I have a Sony VGN-C240E mainboard with Intel T5500. Possible to use as desktop?

bavalova · 08-18-2008, 02:42 AM

So, recently I sent in my Sony VGN-C240E in for repairs because I could no longer charge the battery or get power to the board (except through the battery which was losing power by the minute). They said my power board came unsoldered from my DC input when I dropped it. Anyhow, they replaced everything and sent back my old main board, which still has the Intel T5500 on it, along with the bottom portion of my case. Now, the board looks good and assuming I could solder the pieces correctly into place, could I use this board and install Vista on my external harddrive (connect through USB) or buy a new SATA drive, add some RAM, use a monitor connected to the VGA out, and keyboard and mouse via USB?

The main problem I foresee is how do I power the board? It would be a fun little project. If anyone knows where and how I could get the power supply type parts, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,

Bava

**TriggerFinger** · 08-18-2008, 01:33 PM

If the bottom piece is still whole (with keyboard and everything except may be the LCD) the most that you can do is to hook up an external monitor. I doubt if you can use an external drive. I suggest you still get one internal drive so you can install an operating system into it.

bavalova · 08-18-2008, 03:25 PM

Perhaps yes, but how do I get power to it? This is the main issue.

**TriggerFinger** · 08-18-2008, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bavalova

Perhaps yes, but how do I get power to it? This is the main issue.

You mean to the laptop? You should at least have the AC adapter. If you mean the external monitor, I believe they usually come with their own plugs that you can plug into a wall outlet.

bavalova · 08-19-2008, 02:20 AM

No, no. There's some miscommunication. My bad. So I have the mainboard and the processor because they replaced it at Sony and I asked them to return the "bad" parts to me. When I sent it off, the mainboard was still working but I just couldn't get power to it. I've heard that you can solder this small connection back together and it can work just fine. My problem is that all I have is the mainboard and processor. All the other parts are still in the laptop.

I want to know if anyone knows how to solder that piece and how I could connect this laptop motherboard to a power supply or something to get it working. The DC input module was not returned to me (if they changed it out) and I don't know enough about laptop mainboards to figure this out. Any help would be appreciated even if you can just point me in the right direction.

08-18-2008, 02:42 AM	#1 (permalink)
bavalova Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3 OS: Vista	I have a Sony VGN-C240E mainboard with Intel T5500. Possible to use as desktop? So, recently I sent in my Sony VGN-C240E in for repairs because I could no longer charge the battery or get power to the board (except through the battery which was losing power by the minute). They said my power board came unsoldered from my DC input when I dropped it. Anyhow, they replaced everything and sent back my old main board, which still has the Intel T5500 on it, along with the bottom portion of my case. Now, the board looks good and assuming I could solder the pieces correctly into place, could I use this board and install Vista on my external harddrive (connect through USB) or buy a new SATA drive, add some RAM, use a monitor connected to the VGA out, and keyboard and mouse via USB? The main problem I foresee is how do I power the board? It would be a fun little project. If anyone knows where and how I could get the power supply type parts, I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance, Bava

08-18-2008, 01:33 PM	#2 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,823 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: I have a Sony VGN-C240E mainboard with Intel T5500. Possible to use as desktop? If the bottom piece is still whole (with keyboard and everything except may be the LCD) the most that you can do is to hook up an external monitor. I doubt if you can use an external drive. I suggest you still get one internal drive so you can install an operating system into it. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE

08-18-2008, 03:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
bavalova Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3 OS: Vista	Re: I have a Sony VGN-C240E mainboard with Intel T5500. Possible to use as desktop? Perhaps yes, but how do I get power to it? This is the main issue.

08-19-2008, 02:20 AM	#5 (permalink)
bavalova Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3 OS: Vista	Re: I have a Sony VGN-C240E mainboard with Intel T5500. Possible to use as desktop? No, no. There's some miscommunication. My bad. So I have the mainboard and the processor because they replaced it at Sony and I asked them to return the "bad" parts to me. When I sent it off, the mainboard was still working but I just couldn't get power to it. I've heard that you can solder this small connection back together and it can work just fine. My problem is that all I have is the mainboard and processor. All the other parts are still in the laptop. I want to know if anyone knows how to solder that piece and how I could connect this laptop motherboard to a power supply or something to get it working. The DC input module was not returned to me (if they changed it out) and I don't know enough about laptop mainboards to figure this out. Any help would be appreciated even if you can just point me in the right direction.