I’ve just finished getting my laptop set up the way I like it, including maximising the RAM and upgrading the screen. I opened it up to use it, and the screws on the hinge tore through the plastic.
To top it off, the plastic on the bottom of the laptop, the side that’s been removed here, has also broken.
My wife definitely didn’t drop the laptop while she was tidying up though…
Did you open it without the backplate on?
Anyways this is crappy anti consumer design by the manufacturer.
Yes and no. The backplate was attached but broken, and I didn’t realise that the broken piece was where the third screw for the hinge was.
In fairness to the manufacturer, this is a 7th gen i5, and it was doing great until my wife ‘definitely didn’t drop it’ on the corner >.<
I don’t understand why you were downvoted for asking this question. I’ve literally watched techs cause this damage by trying to open the lid with the back cover screws removed.
Most laptops have at least one screw on each side that goes through both the back cover and the lid. If the hinge is normally affixed with 3 screws and you open the lid with one missing, each mount is taking on that extra stress.
Best practice is to reinstall those screws before opening the lid with the back cover removed.
I broke a hinge myself that way, learned it the hard way