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Should I Grab This Laptop And Repair It?
#1
Okay here's the scenario:

The Sony laptop we use in the office died again and this time the repair depot says that the motherboard is fried. Last time they said it was the RAM that was bad and that was replaced to the tune of $586 by the office. They're quoting me $712+taxes for a new MB, the boss has decided to quit tossing money at the thing and says I can have it if I want.

Question is: Do I put any of my money into the thing? With both the RAM and the motherboard replaced, there's not much else that can go wrong other than the power supply or the HD.

The specs on the laptop ar at least decent:

2.4Ghz P4 processor
1GB ram
24x CD-writer/DVD reader
40GB HDD
15" LCD screen

Purchased in '03

So what say you all?

NefCanuck
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#2
My .02,

For another $200 you can get an equivalent unit with likely a better vid card, a DVD writer and a bigger HD and a WARRANTY.

I'm always leery about stuff like laptop computers that have been "fixed" before. Usually they broke the first time for a reason, like marginal design. IMHO.
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#3
if you don't want it .. i'll take it
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#4
I think sparky has the best idea. I'd rather spend a lil bit more money and have a new laptop, with a warranty. An 03 laptop is exactly that, 3 yrs old and already broken, I'd say you'd prolly be in for a whack of trouble if you pick this one up.
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#5
Depending on what's wrong with it, you could fix it. It depends on what you're willing to do. My friend picked up a really nice laptop for like $150 because it was "dead". Mean while he just soldiered the power connector back on and it works fine.

Also, I just bought a 3 year old laptop, a Sharp MM10 with a 1 GHz Transmeta. There's nothing wrong with a 3 year old laptop if you can get it working.

Also, I doubt it'll cost $700+ for a new motherboard, check on eBay or something maybe you can find another laptop with something else broken for cheap, and just swap parts.

I dunno, ideas.
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#6
repaired electronics will never be as reliable as new electronics. You generally get a smaller timeframe of warranty when things go wrong, and its limited to what they can cover/fix. your best bet is to spend the money on a NEW one for $200 more, unless you are a techy like me and can fix pretty much anything you get your hands on, especially $1250 dollar cellphones, then in that case, it may be worth it to fix.
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#7
P4 2.4GHz mobile Northwood - HEATFARM. We've discontinued all issuance of our Toshibas (Satellite 6100 Pros and the like).

We had estimators that could keep coffee warm on the buggers.
I'd say screw it. You can get a nice, entry-level Dell with a decent 3 year warranty and 1GB of RAM for less than you'll pay in cash and time fixing that... and get a lot more performance.
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#8
another thing...

the laptop is 3 years old.. if the battery isn't toast on it yet, it's about to be, and there goes the $300 you saved on getting a new laptop.

I wouldn't bother.. .take it, and sell it on eBay for a couple hundred and put that towards a new laptop.
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#9
If the laptop is just going in the trash, its definetly worth picking up. If its going to cost you anything, unless its REAL cheap, its not worth it. Even if its like $50 you can easily sell it for 3 times that on ebay just for parts.... then take that cash and buy a good one with warranty :P
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#10
fix it on the cheap and flip it on ebay or the buy&sell
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#11
Get the new one less hassel and WARRENTY. Same reason you never bought a used car.
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#12
Okay the concensus seems to be forget it at this point unless I like pissing away money in the wind. I'll grab it Monday then and see what parts are still salvagable (I'm thinking HDD, the new RAM, the optical drive and the case itself)

NefCanuck
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#13
NefCanuck,May 25 2006, 01:22 AM Wrote:Okay here's the scenario:

The Sony laptop we use in the office died again and this time the repair depot says that the motherboard is fried.  Last time they said it was the RAM that was bad and that was replaced to the tune of $586 by the office.  They're quoting me $712+taxes for a new MB, the boss has decided to quit tossing money at the thing and says I can have it if I want.

Question is: Do I put any of my money into the thing?  With both the RAM and the motherboard replaced, there's not much else that can go wrong other than the power supply or the HD.

The specs on the laptop ar at least decent:

2.4Ghz P4 processor
1GB ram
24x CD-writer/DVD reader
40GB HDD
15" LCD screen

Purchased in '03

So what say you all?

NefCanuck
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Go to TigerDirect.ca and get a deal mann..
I just got a gateway laptop for only $550.. not too bad.. but not exactly for gaming.. MX6027 is the model number.
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