The lappie cable, well, didnt last the previous temporary fix.

Totally unwilling to make HP dealers fat, I decided to cut the cable open to try and rewire it.

The cable has two cyclindrical layers.  The outer layer is like braided silver coloured wires while the inner layer is a bundle of insulated wires.  Take caution while exposing the wires.

1st, you need to get your hands on some normal electrical wiring.  Cut a length off from one and strip the insulation to expose the copper wires.

Wrap the exposed copper wires around the insulated 2nd layer, making sure that the wrapped copper wires encircle both ends of the braided 1st layer wires to ensure there is electrical connection.

Get some good quality insulation tapes, not the lousy ones in the previous post.  A good roll from 3M can cost in excess of RM40.  Wrap the vulcanized insulation tapes around the exposed cable area, tugging the tape with force.

WARNING: DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT EVER EVER EVER NEVER EVER SOLDER the copper wires to the braided wires.  I learnt it the hard way and that took me hours to rectify.

Almost done now.  The remaining issue is the possibility of snapping the newly wrapped joint again.  When that happens, I dont think I can save that RM290 anymore.

Ever wonder what use is an Ikea pencil besides to tulis tulis?

Yeap, use it as a splint.

Its a tad crude.  But it works and there is Rm290 saved.

Again, something broke.  I dont recall damaging this.  That’s the damned thing.  Argh.

It’s the laptop adaptor cable and it looks like it was rolled over by a car of some sort.  Visited the nearby HP store to enquire on a replacement only to find it costs a whopping RM290.  Yeap, my jaw dropped when the fatso told me.

Again, I’m not ready to part with that amount so this is gonna be another “How To” thingy.

Step #1:

Get your hands on some electrical wiring tape or even better, insulation tapes which can be purchased from your trusted hardware shop or in my case, Home Fix in 1-Utama/ACE Hardware (Ikano/MidValley) for less than RM5.

Step #2 :

Make sure the power supply is off (nasty surprise if it “shorts”).

The two connecting parts of the wiring should be properly connected/wired.  If required cut it off and reconnect them.  In this case, the inner wiring looks different and I rather not chance cutting them to rewire.

Cut a length of insulation tape, around 2″-4″ depending on the subject’s diameter.  Tape the joint at an angle and make sure ia dililit dengan baik.

Yea, its fugly.  But for something MUCH less than RM 290, it will do for the time being.

ps:- on ebay the cable costs only USD 20-40.  yea, so SCREW you HP.

Final Fantasy XII is the one of the few FF titles I never managed to complete as it was released in 2006 during my uni days.  One fine day, I had an uncanny urge to dig the DVD up just to continue off where my last saved game was.

Tapi…..

Pirated DVDs were cheap back then, and the cheapness clearly revealed itself 3 years later.

The toothpaste method helped for awhile, well until I bodohtedly left it overnight with toothpaste on.

Question is :

DOES ANYONE HAVE A COPY OF FFXII?

Until then, will try Brasso on it later.

This week has been a week of nothing but get things fixed with $$$. A few days back my Power Supper Unit (PSU) fried and my whole room smelled of burned electrical components. I thought I could hang on to dear $$$ by using my housemate’s extra PSU but that just wasn’t the case.

Another RM 155 down the drain

The PC kept on restarting erratically as a result of inadequate power supply to the PC. So I headed into Kajang town and got myself a CoolerMaster eXtreme Power Plus 460W PSU since they didn’t have any true power PSU models around.

Yeap, I’m a CoolerMaster supporter. The casing and all the fans are CoolerMaster products.

Haih. My PC is aging not so gracefully ain’t it?

Messing around with computer parts is normal for guys like me. I’ve done stupid stuff with my old P4 setup and I just did something to add to that sillyness.

Added to my collection this time round is a mouse pad.

Razer Mantis Control – Precision Mousing Surface

It’s not your ordinary mouse pad. It’s called a PRECISION MOUSING SURFACE. WTFreak.

The Razer Mantis Control is a premium mouse mat with intricately woven fibers called Fibertek™ cloth weave. Beside it giving superb mouse user-bility, the best thing about it is the size.

It measures at 444mm x 355mm. Yes. It’s bigger than a bloody LCD monitor.

You can get it at all major retail outlets for around RM80. Come to HardNet @ Taman Seri Langat, Kajang and you’ll get it much much cheaper.