hinge on my Travelmate 301xci cracked

[huskers]

Greetings! My hinge on my Travelmate 301xci cracked yesterday (the actual metal is cracked). After removing the plastic coverings, it looks like it may not be too difficult to take apart and install a new hinge. Does anyone have experience with doing this or know where to order a new hinge (directly from Acer only?). Thoughts and suggestions are welcome! I am trying to save some time and money from having to send it back to Acer (warranty expired long ago).

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[bmhome1]

Be very careful accessing that area, the cabling routing is tight and essential to put back right. I believe you can still order parts directly from Acer, they have long reputation for exceptionally reasonable prices to individuals.

I have the Service Manual and all-important parts number callouts and can post again for you (on another tablet). Until then, best to avoid digging deeper unguided.

[huskers]

Thanks for the response. I have found a service manual at http://www.eserviceinfo.com/equipment_mfg/acer_43.html for a Travelmate C300. If you have something different from that (like step-by-step directions!), I would be very interested in seeing it.

Thank you!

quote:Originally posted by bmhome1

Be very careful accessing that area, the cabling routing is tight and essential to put back right. I believe you can still order parts directly from Acer, they have long reputation for exceptionally reasonable prices to individuals.

I have the Service Manual and all-important parts number callouts and can post again for you (on another tablet). Until then, best to avoid digging deeper unguided.

[jeremiah hoffman]

i had the exact same problem 1.5 years ago, as long as you follow the service manual you should be fine (i've now done this twice, once to fix it and once on a bet that i couldn't get it apart in under 15 minutes) i ordered the part from acer the number(s) to order from are 1-800-816-2237 and 1-408-432-6200, they've always been fairly quick in answering my calls and the price for the part is fair at about $9.00 (but shipping is $8.00 standard and usually $17.00 for second day air) i paid second day air the first time but then i went back and ordered a second cause i figured i'll prolly break it again. if you must have step by steps 1. pull the battery 2. pull the keyboard 3. pull the slot in front of the screen. 4. pull the cover of the screen 5. pull wlan antennas (keep note of which one went where) 6. diconnect lcd cables 7. unscrew 4 screw holding screen to laptop 8. unscrew 4 screws holding hinge to screen. now reverse the process to put it back together with the new hinge.

[huskers]

Thanks for the information. The new hinge was installed today by my company's computer support person and it works very well. There is a lot of disassembly of the computer, but the whole process ended up taking only one hour. I also found the service manual at http://www.elhvb.com/mobokive/edwin/...r/TMC300SG.PDF which gives step-by-step descriptions (with pictures) of taking apart the Travelmate C300. This was very useful. The Tablet PC Buzz post at http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/to...TOPIC_ID=19850 also discusses the manual.