Thinkpads Forum

I've received one of my A31p machines today after James (jamiphar) had replaced the backlight and am still absolutely stunned how great the screen looks! I've had new screens on these machines, as well as replaced under warranty, but when it comes to brightness, James' work beats them all, hands down. I'm actually able to see a TrackPoint-related mark that I've had no clue was there, and most certainly hasn't appeared overnight.

All of this being said, I'd like to add that I've been kept well-informed on the progress of the work, and that the laptop has been shipped back to me extremely fast, using USPS Priority Mail.

Anyone looking to breathe new life in a ThinkPad should contact jamiphar, and have this type of work performed. It makes a world of difference.

I'd have no problem sending any of my machines to James, who is not only very professional in his line of work, but also a great guy to deal with.

Thanks for the kind words, Ladislau and George!


After thinking it over, I've decided to raise the fee to $100. The shipping costs (among other things) have been adding up, and this will help cover those expenses.

I'll continue to ship the laptops using priority mail and delivery confirmation just as I have. If anyone prefers a different method used for their machine, please let me know in your message.

I have not used James' service - but I have corresponded with him before - he is very up front and professional - an all around nice person. Just thought I would put in my .02

~above~

James diagnosed and replaced the LCD on my A20P.I now have a mint condition laptop with nary a scratch on it and a brilliant,bright display.For people who have neither the time nor ability to do repairs themselves this is an invaluable service.James skill and honesty are a tremendous asset to this forum.

My t42p (uxga screen), which I use many hours a day every day for work purposes, started having its backlight wink out every couple minutes about a month ago. After replacing the inverter failed to fix the problem, I shipped my thinkpad to James to have him replace the backlight.

The backlight now works perfectly again, with no outages and none of the reddish haze upon startup that had been there previously. The screen is brilliant and sharp, the laptop case shows no signs whatsoever of butchery or other mishandling, and James performed the work very quickly and shipped as soon as he was done (over the week of a national US holiday, no less). He was very communicative and pleasant to deal with as well. Highly recommended. Thanks James!

-Carl

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

I wanted to mention that I'm open to other types of repairs as well. If you have anything in mind, just send a PM or e-mail me at jamesatfamteamdotcom.

jamiphar....

Are you still doing backlight repairs? I have a dead T23 SXGA+ screen.. The screen has been starting up pink for about year.. About 2 months ago it finally went, and the T23 has been sitting in a box ever since..

I'll send you a PM soon. With the Holidays coming and all I might wait until after the 1st of the year...

I'm just posting this to get an idea if you're still doing repairs.. Costs? etc...


Thx

Keep up the good work jamiphar. You are a brave soul.

carbon_unit wrote:Keep up the good work jamiphar. You are a brave soul.

Thanks!


Yes, I'm still doing repairs. Allow me to quote the updated info in my first post:

jamiphar wrote:Hi everyone.

I've had great success replacing the backlights of several laptops I've owned (A30, T21/22/23, etc.), and I wanted to offer my services to the other members here.

Here's the deal, you contact me (via PM) with the details of your laptop and the issues it's having. If I verify it has a screen I can fix, you pay $100 (via PayPal, MO, or check) and ship the laptop to me, I'll install a brand new backlight and ship the laptop back to you with a nice, bright screen.

I can service any ThinkPad that has a 12.1", 13.3", 14.1", 15", or 15.4" LCD screen. This translates to any A/T/R/X ThinkPad, and quite a few of the older P-II and P-III machines as well.
If you have one with a different size, PM me and I'll let you know what I can do. Ideally, the machine should be out of warranty. If it isn't, please include details regarding this.

The turnaround time would be 7 days or less on nearly all occasions. I'm sure you'll be satisfied with the new backlight you'd get, it's quite an improvement over the annoying pinkish/red tint that many panels have.

I'm open to other types of laptop repairs as well. Just let me know if you have something in mind.

That's all I can think to say about this right now, please feel free to PM or e-mail me with any questions you have. My e-mail address is jamesatfamteamdotcom.

Thanks!

:EDIT:

I forgot to mention; all admins/mods get a $20 discount on the repair.

jamiphar wrote:

carbon_unit wrote:Keep up the good work jamiphar. You are a brave soul.

Thanks!


Yes, I'm still doing repairs. Allow me to quote the updated info in my first post:

jamiphar wrote:Hi everyone.

I've had great success replacing the backlights of several laptops I've owned (A30, T21/22/23, etc.), and I wanted to offer my services to the other members here.

Here's the deal, you contact me (via PM) with the details of your laptop and the issues it's having. If I verify it has a screen I can fix, you pay $100 (via PayPal, MO, or check) and ship the laptop to me, I'll install a brand new backlight and ship the laptop back to you with a nice, bright screen.

I can service any ThinkPad that has a 12.1", 13.3", 14.1", 15", or 15.4" LCD screen. This translates to any A/T/R/X ThinkPad, and quite a few of the older P-II and P-III machines as well.
If you have one with a different size, PM me and I'll let you know what I can do. And of course, the machine has to be out of warranty.

The turnaround time would be 7 days or less on nearly all occasions. I'm sure you'll be satisfied with the new backlight you'd get, it's quite an improvement over the annoying pinkish/red tint that many panels have.

I'm open to other types of laptop repairs as well. Just let me know if you have something in mind.

That's all I can think to say about this right now, please feel free to PM or e-mail me with any questions you have. My e-mail address is jamesatfamteamdotcom.

Thanks!

:EDIT:

I forgot to mention; all admins/mods get a $20 discount on the repair.

Thank You.....

I'll be in touch...

am the owner of a 240x in need of screen repair, or perhaps a ribbon cable. the left 1/4 of the screen appears normal, than
it has a 1 inch wide brite white band, the rest of the screen is just
black. works fine on a external monitor. what do you think?
can it be fixed? let me know, adrian

Just wanted to give props for a job well done! Screen is insanely bright.

Very Happy to report that James fixed my long dormant T30 which I believed had the infamous bad motherboard.Turns out James diagnosed then fixed the memory slots.Now the machine has sprung back to life.James is more than just backlights!Your laptop will be in very capable hands for any repair.

ive done panel swaps before (got it down to 1 hour), i cant imagine someone opening up the panel to change out the light, ive done one on a pocket tv before but thats nothin compared to this.

you must be very highly skilled

out of interest how long does it take to replace backlight from an unopened laptop to reassembling it?

oddb@ll wrote:out of interest how long does it take to replace backlight from an unopened laptop to reassembling it?

It really depends on the laptop. But if it's one I'm familiar with, it usually takes 45 minutes to an hour from start to finish.

squat12 wrote:My t42p (uxga screen), which I use many hours a day every day for work purposes, started having its backlight wink out every couple minutes about a month ago. After replacing the inverter failed to fix the problem, I shipped my thinkpad to James to have him replace the backlight.

The backlight now works perfectly again, with no outages and none of the reddish haze upon startup that had been there previously. The screen is brilliant and sharp, the laptop case shows no signs whatsoever of butchery or other mishandling, and James performed the work very quickly and shipped as soon as he was done (over the week of a national US holiday, no less). He was very communicative and pleasant to deal with as well. Highly recommended. Thanks James!

-Carl

This was exactly my experience too--same T42p, same symptoms, same excellent repair and service by James. Thanks for writing it all out for me, Carl!

A few tips for total noobs (which I was when I started with this problems):

Take out the HDD, battery, and DVD drive before you ship. Saves weight for shipping, also you keep your own data to yourself and your HDD risks nothing in shipping.

(Very important): When you take out the HDD, be sure to open the case first! I spent about 10 minutes wondering why I couldn't just slide the thing up before I realized.....

When you get it back and reinstall the HDD, you'll have to set up the BIOS/startup parameters all over again. Be sure you know what you are doing! It's not all that hard, but you don't want to lock yourself out either.

Be sure to put up some really nice image on your screen, because it will be better than new (or so it seems), and you'll love to look at it now and then throughout the day, first because you got your computer to work again, and second because James gave you a great deal.

I just wanted to update this with some new info.

Right now the turnaround time for a repair has been set at 7-10 business days. If somebody needs an urgent repair or just wants to get their laptop back quickly, you can have expedited 2-4 day (including Saturday) service for an additional $50.

The laptops will still be sent via Priority Mail by default. But if you want to pay for a faster method, I'd be glad to send it however you want.

i was just wondering, how many have you fixed thus far?

jamerslong wrote:i was just wondering, how many have you fixed thus far?

I'm not sure of the exact number, but this is what I can recall right now:

12.1" - 0
13.3" - 2
14.1" - 9
15.0" - 5 (all were flexviews)
15.4" - 1

That's 17. That includes a few I did before I started offering it as a service. I haven't had a failed repair yet.

Hello James and have a Merry.

Quite the following you have here, congrats.

As you offered some other repairs, here I ask. Can you substitude a strong metal, SS if possible, for the anchorage of the left hinge in an i Series 1300 ? The ones from IBM are in " white metal " and will split after umpteen lid closures. I have done two now and would like to change that part so it will not fail again. What is your experience in this regard ?

I have one lid fully apart as it is and am waiting for the Xmas season to be over and then will ask a machinist here to see if he could construct one for me. But if you had access to these it would be easier for me. That part is the one fixed to the bottom of the TP with two screws, where the pivot is horizontal and clutches the lid pin so it stays open. Get this image ?

Part # 4P3691 in the 1300 HMM. If you need some right-hand hinges, I have two spares. ;-)

You be good. JP.

PM sent, JP.

:BUMP:

Hello James.

You wrote to me : PM sent.

None received ! Nice '08 to you. JP

jparrot427 wrote:Hello James.

You wrote to me : PM sent.

None received ! Nice '08 to you. JP

PM resent.

Another update here.

I wanted to let everyone know that I can service pretty much any laptop, not just ThinkPads. Also, I can do plenty of other repairs or upgrades.

If you have any questions, feel free to send a message my way!

My brother and I are compiling a website for our computer services (he does a lot of housecalls and troubleshooting), and I thought it'd be a good idea to get some testimonials for the site.

If you're a previous customer of mine, feel free to send your opinion of the repair to james@arndtcomputer.com.

:UPDATE:

There have been some big changes made to the whole process.


First of all, our website is now up and running. It has all the details of the different services and prices:

This is the official launch of our new joint business: Arndt Computer Services

The prices and shipping have been revamped. The price for a backlight repair is $150. We'll send you a padded laptop box with a prepaid UPS label inside. You pack up the laptop, attach the label, and drop it off at your nearest UPS location.

Virtually any laptop is eligible for the repair. Contact me at james@arndtcomputer.com with your address, phone number, model number, serial number, and a description of the problem you're having.

All backlight repairs come with a one-year warranty from the date of service. So if the backlight fails within that period, I'll repair it at no cost to you.

For other hardware or software problems, there is a $50 base fee. Like with the backlight service, we'll send you a pre-paid box, and give you the options and an estimate of the cost once we receive the laptop.

:EDITED: [11/6/08]

I'm pleased to announce that we now offer BGA and GPU reballing. This means that those loose graphics chips in the T4x ThinkPads can be permanently fixed. This is done using a professional infrared rework station, and an X-ray machine to verify the work. This comes with a one-year warranty, so if the chips fails within that period, I'll take care of it again for free.

The price for for a laptop GPU repair is $160. Like with the backlight repairs, I'll provide a shipping box and prepaid return label at no extra cost.
For questions about this or any other repairs, please contact me at james@arndtcomputer.com.

To send your laptop in for repair, please fill out and submit the form found here: http://arndtcomputer.com/form.php

James, congrats on your wesbite and business ... I am going to recommend you to all friends at UF.

gator wrote:James, congrats on your wesbite and business ... I am going to recommend you to all friends at UF.

Thanks, Gator!

Congratulations!

Continued success in your new venture young men!

Brad

[quote="jamiphar"]:UPDATE:

"There have been some big changes made to the whole process.

First of all, our website is now up and running. It has all the details of the different services and prices:

This is the official launch of our new joint business: quote]"
=======================

Hey, gentlemen, best of luck. I enjoyed my visit to your friendly website. Of course, I'm already a satisfied customer, you brightened up my R50p screen a couple weeks ago!