History Destroyed in Shipping: Can we save a 1989 HALiKAN laptop
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Date: 2025-08-02
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Comments and reviews: 20
Otakunopodcast
Omg the carnage. Like others have said, the seller really should have known better than to just slap the power brick in the bag and call it a day. Even though the box itself was padded, that chonky boy was still able to move around enough to where it basically acted like a sledgehammer and pounded the ever living crap out of that poor laptop. At least the silver lining to this dark stormcloud is that the LCD appears to have survived. Which if you ask me is miraculous. Not only is it not physically smashed to bits, but it does not appear to have suffered any of the ailments that plague old LCDs these days (cataracts, vinegar syndrome, etc) And that is probably the most unrepairable unobtainium part of the machine. So you lucked out there. I guess The rest is probably salvageable. It would take effort, sure, but even if let's say the motherboard was damaged/cracked, it could probably be bodged back together. It would look like crap, but it could be made to work again. The keyboard (another difficult to obtain component) looks mostly ok; any broken key caps/stems could be 3D modeled. And the case could be rebuilt through a variety of means. (3D printing, metal fabrication (gee I wonder if there is a service that will help with that; -) ) etc. Or you could just say the hell with it and run it naked, sort of like how people nail actually working complete PCs (motherboard, power supply, drives and all) to their wall as a art statement.
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Omg the carnage. Like others have said, the seller really should have known better than to just slap the power brick in the bag and call it a day. Even though the box itself was padded, that chonky boy was still able to move around enough to where it basically acted like a sledgehammer and pounded the ever living crap out of that poor laptop. At least the silver lining to this dark stormcloud is that the LCD appears to have survived. Which if you ask me is miraculous. Not only is it not physically smashed to bits, but it does not appear to have suffered any of the ailments that plague old LCDs these days (cataracts, vinegar syndrome, etc) And that is probably the most unrepairable unobtainium part of the machine. So you lucked out there. I guess The rest is probably salvageable. It would take effort, sure, but even if let's say the motherboard was damaged/cracked, it could probably be bodged back together. It would look like crap, but it could be made to work again. The keyboard (another difficult to obtain component) looks mostly ok; any broken key caps/stems could be 3D modeled. And the case could be rebuilt through a variety of means. (3D printing, metal fabrication (gee I wonder if there is a service that will help with that; -) ) etc. Or you could just say the hell with it and run it naked, sort of like how people nail actually working complete PCs (motherboard, power supply, drives and all) to their wall as a art statement.
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melvoid01
If you don't throw anything away, use whatever is best to stick all the bits of the case together in order to get something that could be 3d scanned, and converted to a CNC or woodworking or 3D print plan, as best you can obviously, then throw the plans out to various people to make the best most appropriate case possible.
If all the measurements are accurate enough you could get a case that is identical to the original, but with better materials or you could see what other designs they come up with that encompass all the bits i. e. the screen and the lovely keyboard but a different design entirely.
And also you could use modern storage etc for extra space etc and maybe fit some new/old cards in as you were talking about to bring it to its full potential, and I don't think some modern speakers would be too much of a stretch, could even be a feature of an alternative shape case.
Could become a year long community project see if anyone comes up with spare parts that could help.
Either way I would look forward to seeing it come together and I wish you luck with that.
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If you don't throw anything away, use whatever is best to stick all the bits of the case together in order to get something that could be 3d scanned, and converted to a CNC or woodworking or 3D print plan, as best you can obviously, then throw the plans out to various people to make the best most appropriate case possible.
If all the measurements are accurate enough you could get a case that is identical to the original, but with better materials or you could see what other designs they come up with that encompass all the bits i. e. the screen and the lovely keyboard but a different design entirely.
And also you could use modern storage etc for extra space etc and maybe fit some new/old cards in as you were talking about to bring it to its full potential, and I don't think some modern speakers would be too much of a stretch, could even be a feature of an alternative shape case.
Could become a year long community project see if anyone comes up with spare parts that could help.
Either way I would look forward to seeing it come together and I wish you luck with that.
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mylarmelodies
Oh m8. Yeah that unfortunately DEFINITELY wasn't packed with nearly enough crumple zone around the laptop itself. It would need at least a few solid inches of packing material around the entire thing to allow for compression/impacts to be absorbed and not transferred to the contents. You can see that the PSU was basically flush with the outer cardboard. Therefore it only takes something being dumped on it for the PSU to be driven down into the body of the laptop and shatter it. The PSU should have been separated from the computer to not act as a battering ram against it. Had an Atari that was also sent without nearly enough space around the Atari itself to take a hit, and surprise surprise it was cracked. It's a perennial issue with shipping synths too! People think a single layer of material is enough to protect something heavy, forgetting that the box WILL be dropped/crushed in part. Leave space for that shock to be absorbed!
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Oh m8. Yeah that unfortunately DEFINITELY wasn't packed with nearly enough crumple zone around the laptop itself. It would need at least a few solid inches of packing material around the entire thing to allow for compression/impacts to be absorbed and not transferred to the contents. You can see that the PSU was basically flush with the outer cardboard. Therefore it only takes something being dumped on it for the PSU to be driven down into the body of the laptop and shatter it. The PSU should have been separated from the computer to not act as a battering ram against it. Had an Atari that was also sent without nearly enough space around the Atari itself to take a hit, and surprise surprise it was cracked. It's a perennial issue with shipping synths too! People think a single layer of material is enough to protect something heavy, forgetting that the box WILL be dropped/crushed in part. Leave space for that shock to be absorbed!
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chaene410
I'm curious what if you repair that body then take it to a company that can make a mold and plastic cast a new one. I know some plastics super glue doesn't hold to on it's own as it's got a very small surface area. But if you assemble the body bit by bit putting a thin sheet like fabric as thin as you can find. Drop super glue on the fabric on the inside, the glue goes through the fabric sticks to the plastic and hardens the fabric like rock. It creates a make shift bridge that binds the pieces together that then can be done if you are not comfortable get a company make a mold of the complete repaired plastic shell. I would rebuild the peices into a moldable shell for you but I live in south africa. Bit I have done repairs like that for a Compaq armada and that plastic is horrendous.
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I'm curious what if you repair that body then take it to a company that can make a mold and plastic cast a new one. I know some plastics super glue doesn't hold to on it's own as it's got a very small surface area. But if you assemble the body bit by bit putting a thin sheet like fabric as thin as you can find. Drop super glue on the fabric on the inside, the glue goes through the fabric sticks to the plastic and hardens the fabric like rock. It creates a make shift bridge that binds the pieces together that then can be done if you are not comfortable get a company make a mold of the complete repaired plastic shell. I would rebuild the peices into a moldable shell for you but I live in south africa. Bit I have done repairs like that for a Compaq armada and that plastic is horrendous.
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dismuter_yt
I know they're not paid much, but I can't help being pissed at people in logistics and courriers. They clearly don't give a sht about what they're handling. How is it tolerated that you need a degree in packing to avoid damage! I've seen damage where I don't even understand what they did. Sometimes it just seems like they deliberately dropped a 300kg grand piano on the package, or shoved it full force at a concrete wall. Seriously that kind of carelessness really triggers me.
Nevertheless, the person who packed this wasn't having their brightest moment. I would at the very least have put thick bubble wrap between the power supply and the laptop. I mean come on, how is it not their first time shipping anything
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I know they're not paid much, but I can't help being pissed at people in logistics and courriers. They clearly don't give a sht about what they're handling. How is it tolerated that you need a degree in packing to avoid damage! I've seen damage where I don't even understand what they did. Sometimes it just seems like they deliberately dropped a 300kg grand piano on the package, or shoved it full force at a concrete wall. Seriously that kind of carelessness really triggers me.
Nevertheless, the person who packed this wasn't having their brightest moment. I would at the very least have put thick bubble wrap between the power supply and the laptop. I mean come on, how is it not their first time shipping anything
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MrMega200
That definitely looks like they packed it in a box that is too small to be able to protect it. It needed a moving box size with plenty of the peanuts. I imagine that everything loose at the top probably added to the damage. I personally would have taken the loose stuff out and bubble wrapped them(aside from the floppy, just wrap and put back in) outside of the case. I'd probably wrap bits of cardboard around the carrying case as well as you just don't know what kind of abuse the boxes will get.
I'd go through the shipping company to lodge a claim so you'd at least get like at least $100 back since you plan on making it a new case.
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That definitely looks like they packed it in a box that is too small to be able to protect it. It needed a moving box size with plenty of the peanuts. I imagine that everything loose at the top probably added to the damage. I personally would have taken the loose stuff out and bubble wrapped them(aside from the floppy, just wrap and put back in) outside of the case. I'd probably wrap bits of cardboard around the carrying case as well as you just don't know what kind of abuse the boxes will get.
I'd go through the shipping company to lodge a claim so you'd at least get like at least $100 back since you plan on making it a new case.
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Inferno505
An unfortunate addition to the sub categories of LGR thing, an LGR sadness thing.
Still a really interesting video and rejoicement that it still functions!
I’m guessing that footage of taking the case out of the cardboard box was re-staged for a visual aid, but if that’s accurate to how it was packed, maybe there was not enough padding on top of the computer
it almost looked like the sandwich went cardboard flap, fabric of top pouch, thick power supply, another layer of fabric, computer. or maybe this was going to happen if anyone looked at the computer case too hard. Good luck making a fun fancy new case!
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An unfortunate addition to the sub categories of LGR thing, an LGR sadness thing.
Still a really interesting video and rejoicement that it still functions!
I’m guessing that footage of taking the case out of the cardboard box was re-staged for a visual aid, but if that’s accurate to how it was packed, maybe there was not enough padding on top of the computer
it almost looked like the sandwich went cardboard flap, fabric of top pouch, thick power supply, another layer of fabric, computer. or maybe this was going to happen if anyone looked at the computer case too hard. Good luck making a fun fancy new case!
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MoparNewport
12: 54 Fan Spin. :) Fan Spin. Fan Spin! Speaking of - as a Lark, send it to Louis Rossmann for repair. ;)
Now, Insofar as mechanism of destruction: From what I see, that big power pack was living directly above the frail plastic case. In such orientation, itd take very minimal dropping, even a firm set down, to transmit shock from pack to case. Something like that should have had a thin sheet of plywood or hard padded plastic firmly dividing the big power pack from the rest of the machine. Maybe mention that to your sellers - Make damned certain theres a very hard divider between comp and power packs.
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12: 54 Fan Spin. :) Fan Spin. Fan Spin! Speaking of - as a Lark, send it to Louis Rossmann for repair. ;)
Now, Insofar as mechanism of destruction: From what I see, that big power pack was living directly above the frail plastic case. In such orientation, itd take very minimal dropping, even a firm set down, to transmit shock from pack to case. Something like that should have had a thin sheet of plywood or hard padded plastic firmly dividing the big power pack from the rest of the machine. Maybe mention that to your sellers - Make damned certain theres a very hard divider between comp and power packs.
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teacupratty
Thats just so sad but yeah plastic like that doesn’t matter what you do, the smallest touch or jostle and that thing was breaking apart. He could have gotten it to his home in one piece, open it and it start falling apart because he was trying to use it. It’s always the gamble you make when you buy old tech that it isn’t going to survive, it was cracked that was the beginning of the end. But hey at least it works. I wonder if you could contact someone who has an intact version and see if they can send you full measurements and photos of the original case so you can get the full idea.
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Thats just so sad but yeah plastic like that doesn’t matter what you do, the smallest touch or jostle and that thing was breaking apart. He could have gotten it to his home in one piece, open it and it start falling apart because he was trying to use it. It’s always the gamble you make when you buy old tech that it isn’t going to survive, it was cracked that was the beginning of the end. But hey at least it works. I wonder if you could contact someone who has an intact version and see if they can send you full measurements and photos of the original case so you can get the full idea.
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jeremiahrich
Eek; Deja Vu (w/HALiKAN. A couple years back I found a laptop at free geek with a few large cracks in the case that looked awesome, and stood out being a Japanese and all Unfortunately before checking out, it got knocked off the cart and the plastic shattered into a million pieces it wasn’t a terribly huge fall and was shocked at how it seemingly disintegrated.
They were kind enough to give it to me for free, so I took it home. Unlike your, it was missing many parts and had zero signs of life. But should you be interested in a spare power supply I am pretty sure I still have it.
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Eek; Deja Vu (w/HALiKAN. A couple years back I found a laptop at free geek with a few large cracks in the case that looked awesome, and stood out being a Japanese and all Unfortunately before checking out, it got knocked off the cart and the plastic shattered into a million pieces it wasn’t a terribly huge fall and was shocked at how it seemingly disintegrated.
They were kind enough to give it to me for free, so I took it home. Unlike your, it was missing many parts and had zero signs of life. But should you be interested in a spare power supply I am pretty sure I still have it.
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starquestman1544
I had a similar thing happen to me when I bought an old Dell 466L on eBay a few years back. In my case, the seller put a bunch of bubble wrap in both ends of the box in a way that kept the center section of the computer suspended by the front and back of the computer and of course the front of the case was bridle plastic so the whole weight of the computer just crushed the faceplate during transit. I had to fix that basket case though! It was exactly the computer I was wanting as a project with the little bonus of being made the day I was born
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I had a similar thing happen to me when I bought an old Dell 466L on eBay a few years back. In my case, the seller put a bunch of bubble wrap in both ends of the box in a way that kept the center section of the computer suspended by the front and back of the computer and of course the front of the case was bridle plastic so the whole weight of the computer just crushed the faceplate during transit. I had to fix that basket case though! It was exactly the computer I was wanting as a project with the little bonus of being made the day I was born
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tomekrv942
I have one of these 286 Halikan laptops. My was also in a bad condition but not as bad as Yours. I bought it for around 10 Euro without hope that it will work but it is working. I had to replace capacitors in a power supply. The only problew which I still have is that I can change all BIOS settings and batteres are new but it still shows some message like XCMOS is not configured (something like this) so maybe on Your damaged floppy disk would be some software to set this XCMOS Maybe You could somehow read this floppy and post this somewhere
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I have one of these 286 Halikan laptops. My was also in a bad condition but not as bad as Yours. I bought it for around 10 Euro without hope that it will work but it is working. I had to replace capacitors in a power supply. The only problew which I still have is that I can change all BIOS settings and batteres are new but it still shows some message like XCMOS is not configured (something like this) so maybe on Your damaged floppy disk would be some software to set this XCMOS Maybe You could somehow read this floppy and post this somewhere
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TheVirakahScale
If it were me, I'd take the entire chassis off carefully, CA glue as much of it back together as possible, reinforce what I could with carbon fiber, or some along those lines, then use some sort of body filler/epoxy to fill the parts that are missing, and make a good attempt at painting it all with a close-enough color. I realize that's a lot of work, but I enjoy that type of work.
Of course you'd still have to be extra careful, but it could at least be set-up and used lightly.
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If it were me, I'd take the entire chassis off carefully, CA glue as much of it back together as possible, reinforce what I could with carbon fiber, or some along those lines, then use some sort of body filler/epoxy to fill the parts that are missing, and make a good attempt at painting it all with a close-enough color. I realize that's a lot of work, but I enjoy that type of work.
Of course you'd still have to be extra careful, but it could at least be set-up and used lightly.
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Miles7955
Yeah, Though my situation wasn't with anything as expensive or rare, it still meant a lot to me. About ten years ago, I ordered a near new FFIX over eBay, the seller packed it well, was shipped via eBay's GSP (Global Shipping Program. Nothing but the disks survived the shipping ordeal. I was refunded, and I was able to find another case, but it wasn't the original case, and it's bugged me ever since. Shipping companies just don't really seem to care that much.
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Yeah, Though my situation wasn't with anything as expensive or rare, it still meant a lot to me. About ten years ago, I ordered a near new FFIX over eBay, the seller packed it well, was shipped via eBay's GSP (Global Shipping Program. Nothing but the disks survived the shipping ordeal. I was refunded, and I was able to find another case, but it wasn't the original case, and it's bugged me ever since. Shipping companies just don't really seem to care that much.
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LilCow
Ouch. And I thought the Vaio PCV-RZ22G I got on eBay was painful. Granted it's not rare, but all the plastic tabs for the side and top panels ripped off and the front bezel snapped in half, but I was able to glue most of it back together.
Also the seller left the previous owners personal files as well as a computer virus (I'm guessing that's why it was retired because it appeared they tried but couldn't remove the virus haha) still on the hard drive.
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Ouch. And I thought the Vaio PCV-RZ22G I got on eBay was painful. Granted it's not rare, but all the plastic tabs for the side and top panels ripped off and the front bezel snapped in half, but I was able to glue most of it back together.
Also the seller left the previous owners personal files as well as a computer virus (I'm guessing that's why it was retired because it appeared they tried but couldn't remove the virus haha) still on the hard drive.
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mythbustersfan3456
One of my dad’s co workers at the time had a Halikan laptop (a different model) went to turned it on and both the screen and keyboard was fully cooked and he only had it for less than a year, my dad who is a PC hardware engineer even tried to fix it but it was too borked to be fixed and he has dealt with similar laptops of that kind. Damn mate, that absolutely sucks! Hope you get it fixed soon!
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One of my dad’s co workers at the time had a Halikan laptop (a different model) went to turned it on and both the screen and keyboard was fully cooked and he only had it for less than a year, my dad who is a PC hardware engineer even tried to fix it but it was too borked to be fixed and he has dealt with similar laptops of that kind. Damn mate, that absolutely sucks! Hope you get it fixed soon!
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metatronyt
Sorry to hear that man. Whenever I buy CRTs or old computers, I use uShip here in the US. I literally pay a driver through the service to go pick up the item and drive it safely all the way to my home. It can be a bit expensive if it's from a far away state, but as long as you buy from one or two states over, it's actually the safest way to move old school items. 100%. All the best.
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Sorry to hear that man. Whenever I buy CRTs or old computers, I use uShip here in the US. I literally pay a driver through the service to go pick up the item and drive it safely all the way to my home. It can be a bit expensive if it's from a far away state, but as long as you buy from one or two states over, it's actually the safest way to move old school items. 100%. All the best.
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CaptainSlug
The plastic for the shell might be early ABS-PC (PC being polycarbonate. If it were regularly exposed to or cleaned with ammonia or rubbing alcohol that would over time make the Polycarbonate exceptionally brittle. And given where the plastic is falling apart, all those areas are the same ones that would be interacting with human hands (and therefore going to be cleaned more often.
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The plastic for the shell might be early ABS-PC (PC being polycarbonate. If it were regularly exposed to or cleaned with ammonia or rubbing alcohol that would over time make the Polycarbonate exceptionally brittle. And given where the plastic is falling apart, all those areas are the same ones that would be interacting with human hands (and therefore going to be cleaned more often.
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traewatkins931
having had several things like this shipped with damage. the problem was likely that the heavy external Power supply was not isolated from the machine properly and that allowed it to bounce hard on the computer. I have seen that exact thing happen too many times, and sadly the sellers get pissed when it is their fault.
Too many sellers of fragile stuff just dont think.
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having had several things like this shipped with damage. the problem was likely that the heavy external Power supply was not isolated from the machine properly and that allowed it to bounce hard on the computer. I have seen that exact thing happen too many times, and sadly the sellers get pissed when it is their fault.
Too many sellers of fragile stuff just dont think.
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SubwayToSchiff
Aww man, I'm a bit sad to see that you ripped it apart so badly. I would've liked to see a gentle disassembly so you could easily measure or scan the leftover case to reconstruct a replacement. But there are probably other models out there you can get a hold of to design a replacement case. Maybe send it of to some SLS printing company to sinter out of nylon or abs.
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Aww man, I'm a bit sad to see that you ripped it apart so badly. I would've liked to see a gentle disassembly so you could easily measure or scan the leftover case to reconstruct a replacement. But there are probably other models out there you can get a hold of to design a replacement case. Maybe send it of to some SLS printing company to sinter out of nylon or abs.
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