My Prostar laptop had some problems with it. Cracks in the lid inspired me to stop using it and eventually buy another laptop.

I found a fix for the problem I had with the case and tight hinges; but it was too late. I already purchased a new laptop, so I couldn’t really go back. (Had I known it was fixable in this manner, I would not have spent $1400+ on a new laptop.)

So I sold the laptop to my friend Garrett for $425 “as-is”; that is with very large cracks on the back (it became much worse than the pictures display). I also told him that Pat would attempt to do the hinge crack fix.

So Pat and he worked on the laptop for about 4-5 hours on Saturday and it turned out VERY well. You can now open LCD from any part (before you had to hold it on the sides very close to the hinges so it wouldn’t break off) and it feels very sturdy.

Pat said that he didn’t follow the guide 100% because he saw some portions as impractical. He will give me the information on what he did differently later so I can update this post.

So I am now done with the Prostar 5654/5600D. I will most likely never buy a Clevo laptop again. Moreover, I will most likely never buy a desktop replacement laptop again (but don’t quote me on that one ).

I received what I’d like to think is a promotion today; while in reality it’s just an additional task or two with the same pay. I’ve been working at Autodesk as an intern since 5-26-04. I’ve been given the opportunity to program samples with the Inventor API that will be shipped with the product, to be used by the Inventor API developers.

While this doesn’t relieve me of my current duties of certifying graphics cards and creating/maintaining the public website, I’m very excited about my new “background” tasks, and look forward to this opening new doors in the company.

I’ve found that there is a problematic combination involved with a server-writeable .htaccess file, and a .htaccess file that you have modified. If you put in your own custom edits; for example a download redirection script, then click the Options -> Permalinks section of the weblog control panel, it will overwrite anything you have done to the .htaccess file “automagically” (even without clicking the “Update Permalink Structure” button).

This might be a feature, but has caused me many a headache. So, since I doubt I’ll be changing my permalink structure anytime soon, I made it unwriteable.

It’s come time for me to sell my Prostar 5654/5600D laptop. I’ve had it since mid to late 2002 and it has been an OK laptop for me with a few problems. I talked a little bit about the problems I’ve had with it in the past. In short, I had to replace the motherboard; which Prostar has been really helpful in doing.

The Prostar 5600D is made by Clevo, and is the same laptop as the Alienware 51-m and the Sager 5600, as well as many others I’m sure. I am currently having problems with a cracked lid; and apparently many have had these same problems. The causation for the crack is the tight hinges on the lid. I found a good tutorial for fixing this problem; if it’s not too late.

Edit 7/18:
The laptop has been sold.

A List Apart has an article about table-less design with CSS which is essential for every web designer.

Edit 7/5/05:
I used this to convert a site I was making for my uncle from a “tabled” design to a “table-less” design. It worked great.