Dead Laptop - Repair, Replace or Fight?

chateauneufdupape

Hi, My daughter has a HP HDX X16-1310EA which is 13 months old and has stopped working. It is out of the one year warranty so I took it to a local repair shop who have said that there is a fault on the motherboard and it needs replacing. This will cost about £270. They suggested that it might be better to buy a new laptop which wouldcost little more. I am looking for advice on the following options:-

1) Should I get it repaired?
2) How much would a similar spec machine cost? See spec below.
3) Use the HP Out Of Warranty repair service which I think charges a flat fee of £175 irrespective of the fault.
4) Should I go back to Play.com (Edited, should have been Ebuyer.com) (where I bought it from) and or HP and try to fight a battle with them claiming that the product is not of merchanatable quality? N.B. The laptop had to go back after about 4 months for a replacement touch pad.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 / 2 GHz ( Dual-Core )
• Memory: 4GB
• HD Capacity: 320GB
• Display: 16" 1920 x 1080
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M - 1 GB
• Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit
• Main Specifications
• Product Description: HP HDX X16-1310EA Premium - Core 2 Duo P7350 2 GHz - 16" TFT
• Recommended Use: Home use
• Dimensions (WxDxH): 37.9 cm x 25.5 cm x 4.3 cm
• Weight: 3.2 kg
• Localisation: English / United Kingdom
• Platform Technology: Intel Centrino 2
• System Type: Notebook
• Built-in Devices: Stereo speakers, subwoofer, wireless LAN aerial, Bluetooth aerial
• Embedded Security: Fingerprint reader
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 / 2 GHz ( Dual-Core )
• Cache Memory: 3 MB - L2 Cache
• RAM: 4 GB (installed) / 8 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM ( 2 x 2 GB )
• Card Reader: 5 in 1
• Hard Drive: 320 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 7200 rpm
• Optical Storage: DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM / BD-ROM
• Display: 16" TFT 1920 x 1080 - BrightView
• Graphics Controller: NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M - 1 GB
• Audio Output: Sound card
• Networking: Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n (draft)
• Notebook Camera: Integrated
• Input Device: Keyboard, touchpad
• Battery: Lithium Ion
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition
• Environmental Standards: EPA Energy Star

fwor

3) It should go back to Play.com, as that is where your statutory rights lie (not with HP, as you have no contract with them).

But beware believing what the computer shop tell you about needing a new motherboard - some find it much easier to say this than to tell the truth, and it can be had to know whether they are being honest or not...

But a quote of £270 to replace a motherboard makes me suspicious, as it seems rather high.

chateauneufdupape

Thanks for your comments fwor. I thought it seemed high, but they have a good reputation and I have used them a few times in the past and they have always appeared honest and have been cheap for other repairs. But things can always change.

Its-A-New-Age-Thing

fwor wrote: »

3) It should go back to Play.com, as that is where your statutory rights lie (not with HP, as you have no contract with them).

But beware believing what the computer shop tell you about needing a new motherboard - some find it much easier to say this than to tell the truth, and it can be had to know whether they are being honest or not...

But a quote of £270 to replace a motherboard makes me suspicious, as it seems rather high.

£270 is high you could probably find a cheaper quote yourself, or buy your motherboard yourself, thatd be even cheaper ebay springs to mind,

your laptops quite a decent little spec aswell, sayin that you could SALVAGE lots of its components even sellin them on ebay to raise more funds, or utilising them yourself ie buy a laptop with 1 gig upgradable to 4gig and fire 3 of your own gig into it, obviously a new laptop would need to be COMPATIBLE, with your existing laptops components,

different ways different ideas ill see what the rest want to chip in



people would buy your battery,memory,drive,charger, graphics, hard drive etc etc

AdamMerry

I know you said it's out of warranty but worth checking
http://www11.itrc.hp.com/service/ewarranty/warrantyResults.do?admit=109447626+1296167228509+28353475

I have known laptops still being in warranty when the customer thought the warranty had run out

Devin_Shockwell

That's an excellent laptop, definitely keep it!

What exactly is the fault as this will help me at least give you an educated guess where the problem is. The most common fault with laptops is power. Either the charger unit which connects the laptop to the mains or simply a broken connection within the laptop where the power goes in otherwise known as the 'DC Jack'. If it is the DC jack then it's a fairly simple re-solder job to establish fresh contacts for the power in. Only trouble is dismantling the damned thing to get at the motherboard!

DCFC79

Devin_Shockwell wrote: »

That's an excellent laptop, definitely keep it!

What exactly is the fault as this will help me at least give you an educated guess where the problem is. The most common fault with laptops is power. Either the charger unit which connects the laptop to the mains or simply a broken connection within the laptop where the power goes in otherwise known as the 'DC Jack'. If it is the DC jack then it's a fairly simple re-solder job to establish fresh contacts for the power in. Only trouble is dismantling the damned thing to get at the motherboard!

Yes y manager said it was a bit of a pain to get to the motherboard to replace the DC jack on my laptop,

Hammyman

I've just today repaired a 13 month old Advent Roma 1000 which stopped working. Upon disassembling it, I found the standard "space between heatsink and fan completely blocked by a wad of fluff". Looks like the constant high current drain from the fan being on full whack all the time also killed the charger. Cleaned out the fan, used another charger and its good to go.

Hammyman

DCFC79 wrote: »

Yes y manager said it was a bit of a pain to get to the motherboard to replace the DC jack on my laptop,

By "a bit of a pain to get to " they mean they'd have to take the bottom off. Quite why supposed technicians seem to view this as a show stopper is beyond me. For me it adds about 10-15 minutes to the job but as I bill an hour, its still do-able within that hour even if I need to take the motherboard out.

closed

Contact HP, saying you would expect a laptop to last longer than 13 months, with a little persuasion you may be lucky and get a free repair.

Normally, you would have a case with the retailer, under the sale of goods act, but Play are based in the Channel Islands.

If you bought on credit card, you could possibly contact them also, as they have some liability - although I'm not sure if it still applies to goods from abroad.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange#SHOP

chateauneufdupape

Thanks all for your replies. When checking my records, I bought the laptop from ebuyer.com not Play.com.

I have spoken to Ebuyer who initially suggested that I speaak to HP as it was not Ebuyers problem. I stated that my contract was with Ebuyer not HP and I stated that I felt that under the Sale Of Goods Act 1979 the machine was not of merchantable quality. At this point he said that as I had quoted the Sale Of Goods Act I should send him and independent fault report that states that there is an inherent fault or a manufacturing defect. He will then look into it further.

The problem with the laptop was that the mains power failed. I tried other suitable chargers to rule out it being a fault with the charger. Additionally, I was having problems with playing videos and music. The computer shop has said that there is a problem with the video chip and this is quite a common problem with HP laptops which I should Google and state this when corresponding with Ebuyer. The repair shop will write a letter for me stating the problems.

I think a lot will depend on this letter, which I will pick up tomorrow.