cheapest pc - cpu only

lemontart

The pet teens computer decided to go up in smoke yesterday so now faced with option repair or replace - I get the feeling it is gonna be cheaper to replace though not sure how to get round transfering data without repairing old one..............so any advice folks........dont need screen or keyboard just the tower,

Beth
xxx

albertross_2

what model do you have, what happened, did it really smoke?

There are loads of second hand base units available cheaply..

lemontart

it is time machine had it about 9 years - would not turn on so checked fuse and put a new one in plug then just loud crackling noise sparks followed by smoke from where power cord goes into unit................does not owe us anything after all these yrs but she does a lot of web design as well as all her college stuff on it. Not sure what best option is.

And typicall it happens on a bank holiday weekend and when we have to go home for few days so any advice would be useful so I can send her dad in with instructions whilst we are away (he has not got a clue on hardware dispite being a programmer)

Beth
xxx

albertross_2

If you are willing to risk £5-10 on it, you could get a new power supply unit from https://www.ebuyer.com, it's usually just 4 screws and a plug in connector to fit.

As far as getting the data of the hard disk, then you can either attach it as a slave to another PC, or buy a usb hard disk enclosure, and transfer the files via usb (assuming that the disk is still ok).