Vizio Co-Star Teardown
We heard the Vizio Co-Star was coming out…but something was awry. To the best of our knowledge, Vizio did not divulge any actual specifications for the device. How fast is this little box? Is there a hamster running on a miniature treadmill inside? Would it fare well against our spudgers? We knew of only one way to find out.
During our journey, we found the Co-Star to be an easily-fixed device, although there’s not much inside to fix—it is, after all, a circuit board in a box. Even so, the little guy got a great 8 out of 10 repairability score: all screws are of the Phillips variety, it pops open with ease, and most internal components are readily accessible.
Oh, and we took apart the fancy remote as well—because that’s how we roll.
View the teardown here.
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Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Teardown
We heard from lots of folks that we were too critical of Apple’s iPad — specifically, that it was impossible to use clips instead of glue to attach the front glass to the rest of the device. Apple could not make the tablet thin and repairable, they said.
Enter the Note 10.1, with a thickness of 8.9 mm. It’s actually thinner than the iPad 3, and almost the same thickness as the iPad 2. And guess what? It’s held in place with a clever system of clips, similar to the original iPad.
In fact, the Note scored an excellent 8 out of 10 on our repairability scale. Samsung used good ol’ Phillips screws, didn’t glue the LCD to the front glass, and provided a modular internal layout. All of these aspects of the Note allow the device to be repaired inexpensively and without specialized tooling.
The teardown is here.
Asus UX32VD Zenbook Teardown
Today we tore apart the Zenbook UX32VD, Asus’ flagship Ultrabook. And the Zenbook lived up to its name, giving us very little frustration during deconstruction.
Even though it lost by a couple of millimeters in the slimness race against the MacBook Air, the Zenbook more than made up for it with stellar repairability. With an upgradeable RAM slot, swappable 2.5″ hard drive, and a battery that can be easily replaced, the Zenbook earned an 8 out of 10 repairability score, easily trumping the soldered-RAM-and-proprietary-SSD MacBook Air’s meager 4 points. Even the LCD is completely replaceable, provided you’re keen on using a heat gun and exercising a bit of patience.
Grammar Check
Last month, I wrote an article on the merits of good grammar in the workplace. The upshot of the piece: I don’t hire people with atrocious grammar. Hopefully you’ve seen that reflected in our repair manuals and posts here on iFixit.org.
Since the article ran in Harvard Business Review, it has sparked a huge debate, including a very well-written response from The Economist. I’ve gotten e-mails, tweets, and comments from thousands of people. Their feedback has run the gamut from proposing marriage to calling me a judgemental jerkface. That’s the internet for you.
Yesterday, the debate spread to The New York Times. They asked a panel of experts, “Is Our Children Learning Enough Grammar to Get Hired?” (And yes, they purposely included an error in the title.) We’d love to hear your opinions on the topic. Weigh in on the discussion here.
Repair Smarter: 5 Tips for Electronics Repair
This is the second in a series of posts we’re calling “Repair Smarter,” with tips and tricks for how to make your repairs go more smoothly.
The insides of gadgets are complicated, as you know if you’ve ever seen one of our teardowns. But don’t let that complexity intimidate you. A little reading goes a long way—even people who have a lifetime of experience with circuitry need to brush up every now and then. Here are some tips to help prevent damage to you and your device, so your repair comes off without a hitch. Read the rest of this article »
iPad 3 Internals Wallpapers
Continuing our line of awesome “internals” wallpapers, we present you with our latest creation: the iPad 3 internals wallpaper!
We have two versions for you — one for landscape, and one for portrait mode. Just load this post on your iPad, click on the pictures below to access the full-resolution 2048 x 1536 versions of the file, and save them to the iPad.
Quick note: Make sure you’re holding the iPad in portrait mode if you load the portrait image. Otherwise, the image will automatically zoom in when trying to set it as the wallpaper, and will not display correctly unless you pinch-zoom back out so you can see the whole image.
iPad 3 Wallpaper - Landscape Mode
iPad 3 Wallpaper - Portrait Mode