17 Yr old male repairing own gaming laptop
Hi I’m Shaurya
17 yr okd and decided to fully rebuild my broken Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i instead of giving up on it.
Specs:
- i5-10300H
- GTX 1650
- 16GB RAM
- 1.5TB storage
The laptop was in horrible condition:
- broken screen
- damaged palmrest
- damaged back panel
- dead keyboard
- broken hinges/shell
- overheating issues
- charger problems
Most people told me it was cooked, but instead of throwing it away, I bought a dead donor laptop and started learning laptop hardware myself.
What I’ve done so far:
- Fully disassembled BOTH laptops
- Removed motherboard, fans, keyboard assembly, trackpad, shelling, etc.
- Compared donor palmrest and my motherboard compatibility
- Tested keyboard and backlight successfully
- Learned how eDP cables, heatsinks, and laptop internals work
- Cleaned fans and checked thermal setup
- Carefully separated the shell from donor body
Now I finally understand how laptops are actually assembled internally. Holding the motherboard in my hand after fully tearing it down felt insane 😭
Current situation:
- Keyboard works
- Motherboard works
- Temps are now around 43–45°C idle
- Waiting for heatsink + eDP cable
- Need a repair technician to help properly swap shelling/palmrest and reassemble safely
Still left:
- charger replacement/fix
- final shell swap
- display setup
And last heatsink Jia
Honestly this whole project made me respect repair technicians way more.
Any advice from experienced repair guys before final assembly?