This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges - nothing else works. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need a dose of Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be a thing you need to keep repairing until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
'''''Think of it like this: Your car failed (or has issues that correspond to the failure) and it's a known issue. The car is 15-20 years old with 200k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive to fix. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks and let them know it needs to be fixed, or chase a rabbithole failure? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes, especially with the SATA II limitation. Granted I've bought them to toy around with if it's fairly priced, but I UNDERSTAND what I'm buying and where they break or where the snags are so I can run early, especially if there's no permanent fix.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can use them, or are in better to near perfect condition.'''
-
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 machines are plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset,not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
+
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 machines are plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive dies. '''''This is due to Intel not supporting SATA III on mainstream platforms until Sandy Bridge (2011) - not a fault of Dell.''''' While the E6420 fixed the SATA II issue, I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum*. If you can swing 8th gen, go for that with an NVMe SSD - 7th gen is fair game too but if you want to run Win11, you need 8th gen MINIMUM right now**. '''If you do sell it on to cover the upgrade cost, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
-
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
+
My E7440 is semi retired due to an aging battery and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
+
+
*I do not know of any TPM 2.0 HSW enterprise laptops - these are probably done after Win10 as far as Microsoft is concerned.
+
+
**Microsoft is budging on the 8th gen requirement, but only so much. I wouldn’t bet on Skylake (6th gen) getting an official reprieve anytime soon.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges - nothing else works. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need a dose of Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be a thing you need to keep repairing until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
-
'''''Think of it like this: Your car failed (or has issues that correspond to the failure) and it's a known issue. The car is 15-20 years old with 200k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive to fix. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks and let them know it needs to be fixed, or chase a rabbithole failure? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes, especially with the SATA II limitation. Granted I've bought them to toy around with if it's fairly priced, but I UNDERSTAND what I'm buying and where they break or where the snags are so I can run early, especially if there's no fix.'''''
+
'''''Think of it like this: Your car failed (or has issues that correspond to the failure) and it's a known issue. The car is 15-20 years old with 200k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive to fix. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks and let them know it needs to be fixed, or chase a rabbithole failure? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes, especially with the SATA II limitation. Granted I've bought them to toy around with if it's fairly priced, but I UNDERSTAND what I'm buying and where they break or where the snags are so I can run early, especially if there's no permanent fix.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can use them, or are in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 machines are plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges - nothing else works. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need a dose of Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be a thing you need to keep repairing until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
-
'''''Think of it like this: Your car failed (or has issues that correspond to the failure) and it's a known issue. The car is 15-20 years old with 200k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive to fix. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks and let them know it needs to be fixed, or chase a rabbithole failure? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes, especially with the SATA II limitation. Granted I've bought them to toy around with if it's fairly priced, but I UNDERSTAND what I'm buying and where they break or where the snags are so I can run early.'''''
+
'''''Think of it like this: Your car failed (or has issues that correspond to the failure) and it's a known issue. The car is 15-20 years old with 200k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive to fix. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks and let them know it needs to be fixed, or chase a rabbithole failure? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes, especially with the SATA II limitation. Granted I've bought them to toy around with if it's fairly priced, but I UNDERSTAND what I'm buying and where they break or where the snags are so I can run early, especially if there's no fix.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can use them, or are in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 machines are plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges - nothing else works. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need a dose of Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be a thing you need to keep repairing until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
-
'''''Think of it like this: you have a car with a known issue and it's 15-20 years old with 200k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes. I've bought them to toy around with if it's fairly priced, but I UNDERSTAND what I'm buying and where they break so I can run early.'''''
+
'''''Think of it like this: Your car failed (or has issues that correspond to the failure) and it's a known issue. The car is 15-20 years old with 200k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive to fix. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks and let them know it needs to be fixed, or chase a rabbithole failure? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes, especially with the SATA II limitation. Granted I've bought them to toy around with if it's fairly priced, but I UNDERSTAND what I'm buying and where they break or where the snags are so I can run early.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can use them, or are in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 machines are plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be a thing you need to keep repairing until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
+
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges - nothing else works. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need a dose of Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be a thing you need to keep repairing until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
'''''Think of it like this: you have a car with a known issue and it's 15-20 years old with 200k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes. I've bought them to toy around with if it's fairly priced, but I UNDERSTAND what I'm buying and where they break so I can run early.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can use them, or are in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 machines are plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be a thing you need to keep repairing until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
-
'''''Think of it like this: you have a car with a known issue and it's 15-20 years old with 200k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes.'''''
+
'''''Think of it like this: you have a car with a known issue and it's 15-20 years old with 200k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes. I've bought them to toy around with if it's fairly priced, but I UNDERSTAND what I'm buying and where they break so I can run early.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can use them, or are in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 machines are plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be a thing you need to keep repairing until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
-
'''''Think of it like this: you have a car with a known issue and it's 15-20 years old with 150k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes.'''''
+
'''''Think of it like this: you have a car with a known issue and it's 15-20 years old with 200k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can use them, or are in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 machines are plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
+
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be a thing you need to keep repairing until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
-
'''''Think of it like this: you have a car with a known issue and it's 15-20 years old with 150k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks? The same principle applies to the pre 6X20 series Dell Latitudes.'''''
+
'''''Think of it like this: you have a car with a known issue and it's 15-20 years old with 150k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks? The same principle applies to the pre-E6X20 series Latitudes.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can use them, or are in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 machines are plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
-
Think of it like this: you have a car with a known issue and it's 15-20 years old with 150k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer? The same principle applies to the pre 6X20 series Dell Latitudes.
+
'''''Think of it like this: you have a car with a known issue and it's 15-20 years old with 150k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer when it breaks? The same principle applies to the pre 6X20 series Dell Latitudes.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can use them, or are in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 machines are plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
+
+
Think of it like this: you have a car with a known issue and it's 15-20 years old with 150k miles, and it's either persistent or expensive. Would you fix it or sell the car to a knowledgeable buyer? The same principle applies to the pre 6X20 series Dell Latitudes.
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can use them, or are in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 machines are plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can use them, or are in better to near perfect condition.'''
-
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
+
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 machines are plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure compared to something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being physically bad hinges.'''''
+
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the entire laptop with a less troublesome model due to how severely affected these are (unless you know how to spot a good set by feel)! Sellers actually disclose this issue (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail like yours! It's not superficial!!! ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but it's probably bad hinges.'''''
-
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can probably use them and are often in better to near perfect condition.'''
+
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can use them, or are in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure compared to something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being physically bad hinges.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can probably use them and are often in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
-
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
+
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue (if it is indeed a bad motherboard) - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure compared to something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you sometimes can repair the issue that way and rule out bad hinges or at least delay the inevitable (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being physically bad hinges.'''''
+
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure compared to something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you can sometimes repair the laptop that way (or at least delay the inevitable, since some will just require new hinges). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being physically bad hinges.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can probably use them and are often in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure compared to something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you sometimes can repair the issue that way and rule out bad hinges or at least delay the inevitable (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being physically bad hinges.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can probably use them and are often in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
-
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
+
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now due to a nasty little audio issue - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure compared to something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw and pray - you sometimes can repair the issue that way and rule out bad hinges or at least delay the inevitable (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being physically bad hinges.'''''
+
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure compared to something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw under the cap and pray - you sometimes can repair the issue that way and rule out bad hinges or at least delay the inevitable (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being physically bad hinges.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can probably use them and are often in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure compared to something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw and pray - you sometimes can repair the issue that way and rule out bad hinges or at least delay the inevitable (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being physically bad hinges.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can probably use them and are often in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
-
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminally dying, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
+
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminal, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure compared to something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw and pray - you sometimes can repair the issue that way and rule out bad hinges or at least delay the inevitable (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being physically bad hinges.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can probably use them and are often in better to near perfect condition.'''
-
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
+
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for normal users like you when the drive needs to be replaced - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller. ''Note: some repairs will total out a Haswell laptop like a major part. Keep that in mind if you buy one.'''''
-
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
+
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues and it's terminally dying, it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure compared to something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw and pray - you sometimes can tame the issue that way and rule out bad hinges (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being hinge related.'''''
+
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure compared to something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw and pray - you sometimes can repair the issue that way and rule out bad hinges or at least delay the inevitable (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being physically bad hinges.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can probably use them and are often in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure with something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw and pray - you sometimes can tame the issue that way and rule out bad hinges (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being hinge related.'''''
+
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure compared to something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw and pray - you sometimes can tame the issue that way and rule out bad hinges (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being hinge related.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can probably use them and are often in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure with something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw and pray - you sometimes can tame the issue that way and rule out bad hinges (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - if the lid feels solid check the D screw and hinge cap - if you tighten those, 100% needs hinges.'''''
+
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure with something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw and pray - you sometimes can tame the issue that way and rule out bad hinges (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - check WHICH part moves. If the hinges bounce, tighten the screws and hope for the best - if they do not, doesn’t hurt to try but 95% chance of being hinge related.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can probably use them and are often in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure with something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw and pray - you sometimes can tame the issue that way and rule out bad hinges (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention).'''''
+
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure with something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw and pray - you sometimes can tame the issue that way and rule out bad hinges (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention). I can usually tell where the fault lies, so my tip to check is open it - if the lid feels solid check the D screw and hinge cap - if you tighten those, 100% needs hinges.'''''
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can probably use them and are often in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure with something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time.'''
+
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure with something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time. ''That said, try to tighten the screws on the port caps, and the D screw and pray - you sometimes can tame the issue that way and rule out bad hinges (sometimes it’s a permanent fix, others still need attention).'''''
-
'''That said, if you do fix it change the lid AND hinges - the hinges cost about as much as an entire lid for a descent set and most people sell the entire part due to this. In addition, hinges as a part of a rear lid tend to be in better shape. Plus you can always sell the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it but has good hinges with a warning it needs to have the hinges serviced.'''
+
'''If you’ve 100% ruled it to be the hinges my best advice is if you do fix it change the ENTIRE lid, as well as the hinges. The cost is similar, and if the hinges are on the lid they’re usually in good enough shape you can probably use them and are often in better to near perfect condition.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure with something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time.'''
+
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure with something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens (AND sell the machine for parts) due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time.'''
'''That said, if you do fix it change the lid AND hinges - the hinges cost about as much as an entire lid for a descent set and most people sell the entire part due to this. In addition, hinges as a part of a rear lid tend to be in better shape. Plus you can always sell the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it but has good hinges with a warning it needs to have the hinges serviced.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. With these machines (unless you know how to spot a good set), you will often be going down this path again given enough time since the failure is so common that loose hinges justify a warning on a used 6400/10 since it tends to be a when, not if problem. Granted it doesn't affect 100% of the 6400/10 population (or it may never fail outright, but becomes loose) but a lot of them tend to have a problem.
+
This era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull the part that goes to the LCD and lid off - plain as day when it’s worn since it just pulls off. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they can (and do) completely fail like yours did. '''While it can be repaired, the snag with these machines is this will be your life until you replace the laptop (unless you know how to spot a good set) due to how prone these laptops are to this failure with something newer! Sellers actually disclose this when it happens due to how likely it is to completely fail!!! That’s BAD - its not superficial wear that you expect over time.'''
-
'''If you do fix it, change the lid AND hinges - the hinges cost about as much as an entire lid for a descent set and most people sell the entire part due to this. In addition, hinges as a part of a rear lid tend to be in better shape. Plus you can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it but has good hinges.'''
+
'''That said, if you do fix it change the lid AND hinges - the hinges cost about as much as an entire lid for a descent set and most people sell the entire part due to this. In addition, hinges as a part of a rear lid tend to be in better shape. Plus you can always sell the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it but has good hinges with a warning it needs to have the hinges serviced.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. With these machines (unless you know how to spot a good set), you will often be going down this path again given enough time since the failure is so common that loose hinges justify a warning on a used 6400/10 since it tends to be a when, not if problem. Granted it doesn't affect 100% of the 6400/10 population (or it may never fail outright, but becomes loose) but a lot of them tend to have a problem.
'''If you do fix it, change the lid AND hinges - the hinges cost about as much as an entire lid for a descent set and most people sell the entire part due to this. In addition, hinges as a part of a rear lid tend to be in better shape. Plus you can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it but has good hinges.'''
-
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
+
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are also plagued with a SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. With these machines (unless you know how to spot a good set), tou will be going down this path again given enough time since the failure is so common that loose hinges justify a warning on used 6400/10 since it tends to be a when, not if problem. Granted it doesn't affect 100% of the 6400/10 population but a lot of them tend to have a problem.
+
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. With these machines (unless you know how to spot a good set), you will often be going down this path again given enough time since the failure is so common that loose hinges justify a warning on a used 6400/10 since it tends to be a when, not if problem. Granted it doesn't affect 100% of the 6400/10 population (or it may never fail outright, but becomes loose) but a lot of them tend to have a problem.
'''If you do fix it, change the lid AND hinges - the hinges cost about as much as an entire lid for a descent set and most people sell the entire part due to this. In addition, hinges as a part of a rear lid tend to be in better shape. Plus you can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it but has good hinges.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. With these machines (unless you know how to spot a good set), tou will be going down this path again given enough time since the failure is so common that loose hinges justify a warning on used 6400/10 since it tends to be a when, not if problem.
+
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. With these machines (unless you know how to spot a good set), tou will be going down this path again given enough time since the failure is so common that loose hinges justify a warning on used 6400/10 since it tends to be a when, not if problem. Granted it doesn't affect 100% of the 6400/10 population but a lot of them tend to have a problem.
'''If you do fix it, change the lid AND hinges - the hinges cost about as much as an entire lid for a descent set and most people sell the entire part due to this. In addition, hinges as a part of a rear lid tend to be in better shape. Plus you can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it but has good hinges.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. In addition, you will be going down this path again given enough time since unless you find a solid set of hinges,you end up with another set of 10+ year old hinges with a potential for the same issue. '''Do not change JUST the hinges - find a lid with solid ones already installed and wash your hands of the issue. An entire lid vs hinges tends to come at about the same price anyway and the hinges coming with the lid usually means they’re in good shape. Plus you can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.'''
+
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. With these machines (unless you know how to spot a good set), tou will be going down this path again given enough time since the failure is so common that loose hinges justify a warning on used 6400/10 since it tends to be a when, not if problem.
-
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
+
'''If you do fix it, change the lid AND hinges - the hinges cost about as much as an entire lid for a descent set and most people sell the entire part due to this. In addition, hinges as a part of a rear lid tend to be in better shape. Plus you can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it but has good hinges.'''
+
+
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. The 6400/10 are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. The newer machines like the E6420 fixed the SATA issue, but I usually recommend Haswell at the absolute minimum. If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. In addition, you will be going down this path again given enough time since unless you find a solid set of hinges, you end up with another set of 10+ year old hinges with a potential for the same issue. '''Do not change JUST the hinges - find a lid with solid ones already installed and wash your hands of the issue. An entire lid vs hinges tends to come at about the same price anyway. Plus you can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.'''
+
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. In addition, you will be going down this path again given enough time since unless you find a solid set of hinges, you end up with another set of 10+ year old hinges with a potential for the same issue. '''Do not change JUST the hinges - find a lid with solid ones already installed and wash your hands of the issue. An entire lid vs hinges tends to come at about the same price anyway and the hinges coming with the lid usually means they’re in good shape. Plus you can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. In addition, you will be going down this path again given enough time since unless you find a solid set of hinges, you end up with another set of 10+ year old hinges with a potential for the same issue.
-
-
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
+
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for bad hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. In addition, you will be going down this path again given enough time since unless you find a solid set of hinges, you end up with another set of 10+ year old hinges with a potential for the same issue. '''Do not change JUST the hinges - find a lid with solid ones already installed and wash your hands of the issue. An entire lid vs hinges tends to come at about the same price anyway. Plus you can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.'''
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
-
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
+
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost (and how hard a good clone is to come by) - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. In addition, you will be going down this path again given enough time since unless you find a solid set of hinges, you end up with another set of 10+ year old hinges with a potential for the same issue.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
-
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired. I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
+
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired and that’s coming any day now - I’m prepared :-). I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. In addition, you will be going down this path given enough time since unless you find a solid set of hinges, you end up with another set of 10+ year old hinges with a potential for the same issue.
+
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. In addition, you will be going down this path again given enough time since unless you find a solid set of hinges, you end up with another set of 10+ year old hinges with a potential for the same issue.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired. I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did.
+
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did. In addition, you will be going down this path given enough time since unless you find a solid set of hinges, you end up with another set of 10+ year old hinges with a potential for the same issue.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired. I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
-
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired. I've more or less moved onto Skylake.
+
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired. I've more or less moved onto Skylake. My final battery is being passed around until it's dead.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
-
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired. I've more or less moved onto Skylake
+
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired. I've more or less moved onto Skylake.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
+
+
My E7440 is actually semi retired due to the battery aging and the cost - when it gets to a point it has other issues it is being fully retired. I've more or less moved onto Skylake
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn.
+
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn. In most cases you get hinges that feel like they need Viagra but yes, they completely fail like yours did.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
-
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation.
+
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. '''If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation - people sell these on without proper disclosure, and then we get asked about them here and have to break the news for the seller.'''
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
-
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD.
+
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD. If you do sell it on, make sure your buyer is prepared for the SATA limitation.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
-
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD.
+
However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now, and OEM tends to be as much as a whole freaking computer now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
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However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - no SATA III support (chipset issue). I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to how old it is and the age of the platform (though do note you run into similar repair cost issues with MAJOR issues on Haswell systems), but suggest Skylake when money permits with an NVMe SSD.
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However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA II limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - blame the chipset, not Dell. I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to the age to usability ratio '''(bearing in mind nearly 100% of these Haswell notebooks need batteries now!), even with the repair cost vs replacement cost problem being alive and well.''' If you can swing Skylake, go for that with an NVMe SSD.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
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However, you may also want to look for a newer laptop, even if it’s not the hottest thing you can buy. These are plagued with a nasty SATA limitation that kill the affair for people like you when the drives die - no SATA III support (chipset issue). I usually recommend Haswell on a super tight budget due to how old it is and the age of the platform (though do note you run into similar repair cost issues with MAJOR issues on Haswell systems), but suggest Skylake when money permits with an NVMe SSD.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plan as day when it’s worn.
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Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plain as day when it’s worn.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(.
+
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(. Take a bad set out and pull it off - plan as day when it’s worn.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.
Sadly this era of Dell is notorious for worn hinges - the piece that screws to the back lid likes to split from the shaft with time, and it requires new hinges :(.
Find a used back lid and transplant the LCD, webcam/mic module, LCD cable and the status light - it’s about as much as the hinges on their own anyway. You can always sell on the “weak hinge” lid to someone who needs it, and will transplant a good set to recoup your additional costs.