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Planned Obsolescence -- Laptop Power Jacks



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 21st 10, 02:05 AM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq
A Different Al
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default 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  
Old April 21st 10, 12:29 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq
News[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default 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  
Old April 21st 10, 05:46 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq
A Different Al[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default 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  
Old April 21st 10, 11:04 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq
Ben Myers[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,607
Default 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  
Old April 21st 10, 11:05 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq
Ben Myers[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,607
Default 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  
Old April 21st 10, 11:17 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq
News[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default 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  
Old April 22nd 10, 05:49 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq
News[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default 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  
Old April 24th 10, 05:40 AM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq
Ben Myers[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,607
Default 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  
Old April 24th 10, 05:52 AM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq
Ben Myers[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,607
Default 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  
Old April 24th 10, 12:09 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq
News[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default 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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