Archos 80 G9 Digitizer Repair

Generally, I stay away from tablets and smartphones because they're very difficult to repair because of the glue, small connectors, soldered components, etc. I got my hands on an Archos 80 G9 with a broken digitizer. The device turned on and the LCD was working. I decided to open it up to see if it was repairable and it seemed harmless enough. Make sure you have some Kapton Tape, this is the one that I have here, on hand to replace the tape holding the components in place.

MSI ATI Radeon HD 4350 Thermal Paste Upgrade

I have a entry level MSI R4350-MD512H ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB PCI Express x16 2.0 video card. The stock thermal paste wasn't cutting it, so I took off the heatsink and replaced the thermal paste with Arctic Silver 5. The MSI R4350-MD512H heatsink is held in place by plastic rivets. Some of the original plastic rivets broke while I was removing the heatsink and I had to replace them. Find them here on ebay.com.

Specifications:

• Graphics Processing Unit : ATI Radeon HD 4350 
• Interface : PCI Express x16 2.0 
• Core Clock Speed (MHz) : 600 
• Memory Size (MB) : 512 
• Memory Type : DDR2 
• Memory Interface : 64bit 
• Memory Clock Speed (MHz) : 800 
• DVI Connectors : 1 
• D-SUB Connectors : 1 
• HDMI Connectors : 1 
• HDCP Support : Y 
• RAMDAC speed (MHz) : 400 
• DirectX Version Support : 10.1 
• OpenGL Version Support : 2.1 

HP EliteBook 8470p Upgrade

The HP EliteBook 8470p reminds me of the Dell Latitude in a way because of its accessibility to the components by removing a single screw and panel on the bottom of the notebook computer. However, there is at least one component that I saw that I didn't have access to. I think it's the chipset controller. Other than that, my least favorite part of ALL HP EliteBook notebook computers I have used to today is the touchpad. It's way to slick, it has NO tactile feel and it's just feels creepy.

The HP EliteBook 8470p specifications can be found here.

Specifications:

• Processor: Intel Core i5 3320M
• Chipset: Intel QM77
• Video: Intel HD Graphics 4000
• Display: 14.0 LED HD 1366x768
• Dimensions (WxH): 32.4 x 19.2cm (12.74 x 7.56in)
• Diagonal size: 35.6cm (14.0in)
• Surface treatment: Anti-glare
• Contrast ratio: 400:1 (typical)
• Refresh rate: 60Hz
• Brightness: 200 nit (typical)
• Backlight: LED
• PPI: 112ppi
• HDD: Western Digital Scorpio Black 320GB WD3200BEKT-60PVMT0 7200RPM
• Audio: IDT 92HD87 High Definition CODEC
• WLAN: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 62205ANHMW

Upgrade options:

• Processor: The HP EliteBook 8470p has an Intel Core i5 3320M and an Intel QM77 chipset. Based on the compatibility information available on the Intel ARK Advanced Search, you can upgrade to a maximum of either the Intel Core i7 3840QM (3.80GHz, 8MB cache) or the Intel Core i7 3940XM Extreme Edition (3.90GHz, 8MB cache). Remember to be wary of the Extreme Edition processors. They're not guaranteed to work. While the Intel Core i7 3840QM is 35W, same as the Intel Core i5 3320M, the Intel Core i7 3940XM is 55W.
• Memory: Per the Intel Core i5 3320M specifications, the max memory is 32GB. However, crucial.com lists the max memory for the 8470p at 16GB. As of today, 2014-09-02, I don't see any availability of 2x16GB SODIMM memory modules for a total of 32GB, but the possiblity exists.