Toshiba Protege M700 hinge problem

[pyromaster114]

Okay, so I have a Toshiba protege M700. I'm pretty happy with it, its been a great computer, and to its credit, held up very well.

However, I have come to have a slight problem

About a month back, I dropped it, or rather, it got pulled off a chair about 1.5 feet off the ground, and slammed on the floor.
The floor was carpeted, so the case didn't seem to take much damage even, but there appears to be a problem with the hinge though.

Every time I open / close it, or adjust the angle of the screen, it makes an aweful CREEKing noise...

Now, I'm positive that this was not present nearly as much if at all before its falling from the chair to the floor.
Anyone else have this problem?
Any ideas on what it might be?
Does anyone have a schematic of how the M700 is put together?
(Upon finding one, I would be able to take it apart and put it back together w/o destroying something)

 

[pyromaster114]

Okay, I've determined that the problem is actually due to something in the display panel, that is, that when I try and close it, the plastic flexes inside and creates a noise.
Now, this wouldn't worry me so much, if the display didn't start to bend upon closing the thing.

I've been trying to take the thing apart for days now, but I've gotten no where. i remove all the screw covers on the display panel, and then the screws, and it won't come off still!
What am I doing wrong?

 

[Rick]

With most laptops, you have to pry it apart using quite a bit of force. The plastic has lots of give so it might seem very scary at first, but it basically snaps together.

This varies from laptop to laptop, but most screens seem to come apart by removing the screws, placing your finger tips along the inside edge of the plastic bezel located on the bottom-front of the display assembly and pulling the edge away from the LCD with a reasonable amount of force. As you pull it away, work your fingertips underneath the bezel/frame and keep lifting it away from the LCD until it snaps apart. Once you get it to snap once, the rest should be easy by running your fingers along the inside edge along each side.

It may also be one of those laptops where the screen doesn't come apart that way -- You have to pry it apart from the sides. If you can fit something like a guitar pick or flat-head micro screw driver between the front and back sections of the LCD assembly along one of the sides, you can pry it apart enough to get your finger tips in there and pull it apart. Just like the other method, you'll need to pull it until it snaps, probably.

If the new ones are anything like the old ones, the Portege is a very small laptop. This means your mileage may vary here, since manufacturers come up with interesting designs to accommodate tiny computers. Of course, they could be completely different now - its been several years since I've worked on a Portege (That's probably a good thing for the Portege...)

 

[pyromaster114]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.
It seems like its on there pretty good, but I've known manufacturers to use stupid things like tabs to secure things, and then put screws in for good measure.
At least I'm fairly certain that if I snap any of the plastic tabs that may or may not be holding it on, it won't matter too much on account of the 10 screws that hold it together anyways.

Now if I could only convince Toshiba to turn over the diagrams of how its assembled. (Of course, doing this, is like asking Microsoft to provide you with the source code to Windows Vista... ie. not very likely to happen.)

EDIT:
Thanks, it worked. I got the thing apart... determined that apparently the squeaking is from the plastic bending as I close it... not sure why it squeeks... maybe the hinge is stiff... really can't say. Made sure everything looks okay, loosened the hinge slightly, that reduced the squeaking, and its now not that bad. I guess I'll leave it alone until it does something else.