Laptop Repair or replacement?

Brods

Hey, few issues here so hope you guys can advise me:

Have a PB easynote LJ71 here, bought it say 3 years ago for around €750 afaik. Worked great for what I wanted; streaming movies, surfing internet and word processing etc. Used as a desktop replacement (except in the bed :P) Basic stuff, no gaming or video editing. Most challenging thing would probably be the fact that I'd often have 30+ tabs open in chrome for some reason... Impulsive clicker. Anyway, specs are below.

Dropped it once, one of the 500GB HDD was bust so I replaced it (around 9 months ago maybe). No other problems, gets a bit hot (but thats cos I was probably blocking the fan with a pilow). Battery life is SHJTE however, currently can't sustain more than 3 minutes without a charge, but was pretty poor from a month or two in (and I wasn't leaving it plugged in while using it or anything if that matters...)

Then about a week ago, I noticed the DC jack was a bit dodgey, would only hold current in certain angles. Now its completely gone, thankfully have saved all my important files else where. Google suggests that the connection to the motherboard might be loose, I dunno. Dilema is whether I should replace the laptop or repair the DC jack (estimates around €100)...

Processor: AMD Turion X2 2.2 GHz
Installed Memory : 4 GB (DDR2 SDRAM)
Display : 17.3 in. LED
Installed RAM : 4 GB
RAM Technology : DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Drive Capacity : 1000 GB
Hard Drive Rotation Speed : 5,400 RPM
CD / DVD : DVD±R/RW Double Layer
Display Tech : LED 17.3in
Graphic Processor : ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200
Expansion Ports : 4 x USB 2.0, VGA out, RJ-45 (NIC), HDMI
Battery Run Time : 3 Hours
Weight : 3.3 kg

I know I really didn't need a laptop or memory this big but it was a good deal 3 years ago and I hadn't ever bought one before so didn't know what was really important to me. I bought it cos the hdd was big, the 4gb RAM was pretty much as good as was available, there were 4 USB ports and a numeric key pad which I liked. Priorities now would be include a battery life and smaller size (prob 15"). Been reading a bit online about the move towards solid state hard drives but they're usually quite small... I had used something like 800GB of space on the old laptop with music, movies and photos etc. Suppose I should be getting an external hard drive... (Would it be possible to take the two 500GB hdd from the laptop and use them somehow?)

Another thing, so I'm heading to the US in a couple of weeks and would need a laptop over there, either a new one or a repair of this one. Are there better deals to be had waiting to buy over there? Are there then issues with warranty? And how about the charger/different voltage etc?

So, considering its 3 years old and I've already spent €200 on a new HDD, and I'd need another €100 for the DC socket thing, a new battery and a new charger (falling apart!) do you think I should cut my losses and start again? If so...

Budget:€650-800 If I had €1500 I'd buy a mac book pro. ah well!

Intended use: As above college work, movies, music,internet, e-mail, Word processing.

Mobility: Small enough to fit in a shoulder bag

Warranty: I dunno... If I buy it in Amurrrica will this be valid? Hopefuly I wont drop it again, but if its smaller, I'll probably take it out of the house more often... I obviously don't have a breeze about fixing stuff myself.

OS: windows 7, dont think I can really wait to buy a new one when 8 comes out...

Important Features: good battery life, decent looking, likely to last a few years and not a big step down in speed/memory from the last one.

Thanks for any advice.
Conor

Jarren

If you buy in US your warranty will be valid but you will have to deal with manufacturer directly.
From value point of value the laptops would be cheaper however the dollar is very strong atm so there is not much money to save as it was a few years ago.

No issues with using a laptop purchased here, get just Irish/UK adapter.

Nevegg, best buy, amazon etc would be my preferred choices to get a lappy.

I'm on mobile atm, will post relevant links later on.

Jarren

I actually found unusual Toshiba Model, battery up to 7 hours,backlit keyboard,bluray drive,portable enough 14 inch screen size, i5 second generation processor,very light!hybrid drive and more for only 499$:eek:


http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+14%22+Satellite+Laptop+-+6GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Champagne/2805056.p?id=1218352572084&skuId=2805056


I'm thinking of getting this for myself

Mind you ,it's not a gaming laptop.

Brods

Thanks for the advice Jarren. I hope you get aw sorta commission out of all your work recommending computers for people! Think I'll wait til I get over to NY and see what my pennies can afford.

Brods

Actually- Is it possible to take a hdd out of the laptop and buy some sort of connection to attach it to another computer to get the files off it?

Jarren

Something like this perhaps

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SHARKOON-QuickPort-Combo-SATA-Device/dp/B00327HTD4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1339883458&sr=8-4

johneire31

If your current laptop is doing everything for you why not just get it repaired, you can get a cheap battery on ebay or similar and you get to hold on to your money.

j

Skerries

if you are going to scrap the old one then I would buy a couple of these and you would have 2 external drives
I bought one recently and it works perfectly

Brods

johneire31 wrote: »

If your current laptop is doing everything for you why not just get it repaired, you can get a cheap battery on ebay or similar and you get to hold on to your money.

j

My thinking was that, somewhat like a car, when parts start to fail, the whole thing is on the way out and you can end up with a blackhole that you keep pumping money into, fixing various parts because it's only a hundred quid... (Correct me if this analogy is off the mark!)

johneire31

Brods wrote: »

My thinking was that, somewhat like a car, when parts start to fail, the whole thing is on the way out and you can end up with a blackhole that you keep pumping money into, fixing various parts because it's only a hundred quid... (Correct me if this analogy is off the mark!)

It doesn't really work quite the same with laptops as cars but it can of course happen that things start going one after another. If its working fine other than the dc connector then fix it. You will get some good time out of it and by then the laptops not in your budget range now will be by the time it gives up the ghost altogether. a new laptop isn't going to anything more for you if you not using the extra power.

The normal guide is that if the repair costs less than a third of the price of a new one then fix, if it costs more than a third then replace, give or take

j