Laptop Broke. Any recommendations on where to get it fixed?

[CJ8501]

Well For some reason, my laptop has decided to stop working. Turned it on like every other day, but no post and nothing comes on the screen. Wont boot or anything. HDD is still good but cant figure this out. VGA out displays nothing. Desktops are easy for me but when it comes to laptops, dont know squat about the internals. Any reccomandations on where I should take it? Warrenty is up from Dell so thats out of the picture. Should I take a chance with the qeeksquad or look for some computer tech locally? Any opinions are truly appreciated (sp?) Thanks guys and gals

 

[fbrdphreak]

How old is it? You can get a new Core Solo laptop for $600 after rebate, so spending much money on an old laptop just doesn't make sense. Personally I'd spend $20-30 on a 2.5" enclosure, get the new laptop, and plug the old hard drive into the new laptop.

As far as repair, Dell will repair it for a fee of course but otherwise you can try local techs. One thing to remember is that when Dell sends someone out for next day on-site service, they use a local contractor. I'd try to find who that local contractor is so you know they know what they're doing.

 

[CJ8501]

its only about 2 years old.....
Pentium m 1.5ghz
40gb HD
128mb Video Card
15.4" Widescreen
1gb PC2700 Ram

Pretty much your standard laptop. Really liked it since had a huge battery that lasted for about 3-4 hours and was decently fast........

 

[fbrdphreak]

You can get something much faster than that, with a bigger hard drive, minus the discrete graphics for well under $1000 today. Honestly I really think that's a better option than repair, assuming you can afford it.

The Dell E1505 can be configured very cheaply and offers basic discrete options alll at a low cost. Also look at the Lenovo N100, HP dv5000t, and there's a Toshiba for $600 after rebate that is Core Solo.

The Hot Deals forum on this site has a bunch and we've also got a lot of the latest laptop deals: http://www.laptoplogic.com/deals

 

[cheesehead]

It sounds to me like you've got a motherboard problem. I've done some work on laptops, and repair is often somewhat hit-or-miss. If you can find a motherboard for your laptop cheaply, try repairing it; if not, get a new one.

 

[WackyDan]

Ebay to buy an exact same model. I have to agree with the others, failure to post is probably the planar/mobo, and by example, one for an IBM R51 is about $800 for the part, not labor.

So..... It may be cheaper to actually buy a new laptop as the others have suggested. But it would be cheaper to buy a like model on eBay and swap in your existing drive.