[frognipples]

i had the same problem my damn negative prong fell out too and it took me like 4 hours to open up and haven't yet sodered it back on, does anyone else know where i can get a replacement keyboard cause i screwed up 2 keys and now they dont work at all and it costs $400 to have them fix since warranty is up, which by the way when it happened was a month after warranty was up..let me know

[dimoul]

Just stumbled on to this site, grateful to connect with other desknote users. I typed in "a928 battery cable loose or problem" in google

I've had my desknote a928 for almost 1.5 yrs. I had the melting plug problem that got fixed after a month and $45 in shipping, I'm on my 3rd power cord. I need a new cord from the battery to the unit b/c it fits so tightly that when I pull it from the unit, the hard plastic piece on the end of the cable is beginning to come loose. (had the battery for 2 weeks). Speakers sound distorted now and screen flickers every now and then. Desknote sells parts at very high prices and charges a lot for shipping and all sales are final. I love the idea of this machine, but ECS makes a poor quality product with horrible support.
I use many usb devices (scanners, floppy drives smart media reader, wireless usb adapter, game pad) on this machine with xp and have had no problems with that.

[dimoul]

As far as your a928 breaking down at crtitical moments: this happened to me last year in law school. I bought a usb 2.0 enclosure for the hard drive. I removed the hard drive and installed it in the enclosure before I sent the unit to ECS so that I could have access to all my files while the unit was gone. I suggest this backup step for all a928 users.

[ultrafob]

My friend had his power connector fall out yesterday. It was just lass than a month after the warranty expired too. We took 2-3 hours opening up the thing, and finally got to the connector. After trying to resolder the pin back in a few times, we realized it wasn't a good solution. Such a small surface area can't take that much force and wear and tear. So our other friend went digging around. We found this site, but didn't see a clear solution, and we found a post on google:
"I have a ECS desknote A928 and after a year of usage (incidentally the warrenty is only 1 yr) the laptop power connector started exhibiting overheating problems (it melted the AC adaptor)...

upon opening the laptop and inspecting I've determined that it was a design flaw and after continuous usage with CPU intesive tasks such as DVD viewing or 3D gaming. The solder on the connector would've melted of the third prong. This could be easily remidied however by using a thick wire to bridge the connection and some more soldier. Just something for you to consider when buying the ECS A92X series."

Here's our solution:
We took a standard coax tx cable and got a length of the center copper wire. We had to fold it to double the thinkness and twist it around a few times to try to match the thickness of the original pin. Then we pass the wire through the hole of the old peg, and wrapped it around to the top of the connector housing. Holding it to the housing we reconnected the power wire to make sure it would work and to hold the wire in place while we soldered it. Solder it on (be careful!) and then test to make sure it works. My friend's worked on the first try. Then we tried to connect and disconnect it a few times just to make sure it was strong and stable enough (he has to be careful when doing this now, don't want to open the thing back up again). The only problem we had was reassembling it. Just remember where the screws came from and you won't have our problem. Good luck!

email me for pics if you want them

[vanvu]

Is the new model A980 better than its brother A 928 in resolving the heat problem?

[dimoul]

sorry vanvu, no experience with the a980.

Regarding the a928 melting plug phenomena:

I think there may be another design flaw that contributes to overheating. In my case the pin did not fall out, my plug just started to melt. I think this may have happened because the hard plastic coupler portion of the plug starts to come loose from the softer rubbery portion of the plug. The two portions are held together by two small, rather flimsy internal plastic cords that join the two pieces together plug and socket style.

I think that because the hard plastic coupler portion fits so snugly with the 3 male prongs on the unit that the two plug portions start to come loose from merely pulling the plug in and out. As it becomes loose, I think it may short and cause trouble to the connector piece inside the machine that ultrafob is referring to.

After my plug started melting, I could get about 30 minutes out of my desknote. Then the power would shut off and the 3 green lights and the fan would pulse on and off until I cut the power. Then my plug would be stuck to the machine. I would use pliers to pull the plug off. My desknote still does this once in a great while (powers on and off until I cut power) on startup, but I haven't had any more melting problems.

However, this may all be BS, (I'm not an EE). But regardless, I think its important to be careful with your plug and to replace your power supply often, at the first hint that the connection between the two portions of the plug is loosening.

I would also recommend that ECS (they should read this site) make a plug that is a single piece rather than the clumsy 2-piece design they currently make.

[dimoul]

ultrafob: what kind of solder did you use, and what tools did you use?--I would like to be prepared for this problem if it occurs again.

emtnman: did your silver solder hold?

vanvu: check out davinator's post above re a980, looks like your answer may be "no".

[dimoul]

Helpful Hint for managing all your USB accessories in a limited space (like a desk). I put some adhesive velcro strips on top of the a928 lid and on the USB accessories so that the accessories just stick to the lid rather than take up desk space. I find it works very well with my actiontec wireless adapter, floppy drive, and smart media card reader. It looks pretty ugly and nerdy, but it works.

[dimoul]

Stands Breaking Off: (see twmackey's post): Mine fall off every now and then but they snap in rather easily. ECS told me to always use the stands to help prevent overheating. Its a little annoying b/c stands aren't always practicable depending on the surface you are using, like any type of soft surface, for example.

[frognipples]

Im in the middle of taking my laptop apart and there is still one screw i can't find. it is either directly in the middle of the laptop or right under where the monitor was.......i dont know..........anyone else have this problem or can anyone offer me a place where i can find out how to take this apart, some tutorial thanks......................................................................................................ok i think i found my problem the screw that is holding in the circuitboard for the power/email buttons is completely stripped, i have no idea how as it was never opened before. i need to get a screw out from underneath it....anyone know how to get out a really small stripped screw and also does the speaker cover maybe come off????? i dont want to brake it but it feels like it might pull off