

the1andonly3003

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Jul 15, 2005
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Sounds expensive.
I am a bit skeptical that the battery needs to be replaced since I went into the command prompt and ran a diagnostic before heading out to the tech guy. There's degradation but not to the point where it needed to be replaced.

I opened up the bottom, and the dc jack doesn't appear to be loose. I am afraid to discharge the static for fear of it not turning on.

I am just puzzled that it is now no longer charging no matter what angle I hold the ac cord

edit: should I uninstall and reinstall the battery driver?
 
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Harry Hooper

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I am a bit skeptical that the battery needs to be replaced since I went into the command prompt and ran a diagnostic before heading out to the tech guy. There's degradation but not to the point where it needed to be replaced.

I opened up the bottom, and the dc jack doesn't appear to be loose. I am afraid to discharge the static for fear of it not turning on.

I am just puzzled that it is now no longer charging no matter what angle I hold the ac cord
Stupid question time, if you have an AC adapter block that is 2 pieces stuck together (main block and cord), make sure they really are properly stuck together.


Do you have the data backed up? If not, get going.
 

the1andonly3003

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Jul 15, 2005
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it's a single AC adapter block. I'll trust the tech guy when he said it was a motherboard problem that he tested the dc and ac jacks and those were working correctly.

the data is not recently backed up but I only save certain subset of files locally (mostly pictures) that I work from. I've been saving the more important files on an external hard drive.
The time sensitivity of needing an actual laptop is for my side gig.

So of course I am down to 10% battery life to do all that. Once it goes, I'll have to take out the hard drive and extract those files directly.

I ended up ordering a new VAIO with expedited shipping. This Lenovo experience was not good.
 

the1andonly3003

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still tried fiddling with it today...no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't detach the battery connector from the motherboard. couldn't replicate this at all...no matter how much I wiggle, it does not disconnect
 

the1andonly3003

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Jul 15, 2005
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one final question here: what can I do with the rest of the machine if I keep the hard drive? Are there places who would pay for the graphics card and processor? (I assume those are the two parts that are worth anything). Would trade in programs only take it if I include the hard drive?

I also didn't realize the usual lifespan of a midrange laptop is 3-5 years.
 

the1andonly3003

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Jul 15, 2005
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Are these parts too old for any salvage value?

Processor: 7th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-7500U Processor (2.70GHz 4MB)
Memory: 16.0GB DDR4 2400 MHz (Onboard)
Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 620
 

cgori

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The graphics are integrated into the processor, there's no separate component.

The processor is probably $50-75 at most. A complete laptop with that processor is around $200 on ebay.

The memory might be soldered to the mainboard, or it might be a DIMM. If it's a DIMM probably $20ish. If soldered, no dice.

I have no idea where you would actually sell this stuff though, maybe craigslist but seems hard to do.
 

the1andonly3003

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Jul 15, 2005
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Chicago
The graphics are integrated into the processor, there's no separate component.

The processor is probably $50-75 at most. A complete laptop with that processor is around $200 on ebay.

The memory might be soldered to the mainboard, or it might be a DIMM. If it's a DIMM probably $20ish. If soldered, no dice.

I have no idea where you would actually sell this stuff though, maybe craigslist but seems hard to do.
took it to local computer shop and the guy said the piece of value was the hard drive...everything else was soldered into the motherboard, and did want it...suggested that I recycle it
 

cgori

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took it to local computer shop and the guy said the piece of value was the hard drive...everything else was soldered into the motherboard, and did want it...suggested that I recycle it
I didn't even think about that, but on further consideration the processor being soldered down isn't really a surprise either. DIMMs soldered down is definitely not unusual.

I believe you said you bought a VAIO replacement but in theory you could have bought a replacement similar model and transplanted the HDD into it, especially if you had a lot of accessories for the Lenovo. In any case, I hope you were able to get the remaining data off the drive one way or another.
 

the1andonly3003

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Jul 15, 2005
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Chicago
I didn't even think about that, but on further consideration the processor being soldered down isn't really a surprise either. DIMMs soldered down is definitely not unusual.

I believe you said you bought a VAIO replacement but in theory you could have bought a replacement similar model and transplanted the HDD into it, especially if you had a lot of accessories for the Lenovo. In any case, I hope you were able to get the remaining data off the drive one way or another.
yeah, I have the hard drive...I could still do that