Got my CF-29 but, problems ...

Well my CF-29 was delivered by the brown Santa today but when I opened the very well packed box I was disappointed. The top of the machine looked fine, but when I turned it over what was described by the seller as "HAS SOME SIGN OF SCRATCHED" was actually a crack that penetrates the case as pictured.



This crack goes clear through, I have been able to take a straight pin and stick it through the crack easily. I suppose that it could be repaired with J&B Weld or epoxy, but I think that the seller should have disclosed it. It would be very easy for water and sand to enter the case, I think that it kind of defeats the reason for a ToughBook.

It was described as having a non-working touchscreen, but in reality it does not have this option. It was also described as a "CENTRINO" but it is a Pentium M. I know that some folks believe them the same thing, but that is not a question I wish to debate here.

The machine is a CF29N3LGZBM 1.6 GHz Pentium M. It has 1280 MB of RAM, 60GB HDD and 10600 Hours of operation on it. it has a CD-RW/DVD Player installed. I paid $470 Plus $24.99 S&H on it.

The seller thinks that it is fair that I pay shipping both ways, if it was as described, that would be acceptable. But, as it isn't I think that he should eat S&H going back.

So you ask yourself, why is this new guy whineing to us? Because I want an opinion! So what say you? Am I overreacting? Keep it and fix it, or send it back?

 

If you go through ebay resolution, ebay will provide a shipping label for you. If you dont want to go through the trouble I have a mint bottom cover just PM me... Oh and make sure you check other parts of that computer, and make sure everything is working.

 

whats the name of the seller btw? that way we can avoid doing buisness with them.

 

Thanks for the tips h3lpmedic! I am running the machine now and it seems be working well, but that is quite a lick! I must install DVD Player and Burning software to fully test the installed drive.

I did not post the sellers name because I wanted to give them a chance to make it right before blacklisting them. I will report back here with the results of my despute complaint with eBay name and real name if they fail to make this right.

Honestly, I honestly do not see how any sighted person could miss it, I saw it 15 seconds after I go it out of the box!

 

The touchsceen was never an issue
The bios will report "M" not Centrino if the wi-fi card is missing or has been changed
"Most of my Toughbooks say M as I have upgraded the wi-fi cards" this is a non-issue if you have a good card
What wi-fi card if any is shown in the device manager?

Alex

 

Well true, I did not care it it had the Touchscreen or not, but it does effect the value of the machine.

Device Manager reports:

Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2915ABG

and

Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller

The gigabit controller surprised me, I assumed that it would be 10/100. But should it be taking up a PCI-E slot?

 

Thats the right wi-fi card

It should display centrino not M in the bios

Alex

 

You just need to download a CODEC pack that will allow you to play DVD's through media Player, such as: http://shark007.net/

as for burning soft ware Nero is always a good basic choice

 

Oh yeah, thanks. I am not that much of a noob!

I know my way around PCs, but this is only my second Toughbook, I just did not want to load a lot of software on it if I am going to return it. I did not know about their was a free codex that would allow the playing of DVD's however!

How much would you want for your backplate and how big a deal is it to install. Would I have to remove the Motherboard?

 

A cracked case is a little much to bear with considering what you paid for it, good luck.

 

I looked at the listing and it was clearly sold by a Seller that does not know Toughbooks
He provided a couple of good pictures of the damage to the corners ,but forgot to take a close-up of the hole in the bottom
Here is a crop of the bottom picture from the listing and in this I don't see a hole
The full model # is shown so with the "3" digit it was clear to me that it was a non-touch although he reported in the listing as touchscreen non-working
Its one of the issues that I find when I buy from sellers that have no idea on what they sell
It really becomes a bit of a gamble and I research all listing before I bid
I bought a cf-29 a while ago where the seller stated non-touch in the listing and found that the part # of the model was a touch-screen and I was betting that the seller had not installed the drivers properly
I was right and the touchscreen just needed drivers ,however he had damaged the hard drive caddy when he installed a 60GB hard drive that had so many bad sectors that it was reported as a 15GB drive!
So in the end I replaced the caddy+connector+hard drive and ended up with a good unit


Alex

 

Personally I would either take the new(ish) bottom that was offered and swap... Of remove the bottom plate and repair from behind! NOT on the very bottom.

Obviously the bottom usually take the most abuse... That's why most sellers don't show pics of them... They would scare away business. I make sure ALL of my listings show close-ups so you can see everything.

I think you got a fair price for a 1.6GHz with the DVD... But I would want a touchscreen for that price. Overall.. It looks ike you did okay. You have a great support team here so you're set.

 

Afrer having several "not as represented" purchases on epay I just open a
'not as represented" case that seems to get their attention and a resolution. In this case either supplying a raplacement bottom or a dollar refund to cover the cost of a replacement would be in order. Ebay does offer some support in this sort of thing at least and a volume seller has to stay high on the star rating or they can have sales restricted for a period of time.

Fred

 

Fred is absolutly right, however just for clarity sake, ebay can not force a seller to make a partial refund or send replacement parts. They can however do what I call an "all or nothing deal," where ebay provides a shipping label (usually 2 weeks into the resolution process) to the buyer. The buyer then ships the item back to the seller. With confirmation the item has been received a refund is provided to the buyer through paypal.

Now this is not to say that the seller during the resolution process cant give you a partial refund or send you a replacement part, they most certainly can (most good sellers will). The "all or nothing" senario is only if comunication with the seller has broken down and you let ebay handle the show.

 

The sellers English is pretty bad, but he seems willing to work with me on this.

I have looked at H3lpMedics's rear cover and the only question is if his MK2 or MK4rear covers will fit this MK5? I have 24 hours to make up my mind.

Thanks!

 

The rear covers are all the same on the CF-29... The bottom covers are not... They have additional thermal padding on the MK4s&5s.... (I think that's what that is anyway.

 

lol... I was born in the States. Perhaps you caught me in a sleep deprived state, but then again I am asian.
www.engrish.com

 

Even a base change is not easy
Do you feel OK on doing the replacement yourself?

Alex

 

After looking at it again, you are right there is a slight difference in the thermal pads between the MK1-2 and the MK4, and differs by 2.5mm. There is a simple fix to this: unscrew the thermal pad from one and replace with the other (It works. Just tried it).

In any case Azrial I have both models for you to choose from.

 

Here are the solution if you've got an mk1 or mk2 buttom cover. Just take out the heat pipe and other accessories from mk5 buttom case from your crack unit and transfer it to the mk1, mk2 or mk3 buttom cover. Simply as that they are all have the same dimension and mounting srew location. Ask me how I knew that?




ohlip

 

Yeah... They are the same bottom plate... Just with different pads in places.

By the way.... Heartland wants $4.77USD EACH for thermal pad replacements. Most I take apart can easily be replaced... Sometimes with a little silver conductive paste to help it along. But if they have been in the heat at all... They come apart crumbly and need to be rebuilt/replaced. I started searching for other stuff to use. They do sell thermal padding... But much thinner... Usually for a large heatsink on a potentially hot CPU. I thought about just gathering up the thermal pad residue and recasting... But you never know what might end up in the mix and I don't want to chance an overheated laptop.

What are you guys doing? (Out of curiosity)

 

Theres no harm in stacking thermal pads to fit you needs. I personally just use antec silver thermal paste (cheap, easy to find, gets the job done).

 

I thought about that and bought some from Newegg... I haven't tried it yet. They appear to be about around 1/4 to 1/5 the thickness of the original pad. I'll try it soon and post back (Without high-jacking a thread!)

However the red thermal pads for the MK4&5 always seem to come off clean.

 

Hey I was not talking about you! We have never spoke! I was talking about the eBay seller, he is not a native English speaker! :laugh:

Besides he speaks English far better then I speak his language! Anyway we came to an agrement tonight and he is paying for the backplate. He seemed like he really wanted to make the deal right.

On the other hand now that I have agreed to keep it, ModCat has again concerned me about the difficulty of this swap. I hope I have not bitten off more than I can chew!

I had it explained that that I must first remove the DIMM RAM Plate and then the speaker cable. Then I can remove all the screws and replace the new plate in the reverse order. I hope that it is a not a lot tougher than I believe it is!

 

Read this

Go for it!
If you get the correct bottom cover and the thermal pads are good its not that bad, If you don't and have to mod is a bit more advanced


Alex