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Uses for a laptop with a bad graphics card?

post #1 of 7
7/16/08 at 8:13pm
Thread Starter 
Hey everyone,

I own a Toshiba Satellite 5105-S501, which had the infamous problem with the Geforce4 440 Go problem that Toshiba nor Nvidia will admit is garbage, causing the graphics on the screen to become extremely screwed up and crashes the system, and I wanted to know what I could use it for besides a 5 pound paperweight.

I was extremely sad when it started screwing up, and I am now trying to find a use for it to breathe new life into it.

I was told that I could disable the nvidia accelerated graphics and use it at a low resolution, but if that fails, what could i use it for? For instance, is it possible to salvage the rest of the laptop, like use the screen for something else?

Any sort of suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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post #2 of 7
7/16/08 at 11:19pm
part out on ebay

part out to learn more about laptops

get a new graphics card for it and install it

use it as a 6lb paperweight
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post #3 of 7
7/17/08 at 2:21am
Put Linux on it and use it as a cheap web server / whatever other project you might want to do. Security system, home theater control system, etc.

You won't be able to sell it on ebay for anything worth mentioning due to its age.

Putting a new graphics card in a laptop is often impossible, especially for old hardware.
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post #4 of 7
7/17/08 at 2:44am
Yeah i use my old pentium 2 desktop as a file server running just XP and a network card
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post #5 of 7
7/17/08 at 9:45am
Thread Starter 
Well, I have already opened the laptop various times before, and I took the graphics card out. The main reason why it fails is because of the RAM chips on the video card, because the solder that is holding in onto the board is crap, and needs to become heated up in order for the solder to re-flow, making it a good card again. The thing is, I don't wanna take that chance unless I become really fed up with working on it.

I could use it as a file server though. The one thing that sucks is that the laptop is equipped with USB 1.1, and not 2.0, unless I use a PCMCIA card to add 2.0 ports.

Any other options?
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post #6 of 7
7/17/08 at 2:13pm
Well, imo, there really isn't any way to screw up soldering....just worse/better techniques. And if you put on too much you can just use a copper braid to wick it up. I suppose the only danger would be burning something with the soldering tip.

You might consider taking it in for professional repair. Even if they screw up, at least you have someone to sue
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post #7 of 7
7/17/08 at 5:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by soulsaver_8229 View Post
part out on ebay

part out to learn more about laptops

get a new graphics card for it and install it

use it as a 6lb paperweight
This
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