Night Elf Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 My laptop has died. It must be at least 5 years old. Neither electronics store near me can get parts. HP doesn't sell them. One place told me to buy the same laptop on ebay that someone is selling for parts. I don't want to use ebay anymore. And the other place quoted me nearly $300 before he looked and realized he couldn't get the parts. DH works for HP but since the company split, he doesn't think they get discounts anymore. I don't use my laptop for much so I don't need some super one. And I don't need the Microsoft Suite anymore so that will save money. But still, a new laptop wasn't on our radar for anytime soon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaelAldrich Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 For which applications do you need it? Word processing, slide making, web surfing? I just got a Acer Swift 3 from Costco for $599 and I love it. If I didn't need a computer for Hebrew worksheet development, I would just spend a couple of hundred on a Chromebook. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted May 22, 2017 Author Share Posted May 22, 2017 I don't do much. Email. Reading this board. Web surfing. Some Big Fish computer games. DH bought me an HP that has fairly decent specs and the total came to $375. That's not too bad I suppose. We paid over $800 for my last laptop. My new laptop even has a DVD player which surprises the heck out of me. I thought those were a thing of the past. I don't know how much it weighs but that doesn't really matter. It's not a touch screen either. I didn't want to spend the extra $50 for a feature I hardly ever used on my last laptop. I'm currently using my ds's old school laptop. It's so slow! And it doesn't have page up/page down buttons. I keep reaching for them and they're not there. I hope my new laptop has them. I didn't see a picture of it. DH just ordered it from work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMS83 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 I hate touch screens; I need real, operable buttons! I hope your new one lives longer than 5 years!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 I'd just order the part on New egg and watch a YouTube video to replace it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 5 years old is not old for a laptop, but if it was made for the Consumer market (purchased in a Retail store, for example) then I can readily understand why replacement parts are not available. Possibly within one year you might be able to get replacement parts for one of those if they are proprietary to that model. We have Dell "Enterprise" grade machines (designed for and sold to corporate and government customers) and those usually have replacement parts available on eBay and I suspect on Amazon too. Huge numbers of the same model are made. Question: What replacement components do you need? What model is it? I have purchased a couple of Used DVD drives for our Dell Laptops (there are 7 in the house) from DiscountedLaptopParts in FL on eBay. They thoroughly test what they sell. I had purchased a New keyboard from an eBay Seller in PA and it was worse than the one we were replacing. My wife then discovered there were a lot of people complaining about keyboard issues. It was for one of her laptops. They refunded my $ and then I bought a Used one from a company in the Dallas area that said they test everything thoroughly. It works perfectly. We had an "Enterprise" grade Compaq Desktop machine that I won in a Raffle in the superstore years ago. I had an issue with it. It died one morning when I tried to turn it on...I posted in the appropriate HP forum. Nobody, not an HP employee, not an HP customer, ever responded. I thought I knew what the issue was (bad power supply or PSU) and that it was proprietary and I needed to know how it was wired. That was enough to turn me off of HP, because of their lack of Support. I am certain on the Dell Forum, for a Dell Desktop, I would have been able to get that information. We have 3 Dell laptops that were purchased from Blair Technology Group in KY. BlairTG.com They are a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher and the machines have a fresh and legal copy of Windows on it when you get them. The first 2 were purchased on Amazon and then I discovered they had much more selection on eBay and the last one was purchased on eBay. At that time they had a one year warranty and probably better support than you would get on a Brand New machine. I think now they have a 30 day warranty, but you can probably pay to extend that. Their Support was excellent. The last machine we purchased from them (May 2015?) the DVD drive worked when we got it, but a month or 2 later, I tried to install something for DD on it and the drive would not work. That was on a Sunday. I sent them an email explaining the problem on a Sunday. On Monday afternoon, I received an email, asking me for our Shipping Address, so they could send me another drive. Imagine what you would go thru with Dell, or some other manufacturer,, to get them to send you another drive, on a Brand New machine... BTDT I would not personally purchase a Consumer grade machine. I would suggest that you consider purchasing a Used or Refurbished Enterprise grade machine, if you need to change machines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 The cooling fan stopped working. It seemed my only recourse was to buy another laptop on eBay and get the part from it. I did look on eBay but the cheapest laptop was about $400. I tried two electronic stores who checked with their parts suppliers and the model is too old to buy parts. It's funny about brand loyalty. DH works for what is now HP, but it was two different companies before that and the word around the office was always stay away from Dell. We've had Compaq, HP, eMachines and an Asus. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 $300 to replace a FAN is ridiculous. Especially since you wrote that your DH bought you a new machine for $375. There is a possibility that DiscountedLaptopParts on eBay, or someone else on eBay, might have the component(s) you need for that model. I suspect that machines built for the Consumer market, any components that are peculiar to that particular model (proprietary) might possibly be available New from the manufacturer for about 12 months. Just enough to get them thru the warranty period if they do not exchange for a different machine and actually repair the defective unit.. Enterprise grade machines are sold to Corporate and Government customers. Actually, Leased to them. The 3 Refurbished Dell Laptops we purchased from Blair Technology Group (BlairTG.com) were off lease. The 3 Used INCOMPLETE LAPTOPS (including this Dell Precision M4500 Mobile Work Station) were purchased from a reputable eBay Seller in PA (auctions) and were off lease. Those leases for laptops are probably for 3 or 4 years. If you know the exact model number of the machine and the part number for the component(s) you need, you might be able to find it on eBay. Used parts that have been tested thoroughly are fine. Possibly better than something brand new that might be DOA when you get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 (edited) Good that your new laptop has a DVD drive. That's nice to have. I would not want to have a machine without that. I hope you enjoy using it. ETA: ALWAYS have your laptop(s) sitting on a Cooling Pad. Edited May 23, 2017 by Lanny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 In defense of Consumer grade machines... We have 2 of them in the house. One is a Dell Inspiron laptop my Stepson bought Used. I think that was approximately 7 years ago? I suspect that if it needed components, we might possibly be able to get them on eBay, but that it would not be as easy as getting them for our Enterprise grade Dell laptops. The other machine is a mini ACER laptop my wife bought for DIL during July or August 2015. I doubt that we would be able to find spare components for that machine, if needed. Both of those machines work well. Assuming one can get spare components for a Consumer grade machine, doing the actual swap can be brutal. As someone on WTM wrote a few months ago, on some of them, you need to take the machine completely apart, to replace a hard drive. That's ridiculous. In our 6 Enterprise grade Dell laptops, I can replace a hard drive in 2 or 3 minutes. We can replace a DVD drive in about 10 seconds. These machines were designed to be easy to service. That's one of the reasons for quotes of $300 to replace a Fan... If you need to take the machine completely apart to replace something, that takes time and skill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 The cooling fan stopped working. It seemed my only recourse was to buy another laptop on eBay and get the part from it. I did look on eBay but the cheapest laptop was about $400. I tried two electronic stores who checked with their parts suppliers and the model is too old to buy parts. It's funny about brand loyalty. DH works for what is now HP, but it was two different companies before that and the word around the office was always stay away from Dell. We've had Compaq, HP, eMachines and an Asus. Yes. Brand loyalty varies. Dells are certainly not perfect. Nothing is. Their Support web site has come through for me a number of times, during the past 20 years we have been buying Dell machines. I still have the first Dell Desktop machine we bought in 1997 from Dell Latin America, sitting in "the office". It still works... It is not in service now, but I have used it as an IPCop Linux machine, for a Firewall/Router. My one experience with a Compaq/HP machine was that their Support web site, the one time I posted an issue (the machine was dead and I assumed that it was the PSU (Power Supply) and I assumed that the wiring of the PSU was proprietary, I posted in the correct area of the correct forum. Nobody ever responded. Nobody from HP, no Customer. Nobody. I am certain on the Dell Support site I would have been answered and gotten the information. I ended up trashing a perfectly good machine, because I could not get the wiring information for the PSU. Based on that, I would personally never buy a Compaq/HP machine. However, the machine was very good. It was the lack of Support... That was an Enterprise grade machine, sold/leased to Corporate/Government Customers. I have a good impression of ASUS but have never had one. I have 2 ASUS Apps on my Android phone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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