Laptop Woes

[Mark Phillips]

Thanks to everyone who responded!

I tried attaching an external monitor, and I could not get that to work
either. There is a function key that switches the displays, but that did
not work. So, there may be more wrong that I originally thought. I also
could not get an Ubuntu CD to do more than exercise the CD-ROM....no visual
feedback on the screen.

I checked the HP and Dell refurbished laptop sites, and there weren't any
under $500. Craig's list had some boxes for $200 - $500, but I have had
mixed success with computers from Craig's list.

Stephen, I really appreciate your offer. Let me return the favor and say if
you need some D620 parts in the future, send me an email!

Instead of putting money into a new/used computer for 5 months of use, we
decided to get the MacBook Pro ahead of graduation. <father bragging> Since
she is ranked second in her class, I am pretty sure she will graduate...;)
</father bragging> I had a friend get it for me with an Apple employee
discount, so it was not as painful as it could have been. I am going to
pull the hard drive from the D620 and put it in a usb caddy and hope I can
recover her work from last semester. Wait for the screams of excitement and
joy from my daughter on Christmas Day.

All the best to everyone on and off the list....Merry Christmas, Happy
Kwanza, Happy Hanukka, Happy Holidays!!!!

Mark

On Tue, Dec 23, 2014 at 6:18 PM, Eric Oyen <eric.oyen at gmail.com> wrote:

> sounds like the screen lamp assembly died. I have that same problem with
> my dell laptop (although, being blind, it hasn't exactly affected me much).
> depending on the model, etc, it might either be cheaper getting the thing
> repaired, or cheaper just getting a new one.
>
> -eric
>
> On Dec 23, 2014, at 9:30 AM, Mark Phillips wrote:
>
> > My daughter's Dell D620 seems to be dying. I think the screen is
> dead...the splash screen at boot time does not appear even though the HD
> light is on. It has Ubuntu on it now. I tried running the Dell Diag diak,
> but the screen remained dark as well.
> >
> > She has one more semester in high school, then off to college with a
> shiny new Macbook Pro. Sort of a family tradition as her two older sisters
> went down the gray path and abandoned Linux for iOS when they went to
> college. I read there will be another generation of Macbook Pros out this
> summer, so I would like to wait to buy her that new Mac until after high
> school graduation...plus relatives always chip in a little extra to
> mitigate the sting of the Apple price tag...;)
> >
> > Anyway, does anyone have an older laptop they are willing to sell that
> is comparable to a D620 (Core duo processor T7600, 14.1", A couple of Gigs
> of RAM)?
> >
> > Is there a place that older laptops go to be refurbished and resold?
> Does anyone have any experience with Device Pitstop (2827 W. Peoria Avenue,
> Suite 100-A Phoenix,)? They buy and sell computers.
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Mark
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