Options For a Laptop With a Broken Screen? 544
DefenseSupportParty writes "I recently traveled via an unnamed airline, and stupidly checked my laptop. Unfortunately, the screen broke in transit and they refuse to take responsibility for it, claiming that it could have been broken before the flight. I'm not really in the mood to replace the screen if I have to pay for it, as I have other laptops that I can use. At the same time, I don't want to waste computing power that could be put to good use. I've thought about the common stuff: file server, SETI@Home, but I'd like to do something a little more creative. Does anyone have good ideas for a relatively powerful laptop without a display?"
Set-top-box (Score:5, Insightful)
2) add IR
3) add connection to file server with videos 4) ???
5) entertainment
You can (Score:5, Insightful)
Donate it? (Score:5, Insightful)
Server (Score:5, Insightful)
Built in UPS, plenty of computing power as you say.
Best use I can think of is as a server - web, mail, mysql, whathaveyou. Wear and tear on the hard drive not an issue if you're using something set up correctly - the hard drive will be spun down most of the time.
Ebay (Score:4, Insightful)
aim for the airline rep (Score:1, Insightful)
You could throw it at the airline rep who basically told you to fuck off and sue them (in so many words it sounds). I suggest you aim for the head.
MythTV (Score:5, Insightful)
Make it into a desktop (Score:5, Insightful)
Somebody Had to Ask It... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:External display (Score:5, Insightful)
eBay to get the parts (Score:4, Insightful)
Quite often, the parts you need are available on eBay especially if you use a Dell. (Availability of parts is the #1 reason I recommend Dell, not because they are "better." The #2 reason is because new Dell laptops almost always have accidental damage coverage available as a purchase option in the warranty... accidents happen, BUY IT! By the way, Apple computer does NOT sell accidental damage warranty coverage. If you buy an Apple, make sure you get it through a 3rd party vendor that does offer it or never buy Apple laptops...they are too expensive for accidents.)
The position of the airlines is 100% correct. There should be a certain level of abuse that passengers should absolutely expect. If you don't expect it, then you are an idiot and need to learn the hard way. CARRY ON anything you believe to be valuable and/or breakable.
Re:Sue them? (Score:4, Insightful)
Read the fine print. The airline is not responsible for the damage. Do. Not. Check. Laptops. Carry it with you at all times. Common luggage offers little if any protection for a laptop. Have you ever watched how the baggage handlers "handle" luggage?
What? He doesn't have any form of insurance of his own? The cost of a screen is substantially cheaper than the cost of a new laptop. (unless it's an old and/or crappy laptop.)
Re:Somebody Had to Ask It... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah... on the list of "Stupid Ways to Get Your Laptop Stolen", we have:
#8: "Oh, it's okay, my friend's watching it"
#7: Leave it in the car
#6: Pass out at a frat house
#5: Two words: Finals Week
#4: Take a leak while "telecommuting" at Starbucks
#3: Work for a government agency
#2: Check your laptop with your airplane luggage
#1: Put child porn on it. (for a legal alternative, your social security number will also do.)
Seriously, to actually trust TSA to be doing their job 100% of the time and NOT screw with your valuables? You're nuts.
Why unnamed? (Score:3, Insightful)
If you let the world know the name of the airline that ripped you off, could we not boycott them?
I'm sure damaging a customer's gear and then refusing to pay for the damage will look REAL good for PR...
So why not complain?
Are you a sheep?
Re:You can (Score:5, Insightful)
I used to use a hand-me-down HP laptop (that had a broken screen) as a desktop using an external monitor. It's just like having a desktop, really.
Re:Set-top-box (Score:5, Insightful)
Most laptops already have IRDA built in. I'm not sure why exactly, but it seems almost ubiquitous. There are USB TV tuners that are supported by linux. These usually do MP4 encoding on device to keep the USB bandwidth down, so should be excellent for MythTV, even if the laptop isn't the most powerful.
Upgrade! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Make it into a desktop (Score:5, Insightful)
Blind (Score:2, Insightful)
Give it to a blind person in need of a laptop - perhaps to a charity that works with the blind.
Re:Set-top-box (Score:5, Insightful)
Interesting, that's the exact opposite of my experience. The last laptop I saw with IRDA was one I bought in 1996.
Care to mention any models that do include IR?
Re:Donate it? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:How powerful exactly? (Score:3, Insightful)
Last I checked, most notebooks have at least a VGA port and more commonly now a days is an HDMI port.
So just hook it to any monitor and use it like a desktop. Problem solved.
Re:Its called a half-lap-top (Score:2, Insightful)
Are the mods bored or something?
The man had a busted screen, got a monitor and taught himself AutoCAD. Pretty cool thing to do with a busted laptop.
Not offtopic.
Dash-top-box (Score:3, Insightful)
Attach an LED readout screen, and create an MP3 server for your car.
Re:Checked it? (Score:3, Insightful)
I do. I don't want it on the plane and it weighs enough to be a nuisance. I pack it in the middle of the suitcase, protected by clothes and, so far, haven't had any trouble. Any data that I'd worry about is encrypted and the laptop is an old, slow, one that I use just for travel. Someday, I suppose it will be stolen or broken. Until then, I'm more than happy not to be lugging it around and putting it in a separate tray for securit
Taking a calculated risk and appropriate precautions is one thing. Checking your unprotected laptop bag is another. If you've ever sat on the side where they load luggage, you can see the sort of treatment your average bag gets. Not to mention, it's not well restrained in flight in the cargo hold, so it's probably bounding around pretty good.
I don't like trucking my laptop through the airport, but I'm not checking the damn thing. Maybe if I had a crappy backup, sure.
RE: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Sue them? (Score:2, Insightful)
"Yes, your luggage is covered in gasoline, and torn to shreds, but it might have been that way before"
If it was covered in gas (and shreded) at the time it was handed over to be CHECKED, it wouldn't have been accepted -- or are you too stupid to realize there are humans in the process. (and carrying a gas soaked anything into an airport in this country is a good way to not make your flight.) This isn't a matter of a gas covered anything, or children with tire tracks on them. It's a broken fucking laptop. It could have been broken by the airline. It could have been broken by him in transit. It could have been broken when he packed it. But yes, let's immediately assume the airline is at fault because of this guy's stupidity.
Did the airline break it? Maybe (even probablly.) But there's a non-zero probability that he had a broken laptop in there to begin with. (yes, there ARE people who abuse the system.) His post here really makes me suspect that might be the case -- it's a "high performance" laptop that he doesn't need and doesn't care enough about to fix it out of his own pocket. There's no proof of who broke it, so taking the far more expensive route past a judge is an expensive gamble.
NO. Sue them. (Score:5, Insightful)
Nobody's given the correct answer:
- Small Claims Court.
"It was probably broke before you checked it," is not a valid excuse for an airline to refuse baggage insurance (or any other company for that matter). It is THEIR responsibility to check the luggage/item and verify it is not broken prior to accepting it under their liability insurance, and since they failed to do that, the legal presumption is that the laptop was 100% okay when received and damaged during transit. In fact in many cases the mere threat of court action is enough to make the airline cough up the cash.
This is somewhat similar to how the law presumes a mail-order package is 100% the seller's responsibility, even if said package was lost by the post office, or stolen by the neighborhood teenager. It's the seller's fault and requirement to issue a refund. The law is designed to protect the *customer* not the airline or seller.
One other option:
- Call your credit card company. Many of them provide protection, such that if an airline damages your luggage, you can get a refund of all your ticket money and/or replacement of the damaged good.
Re:Set-top-box (Score:3, Insightful)
IR existed because it's faster than actually using a janky RS-232 cable; it got murdered by USB, which is faster still and over which you can charge your phone. IR disappeared not because of any conspiracy, but because it was stupid.