Power Button for my Lenovo PC

A few guys came across my old post (or rant) about spare parts for my Lenovo PC. Yes, I did ultimately find an external power button for the PC on Lazada. I have not updated this blog for a long time so I thought that now would be a good time to start posting up stuff on this old neglected blog again. 

The external button came all the way from China. It was big and red with blue LED lights. 

Installing the new external power button to my old Lenovo PC was not as easy as I thought it would be as Lenovo does not follow industry standards.

With help from Google, I ultimately found some diagrams and was able to finally get the power button working.

Glovax adventure gloves review

This is a long overdue review.

Received a fantastic pair of gloves a couple of weeks ago and is here is my review after testing them out. The gloves I got were the  Glovax pro gloves - which are bright orange. I tried them out while preparing food, repairing my car and also when gardening and it was perfect.

The Glovax pro gloves are meant for outdoors and daily use and though they look like the rubberized gloves you can get in your local DIY store, they are very different. According to Owen Zhang, the guy behind the gloves, the gloves are made from special yarn materials developed by their partner factory in Zhejiang China - really amazing tech as I found out.

The gloves are abrasion, cut resistant and tear resistant (watch the video). The micro pattern of the coating on the gloves makes them water proof (at least where the coating is present), oil proof and very grippy, making them a perfect glove for various activities including fishing, car repair work, gardening, etc.

The gloves are very soft and comfortable ( I got the XL size)  and quite light weight (about 40 gms). Moreover, I found the glove doesn't become uncomfortable when I sweat as the fabric  absorbs the sweat.

They have recently launched their campaign on Indiegogo.

The MSRP of the Glovax pro will be US$49 but you can now get them for just US$29 (+ shipping).

Watch me trying to cut the gloves while I was wearing them, with a really sharp kitchen knife.

Replacing Timex Ironman Triathlon battery and straps

The Timex Ironman Triathlon digital wristwatch has come a long way since it was first released in 1986. I have had mine which is in fluorescent Green (T5K434SU) for nearly 2 years now. I was initially looking for a Casio G Shock but when I came across this fantastic deal on Amazon UK - only £17.50 including postage and VAT (normal price is around £55), the decision was made and it has become my favourite watch.

It was an amazing deal for a shock proof that can really take the punishment, waterproof upto 200m, dual time, 100-Hour Chronograph with Lap and Split Times, 30-Lap Memory Recall, 99-Lap Counter and of course the great Indiglo lights.

However, recently the battery died. Then my son went and cut off the strap. I went to some of the watch shops around town and asked them how much it would cost me to get a pair of new straps and get new batteries - I was shocked when I found out that I would have to spend around £40. It would actually be cheaper to get a brand new Ironman Triathlon similar to mine. 

I do not know why I did not think about it before, but it dawned on me one day, that I could probably fix it myself and much cheaper than at the shops. Thankfully I had not thrown it away.

Unfortunately, I could not find the green straps anywhere on the net and finally settled on original black straps from the WatchBattery (UK) Ltd site. They cost me £ 15.49 including delivery. It never occurred to me to contact Timex directly. Anyway, the batteries -  2 DURACELL Lithium CR2016, cost me only £1.45 including delivery. The repair cost me a total of £16.94 - slightly less than the original cost of the watch. 

I was initially a bit worried about the black straps and the green case but it worked out quite well. 

Changing the battery was quite straightforward. Had to remove 4 outer screws and one for the battery latch. It is good practise to change the rubber gasket as well but I left the original one in after cleaning it and brushing the debris. I did not pressure test the watch for water proofing as I did not have the tools but I did test it by wearing it in the bath and there were no leaks - you normally see condensation forming on the inner glass crystal of the watch if there are leaks. 

Here are some pics:   

Samsung Galaxy Note broken screen

The screen of most touch screen phones are quite tough but as I found out, not THAT tough.

Well, here is what happens when a Samsung Galaxy Note falls down a flight of 13 steps.

I can see that it is still working and can get a replacement screen for about £130/ but do not know whether it is worth the effort or the money.

Samsung Galaxy Note 1 charging problems and repair

My wife's Samsung Galaxy Note 1 ( (N7000) recently started having problems recharging. She asked me to have a look at it and exchanged it with my Samsung Galaxy SII.

Apparently there was something wrong with the USB port and for a while, the only way I could recharge it was via the USB cord connected to the PC. However, that stopped working after sometime as well.

While researching on the net, it became clear that this was a common problem with the Samsung Galaxy Note. According to one "expert", it often happens as a result of shock when dropped on a hard surface (has happened a couple of times) or due to water damage (had been caught in a shower once).

I was really excited when I found out that it could be fixed quite easily by changing one component. However, I found out that the repairs charged about £70 just to fix it.

When it looked like I was going end up with a bricked phone, I came across a YouTube video tutorial on how to repair the Galaxy note. Went through the video a couple of time and I realised it was quite straightforward (scroll down to the bottom of this post for the video).

To find the replacement part, I went to Amaxon.co.uk and found a few sellers selling the "BisLinks® USB Charging Dock Port Flex Cable with Mic". I bought one for just £5.99 from one seller who had the highest ranking. I received the part after a few days.

Replacing the component was quite easy and took me around 15 minutes.

I put everything together and eagerly tried out recharging and it worked. I was so happy with my DIY skills and the fact that I had saved a few quid in the process.

However, that is not the end of the story. 

When the phone was fully charged, I realised that there was no network reception. I am on Orange which is now on EE. The reception in our area has not been that excellent anyway but now I had none at all. The funny thing was that I could see both O2 and Vodafone networks. I know what network to change to next time. 

Now I had ended up with a very expensive mini tablet. I could still access all the features and call out using Skype using our wifi but could not use the phone. 

Anyway, this week I decided to have another look around but it looks like Samsung does not sell internal components. I found another seller, this time on eBay and decided to give it another go - slightly more expensive at £7.79 with free delivery. 

The component was delivered quite fast but when I opened it the package, found out that it was identical to the one I had bought from Amazon. 

I went ahead and fitted it in and with a bit of trepidation, put it on.

Yes! It automatically recognised the EE network. My phone has come back to life.

Epilogue

The phone works but the network reception is not as good as before. I often have poor or no service inside buildings and I am still looking for the original component. 

From my online research, I discovered that I am not the only one facing this issue and I hope Samsung has solved this issue in their newer versions of the Galaxy Note. 

If anyone knows where I can find the original USB Charging Dock Port Flex Cable with Mic for Samsung Galaxy Note 1, please drop me a line: ahoklah@gmail.com

Note: All pics here taken using my Nokia Lumia 900.

Warning: 

1. Attempting to carry out this repair will definitely invalidate your warranty.
2. If you are not into DIY, would like original components, have servicing carried out by qualified personal and money is not an issue, you would be better off sending your gadgets to the authorised dealer for servicing.
3. Be careful. I dropped one of the tiny screws and I cannot find it anywhere. However, it does not affect the proper functioning of the phone.

Anyway here is the video I was referring to earlier:

Reviving the HP Pavillion battery

By Malik Arman Morshidi

Last week, I realized there was something wrong with my laptop’s battery. Running the fully charged battery, my laptop suddenly went dead in few minutes. Then, I tried to recharge it but to my surprise, the battery showed only 5 to 10% discharge from the point the laptop went dead. Meaning that I still had more than 90% power left in the battery.

This happened every time I left the laptop running on battery, it will go dead even with 90% power remaining. Having it tested using HP Battery Check software showed that the battery’s health is “Weak” and need replacement. It is quite unfortunate when thinking that I have only used the laptop for only two years.

The replacement cost for an original battery might cost me somewhere between £40 to £60. So, I tried to search on the internet in case there are any tutorials on reviving laptop battery. I found quite a number of articles from some blogs giving tips to revive a laptop battery. Majority of them have the same steps.

First, you need to drain your battery by letting the laptop switched on in sleep mode or BIOS. This is to slowly drain the battery. Some even go further by connecting the battery with a low voltage light bulb until the light goes dim. But I didn’t try this step because they said it could damage your battery or even can cause explosion if the connection is wrong. Hmm... “Never try this at home”.

The next step is to wrap and seal the battery air tight and then put in freezer for 24 hours or more. This is to prevent the condensation from entering the battery pack which might cause a short circuit. So I did that as well (as seen in the pictures). They explained a number of technical details behind this step which I couldn’t understand.

After leaving it in the freezer for more than 24 hours, take it out and put in room temperature for few hours. Occasionally wipe down the condensation. Take out the seal and do the recharge/discharge cycle for up to 5 times and apparently there should be a significant improvement in the battery life after few cycles.

Unfortunately, I didn’t quite see any improvement in the battery life. One article mentioned that Li-Ion battery is quite difficult to revive as compared to Ni-Mh and my battery happens to be the former.

Wondering why my battery died so quickly, I came up with a few possible answers after reading some articles. Perhaps, one of the reasons is due to the fact that I have the habit of leaving my laptop on sleep mode after using it. This forces the battery to drain below the minimum limit which is not recommended since it will shorten the battery life.

The reason I always did that was because it normally takes so long for Windows Vista (my OS) to restart. Anyway, now that the battery is dead, I guess the best way is to find the replacement for it. I learnt a few things from this experience - prevention is better than cure.