$@#! Compaq Hinge!

[trekkie00]

I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but my Compaq laptop (Presario V5206OM, 15.4" LCD, Sempron 3300+, about a year and a half old) suddenly broke its left screen hinge. I managed to open it up and found that it literally snapped a metal piece apart at the hinge, so I can't see a quick glue job doing anything. I already priced new hinges online - they're only sold in sets, and they're all > $50 even before shipping. It's an older laptop, so I was wondering: does anyone have some sort of hacktastic idea to make a new hinge?

I'll post pics of the damage tomorrow.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Some sort of an epoxy may work... But let it harden completly for 24 hours.... Make sure you get a good one made for the type of metal the hinge is made of...

 

[KSoD]

Contact Compaq find out if there is a way to get a replacement.

 

[chiropractor44]

If you can't get the hinges fixed. Epoxy usually works for me too (twice this happened on my DV9000's in my office). I ended up buying hinges from here when I couldn't fix them myself. laptopking.com
I hope this helps

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

I'd try epoxy, I've used it on some (non-computer-related) stuff and it works great. If that doesn't work, try super glue. If they're metal pieces you could always try soldering, but that is probably going to be out of the question or useless.

I still think just permanently fixing the screen open and buying a new laptop would be the better solution, especially if that's going to be your college laptop. A hinge that has been repaired with epoxy or glue probably won't hold up very well through the intense use that classroom use will probably put on it.

(dv9000's have this problem too? ...NOOOOOOOOO )