Samsung R720 wont boot

[Cassiekessie]

My housemate loves his Samsung R720 but it kaput itself a few days ago. He is now pining and trying to fix it. He has tried the 'usual' tactics of resitting the RAM, removing the hard drive, holding down the button, attaching the lappie to an external monitor. Nothing works. The lappie powers up, doesn't squeek, he can hear the hard drive spinning but nothing else happens. From what we have found on the net, the mobo is the likely culprit? His lappie is several years old and it has given him a good run for what he paid. I have told him to send it to lappie heaven, because a replacement mobo will cost several hundred and he is better off buying new. He has looked for any obvious damage to the mobo - there is none and he is not a half-wit about such things. My question to you guys is - given the 'evidence' do you concur that it is a mobo problem, is there anything else he can do and it is best to simply replace an aging lappie with something new?

 

[webworkings]

If there are internal sounds, then it sounds like it is actually starting up, just the display isn't. So before assuming it is something serious, try the following...

1. Turn the laptop off (not sleep or hibernate but off).
2. Connect an external monitor to the laptop.
3. Turn on the external monitor.
4. Turn on the laptop.

NOTE: You may have to press an "external monitor" button. Could be the f4 button or a button with two monitors on it, for the external monitor to work.

If you can see fine on the external monitor, then your attached display, or the ribbon cable that connects it, are your problem.

If you can't see on the external monitor at all, or the problem occurs on the external monitor as well, then it is probably the graphics card/GPU that is the problem, which may require the motherboard be replaced.

 

[Cassiekessie]

Thanks very much. He says he will give it a go. Much appreciated.