October 2006 Archives
2006-10-29 19:22:00
iPod surgery
So, my last entry talked about the gorgeous new Acer AL2216W that my girl got me for my birthday. That was some serious brownie points racked up with that gift. I had get the balance back... but how?!
Fortune smiled on me, and made a Sad Mac face at her when her iPod died. She turned it on last week and it did the Sad Mac face, which is what happens when something serious has gone wrong. She tried the basic reset procedures and got nada. Following the Apple website instructions, her next step was to lodge a support request with Apple. Apple's next step was to quote a knob-tastic AU$388 to fix he iPod. This is made even more outrageous by the fact that a new 30GB iPod (her's is a 20GB) is cheaper than that (about AU$380).
Being rather pissed at Apple, she started looking at other DAPs to get as a replacement for the (now) iPuc. I figured that as long as she wasn't going to get it fixed that there wasn't much to lose in having a go at fixing it.
Some Googling found me instructions on how to open up the iPod case. There's very little in the way of a seam, but a thin bladed dinner knife got me in. There are spots that you can prise into, and spots that you can't. Probe around if you're doing this yourself.
Inside, the iPod is basically three parts: the front panel, the control circuitry on the back panel, and the hard disk. It was almost immediately obvious that the flat cable that connects the control circuitry to the hard disk was slightly pulled out from hard disk. I pushed this home and started the iPod. After a few seconds the iPod started normally.
I concluded two things from this exercise: I was back on even standing in the brownie points arena; and, considering how easy some fixes must be for iPods, Apple have a shocking policy on repairs.
Fortune smiled on me, and made a Sad Mac face at her when her iPod died. She turned it on last week and it did the Sad Mac face, which is what happens when something serious has gone wrong. She tried the basic reset procedures and got nada. Following the Apple website instructions, her next step was to lodge a support request with Apple. Apple's next step was to quote a knob-tastic AU$388 to fix he iPod. This is made even more outrageous by the fact that a new 30GB iPod (her's is a 20GB) is cheaper than that (about AU$380).
Being rather pissed at Apple, she started looking at other DAPs to get as a replacement for the (now) iPuc. I figured that as long as she wasn't going to get it fixed that there wasn't much to lose in having a go at fixing it.
Some Googling found me instructions on how to open up the iPod case. There's very little in the way of a seam, but a thin bladed dinner knife got me in. There are spots that you can prise into, and spots that you can't. Probe around if you're doing this yourself.
Inside, the iPod is basically three parts: the front panel, the control circuitry on the back panel, and the hard disk. It was almost immediately obvious that the flat cable that connects the control circuitry to the hard disk was slightly pulled out from hard disk. I pushed this home and started the iPod. After a few seconds the iPod started normally.
I concluded two things from this exercise: I was back on even standing in the brownie points arena; and, considering how easy some fixes must be for iPods, Apple have a shocking policy on repairs.
2006-10-29 18:30:06
Acer AL2216W
My girlfriend rocks. She bought me a new Acer flat panel monitor, because she knew that my old Fujitsu 19" CRT was getting blurry and that I really wanted another flat panel to compliment the BenQ 17" screen I had.
The installation went really smoothly. I pulled out the old Fujitsu, and plugged in the much much lighter Acer. I had to change my Xorg.conf file to include a 1650x1080 resolution option, but after that and an X restart, it responded perfectly. Even though I'm losing some desktop real-estate, the wide format seems to be much easier on the eyes. The clarity is awesome too. I find myself much more willing to use the computer now. Without realising it, the bluriness and screen size must have been putting a strain on my eyes.
The other major bonus is that World of Warcraft is whole new game now. I've previously envied other people's wide screens because they can pack more functions on the screen without crowding the view. I also seem to have more "peripheral vision", and that can't harm in battlegrounds. ;)
The installation went really smoothly. I pulled out the old Fujitsu, and plugged in the much much lighter Acer. I had to change my Xorg.conf file to include a 1650x1080 resolution option, but after that and an X restart, it responded perfectly. Even though I'm losing some desktop real-estate, the wide format seems to be much easier on the eyes. The clarity is awesome too. I find myself much more willing to use the computer now. Without realising it, the bluriness and screen size must have been putting a strain on my eyes.
The other major bonus is that World of Warcraft is whole new game now. I've previously envied other people's wide screens because they can pack more functions on the screen without crowding the view. I also seem to have more "peripheral vision", and that can't harm in battlegrounds. ;)