Computer fasteners (was Re: Apple Lisa 1)

From: Ian Primus <ian_primus_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Fri Nov 14 05:44:13 2003

>
> You are talking about lareg units, where these things are
> somewhat accessable and known. That's not the point (except
> for that I undo caseings a lot, and after some open close
> cycles these tend to break even when handled properly.

Yeah, I don't really mind them if I know where they are, but I often
run into things that I need to take apart that I don't know where any
of the fasteners are, or what flavor of plastic clips they use. For
example, I was taking apart a USB CD burner, and I removed the two
screws on the bottom, only to find the casing still securely fastened
together. The problem was, that with this particular design, I couldn't
tell which half had the 'hook' part, and which part had the 'tab' part.
I eventually got it apart, but it was a real pain.

>> The major killers is the remotes! I had bad time getting halves
>> apart without breaking at least one hook, my hands isn't strong
>> enough to squeeze hard or out of fear especially crushing it and
>> splintering it.
>
> My point. these little things, where you can't see from the
> outside where they are and where you can't get inside to use
> whatever tool.

Remotes are really hard to get apart, as are other small consumer
electronics that aren't supposed to come apart. (ever tried taking
apart an Apple Pro Mouse?) The cheaper things are made, the harder they
are to service, and the more likely that they won't be worth repairing.
Television sets are cheap enough now, that having them professionally
repaired isn't terribly practical, unless it's a really high end
television, or one you really like. Of course, the flip side of that is
that people throw perfectly repairable electronics away, so it's nice
for people like me that like to tinker with and know how to fix things
like that, and my friends and relatives just give things to me instead
of throwing them out.

Ian Primus
ian_primus_at_yahoo.com
Received on Fri Nov 14 2003 - 05:44:13 GMT