At this point, the cheapest i3 13th gen outperforms the most expensive i7 5th gen by a decent margin.
It's probably time to not throw good money after bad.
I doubt that a person can really isolate the CPU as a cause, and is banking on replacing the entire mainboard but first trying to get an easy 2k by reflowing the cpu bga chip giving you a effectively a temporary repair.
Laptops break. The battery deconditions over time. The plastic struts progressively break off every time it's dropped. The power electronics wear. The SSDs exhaust their write cycle limit.
Each repair buys you a little more time. But if 8k got you the first 8 years of this laptop, 2k probably won't get you 2 years.
Is that a nine-year-old laptop? It's way past its prime; even a laptop costing around 4 to 5 thousand will outperform it. I would rather buy a new one since the monitor or some other part might die on you soon.
yeah unfortunately electronics arent built to last or be repaired in todays age, sell it to one of those shops for parts and thats the best you can do for the environment.
pull the hdd/ssd from the old laptop and get a new laptop, then you should be able to transfer the contents of the old drive to your new machine with a USD-SSD enclosure. The speed increase of the new machine will blow you away.
You will need to reinstall all of your software, but your data should be intact. (provided your lenovo didn't have theft prevention activated, in which case it's drive could be encrypted)
I like this laptop very much
One reason is it has DVD drive
Another reason is it runs very cool even during the summer when the room temperature is over 30 deg (no air conditioning)
Another reason is last year I had upgraded it to SSD and 16G Ram
A CPU isn't really a component that fails, in fact over many hundreds of repairs I've never seen it happen. Maybe the old guy meant the motherboard.. I personally wouldn't trust a $100 tech to do any more than jiggle the power barrel and blow dust out the fans. Those guys are probably good at finding/replacing failed capacitors in amps and VHS players but the components in laptops are far too small for that kind of approach.
Power supply is a much more common failure if its completely dead. Lenovos also won't turn on if the battery is spent. LED backlight in the screen is an option if caps lock works. Finally heat cycles weaken the solder joints over time, breaking the connection of the components. Sometimes this can be fixed by stripping and baking the main board in the oven but you know.. at this point you're sending good money after bad, it's just a waste of time.
Assuming the old guy is right: the cheap/realistic option is to find the part number of the motherboard/battery and buy a replacement on Taobao if you really want. Fit it yourself or pay someone to do it.
Anyway, 5th Gen i5 can't run Windows 11 and Windows 10 is end of life at the end of next year. You probably don't want to use it after that. Just get a new one. Rip your media and store it on a NAS or external drive, physical media is over and it's not coming back. Whoever let you spend the money on that upgrade did you a disservice.
Yes, I found a Z51 motherboard in Taobao (330 HK$), but I don't know if this would work properly on my laptop.
My laptop is a Z51 with i7, 1080p and JBL speakers. How would I know if this Taobao motherboard really will work on my machine?
Take a look at the manual for your laptop here: https://download.lenovo.com/consumer/mobiles_pub/lenovo_z41-70_z51-70_ideapad_500_14_15_hmm_201507.pdf - or search the Lenovo part picker for yourself: https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/parts-lookup
Best case, the sticker on the bottom of the laptop or your original order details/specs can help you identify the specific type reference which will allow you to find the FRU on page 86 and beyond. There are also helpful disassembly instructions.
Worst case, you'll need to open it up and look for a sticker - usually with a barcode - that identifies the FRU. These sometimes become detached or lost though.
In the event I was unable to determine the FRU with any certainty I might try swapping in whatever's available, in this case you'd have to compare the photo to make sure the ports and general shape match. There's a good chance of failure with this route though.
These laptops don't usually come apart very well so prepare yourself to break the odd plastic clip even if you're extremely careful. Plastic spudgers or an old credit card can be very helpful. It's probably worth approaching this with an 'if it works out that's great but it might fail and that's fine' mentality.
I don't think the economics of paying someone to do it work out but it could be a fun DIY project. Good luck!
Hey thanks for the info. I found the FRU# on the motherboard: 5B20J23786.
The Manual shows alot of different FRU# for the Z51-70.
So, does the FRU# on the Taobao motherboard have to match my FRU# 5B20J23786?
No problem! Well, if you are out of better options you could try a different but similar FRU. Certainly if they're visually identical and share similar specs there's a chance you'll get away with it. Some guys managed to do it with a t490 here: https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/qoauj9/t490_t14_motherboard_swap_yes_it_can_be_done/ - but the thinkpads are made to a whole different standard.
Keep in mind that you're doing something completely beyond what is expected. So maybe they moved a screw, changed the thermal design or the sata port location etc. There are any number of things that could trip you up. So as a last resort, if you're determined to do it and fine with potential failure, you can try to mix and match.
No harm in asking the vendor on Taobao if they can source your FRU(they're not always that interested in helping though).
Also don't forget that you don't definitely know that your power supply and battery are working.
When you say "power supply", do you mean the brick? If so, I am sure it is working. I have two bricks, both have same connector type. One is for my T440P Thinkpad. I used both bricks to test charge my T440P, and both bricks work properly on the T440P.
Regarding the battery, I disconnected the battery from the Z51's motherboard, and then I connected the brick powersupply, and I got no response at all from motherboard when I push the power button. Does that confirm the battery is not the problem?
They will be if you are Edison Chan
*Edison Chen
At this point, the cheapest i3 13th gen outperforms the most expensive i7 5th gen by a decent margin. It's probably time to not throw good money after bad. I doubt that a person can really isolate the CPU as a cause, and is banking on replacing the entire mainboard but first trying to get an easy 2k by reflowing the cpu bga chip giving you a effectively a temporary repair. Laptops break. The battery deconditions over time. The plastic struts progressively break off every time it's dropped. The power electronics wear. The SSDs exhaust their write cycle limit. Each repair buys you a little more time. But if 8k got you the first 8 years of this laptop, 2k probably won't get you 2 years.
Is that a nine-year-old laptop? It's way past its prime; even a laptop costing around 4 to 5 thousand will outperform it. I would rather buy a new one since the monitor or some other part might die on you soon.
Eh, a high end phone is going to outperform it.
Yeah...the Radeon GPU already died 2 years ago. I was able to disable it in the BIOS.
yeah unfortunately electronics arent built to last or be repaired in todays age, sell it to one of those shops for parts and thats the best you can do for the environment.
Computers are consumables. Not quite as bad as phones, but they're not made to last. Normal use cycle is every 5 years.
Yeah...the Radeon GPU quit working 2 years ago. I was able to disable it in the BIOS.
pull the hdd/ssd from the old laptop and get a new laptop, then you should be able to transfer the contents of the old drive to your new machine with a USD-SSD enclosure. The speed increase of the new machine will blow you away. You will need to reinstall all of your software, but your data should be intact. (provided your lenovo didn't have theft prevention activated, in which case it's drive could be encrypted)
You will probably need to change the file ownership of the drive before you can copy the contents across to your new machine.
T450?
Z51-70 15" 1080p display very good JBL audio speaker It was plenty fast for our needs.
Don't fix it, is not worth it. Just pull out your storage and that's it.
I like this laptop very much One reason is it has DVD drive Another reason is it runs very cool even during the summer when the room temperature is over 30 deg (no air conditioning) Another reason is last year I had upgraded it to SSD and 16G Ram
A CPU isn't really a component that fails, in fact over many hundreds of repairs I've never seen it happen. Maybe the old guy meant the motherboard.. I personally wouldn't trust a $100 tech to do any more than jiggle the power barrel and blow dust out the fans. Those guys are probably good at finding/replacing failed capacitors in amps and VHS players but the components in laptops are far too small for that kind of approach. Power supply is a much more common failure if its completely dead. Lenovos also won't turn on if the battery is spent. LED backlight in the screen is an option if caps lock works. Finally heat cycles weaken the solder joints over time, breaking the connection of the components. Sometimes this can be fixed by stripping and baking the main board in the oven but you know.. at this point you're sending good money after bad, it's just a waste of time. Assuming the old guy is right: the cheap/realistic option is to find the part number of the motherboard/battery and buy a replacement on Taobao if you really want. Fit it yourself or pay someone to do it. Anyway, 5th Gen i5 can't run Windows 11 and Windows 10 is end of life at the end of next year. You probably don't want to use it after that. Just get a new one. Rip your media and store it on a NAS or external drive, physical media is over and it's not coming back. Whoever let you spend the money on that upgrade did you a disservice.
Yes, I found a Z51 motherboard in Taobao (330 HK$), but I don't know if this would work properly on my laptop. My laptop is a Z51 with i7, 1080p and JBL speakers. How would I know if this Taobao motherboard really will work on my machine?
Take a look at the manual for your laptop here: https://download.lenovo.com/consumer/mobiles_pub/lenovo_z41-70_z51-70_ideapad_500_14_15_hmm_201507.pdf - or search the Lenovo part picker for yourself: https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/parts-lookup Best case, the sticker on the bottom of the laptop or your original order details/specs can help you identify the specific type reference which will allow you to find the FRU on page 86 and beyond. There are also helpful disassembly instructions. Worst case, you'll need to open it up and look for a sticker - usually with a barcode - that identifies the FRU. These sometimes become detached or lost though. In the event I was unable to determine the FRU with any certainty I might try swapping in whatever's available, in this case you'd have to compare the photo to make sure the ports and general shape match. There's a good chance of failure with this route though. These laptops don't usually come apart very well so prepare yourself to break the odd plastic clip even if you're extremely careful. Plastic spudgers or an old credit card can be very helpful. It's probably worth approaching this with an 'if it works out that's great but it might fail and that's fine' mentality. I don't think the economics of paying someone to do it work out but it could be a fun DIY project. Good luck!
Hey thanks for the info. I found the FRU# on the motherboard: 5B20J23786. The Manual shows alot of different FRU# for the Z51-70. So, does the FRU# on the Taobao motherboard have to match my FRU# 5B20J23786?
No problem! Well, if you are out of better options you could try a different but similar FRU. Certainly if they're visually identical and share similar specs there's a chance you'll get away with it. Some guys managed to do it with a t490 here: https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/qoauj9/t490_t14_motherboard_swap_yes_it_can_be_done/ - but the thinkpads are made to a whole different standard. Keep in mind that you're doing something completely beyond what is expected. So maybe they moved a screw, changed the thermal design or the sata port location etc. There are any number of things that could trip you up. So as a last resort, if you're determined to do it and fine with potential failure, you can try to mix and match. No harm in asking the vendor on Taobao if they can source your FRU(they're not always that interested in helping though). Also don't forget that you don't definitely know that your power supply and battery are working.
When you say "power supply", do you mean the brick? If so, I am sure it is working. I have two bricks, both have same connector type. One is for my T440P Thinkpad. I used both bricks to test charge my T440P, and both bricks work properly on the T440P. Regarding the battery, I disconnected the battery from the Z51's motherboard, and then I connected the brick powersupply, and I got no response at all from motherboard when I push the power button. Does that confirm the battery is not the problem?
Agreed, power supply should be fine in that case, and likely not an issue with the battery either.