Notebook PC Manufacturer Who Will Sell Parts?

gp310ad asks: "Fujitsu refused to sell me a basic part for my P2120 notebook PC. The part is the small daughter board which bridges the external charger to the internal circuitry. It is approximately two square cm with two connectors mounted. There are no passive or active electronic components on the board. I was told that I would have to complete Fujitsu technical training before I would be allowed to purchase this or any other part that requires removing more than two screws. According to Fujitsu, the hard drive (three screws) is 'not a user replaceable part'. Which brings me to my question — I am in the market for a new notebook PC and would like to know which manufacturers are 'end user friendly' when it comes to out of warranty repair parts. The model and features will be determined by what is available within my budget. However, I do not want to be stuck with an out of warranty machine from a manufacturer who will not sell parts."

Comments

Dell

[linkedlinked]

It's pretty hard to believe, but Dell may be just what you're looking for. I own an E1505, and they're actually sending me the Bluetooth module that goes inside the laptop, presumably in some socket on the motherboard, to add myself (and I purchased from Dell Home). At work, they just sent me three new motherboards and heat sinks, plus a bottle of thermal paste, to fix some OHCI issues I was having. They're brilliant, very trusting in the end-user installation department.

Re:Dell

[Gentlewhisper]

The 24-inch I-mac uses one.

From the innovative company that uses laptop parts in their desktops and non upgradeable parts in their laptops.

Re:Dell

[epp_b]

Yea we've actually got alotta dudes who're east indian and they ******* love it when we get guys who call up and think their talking to a guy in india.

Hey, Canada has it's own version of Indian tech support, too! We call them "French".

*duck*



(get you're mouse off of that "troll" option, it was a joke!)

IBM/Lenovo

[darkwhite]

IBM.

The Thinkpad division apparently takes serviceability VERY seriously. They sell every single sub-assembly down to individual types of screws. I personally have ordered several tiny parts to replace in my Thinkpads.

I'm not sure what the contact points are for IBM Parts now that it's Lenovo. Previously you could call a number and order nearly anything that had an FRU number.

IBM / Lenovo

[Anonymous Coward]

I was happy to see IBM / Lenovo getting the support they deserve in this thread. I'm typing this on my IBM T42 which is currently running on several user-replaced parts (by me). Breakage was due to droppage twice, (this is my travel laptop and takes a beating daily) but it did survive a 17" monitor falling on it from ~8" above. I'm an engineer but I support all the laptops in our (small) company and all I order nowadays for new employees is Lenovo laptops. (note: I don't have any more issues with Lenovo than the older IBM thinkpads)

IBM / Lenovo provides detailed disassembly guides which are easy to find on the web. They detail (with pictures/illustrations) how to strip any of their laptops down to bare plastic.

I also like how they label the screws on the bottom so you immediately know which to remove first. For instance, 3 screws have a little pic of a keyboard next to them. Remove these and the keyboard comes out. Also each screw hole in the bottom has a '1' '2' or '3' next to it. A sticker on the bottom has full-size images of each screw with a '1' '2' or '3', so you can immediately find what length screw belongs in each hole. If you have ever had a pile of screws you need to put back in your laptop this feature should be immediately attractive.

This is my 3rd Thinkpad and I have torn all 3 apart multiple times. I have also torn apart Toshiba, Dell, HP and find the Thinkpads to have been the cleanest looking inside and easiest to work on. Also, if you get a chance, pull the HD out of a Thinkpad and notice how thin, light, and well-designed the carrier sleeve is that holds the drive and protects (insulates) the exposed PC board which is attached to the bottom of the actual drive. Clean and precise! The whole inside of Thinkpads are clean like that.

No doubt I like working on Thinkpads the best, and have probably fixed (torn apart with the hope of figuring out what is wrong) > 50 laptops over the last 10 years.

Btw I don't work for IBM/Lenovo nor even in the computer/electronics industry.

Re:IBM / Lenovo

[almost entirely lega]

One can only hope that Lenovo will keep up the unbelievably excellent support IBM had - and on that there is some cause for concern. Thinkpad warranties that used to be three years are now only one, upgradeable to three if you pay an additional fee. And the best part of IBM's service, EasyServ, the program under which you could Fedex your Thinkpad to IBM, and have them repair it and return it in the next morning's Fedex, is an additional fee atop the additional fee. My favorite old IBM Thinkpad story: I was in Oklahoma City, and dropped my 701C - the old Butterfly, from a height of about eight feet, onto concrete. Parts were hanging out of the cracked case...but the machine kept working, allowing me to backup as I called IBM. I explained what had happened to the customer service rep, who looked up the serial number, and advised me, "Oh...that machine's still under warranty. Fedex it to us...and we'll get it back to you." What, I asked, would it cost? "Nothing," he said, "it's under warranty, and the case is cracked." In a moment of looking the gift horse in the mouth, I reminded him that it was cracked because I'd dropped it. He said, "So? It's under warranty and the case is cracked. Put it in a box and Fedex it to us, and you'll have it back tomorrow morning." They'd put their repair facility next door to Fedex in Memphis, got the broken machines off planes and fixed them, putting them back on outbound Fedex flights whenever possible. While they had it, they also upgraded the BIOS. How great did I think it was? It's more than ten years later, and I still tell the story. And I've purchased seven additional Thinkpads since, four of which are still functional - because when a part goes down, not only do they (as others have mentioned) sell parts, they make sure you can do the repair yourself. On their website, they have decent written instructions, paired with videos of more complex repairs. And to this day, their parts service is fast and not overpriced.