Cracking Monitor Hinge - Page 22

finally got my laptop back again from emachines, everything is working good now, only thing is that when I start school in July the college is supplying my with another laptop for my course, a Gateway M675E. I hope this same hinge problem isnt happening with the Gateway.

Hinge cracking problems here in Finland too!
My Targa notebook got it's left hinge broken barely after few weeks of use. Maintenance was kinda well arranged, though the notebook shipped to Germany for repair. Now the problem exists also on my uncle's notebook, it has got cracks on both hinges but he doesn't hurry since these laptops have two year warranty and we bought them on february 2005 (specs on my signature). It uses the same housing as Gateway and Emachines, manufactured by Arima. Now the casement is better than before and it doesn't strain the plastic on the hinge like those defective ones did.

Hey Rewcast, can you provide me with links of those who still sell the model Targa Companion 811C or 811E.

I am interested in buying either those models or Gateway 7422/7426 or - new or good condition 2nd hand.

Sorry, I have no means of hijacking this thread.

I'm curious...for those of you who have cracked hinges where do you live? I wonder if environmental factors such as dryness play into the defect. Some people have had one since october w/ no cracks and others crack in a matter of weeks.

Okay my hinge just cracked.

It is a 7405gx with a serila number starting with N304A.
It was purchased in oct-nov 2004.

I live a little north of Houston, Texas.

My laptop has gone through a lot of abuse though. it opens and closes 10+ time daily.
It gets thrown in my backpack (which is a normal backpack, not a laptop backpack) and then in my trunk while I am at work.

I thought i was free and clear by now, guess not.

I can pull my harddrive out of my laptop before sending it in, correct?
I would hate to lose all my college papers.

PLEASE READ! Might help some of you out

I fixed my cracking hinge problem myself. It can be done!

I encourage anyone else to do the same. I followed FiZi's guide to disassembling the LCD screen, which was fairly simple. Once disassembled you can see what actually causes the crack. First, the left hinge (facing the laptop as you normally would) Is too tight. So to correct that problem I pulled out the hinge pin from the holder. This pin assembly consists of three parts, (part that attaches to screen, resistance collar (tiny hexagonal shaped sleeve that provides the resistance to the hinge to hold the screen in desired position), and the holder that the pin slides into which itself then slides into the other part of the hinge (part attached to notebook)

I simply took some sandpaper and sanded on the pin of the hinge to loosen it up a little. Make sure to apply some grease or vasoline when reassembling.

IF YOU HAVE BOTH HINGES CRACKED SIMPLY DO THE ABOVE PROCEDURE TO EACH HINGE, ONE AT A TIME.


But that's the easy part of the problem. There is a metal bracket that attatches the hinge to the screen. This bracket is held on by three screws. The two that go through the hinge also attatch to the back plastic cover where the crack actually occurs. There are two 'nuts' embeded into the plastic cover. These anchor points were destroyed by the cracking of the hinge. Therefore the hinge cracks ARE NOT just cosmetic. If you disassemble the LCD front cover and open and close your screen you will notice these metal brackets will bend due to the resistance of the hinges. To repair this, I got some two part epoxy and used it to reattach the nuts to the case. This requires quite a bit of skill and patience. Anyone that built plastic models as a kid will have no problem.


I hope this elps some people fix this problem.

I got it back

I got my laptop back 2 days ago.They fix the problem, but whoever fix it forgot to wash their hands.They left some terrible fingerprints.I was able to clean them up easily so no biggie.I was afraid I was going to get it back with a dead pixel, but it came back like before.It was back exactly in 4 days.I went toleave it on tuesday and came back friday.The is what i call good service.I'm glad they clean my screen because I sent it real dirty from the screen.Not dirty but with streaks from trying to clean good with this terrible product that I bought.Can anyone suggest a real good Lcd Cleaner that wont leave any streaks.I bought one but it left it bad.I would really appreciated.at least my nightmare is over for now!

I bought my 7405GX on January 3rd 05. It was the last one they had at the store(display one). When I bought it, it didn't have any problems. I always took extra good care with it, specially when opening/closing it because I knew about the hinge problem.

I thought that if I kept using it that way, that it would never crack. But last night when I was going to sleep I closed it, and when I did I noticed what seemed to be at first a little scratch, but it was actually a crack on the left hinge.

Many people have their left hinge crack first. Would it be because the structural integrity of these hinges are weaker than the right one, or would it be because of a greater torque aplied to it when we open it(most people I see using a laptop open it with their right hands a little offset to the right side, so the little "greater" distance would do this)?

M68xx Hinge Crack Issue / Best Buy Warranty

I was able to return my M6809 back to Best Buy (in July 2004 because of a cracked hinge) and get full store credit to buy another off the shelf ... getting the M6811 with ANOTHER $150+$100 ($250) rebate. So far I'm up to $500.00 in rebates with my M6811 (but this is not my motive, I assure you). Unfortunately, my M6811 hinges cracked within two weeks of getting it. I learned that any Emachines M6811 manufactured after 07/04 would have the improved hinges so I waited. Then I waited some more only to find out that Emachines wasn't coming out with anymore updates. So I waited until after the new year and saw nothing that was worth upgrading until the Gateway 7426. Now (April 16, 2005) I am told that there is a new rule since the manufacturer has a fix policy in place. The BB 3-Yr. warrantly states as follows:

As long as there is a repair solution in place you can return your computer for a full refund provided that you have experienced the same problem on the same machine THREE times. This means that I will have them fix my problem, and if the hinge cracks they will repair it, and if that repaired hinge cracks I can purchase a new computer with store credit. So, my first M6809 hinge crack doesn't count as one of the three, and another problem that could occur would not count as one of the three hinge problems.

Can anyone tell me if the repair fixes the problem or does the hinge recrack?

My model was a later one, and I thought I was going to be free of problems with it, but I was wrong. I've got the BB warranty too. I was told it was an international warranty, and right now I'm not in the US. Mine wasn't caused because of dry weather, as the humidity of where I live is towards the higher end of the normal range.

I was told they would have a specialized repair place fix it wherever I was, so I have to contact them and see how it's gonna be fixed. I know there's some BB employees who are members to these forums, so if you read this please tell me what you know about it.

It would be cool to have people with fixed hinges tell us their experience and how its holding.

I haven't had it back for that long to tell whether it will crack again;

but I can see that the type of plastic they are using is definitely more rigid than the first kind, which bodes well for the future of the hinge covers.

How long has it been since it was fixed?

3-4 weeks.

OK,

About 3 months the plastic on both of the hinges also broke on my 4012gz (exact same laptop as the M320)

Anyway, I called the other week and was told they will send me a prepaid box. 2 days later the box arrives.

I drop off the laptop at DHL, 6 days later fedex rings my door with a package. I saw like HU?? Was there a problem with shipping the laptop or something??? I open the box and the plastic was in fact replaced! Amazing!

I also got the 90 days warranty letter inside.

The only probelm I had with the RMA is the new plastic has a tiny nick on the edge and they absolutly did not readjust the hinges to be easier to open and close the laptop. Im getting rid of it on ebay before the hinges crack again which they WILL. I just bought a Dell 600m during the $750 coupon deal anyway.

As I was reading the third paragraph I thought you were going to say that FedEx came to pick it up.

And I just want to throw my $.02 on DHL. I've only had them deliver me a package once(because I had no other choice). This package was going to be a 1GB stick from outpost. About 3 days later their tracker said the package had been returned to the shipper, so I called em up. I was told that they tried reaching me but someone in front of the house told them that I did not live at that address(I doubt it really happened). Instead of ringing the doorbell and checking it out, they simply turned around and gave up on the delivery!!!

Now I'm sitting here with only 512MB in my laptop and a pretty negative view on their services.

Do all eMachines models suffer from this occasional hinge-cracking, or is it just on certain models.

I recently purchased an eMachines M5410 from futureshop.ca; it has yet to arrive. But I certainly hope it holds together, unlike what has evidently happened to many other peoples' laptops.

EDIT/ The earliest reviews of the M5405 (One step down from M5410) are from November of 2004, so hopefully it was manufactured after Arima fixed their machinery.

My assumption (there's that word) is that all shadow series cases have the potential to suffer form it.

Here's some pictures of the M5405, tell me; Is this the 'shadow' case? If not, I shouldn't have to worry, right?

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3