Fixing an Acer 1690 Laptop with Keyboard Problem (In Ladner)
This Acer 1690 laptop described as having keyboard and touchpad problem was listed $80. I contacted the seller that I would buy parts to fit it for someone to reuse. To keep the total cost low, the seller gave me a discount. I got it on 19Feb2011.
When I returned home, I inspected the laptop. The left hinge cover was cracked. However, the metal hing under the cover was good. After booting up the laptop, some keys were not working as described. The LCD screen has two little white spots on the left hand side. To fix this laptop, I tried to replace the keyboard first.
I bought the keyboard but a wrong one was shipped to me. I sent the photo to the seller who kindly sent me the right one. After I replaced the keyboard, I cleared the 40GB hard drive and installed a new copy of Windows XP to the laptop. I downloaded the Acer drivers and utility programs from Acer website and installed them.
Testing the laptop, both keyboard and toughpad were working, wireless, sound and display were good. For the cracked left hing cover, I cut a piece of plastic and glued it on top to strengthen the cover. For the two white spots on the LCD display, I checked the price for a new LCD display, it is costing $132 that is not worthwhile to replace it.
For the battery, I tested it on internet browsing. It lasted for 50 minutes before the critical battery low warning popped up.
Although this laptop is not perfect, it is good for usage and should last for a few years. Except getting the keyboard which took two months, fixing this laptop was quite straight forward.
It has a new home in Ladner on 18Jun2011, serving a young girl who told me that she was using a big computer home. She is nice and organised in putting the bills and coins in a small bag to pay for the laptop. I gave discount because of the white spots on LCD screen and provided her the backpack which I carried the laptop to her free for taking the laptop home.