Despite all the warnings on here......

I have a relly good relationship with a particular pub.As they like to go on after I have finished I was happy to leave a few tunes on and leave it behind for them.


On Saturday morning I collected it and it was clear something was amiss.It wasnt superficially damaged but I coudnt get it to take a charge.The PC world diagnosis is that the power input has come from the mother board.£250.

No lectures please.

Before I dosh that sort of cash out do any of the computer boffins on here have a better soultion please??


Distressed from South Yorkshire.

Laptops are never cheap to fix so that price doesn't surprise me. I am not sure, however, if there is a better way to fix it. What I would say is that the £250 could be put towards a brand new lappie or even a second hand (eBay) one.

It won't help you too much here but, for future reference, I tend to stick to one make and model and buy two or three second hand. If one breaks beyond economical repair then it can be used for spares.

Best of luck to you and kudos for being honest. Don't think I would have come on here and owned up to doing that!

I would definitely get a second opinion from an established PC repair company - with Qualified Engineers and years of experience...

I'd advise a 2nd opinion on the repair cost.
I had a cheapo Dell as a company laptop which developed a problem on the motherboard. The company we sent it to were able to replace the motherboard for about £120.

Most laptop repair places will do some basic fault finding before doing a board swap. I don't know the PC world set-up, but would assume they'll want to go for quick fixes. I've only ever used them for emergencies.

Work out how much you'd want to pay and phone around to see if its worthwhile.

One of my suppliers (to my online store) also provides PC/Laptop/Console repair, if you're stuck with finding anyone local, PM me for their contact details.

Hope this helps,
Jason

OUCH!. Well I guess they have to pay for those expensive TV commercials somehow.

Do they mean that the power input jack / socket on the back of the motherboard has come loose / adrift?

If so, £250 is a lot of money to just splash a bit of solder over a few contacts. I once had a laptop which died in the same manner, I took the motherboard out and refitted the jack socket along with some epoxy resin underneath to help hold it to the PCB, I must admit they do look very flimsy and I would imagine that this is pretty common when plugging / unplugging the power jack.

Its not a difficult job, but the process of stripping down the laptop and carefully marking the screws and fitment is pretty labourious and its time consuming to actually get to the part in order to repair it. I would imagine that this labour content is where the money is being charged.

Even so, £250 is steep. Personally, i'd get a second quotation from a much smaller back street entity. Check Yell or even your local paper for adverts for computer repairs nearby, these small traders and one man bands are nearly always cheaper than high street outlets - no adverts to pay for, no staff overheads etc. I would say that £80 - £90 would be more nearer the mark, its about 2 hours labour from my own experience.

In the worst case scenario, if you can get a similar laptop or one of the same (motherboard) model and using the same hard drive fitment (SATA / IDE), you should be able to take the old laptop hard drive, and just fit it to the new one. You might need to delete some drivers and replace them with new ones, but at least it will boot and your software and music collection will still be intact.

Thanks for that McCardle....proffessional as ever.

Haven't got the patience myself!!

Anybody in South Yorks with the ability...I will renumerate of course....my risk!!

Has anyone checked whether the charger is the issue?

Also, the make and model of the laptop?

Laptops are built to be break/fix and repairers including dell normally make a guess on what the issue is...sometimes they get it right but other times they get it wrong. This is ok if you have something like dell's 3 year warrenty plan, but if you don't...well trying to fix it may cost you more then a new laptop!

Start with the simplest then work from there. You need to discount the charger out of the frame, after that it'll be the battery and so on. Do not authorise expensive board replacements until you mega sure that the charger and battery are not the issue.

PM sent.

Jim

Thanks Sasha and everyone.The diagnosis was done in font of my eyes by a woman from PC world....looked to be legit.

Dream Catchers (Jim) is going to do it for us very reasonable.

Maybe a second-hand laptop from ebay is worth considering too for back-up use?

Already got an Advent wih the right programmes on it ...but fair point Dukesy.


Been sunk without it...and I mean sunk!!

Excellent! Glad you're getting it sorted!