I have a Dell Inspiron 8200. About 3 months ago the laptop would have trouble drawing from the power supply and would switch back and forth between power and battery at random. This became worse and worse until it wouldn't draw from the power supply at all. So, I take it into the shop and have them fix the power connector on it ($130 w/ parts and labor). I take the laptop home and a new problem springs up that wasn't originally there: the fan no longer works. I figure out it is a hardware problem and bring it back into the shop under warranty. I talk to them again today and they say it looks like I need a new motherboard, that they are looking for one, and they'll give me a price quote when they do (says he will also talk to the manager about knocking the price down since I just had the power connector fixed right before). Now, I don't have a quote yet for how much the motherboard will be and how much the labor is going to be, but should I start considering just buying a new laptop? I pains me becauase the laptop is 5 1/2 years old, but I'm worried about continous problems (will the motherboard even fix the problems, how long til something else malfunctions, etc)? Any ideas?
Your 3rd option would be to buy a used laptop off ebay. They have some pretty good ones in the $300 range.
Just a month ago I contacted Dell because I had some issues with my laptop that was motherboard related. They quoted me $512 for the motherboard +$100 for the labor. I found a used replacement motherboard for my laptop on eBay for $119 and did it myself. Or you can always look on eBay for a used laptop and not worry about it.
Yeah, I'm having a local shop do the repair, so I'm hoping they are able to find a cheap motherboard and give me discounted labor. I'd prefer not to shell out for a new one, but I can't go through any further problems as I use my laptop every single day at school.
