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Comment by tom89999 | Hacker News Reader

There are parts in the industry that are not meant for end users. I service copiers and printers. The fixing unit is not meant to be installed by a handyman, thats why you dont get to buy it. You can cook yourself, it works with 230V.... Toner and drum unit are sold to customers.

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Respectfully, nothing about that applies to a laptop. This has been well proven over the years, that with good forethought and making parts available laptops can be highly repairable.

The display unit is nothing an enduser should replace. Does every user know how to handle the delicate display and how to carefully install the LVDS cable? In most modern cars you cant replace the windscreen with cameras, heating wires in your backyard without the calibration software. You can try it, but you will fail.

Don’t be ridiculous. I replaced screens on (old) Thinkpads and a Framework and it’s literally a 5 min job, no experience needed. Both have excellent repair documentation. With Framework you can replace any component in that time frame. No, really. Some years ago, with Thinkpads you didn’t even have to disassemble the machine for many components… eg. you pressed a button and the lappy ejected the hard drive.

I know quite a few non-techies who replaced their phone screens themselves. That’s been unexpected and impressive to me. Honestly, you can get unlucky, but in my experience, electronic components are surprisingly resistant to abuse.

Sure, if everything is soldered or glued down it‘s intentionally hard to self-service, but that’s also down to your consumer choices. There is nothing inherently unserviceable.

Take a look at the framework laptop for how accessible replacing parts on a laptop can be if you put even a little bit of effort into it. Most people are entirely capable of the manual dexterity, they just lack clear instructions, or things artificially require specialized equipment and software and more fiddly, difficult, and risky steps because it's either not a priority or it's actively a priority to discourage it.

So what you are saying, is that it is all designed to be impossible to fix without special equipment and exquisite motor skills?

Displays are absolutely end user repairable if the end user has experience. Allowing an end user to perform repairs shouldn't mean the repair should be doable by every single end-user.

If that was the case we wouldn't be allowed to replace AA batteries.

230VAC mains electrical fittings are openly sold in DIY shops in every country in the European Union without mass-cookings occurring as a result. This reeks of utterly unearned elitism.

Yep. I think pretty much every youngster gets some basic education (besides getting years of physics in high-school): disarm the group/fuse, double check with a power tester, make sure you are not causing any shorts. I don't know anyone who calls an electrician for replacing a light fitting, a power outlet, or light switches.

Besides that some European countries have required for decades that new houses/apartment have central residual-current circuit breakers for the whole house (unlike the US where as far as I understand they are only required in certain areas and are often in the socket and not centralized).

Can’t say I got any particular education, but honestly knowing it’s quite dangerous kinda pushes you in the right direction, if you’re not super dim, too. And usually you can call a parent or someone who knows what’s up, to get the instructions or help the first time.

I do that work almost every day. What if the untalented handyman crunches a live cable and the metallic frame is on fire? You can repair how and what you want, its your house and children.

>You can repair how and what you want, its your house and children.

They cannot.

>The device is also not repairable at all. I had an issue with my screen and they gave me a quote of ~200€+ to repair it. I'm sure I could fix it myself for a lot less, but no parts are available and no instructions.

If the metallic frame is on fire and the circuit breaker doesn't trigger when you turn on, then the manufacturer has some explaining to do.

Screw in a light bulb and you work with 230V and we still allow people to screw in their own light bulbs

What are the 5 safety guidelines?

Don't know, I just make sure there is no power.

"230VAC is dangerous, therefore it makes sense you cannot purchase a 12VDC laptop screen to install yourself"

Ever heard of the old displays with an inverter that produced around 700V? Can zap grandpa into the coffin... THats why they did not sell it to customers.

Everybody obviously works on a powered on laptop, with fully charged capacitors. With those capacitor delivering at leat 100mA to your heart for good measure.

It's like when people work on their car, they do it at highway speed, using a nacelle precariously balanced under the car, with the front wheels propped up on dollies for access.

And I'm sure that continuing that tradition into the laptop LCD era is similarly due to safety and not profit.

> Ever heard of the old displays with an inverter that produced around 700V?

...Are we talking about CRTs from like 20 years ago? What does that have to do with laptops?

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