Randy C

I have a used Gateway Solo 9500 laptop. I'm having trouble getting the display to light up. I've tried 2 displays and inverters. They all work fine on other machines. I can See a faint image when I hold a flashlight at the right angle. I measured the voltages on the 6 pin inverter connector on the working machine. Pin 3 is zero volts on the malfunctioning machine while it is about 2.4 volts on the working machine. All other pins are about the same. Is there a repair short of replacing the mother board to fix this?

Gateway sold the customer support for this unit to an outside company and then the company went bankrupt. So Gateway wont talk to me and I can't talk to the bankrupt company since they're not in business.

I have a spindle of about 25 CD-R disks and several CD-RW disks. They were left outside in a storage shed all winter. Now I'm having all kinds of trouble with them. They wont read, the data that I do get written is often corrupted. Can the discs be damaged by freezing? Or are they just plain to old. I purchased them only a year ago.

Can anybody help me settle an argument. My friend says that to be street legal a car can't exceed 600 horsepower. I say there is no limit you can have 1000 if if you want.

Today we celebrate a momentous occasion. The U.S. average price for gasoline has reached $4.00 a gallon. I would like to thank the General Motors Corporation for their contribution to achieving this lofty goal. Their steadfast support for big gas guzzling vehicles and continuing suppression of electric cars really made this event possible.

In 2003 GM began destroying this country's best defense against high gas prices, the electric car, aka EV1. (In fact the moment they find out one of them is working they swooped in and threatened to take the car away.) GM, being the industry leader, also coerced all of the auto makers into doing the same. It wasn't hard, the auto makers were all looking at the same crystal ball. It said, “Thou shall not make anything that keeps us from making a profit on large gas guzzling cars.” Large cars that use twice as much fuel to go a mile than small cars. Remember the car makers are all linked through the Automobile Manufacturers Association.

We have a 1978 Ford van with the original Duraspark ignition firing a 351 V8. While driving the engine will stop running for about 1/2 second then resumes. When it resumes you hear a puff from the exhaust. This is a random event but the duration is consistent and seems to only happen when power is demanded. I remember seeing on one of those TV repair shows that the Duraspark had problems but I can't remember if it was version 1 or 2. Is this a common problem? What should I try replacing first? Should I go to the extra expense and replace it with a more modern system?