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My son decided to play football with my laptop a few weeks ago and managed to crack BOTH the LCD AND the keyboard. And in the process, sprung the hinge on the lid. Needless to say he’s in the BIG-TIME DOGHOUSE with me.
When I took it in to have it appraised for repair, it came to almost $600 total!! Since I only paid about $1000 total just over a year ago, that seems like a lot to repair a relatively new laptop. The question that keeps coming to mind;
Keep and repair the laptop or get a new (and better) one?
Confounding Conundrums
It seems that we’re becoming more of a disposable society where electronics are concerned. When it comes to commodity electronics (anything under $2000), the main focus by business is replacement, not repair. Now, I’ve worked as a computer repair tech, and for the most part it can be done by a monkey. Switching out whole component pieces according to instructions isn’t exactly brain surgery. The one time that one of my fellow techies pulled out a soldering gun and went at a circuit board, the rest of us looked at him like he’d just grown a second head. (And by the way, he wasn’t able to fix the board).
The issue with repair is always parts. It’s similar to auto parts. Someone SOMEWHERE has to make them, stock/store them, and ship them out. All in all, it’s not a hugely profitable practice when the things can go obsolete in less than a year. The only reason that auto parts dealers stay in business is that it’s a LAW that parts have to be available for automobiles for 10 years after their manufacture. If that wasn’t true, it’d be much harder to find parts for them too.
So my problem is that the laptop is teetering at the edge of ROI obsolescence; For a little more, I can get a new laptop with twice the memory, hard drive, and a little faster CPU. Or I could quasi-justify getting a laptop with a bigger screen (drool!). It wouldn’t be that much more expensive than just getting the thing fixed.
Or, I can just bite the bullet and have it repaired. The money (either way) is coming from my son’s savings account, so it’s not going to be a hit on the budget.
It’s been a good laptop, and in the end I decided to just get it fixed. It’s the frugal thing to do, and the newer laptops aren’t going to make that big of a difference yet anyway. If the laptop were a year older than it is, I might have opted for the new one.
Experience Shows
Some things I HAVE learned from this experience though.
- Get the Warranty - Normally I pass on the warranty, as they don’t pay for themselves 9 out of 10 times. But with laptops, I’d recommend getting at least the 2 year accident warranty, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE KIDS.
- Get the Big Screen - I’ve had to fall back on my work laptop with the 15" screen, and it’s PAINFUL to use something that small anymore. Both my desktop LCD and my laptop LCD are larger than this and you get used to it VERY quickly. You might scrimp on some of the other things when buying, but GO FOR THE BIG!
- Get the Laptop with Easily Changeable Components - The laptop I have (a HP dv900 something) has all the access doors for things like memory and hard drives easily accessible on the bottom of the machine. My work machine (Lenovo/Thinkpad) has to be taken apart like you’re dissecting a frog until you get to the memory and drives. I was able to snag the hard drive out of my laptop before taking it in. so there was no chance of losing my data or having any curious eyes looking through my,.. files. (Hey, I know what you were thinking, and I don’t have THOSE kind of files).
- Don’t Finance a Computer,.. EVER - If you’re going to buy a computer, just save up and do it. Otherwise you’re probably going to be paying on the thing long after it’s gone. I did this with my first computer. I ended up paying for 3 years AFTER I had gotten rid of the thing. Pay up front, or you’ll be bugged by paying for something that’s gone or obsolete before you’ve paid for it.
My baby should be back from the computer hospital in 2-7 business days, then I get to empty out my son’s savings account to pay for it. He was hoping that I wouldn’t remember to get the laptop repaired and he’d be spared, but I miss my machine. He’s just going to have to play football with something less expensive and more appropriate.
Have you had any electronics replaced?? We’d love to hear your story. Drop us a comment.
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February 12th, 2008 at 9:06 am
He played football? With your laptop? Oy. I think I’m going to make my son stay 5 forever!
Amen to not financing a computer. The credit card we’re currently paying off? The computer. Boy was that a mistake.
Lynnae @ Being Frugal.net’s last blog post..Tightwad Tuesday: No Drive Days
February 12th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Oh, that hurts……
I have a great Gateway laptop that’s about 4 years old and in September, the AC adaptor came loose from the motherboard - a hard lesson learned in being mindful when unplugging the power connector from the back of the computer. The battery would not charge and there was no juice coming from into the laptop.
I cannot be without the computer which is an extension of my arm and I don’t have any money to buy a new one and I hear you loud and clear about financing one - out of the question.
I found a GREAT place in Virginia -Comprehensive Computing - (I live in Brooklyn, NY) - within 3 days my laptop was returned working like new - the owner soldered a new adaptor to the motherboard for $100 - my shipping costs were about $25.00 and I paid about $25.00 for express service- It was worth every penny of the $150 I spent and I didn’t charge it…….
Good luck!
February 12th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Oh no, poor seal!!!
We used the warranty for our computer too. It helped when my CD-ROM drive stopped responding. But I’m really really hoping we won’t have to replace them for a while. No kids, anyway. But my clumsiness makes up for that.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:02 am
@Patti, Wow, wish mine had only been $150. He did quite a number with it. (actually he threw a remote control and it bounced off the keyboard, breaking a key, and whacked the LCD, cracking it. The hinge was from a loose screw that had come out after the accident.)
February 12th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Randall -
You definitely had far more extensive damage than I did….OMG - this story makes me glad that I don’t have a son…..
The sound of the LCD cracking - ouch……that hurts…..
I never had a warranty, but I’m going to get one the next time - I think it’s worth it…..
After your son pays, I doubt he’ll ever use a remote as football again….
Thanks for another great post
February 13th, 2008 at 10:49 am
As always, different strokes for different folks, but not everyone is better served by getting the bigger screen. Bigger screens come with higher pricetags, sure, but more importantly for a lot of people (including me) they come with increased weight and space requierments. Think you can use that 17″ screen on the airplane in economy class? Hah! I also wouldn’t suggest going all the way down to a 12″ because you pay a hefty premium for it. The 13″ and 14″ screens can be a sweet spot in easy to carry around computer luxury.
Of course my eyes are still young…
February 13th, 2008 at 11:02 am
@Matthew,
Agreed, 17 inch isn’t great in cattle, er,.. economy class, but working on a big screen is hard to come down from. I’m a pretty stereotypical power user (5+ applications open at once.) and having them available/visible is a big boost to my productivity.
Not to say carrying around a monstrous laptop is a joy, but they’re getting bigger, smaller, AND lighter. (I know somewhere they’re breaking one of the laws of physics, but I can’t tell where yet).
February 13th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
That’s a really good lesson for your son. I’ve heard before that a laptop is one of the few things you should get an extended warranty on. Now I see why
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February 25th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Ouch.
We just actually let our 3 year old start to watch videos on my laptop. We’ll see how that goes. About the only rule is that she keeps food and drink away from it. We’ll just have to watch to make sure she doesn’t dance on it.
mbhunter’s last blog post..I KNOW what’s wrong with my trumpet!
March 2nd, 2008 at 10:26 pm
First, the computer is my livelihood.. I generally pay extra for warranty, and if they have it, like Dell, the ‘whatever’ type warranties are pretty good. Sure, hammer marks aren’t covered, but if my wife accidentally throws it out the window and then drives over it 10 times, I’ll be back at work within 24 hours