Need advice on what to do for my laptop....

[Raybdbomb]

Here's the deal...

Back in November, 2002, I paid over $1900 for a top of the line laptop that had all of the specifications that I really wanted in a computer. I was really excited about it, and actually got a great deal on it. It wasn't a top brand, but the price was right.

Here's the specs on it:
Prostar 5654, 5600D Expert
15.0" UXGA+ Screen
TFT Active Matrix Screen
ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 with 64MB DDR RAM
Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz Processor - 533MHz System Bus
1024MB PC2100/266 DDR Ram (2 DIMMs)
40GB ATA/100 HDD
8X16X10x24 DVD/CD-RW Combo w/Software
Smart Li-ion Battery
Second Battery
A/C Adapter
Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio
Carry Case

My girlfriend and I had a mishap with my laptop back in October of 2003, and to make a long story short, it fell off of a table and broke the PCMCIA slot on the side. I sent it in for repair because it was still under warranty. They said that they wouldn't cover what happened and it would be $150 to fix this small problem. I said forget it and had them ship it back. After all it was within warranty and they wanted to charge me way to f'n much. I can get anything on USB that was on PCMCIA.

Just about a week after I received it, I was using it when the screen flickers and dies on me. I attempted to troubleshoot on my own, but seeing that it was getting me nowhere, I decided to ship it back to them in hopes that it would be a quick fix. Three weeks later, they call me and say they finally figured out what the problem was, and it would be $395 at cheapest to fix it. That's what it would cost to replace the motherboard. There was also a crack on the back of the LCD that wouldn't harm it, it was a cosmetic thing and if I wanted to fix it, that would be $140. I'm like WHAT THE HECK!?!

So I don't know what I should do. It's definitely been more grief than it's worth. Should I replace the parts and try to sell it on eBay? What do you guys think I can get for a laptop with those specs?

Here are some pics of the laptop

http://nix.raybdbomb.com/gallery/raystuff/IM000177
http://nix.raybdbomb.com/gallery/raystuff/IM000178
http://nix.raybdbomb.com/gallery/raystuff/IM000179
http://nix.raybdbomb.com/gallery/raystuff/IM000180
http://nix.raybdbomb.com/gallery/raystuff/IM000181

edit: parsed URLs

 

[ojai00]

With a laptop to those specs, I would think you'd get at least $600 for it (in its current condition). The laptop looks fine to me in those pictures. I know it doesn't sound like much but it's been through a lot. The PCMCIA slot didn't seem like much of a deal if that's the only thing that was initially broken.

If you got it repaired and attempted to sell it on eBay, you might get around $1000-$1200, if people are looking for a higher-end laptop. Just my 2 cents

 

[Raybdbomb]

they said $395 for the f'n motherboard replacement...

gosh it seems like such a rip off... but there's no other option

 

[bacillus]

Originally posted by: Raybdbomb
they said $395 for the f'n motherboard replacement...

gosh it seems like such a rip off... but there's no other option

tried ebay for a second hand board?

 

[Raybdbomb]

0 items found for prostar motherboard
0 items found for pro star motherboard
many items found for prostar, but most of them are for a phone system. i found about 5 laptop orders, none just motherboard. apparently it's a rare dealy.

I did find one laptop similar to mine (yet not nearly as good )
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3451599177&category=46323

we'll see how much it sells for
mine is better in that it has 1024 MB ram, not 512 MB, it has 40 GB hdd, nod 20 GB, it has a 533 mhz FSB (which is MUCH better), it comes with Windows XP Pro and MS Office, not XP Home and Office. Right now it's at $770 with 7 days left

 

[Nemmeh]

Sorry to hear about the mishap. You could try finding a retailer for Pro Star that sells the motherboards and purchase one directly through them. I'm sure the board really isn't that much and just do the repairs yourself. After which, I would recommend that you ebay it and get the most you can out of it.

Then find a dell deal that sounds good, just get one with a good screen and quick cpu. Don't worry about extra mem, just purchase that from newegg or someone and save yourself a lot of money. Also, why I always recommend Dell for notebooks is their Complete Care warranty coverage, which covers any damage to the system regardless of reason as long as you didn't intentionally beat it to death. You can drop it off the 30th story of a hotel room and have it shatter into a hundred pieces and it's fully covered, just so long as you return most of the pieces to dell once they ship your new system out.

Hope everything works out for you.

 

[Raybdbomb]

It's quite unfortunate how things that seem too good to be true usually are...

thanks for your advice, i think i'll do just that

 

[Raybdbomb]

well, i wasn't able to find any places that sold parts for it, and they didn't sell motherboards from their main site

sigh, i am VERY peeved at this whole problem

so I sent them this e-mail whatcha think, dumbass idea?

Hello Prostar Tech Support-

I currently have an RMA (R31208900) in on my laptop, a Prostar Expert 5654/5600D 2.4 GHz. I have had no problems with the laptop up until about October of this last year. I will give you a background of this problem in hopes that an alternative can be arranged.

I first sent my laptop in to Prostar RMA department with RMA# R31103618 because my PCMCIA card was rendered useless for some reason. I did this just days before my standard 1 year warranty ended. You guys determined that you would not replace or fix the the PCMCIA slot for whatever reason... it wasn't covered under the warranty. Instead of paying $150 for what I was told would be a motherboard replacement (not repair) for something I'd rarely use, I said fine, it's no problem, anything I do with PCMCIA I can do with USB. A full week after I told you I wasn't going to have it fixed, I finally received a tracking number saying it was on its way back. Another week later, it finally arrived.

When I received the laptop back, I noticed two cracks on the back of the LCD, I figured it was purely cosmetic, and although I had never seen them before I figured I put them there somehow, sometime. I used my laptop twice, each session for less than 20 minutes after I received it. On my third use (about 2 weeks after receiving it back), I had been using the laptop for about a half hour to forty five minutes when the screen flickered twice, the mouse would not respond, and finally the picture on the LCD disappeared, I couldn't see anything. I forced it to shutdown. I let it cool off for about 10 minutes then tried to power it on. The lights came on but I couldn't hear the CPU fan or hard drive spin. It didn't get to the part of the POST (or after POST) where it checks the CD-ROM, when the BIOS screen is showing. After various troubleshooting steps, I determine there's probably nothing more I can do. I filled out the RMA request form, and received the RMA# R31208900.

I don't have it written down when I started the RMA, but it was sometime in early December. I sent the laptop to you guys, and I remember seeing that it was received on Monday, 12/15/03. I remember asking someone at the Support Center there what time they thought my laptop would be worked on, and everytime I called I would hear "most likely tomorrow". I was ensured that the only break time spent would be Xmas day, so they would have plenty of time to work on it. It wasn't until the 5th of January that I heard anything back on my laptop, despite my calls and requests.

Finally on the 5th or somewhere around there, I receive a call saying that it would be looked at in a day or so, nothing new. Later that week, Eric calls me and says that they realized that the laptop had to be replaced ($395) and the LCD panel would be something like $140 to replace, making my total well over $500... I had thought it was something wrong with the motherboard, but I was dumbfounded that it would cost that much. What happened to the $150 I was originally quoted for the other problem?

I am forced to do this, I need this fixed or the laptop is completely useless. However, I spent over $1900 on this laptop when it was new, and for it to go bad 3 weeks after my warranty ran out (because it took 2 weeks to ship back to me) is completely rediculous! I mean c'mon, I'm about 95% sure that it going bad was not my fault anyway. It went bad within 1.5 hours of use since it had been last inspected by Prostar RMA. I cannot afford to put $540 more into this laptop, and if I were to do that, the only way I could afford it is if I were to turn around and sell it right away. I'm still paying back the money I owe on it! A laptop of its speed would go for ~$1200 right now NEW, yet I have to spend half of that to redeem it to its former quality?

I apologize if I were rude at all in this e-mail, but as a college student spending my hard earned high school savings on my college laptop, just to have it be useless after a year is a VERY frustrating thing. So I beg of you to consider some other means of fixing this, whether it be to fund it as though it were under warranty, or send me the parts and have me do it myself. My point being, I cannot afford the money it is costing to fix this laptop, and honestly I don't think I should have to pay.

Thanks for your time, please respond as promptly as possible.

 

[Raybdbomb]

man good thing i proofread on here hehe

realized that the laptop motherboard had to be replaced ($395)

 

[arsbanned]

Look, you dropped the machine off the table. The warranty you purchased doesn't cover dropping it from 4' to a hard floor. If I were you, I would have them repair it back to perfect, kick myself in the ass hard and then use it for 3 years before tossing it in the boneyard.
My .02

 

[Raybdbomb]

it worked 100% after i dropped it off the table tho

it was them toyin around with it that made it not work

 

[eLinux]

Wow...that's a tough situation. That's actually kinda painful to think about. You're definately caught between a rock and a hard place. I would consider buying a cheapo laptop for the rest of your college career and put that one in the backburner. The repairs are far too costly if you ask me: you can buy a cheap laptop at Best Buy or something for around $1200...and of course it's nowhere near as good, but it should last the rest of your college years.