Burned Out Laptop Motherboard.

[Greg2013]

Long story short my two year old laptop has fried its motherboard  whichmeans that it will cost 200 plus to fix apparently. So what I would like opinions on is given the situation would you fix the original or buy something cheap? I have looked and cheapest laptop I can get is 400, cheapest tablet is 260 that has what I need,cheapest netbook is 300.

So repair or buy again ?

[Ciderhead]

Depending on financial circumstances
Buy again, a 2 year old lap isn't worth repairing

[JimmyM]

1. Who diagnosed it?
2. Have you priced a replacement mobo on ebay?

+1
Is 200the price to have it fitted etc too?
Ifyes and If ur sure its the motherboard, might be better off getting one and replacing it urself. Its not rocket science

[Greg2013]

It was Mc Kennas computers in Dungarvan that diagnosed it. I am trying to locate a chap for a second opinion. Guy in shop just said 200 plus to fix it so not sure but would say that does not include labour. I will ring them tomorrow and get an exact quote.

[newToBrew]

get a price on the part - most of those repair shops charge for the labour and also throw a few quid on the part  - like it was said - its just a load a little screws - if you can't source the part specifically, start looking for a Cheap Second hand version of your Make - Model

If you do get stuck and need to buy a new machine - there are ways to get the data from the hard drive off teh old machine ( I've had to do it for a few people )

basically I would be of the frame of mind that if it costs X to repair in the Shop / Buy the Part - Or Y to buy a Cheap 2nd Hand Version - ( and Y is < = X ) buy the 2nd hand one - as you have that then for parts should something else go wrong

[Beerdoh]

Are you sure it has definitely fried the motherboard?
Sometimes the RAM modules go but RAM is circa €50 - €100 for laptops, maybe even cheaper.
It'd be worth opening it up yourself and looking at it to see any visual signs of damage. Actually having a sniff for burn as well might help.
If you can get your hands on another laptop of roughly the same age try swapping out the RAM and/or the motherboard battery (it's a small NiMH coin cell usually) - these can be problematic too.
Out of interest - was it showing some signs that it was on its way out, or just one day it wouldn't turn on anymore? If the latter - had you left it to charge overnight or for a long period?
You might still be within the manufacturers warranty too - I think mine is about three years - so save yourself any bother at all by having them diagnose and fix it. Back up your data first though - you should be able to remove the hard drive and plug it into an external HDD holder which plugs into your USB or eSata port.

Let us know how you get on!

[JimmyM]

Long story short

Give us the long story...
What are the symtoms? (does it jsut not come on)
Are you able to run the diagnostics in the BIOS?

[newToBrew]

Are you sure it has definitely fried the motherboard?

was gonna ask that earlier - but figured your goin by what the Shop told ya ?

"you should be able to remove the hard drive and plug it into an external HDD holder"

I have one of those - if your coming to any of the South East Meets I can bring it in to you

[Greg2013]

Ok guys here is the full story. Using laptop went to bed and put laptop to sleep and closed lid. Woke up next morning laptop screen would not power up not even a flicker. Fan comes on and lights across the top power up but nothing out of screen. Shop said it overheated and fried motherboard, I don't see how but kinda stuck as they ate the only game in town.

[newToBrew]

.. might not be the motherboard.. could be a screen issue ??  any flickers on the screen - back light coming on


mate of mines Daughter used to do pretty much the same thing - it was the hard drive that got fried.


This prob wont do anything - but whip out the  battery completely and try to boot up using just the mains power supply

[Greg2013]

Newtobrew thanks m8 tried all that, there is no life from the screen at all whether I use mains or battery or both nothing happens.

[johnrm]

Is your power supply working?
Fuse in the plug?
Fuse on the Motherboard?
When did it last work?
What was it doing in between it last working and 'Jaysus, shes broke!'?

[Eoin]

Ok guys here is the full story. Using laptop went to bed and put laptop to sleep and closed lid. Woke up next morning laptop screen would not power up not even a flicker. Fan comes on and lights across the top power up but nothing out of screen. Shop said it overheated and fried motherboard, I don't see how but kinda stuck as they ate the only game in town.

Were you using it on the bed on top of a quilt?

[johnrm]

did you try an external monitor?

[Greg2013]

On a cooling pad with its own USB fan. In between working and Jaysus she broke it was asleep with lid shut plugged in. The laptop os always plugged into mains, maybe 15% of time just on battery. Mains charger defo working as when I remove battery it will power up off mains alone.

Don't know anything about a fuse on the motherboard. Tbh I have listened closer and when switch it on I cant hear the hard drive powering up which I could before.


Priced mono online and they ate around 200 Euro plus shipping.