Sager Model#M860TU rebuild

I have what appears to be a:
Sager Notebook
Model# M860TU w/ Centrino2
Serial#8808SC882830
Vista
At least that is what all the stickers say. It is possible that Vista and Centrino parts are missing, as I can see the guts and there are things missing. I got this from the trash, so it was free. I wish to learn how to repair a laptop and I figured this is a good practice computer.
I am tired of not knowing how or what, even people are talking about when they talk about computers and I want to learn how to fix/build computers.
It appears that I have memory sticks/chips(??) and the wifi part; I might also have the Centrino part. I say this because there are 2 things that say Intel, one of which says wifi.
I am happy to do the PM thing and send pictures. I am not sure if we can post pictures on this sight.
I know from research that laptops tend to be part specific as opposed to desktops, beyond this I am a NOOB. and pretty ignorant.
Thank you in advance for any help anyone decides to provide.
Peace

 

Go here and download the service manual : https://repo.palkeo.com/clevo-mirror/M86xTU/

 

That was extremely helpful, especially the pictures. I now have a much better idea what I am working with and what is missing, there is one pice/part that I think is broke and if it is I am wondering if that makes this effectively unfixable.
I think it is the HDD connector. If it is, there appear to be 4 teeth/points(??) missing. they are almost in the center and they are in a row, not spaced out. Any thoughts?

 

Ok no....
You're going at this the complete wrong way, you clearly don't even know basics, since you think vista and centrino are components. It's like throwing a elementry school kid into a science class where they teach about rocket science.

The first step is to get familiar with components and what said components are doing. You can't just jump onto the scrapyard, pickup the next broken notebook and expect to figure everything out just by asking a couple of questions. You need to establish basic knowledge, after that you need to start expanding ur knowledge into the directions you wish for.

It's not a matter of if it's fixable or not, it's a question about do you want to invest time / money into the repair. Everything is fixable.

 

Hi Ms Goreteck, i am still using my clevo M860tu. It's heavily modified (but very functional, even at 3.99 ghz) i'd be happy to assist you, even post some photos of the components. but i agree with danishblunt that it might be good to know the basic components so it would be easier for you to identify the components you suspect are missing or dysfunctional. If you wanna do a short cut, i suggest you download the service manual and refer to the pages and image numbers and i'll do my best to be of any help. I'm no expert but for the past 5 years this has been my daily pc with my desktop just available for the 3d rendering loads, it's quite a workhorse and really durable. I have no major issues aside from a broken left hinge after dropping it by half a meter. It's one tough laptop, and i can say i'm a power user doing daily CAD/BIM on relatively resource heavy loads. Sometimes i'd wish it would break so i'd finally buy a new one hehe. Even after the crazy mods i've done it's still holding it's ground, can't say much for the power supply though, because it's pulling up to 185 watts on the 120 watt power brick.

 

No, I have not confused Vista with Centrino. One is the operating system, the other is the brains. Vista is a program and the Centrino is a chip. I will admit that I am under the impression that the OS is hardwired into the computer. Meaning that if your computer comes with XP, Vista, Windows 10, whatever, your stuck with it- the computer dies with it.
Upon rereading what I originally posted, it does appear that I do not know the difference between the two- my mistake. The manual that aziraphaleUK posted was vary helpful. It had nice pictures and from that I have been able to figure out that the battery is gone. Now I still can not figure out what fits in the other hole. I think the CPU is still in the computer. I also, (think I) now realize that the laptop is layered. Am I understanding the pictures correctly? I am also missing the back cover. The pictures do not show exactly what I am looking at that is missing teeth, but I think it is the HDD connector. It is something that is soldered in place, so if it is missing teeth and it needs to be replaced so that the machine can run, I suspect that I am sol.
Thank you for your comments and help so far.
Peace

 

I originally sent post #6 over 2 weeks ago, why did it not post and I have to resend it?
I can also see that putting the laptop back together properly is going to be the challenge.

 

To clearify, neither vista nor centrino are components.

Vista is the OS (operating system) which can be installed on a storage device. The OS is completely software based and has no hardware component whatsoever.
centrino is just a name describing a component but it's not a component itself.

Components would be stuff like CPU, RAM, HDD, SSD, GPU etc. If there are 2 holes in your case, then one should be the battery, the other should be the harddrive.

 

@Danishblunt- Yes, again I get that Vista is a program installed in the computer. Yes, I understand it is the OS. I think what I am only NOW understanding is that it is not a permanent thing. I could uninstall it and install a different OS,- Windows10, XP, Chrome, etc for example; am I understanding correctly?
I thought that Centrino is the chip that runs the CPU, is that not correct?
CPU= Central Processing Unit, (the brains, runs fast and needs to be cooled). RAM= Random Access Memory, (sticks that have variable amounts of memory, must have the same amounts in each stick or it will not work [why this is so beats the hell out of me], don't have more that 3gigs of memory in a 32bit machine, [again, why beats the hell out of me, though if I were forced to guess I would say something to do with dividing by 2].) HDD= Hard Disk Drive (holds ROM?). SSD= Solid State Drive ( nothing moves as opposed to spinney things.?. ) Yes I am stretching now. GPU= beats the hell out of me.
I am quite confident that I am at the end of my knowledge of computer things. Oh, except for the Motherboard= central nervous system.
As for the second hole- does the hard drive connect into pins? I think the place I am seeing that appears to be missing 4pins is the hard drive plug in spot.
Thanks and have a nice day

 

1.) Exacly, you can install Windows 10, winows 7, vista, linux, hacked IOS etc. Whatever you feel like.
2.) Centrino is the name of intels wifi technology. Unless we talk pre 2010, then it's some kind of bundle from intel.
3.) You can mix ram with different sizes. For example a 1GB from hunix with 2GB from Samsung. It could be detremental depending on various factors tho. (not damaging, but ram can get downclocked etc.)
4.) 32bit supports up to 64GB RAM, which is proven by windows server editions, you could also remove the 3GB limit on normal windows version with a little modding.
5.) HDD is a mechanical drive that stores your data. The inside of the disk is pretty much like a record player, it has a disk and a needle.
6.) SSD is also a storage drive but everything it's electronical, so it doesn't have the limitation of a needle trying to find the data, hence it's much faster.
7.) GPU = Graphics processing unit, important to note, that this is NOT the graphicscard, only the core of the graphicscard.

without pictures noone can really help you, since we literally have no idea what you mean by hole.If you talk about a big opening in the case next to where the battery should be, then that would be most likely be a harddrive slot.

 

That was helpful. Thanks. I know I am frustrating you and others but, thank you anyway.
It appears that I am might be talking about something different than you, concerning Centrino. I am looking at something called Centrino2. I assumed, (yes I know what assuming dose, sorry) that ALL Centrino's were the same just different numbers, so I just left off the number- am I wrong? Are you talking about something different than I?
Number 7 leapt way over my head. That I will look up. Mind you there are lots of things I am looking up, but that is moving to the top.
Can I post pictures on this form?
Thanks again for your time, peace.

 

@Danishblunt: would you explain a little more about the GPU and the graphics card? How are they different?
Anyone can answer that question, mind you.
I have been reading about the GPU, but I am kinda wondering if I am missing something. Namely, do I need both? Dose the GPU make the graphics card more useful? If you improve one must you improve the other?
Whoever owned this before I got it took out the HDD, battery, and the VGA card it appears. This runs on Vista, so I am guessing that it is pre 2010. Most of the tags are gone so I am not certain what I have. I have been searching. Would like to know what I can put in this to bring it up to speed, pun intended.
I also now know that I can post pictures, just not sure how.
Again thank you for your time.

 

I have the sinking suspicion that in post #12 I asked something really stupid, I am just not certain what the devil it is.

 

http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image//skymtl/GPU/400M/400M-6.jpg
The entire thing is a graphics card and the big shiny chip on the front of it is the GPU. The GPU is the graphics processing unit, you can look at it as a CPU for a graphics card. The GPU is the brains of the graphics card. Basicially the graphics card always has a GPU in order to work. Many people even like to misuse the term "GPU" as graphics card, which is incorrect.

Also VGA is dead, it doesn't exist anymore, what you're trying to refer to is graphics card. Since there is no harddrive, it most likely doesn't run anything.

When you want to upload pictures, you can go to a site like http://imgur.com/, upload the picture there and then use the (img) imagelink (/img) (replace "( )" with "[ ]") tag to imbed it into the forums.