Acer Laptop Uneconomical to repair

opalfruit

Hi guys,
Hope someone out there can advise on the following.
On 21 July 2006 i purchased an Acer Aspire 5652WLMI laptop from Dabs.com. Just last week the display went grey. I thought it was something simple like a faulty LCD cable or even the LCD itself, on further investigation by an Acer repair agent, which cost £25.00, i was informed that the motherboard was faulty, and that it would be uneconomical to repair:eek:.
My question is that after 2yrs and 11 months should a laptop motherboard die, and if not what rights do I have to get it fixed?
The only upgrade I made to the laptop was to put extra memory into it, from 1GB to 2GB.
Personally I am meticulous with all my posessions, especially my computers and electrical gadgets. They are never misused, although how do I prove such a thing, if I have to?
If anyone has experienced this before please let me know how you got on and what steps you had to take.
Thanks for any help
Opalfruit.

sporedude

Hmmm if its been 2 years you could probably replace the motherboard, did you upgrade the ram yourself?

opalfruit

Yeah, upgraded the ram myself just about 2 wks after purchasing. As for the motherboard the repair guys told me it would be close to the price of a new laptop to replace. I thought this was very strange as the laptop originally cost £835.00 plus delivery.
On another note the laptop is probably used around 4-6 hours each day. When running on mains power I use a Belkin surge protector just in case.
Still, as with all computers, upgrading them is part of the joy of owning one and where RAM is concerned it is just a matter of replacing one stick with another, the main case was not even opened. Since the RAM has been in the machine for almost the lifetime of the laptop I dont think it has had any effect on breaking the motherboard.
I hate the thought of spending more money on a laptop as the Acer I have is quite decent for my needs. Its just that imoh I thought that 5 years minimum was a reasonable time for a laptop to last.
I still can plug in an external monitor and use it, but then it's not really a laptop, more like a slim desktop computer.
Surely the Sale Of Goods Act has something to say on the matter. Hopefully anyway.
Any advice is welcome.

AndyBee_2

2 years use is no good for £800! You know I'm beginning to think Acer have something going on here. The Aspire 5920 seems to be another one of their products with mainboard issues and you just can't get it replaced (economically) outside of warranty. I bought the Acer from DABS (refurbed and cheap) and was lead to believe this meant that there had been minor cosmetic defects - so only limited (3 months) warranty. Now 1 week after the short warranty expired the laptop won't boot! Seems as though there are a few such stories around too. Error definitely points to a CPU error - which as its fixed on to the motherboard is not a simple job to swap. You can't get parts either - so its money down the drain for 3 months use. We all clubbed together to buy this for my daughters 18th, now....useless.
Could it be that are Acer allowing products on to the market that are not going to last the course then dropping all responsibilitiy because they are out of warranty? Maybe its economic to sell stuff cheap, then run rather than scrap it and pay under warranty.....but not economic to repair :mad:

zara*elise

Isn't there something regarding items in the sales of goods act that says new items should last 6 years? I may be completely wrong so someone feel free to correct me.

xx

Esqui

zara*elise wrote: »

Isn't there something regarding items in the sales of goods act that says new items should last 6 years? I may be completely wrong so someone feel free to correct me.

xx

Almost. The Sale of Goods Act (SoGA) gives you 6 years (5 in Scotland) to claim (i.e. get a repair or replacement) for anything that could reasonably be expected to last longer than it has, and has not been broken by misuse. After 6 months from purchase, it is down to YOU to prove these conditions.

Thus, for a £1500 TV which has stopped working, you may be able to claim a repair 6 years down the line (of course, proving the fault gets more difficult the longer you go). But for an ultra-cheapie £5 toaster, you'd not have much luck proving it should have lasted 6 years (and doing so would cost you a lot more than £5!).

THRIFTY_GIRL

I would go to an independent repair shop and see what they think. Have you looked on ebay etc for the motherboard? price quoted is probably for brand new from manufacturer...even so seems a bit steep as you can get a decent laptop for half the price.

Humphrey10

I think 3 years is ok for a laptop really. They don't last as long as desktop computers. I'd never buy one without a 3 year warranty, and I'd be pleased if it lasted longer.
Google laptop lifespan or similar for other opinions.

I'd 2nd Thrifty Girl, take it to an independent repair shop and see what they can do.

willo65

My sister had an acer laptop from woolworths and it failed 1 week out of 12 month warranty and neither woolworths or acer would help.

iceicebaby

On the flip side, i have had my acer laptop for 3 and a half years and it still works fine, no problems at all.