card slot issue....

got a hp ze4610us and the wife dropped the laptop which landed on the wireless card. the card stopped working and willnot power on when inserted. so i took the laptop apart to see. well the card slot that plugs into the connector on the mobo is cracked in half. i tried pushing it back together and reinserted the card but the power light on the wireless card comes on for a sec and sometimes comes on every fews secs then goes off. basically im using an usb adapter to surf but thats a pain if i need to use a usb storage device since it gets so crowded. probably gonna have to get a new mobo is my guess, any other ideas? how much does a replacement mobo cost?(amd 2500+)

 

If you are going to replace the MOBO you might as well get a new laptop.

 

a simpler solution is to get extra usb ports so that using up one will not be a problem.

 

what sucks is that now i cant use my firewire card for my digital camcorder

 

i have found some MOBOs on ebay for $150-200 which isnt bad i guess. Shouldnt the MOBOs be a direct fit if its along the same model numbers? like a ze4000 laptop or est?

 

Its a shame that happened with such a fairly new laptop. I would have also suggested to just get a new laptop.. Sell the one you have on eBay to somebody who doesn't care about a broken slot and put the money towards a nice new system that can run Windows Vista.

I've read that Laptop motherboards are often VERY difficult to install properly. Struggling around trying to line things up to +/- a few millimeters. I've replaced many desktop motherboards, but cringe at the thought of replacing a laptop motherboard. If I were you, I'd take it apart and see just how difficult the motherboard is going to be to replace. On some laptops, its not so difficult.. On some laptops its near impossible to get the motherboard out, let alone trying to fit a new one in.

 

I believe, from your description, that this could be a warranty repair.
If the PCB is not cracked, then it very well could be. HP is very critical on billing for damaged external connectors. Still, the only way, as usual, is to send it in and see what the technicians decide.

 

for one its not under warranty. and 2 i fixed it. i took the laptop apart and removed the pcmcia cage and inserted it into the connector. the wireless card power on and works like normal. i am one lucky HP owner.

 

Ahh ok, cool heh