The HP notebook computer (HP Pavilion DV8110-US) that I bought in late 2005 or early 2006 died on me in September of 2007. First, the fan quit working right and I thought it was just dust, but I was wrong. Then a couple of weeks later, the monitor started developing vertical red lines and I thought it was dirty connections, but I was wrong. I'm not a genius, but I was able to take it apart and clean everything. It was to no avail, because the problems did not disappear.

Shelving the Notebook Computer

Since my notebook computer was past its one-year warranty period and I didn't want to spend days or weeks finding the HP service center in Manila, I shelved it and bought a desktop computer the following month. The desktop computer, by the way, is still working fine.

I initially thought I was just having bad luck or some other factors caused my notebook computer to not last very long. This wasn't the case at all. When I bought my notebook computer, I bought the exact same model and configuration for my older son, who took it to Germany with him. His notebook computer died on him a few months later with similar problems. He had it fixed, though, because there was an HP authorized service center near where he lived. Still, the fix only lasted about six months.

My friend, Hari, recently wrote about how his own HP Pavilion laptop was taken in for its periodic service (he has an extended warranty on it) and how he's getting tired of it, considering the laptop is only about 2-years old.

A Netbook as a Backup Computer

Around the beginning of August, 2009, I bought an MSI Wind netbook. I wasn't willing to spend another $1000 plus for a decent notebook computer, just to have it start giving me problems after a couple of years (since it would be a backup computer). I spent less than $400 for the netbook, which I found acceptable. It came with 1 gigabyte of memory and "Windows XP Home" installed. I'm going by memory right now, without actually firing up the netbook, and I think it has a 160 gigabyte hard disk drive in it.

I do not know if I can add memory to the netbook and I don't know if the memory modules in the dead notebook are compatible with it, but I'm getting ready to check (probably tomorrow morning when it's the coolest part of the day). There are two 512 megabyte memory modules and if memory serves me, I think the netbook can only accept two memory modules. If it has a single 1-gigabyte module, then I'll probably only be able to add a single 512-megabyte memory module. If it already has two in place, then I won't be able to add any at all.

I have an external HDD case waiting to be filled by a drive. The drive in the dead notebook is the right size and it's just a matter of removing it from notebook computer. The memory modules are easy to get to, but I have to remove a bunch of screws to get to the hard disk drive.

Can anything else be recycled?

That's a good question. There aren't many things in any laptop computer capable of being used anywhere but where they are right now. This is the problem with proprietary systems. Most desktop computers don't suffer from this problem.

I will keep whatever is left of the dead notebook computer in permanent storage just in case I find out that there's something left that I can actually use from it. This isn't unusual for me. I have parts, cords, cables and other things in storage which came from old computers. I'm not a pack rat, but I've found that I usually have what I need when a part needs to be replaced in a desktop computer. Such in not the case with laptops and I really don't want to build up a collection for them.

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