An Acer computer tale of woe

[Nick]

Very true John, me too. But if you have a good touch pad, when travelling around it is easier than having to carry and look after a rodent. 
I can do everything with the touch screen but it becomes a strain when you have big fat fingers and dragging and dropping file names is most awkward.
...
Having seen the connector in question I think in a quiet moment I will have a go at rejigging how the ribbon is held in.
A wireless mouse is my prefered method when on the boat at home, the freedom of movement is wonderful.

Touch pad/or screen? Apples vs. Pears. I have a mini bluetooth mouse (Lenovo mobtc9la) that works very well and is small - I use this on aircraft all the time, and it's great. I hate touchpads, but there again I mainly do CAD & graphics stuff. I run the mouse on the side of my trousers - works really well in confined spaces.

The connector is almost certainly an FFC/FPC cable - they need to be seated really carefully and the small plastic clamps that hold them into the sockets are delicate and break easily.

FPC is pretty much an industry standard - for them to fail generally means someone has been frigging around where they shouldn't be.