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Planned Obsolescence -- Laptop Power Jacks
This topic was broached in 2005 and, as the poster feared, it "died on the vine." Never one to take a hint, I want to revive it. Laptop power jacks are *-_DESIGNED_-* to fail! Every one I've ever seen has a 4-5cm long stiff crowbar of a power plug that jams into a flimsy jack that's more-or-less soldered directly to the PC board inside. Stresses from slight movements of the power cord are amplified by this absurdly long lever and inevitably break the jack, and, if the manufacturer really lucks out, the motherboard it's attached to; the connection lasts a little longer than the manufacturer's warrantee. It's designed to be fiendishly difficult to repair. Compaq/HP are the offenders I'm thinking of, but I'll bet it's industry-wide If cars were so obviously designed to fail, lawyers would descend like starving pterodactyls. There would be recalls, free repairs, and compensatory and punitive damages enabling lawyers to pay for the orthodontia required by their children's many rows of teeth. Why, then, do we tolerate this from the laptop makers? And how can we get them, after all this time, to- stop?- |
#2
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Planned Obsolescence -- Laptop Power Jacks
A Different Al wrote: This topic was broached in 2005 and, as the poster feared, it "died on the vine." Never one to take a hint, I want to revive it. Laptop power jacks are *-_DESIGNED_-* to fail! Haven't had one fail in more than 20 years of laptop use. Must be you. |
#3
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Planned Obsolescence -- Laptop Power Jacks
Does your power cord end in a long stiff lever as described? If not, that may explain your good fortune. Or maybe you never move your laptop so that the cord never wiggles the jack? If you look at the physics of the long lever stuck into the flimsy jack, it's hard to conclude that "it's just me." |
#4
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Planned Obsolescence -- Laptop Power Jacks
On 4/20/2010 9:05 PM, A Different Al wrote:
This topic was broached in 2005 and, as the poster feared, it "died on the vine." Never one to take a hint, I want to revive it. Laptop power jacks are *-_DESIGNED_-* to fail! Every one I've ever seen has a 4-5cm long stiff crowbar of a power plug that jams into a flimsy jack that's more-or-less soldered directly to the PC board inside. Stresses from slight movements of the power cord are amplified by this absurdly long lever and inevitably break the jack, and, if the manufacturer really lucks out, the motherboard it's attached to; the connection lasts a little longer than the manufacturer's warrantee. It's designed to be fiendishly difficult to repair. Compaq/HP are the offenders I'm thinking of, but I'll bet it's industry-wide If cars were so obviously designed to fail, lawyers would descend like starving pterodactyls. There would be recalls, free repairs, and compensatory and punitive damages enabling lawyers to pay for the orthodontia required by their children's many rows of teeth. Why, then, do we tolerate this from the laptop makers? And how can we get them, after all this time, to- stop?- Yep, you are absolutely right. HPaq is right up there in the running for the championship of failed laptop power jacks. Fighting it out with Dell and Acer-eGateMachines for market share. The fix at the design level is idiot simple. Add some sort of collar around the power jack and bolt the jack to the motherboard. I won't even count how many laptops with hosed power jacks I've encountered. Dell resolved a class action lawsuit about power jacks and other failures in its Inspiron 5100 series. I have a client with a now-venerable Inspiron 5150. Her son accidentally yanked the power cord or tripped over it, and the motherboard was toast. Luckily, I had a working spare in the chassis, so the repair was easy, swapping stuff from old to new chassis. The biggest causes of laptop failure are the power jack, the hard drive (dropping the laptop, especially when running), and heat (usually caused by clogged ventilation ducts, but sometimes by ****-poor design as with nVidia graphics). In the previous presidential administration, looking out for consumer interests was non-existent. Not sure how this administration or the consumer affairs group of a state govt would respond. There are always the lawyers with their many teeth, class action lawsuits, plenty of $$$ for the lawyers, ludicrous settlements, and next to nothing for members of the class action. Sixty Minutes? Some other TV investigative reporting? National Enquirer? Letters to your congressmen? Problem is that I have not kept really good records of make, model, date failure encountered, date laptop shipped. Whether a lawyer, the govt, or investigative reporter, they need hard facts... Ben Myers |
#5
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Planned Obsolescence -- Laptop Power Jacks
On 4/21/2010 7:29 AM, News wrote:
A Different Al wrote: This topic was broached in 2005 and, as the poster feared, it "died on the vine." Never one to take a hint, I want to revive it. Laptop power jacks are *-_DESIGNED_-* to fail! Haven't had one fail in more than 20 years of laptop use. Must be you. Troll! |
#6
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Planned Obsolescence -- Laptop Power Jacks
Ben Myers wrote:
On 4/21/2010 7:29 AM, News wrote: A Different Al wrote: This topic was broached in 2005 and, as the poster feared, it "died on the vine." Never one to take a hint, I want to revive it. Laptop power jacks are *-_DESIGNED_-* to fail! Haven't had one fail in more than 20 years of laptop use. Must be you. Troll! Hamfisted clod... |
#7
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Planned Obsolescence -- Laptop Power Jacks
A Different Al wrote:
Does your power cord end in a long stiff lever as described? If not, that may explain your good fortune. Or maybe you never move your laptop so that the cord never wiggles the jack? If you look at the physics of the long lever stuck into the flimsy jack, it's hard to conclude that "it's just me." Or perhaps you have latent hand-eye coordination and fine motor deficiencies from childhood. |
#8
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Planned Obsolescence -- Laptop Power Jacks
On 4/21/2010 6:17 PM, News wrote:
Ben Myers wrote: On 4/21/2010 7:29 AM, News wrote: A Different Al wrote: This topic was broached in 2005 and, as the poster feared, it "died on the vine." Never one to take a hint, I want to revive it. Laptop power jacks are *-_DESIGNED_-* to fail! Haven't had one fail in more than 20 years of laptop use. Must be you. Troll! Hamfisted clod... Certified troll. |
#9
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Planned Obsolescence -- Laptop Power Jacks
On 4/21/2010 12:46 PM, A Different Al wrote:
Does your power cord end in a long stiff lever as described? If not, that may explain your good fortune. Or maybe you never move your laptop so that the cord never wiggles the jack? If you look at the physics of the long lever stuck into the flimsy jack, it's hard to conclude that "it's just me." Don't feed the troll. He's playing with a long stiff lever of his own... Ben |
#10
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Planned Obsolescence -- Laptop Power Jacks
Ben Myers wrote:
On 4/21/2010 6:17 PM, News wrote: Ben Myers wrote: On 4/21/2010 7:29 AM, News wrote: A Different Al wrote: This topic was broached in 2005 and, as the poster feared, it "died on the vine." Never one to take a hint, I want to revive it. Laptop power jacks are *-_DESIGNED_-* to fail! Haven't had one fail in more than 20 years of laptop use. Must be you. Troll! Hamfisted clod... Certified troll. Designated dolt. |
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