Should I upgrade or buy a new laptop

Witlim

Hi there I currently own a 3/4 year old laptop - HP Pavilion dv6500 running on Windows Vista - and Microsoft Word and Excel 2003! It overheats and crashes with a white fuzzy screen fairly regularly, the fan goes in overdrive then i can use it after 5 mins, this happens when im just watching iPlayer or youtube!

Now my question is this, can I upgrade this old laptop cheaper than buying a new £350ish new model? Im just a casual user, watching iPlayer, emails and I want Windows 7 with Microsoft word and excel.

Is it easier to buy a new laptop? a little side issue, would a Chromebook be a good option? I saw them and like the idea, as I only use the laptop at home connected to my wifi so it will always been connected.

Grateful for views please.

diable

Sometimes an old laptop can be rejuvenated by an install of Win 7 if its a decent spec but any laptop in the £350 range will be mediocre. If I was you I'd buy the £350 laptop and be happy for a while as the "smiles per miles" will be better then upgrading your old one as in the end you will upgrade anyway.

£350 doesn't get you much.

cit_k

Do you know if it has nvidia graphics or not? It may be its a faulty nvidia graphics problem, which many models of laptops were affected by.
Overheating (quite likely due to clogged fans) will make a laptop with that problem worse.
I dont think they ever admitted that was a problem with that model though, so perhaps thats not the problem. But it could be.
I would suggest getting the fans declogged of the build up of dust, which should help the overheating problem, and perhaps ask a shop to redo the thermal paste/pads, check if its a problem with the video chip.

If it is, its worth seeing if it would be covered by the sales of goods act, thats if the manufacturer has not extended the warranty on that model already.

Im just guessing from the symptoms though, a clean up of dust may fix the problem.


Check also you have the latest drivers for video, and bios.

scheming_gypsy

Although i'm running a 5 year old Compaq nx9420 and never had problems... I've upgraded the hard drive and memory and will be buying a new keyboard soon; but i'm going to advise to do the opposite.

With the £350 laptop you'll get

• bigger screen (possibly)
• faster processor
• more memory
• bigger hard drive
• windows 7
• a new laptop with warranty.

You may be able to claw back £100 - £150 (possibly more) from selling your old laptop. Which means your new laptop could potentially cost £200; how many of the upgrades could you do for the same money?


Apologies if anybody has said the same, it took about 20 minutes from starting to finishing with that 'work' thing getting in the way!

stilltheone

diable wrote: »

Sometimes an old laptop can be rejuvenated by an install of Win 7 if its a decent spec but any laptop in the £350 range will be mediocre. If I was you I'd buy the £350 laptop and be happy for a while as the "smiles per miles" will be better then upgrading your old one as in the end you will upgrade anyway.

£350 doesn't get you much.

Come on....

stilltheone

Witlim wrote: »

Hi there I currently own a 3/4 year old laptop - HP Pavilion dv6500 running on Windows Vista - and Microsoft Word and Excel 2003! It overheats and crashes with a white fuzzy screen fairly regularly, the fan goes in overdrive then i can use it after 5 mins, this happens when im just watching iPlayer or youtube!

Now my question is this, can I upgrade this old laptop cheaper than buying a new £350ish new model? Im just a casual user, watching iPlayer, emails and I want Windows 7 with Microsoft word and excel.

Is it easier to buy a new laptop? a little side issue, would a Chromebook be a good option? I saw them and like the idea, as I only use the laptop at home connected to my wifi so it will always been connected.

Grateful for views please.

The specification of the laptop is entirely adequate. No need to upgrade for that reason.
Perhaps, the vents are clogged. Perhaps a problem with the Graphics card. If after visual checks and the updating of Drivers there is no improvement, try dropping Hammyman a line.

Courier delivery with extra compensation is likely to be a maximum of £20 for pick up and return.

Witlim

thanks for your responses. i should add that my laptop is quite sluggish generally, as well as with graphics for basic games online. So i thought it may be better to upgrade. I will look into this a little more. Any views Chromebooks?

closed

Slowness can be cured

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2436849

It won't fix an overheating nvidia graphics chip if you have one though

http://www.nvidiadefect.com/is-hp-pavilion-dv6500-affected-by-nvidia-gpu-issue-t1277.html

GunJack

I'm pretty sure it was the DV series that did suffer from the nvidia/overheat issue which caused, amongst other things, the symptoms you mention. The slow running is more a software thing, which is easily rectified. Your bigger problem is the graphics..... however, you could buy a perfectly good (new) lappy for your needs for £250-£300. If no SOGA joy in getting the existing one fixed, maybe time to look to buy another......

Hammyman

The DV series DO suffer from GPU overheating and its usually cured by reballing. The guy who I know locally who reballs them also cuts out a 1 inch square copper plate and puts it on top of the chip that packs in to act as a heatsink.

I recently got a leaflet through from a company that deal with the trade who do no fix no fee reflow/reball for £60.

I would try cleaning the wad of fluff out of the fan side of the heatsink first.

GunJack

hammy - if that's what a.n.other company charge, how bout your mate? Just for reference, as recommendation goes a long way in such cases and |I haven't found anyone local who do reballing.