On 17 Dec 04  20:20:00, BRUCE CLARK got back to DAN CEPPA 
-> Re: the BW echo !

 DC> Did you get it new or used?  

And you laughed at that comment!  

 DC> It appears that used laptops need to be at a very good price 
 DC> as they don't last.  Used ones have the bad habit of being dropped 
 DC> far too many times for their own good!  

 BC> Being 10 yrs old, my HandBook 486 is showing its' age. 

 BC> It hasn't been dropped any, but the proprietary batteries aren't 
 BC> available anymore, so I cycle through the 10 that I have to try 
 BC> to make them last, and essentially run it on the 120v AC adapter 
 BC> which has to plug into the back of the battery. 

Over all, a battery is really only good in a pinch.  Fortunately, 
the AC adapters are getting smaller and lighter.  Plus, there 
is support for alternate sources, like cigarette lighters.  

 BC> I think the display backlight circuit has a cold solder joint 
 BC> somewhere, as it keeps wanting to go into a bright mode that is a 
 BC> little brighter then the controls adjust for. 

My display gets quite dim when I run it off of battery.  


 BC> The biggest problem with dropping a laptop is crashing the hard drive 
 BC> heads into the platters while they are spinning. 

Try the fragile cabling that runs(ran) my 486 system...  

 BC> Take the screws out, snap the two halves apart (being careful with 
 BC> ribbon wire), unscrew HD, pry off connector (1/2" ribbon wire). 

See above!  Price the replacements for those sometime!  



... Even the Borg won't assimilate Windows!
--- OMX/Blue Wave/DOS v2.30