Looking for a Used or dead LiveBook Notebook by Rain computers - MSI MS-1656

My Grandkids pushed my LiveBook off of the desk and broke it.  The computer still works fine, and the screen still works fine, but the case is broken.
 
Rain Audio computers is no longer in business, so I went to MSI who made the computers.  They reported back that the parts are no longer available to repair it.  They suggested trying to find a dead, or used Livebook or an MSI MS-1656 to use for parts.
 
If anyone has a Rain LiveBook or an MSI MS-1656 that is dead or is interested in selling it off for parts please contact me.
 
The actual parts I need are (307-651B212-Y31, Black LCD Bezel;  307-651A532-CG0  LCD Cover;  E2M-6510611-Y28, Right LCD Bracket;  E2M-6510511-Y28, Left LCD Bracket). 
 
Any other suggestions are much welcomed, thanks!
 
 

Hey Beepster,
 
Thanks for the input!  I shouldn't have let them in my music room, but I only see them once or twice a year.  They were having fun beating on the drums, playing the keyboard, and what have you. 
 
It is my fault for not putting the Laptop away.  I came into the studio in the morning and it was on the desk, and when I went to close the lib I noticed it was broken at the hinge, pretty screwed up.  I didn't yell or even say anything.  I was afraid they would hate me forever.  I have learned patience over the years, but I am pissed at myself.
 
I can still use the unit, as long as I keep it open.  I went on a few trips and had to close the lid.  It is a pain to close, and every time I close and open the lid it gets a little worse. I actually have it now where the lid stays open and If I close it the hinge just stays in the open position.  I paid like $3,400 for this back when I7s just came out.  Might be better to just get a new one.
 
Thanks again.

Well... yeah, if you can snag a new one and just keep the busted one as an at home system that would definitely be the far superior way to go.
 
I don't know if your a tech or if you've ever tried to repair a laptop before but if not... it is REALLY not something you want to mess with unless you really know what you're in for.
 
I used to refurb all sorts of crazy things electronic and otherwise at my old job. I am not a tech at all but I was pretty good at taking a pile of smashed up junk and putting together working units. Did it for years.
 
Laptops? Oy. I got ahold of a couple rather simple old PC lappies many moons ago. One I used for years and the second (which was kind of bashed up but worked) I kept around as a backup for parts. I could swap out the drives and more modular parts easily but some of the more finicky internal stuff started going bad on the one I used all the time.
 
No problem, right? I'm a handy dude and I've got the parts. I looked up all the info I could find about replacing stuff on that model and went to work.
 
Long story short I spent an entire day trying to rip these stupid things apart and just ended up with a pile of crazy little screws, plastic bits everywhere, two half mangled laptops with ribbon cables poking out willy nilly, torqued bezels, screens, keyboards, whatever.
 
It was brutal. Tons of stuff was glued and/or soldered permanently by the manufacturer, certain screws would not budge or when I removed them a ton of tiny pieces became disconnected, I probably ruined contacts and chips mucking around and I essentially stopped before I did any REAL damage to the units.
 
So yeah... f*cking laptops. Wicked awesome in so many ways. User repairable? Not so much.
 
You could of course be a proper tech or good at such repairs but if not I wouldn't even bother. Consider it a desktop and save yourself the headache. Even if you find the right parts just pulling it apart could brick it.
 
Sorry if that sounds defeatist but they are a nightmare.
 
The better option between the risk of self repair and expense of buying a new one would be just taking it to a reputable laptop repair place. Keyword being REPUTABLE. A lot of clownshow outfits claiming to be pro lappy repair but some are quite good. Might want to completely pull your hardrive though if it's just physical repair so you don't have whacko nerds creeping on your personal files. They can use their own hard drives.

fads
Staples has a Laptop - Toshia i7, 2.4ghs, 1 TB HD, 12 gigs of ram for only $600.  That is better specs than my LiveBook with only a 1.6ghs I7, and 8 megs of ram.  I still have a hard time getting past that my notebook was supposedly built and tweaked especially for audio/video.  

 
To be fair, though, the Rainbook is from a long time ago in computer years...not surprising a new Toshiba would cost less and do more.
 
As to computers built for audio/video, a lot of the benefit is support. Because it's their machine and they know it, you can get things fixed fast. I have a PC Audio Labs computer and had a software-related problem; they did a remote desktop thing, and had it fixed in 20 minutes. Ain't gonna get that from Staples! They also advised me on which components generated the lowest noise...little touches like that. Working with a company like that, or Jim Roseberry or ADK, is like having an insurance policy to keep your computer running.

I've got a rambunctious nephew...
Sister is a little remiss with discipline... so the kid doesn't grasp limits.
Would love to share all things musical with him... but (for now) that's just not possible.
Hope one day he can hang with the old "Studio Cat"... and can learn to appreciate the greatness of music.
 
As far as a replacement, that's going to be tough to find.
For a new machine, I'd recommend a Clevo based custom laptop.
This is the shell that all top-performing custom models use.
Custom BIOS is also available... so you have all options necessary for maximum DAW performance.