Daughter Broke Her New Laptop

PoGee

My dear daughter saved her pennies and thought she'd spoil herself by buying a Zenbook for her uni course. She starts in a few days.She's only had the laptop a couple of weeks when she spilt wine over it on Wednesday night. It started to make a sizzling noise so we guess it's dead. Is there any chance of repair or does it sound like it's gone for good? We tried to open the torx screws to take a look inside but couldn't open them and think the edges/grooves are now worn down. Can anyone give ideas on how to open the screws? I've tried the rubber band to provide grip method but that didn't work. She has the repair plan but that doesn't cover accidental damage. She's refusing my help to buy her a replacement.
Any advice would be appreciated.

cx6

Even if you open it I doubt there are user-repairable parts inside.

If it were me I would get a quote for repairing it and compare that against the price of a new one.

Don't suppose your house contents insurance cover this?

PoGee

Yes I did say to claim though contents but she's saying to leave it. If the repair is say £200, and my excess is either £150 or £100 (can't remember which one it is), then the repair would probably be better than the insurance claim, I think.

neilmcl

PoGee said:

Yes I did say to claim though contents but she's saying to leave it. If the repair is say £200, and my excess is either £150 or £100 (can't remember which one it is), then the repair would probably be better than the insurance claim, I think.

If the wine has made it onto the motherboard and PSU then I doubt it's going to be repairable, at the very least uneconomical to repair. Also sounds like you've stripped the Torx screws. Does it switch on at all?

How much was it originally?

PoGee

She bought it in the recent Black Friday sales for £600. It's now around £700. She left it for 24 hours and tried switching it on last night but won't turn on. The sizzling sound doesn't seem promising re a possible repair. Iknow it's clutching at straws but if we could take a look inside and see if it's corroded parts, it might help us with a decision about whether to take in for repair but can't get the last 2 screws out.

neilmcl

PoGee said:

She bought it in the recent Black Friday sales for £600. It's now around £700. She left it for 24 hours and tried switching it on last night but won't turn on. The sizzling sound doesn't seem promising re a possible repair. Iknow it's clutching at straws but if we could take a look inside and see if it's corroded parts, it might help us with a decision about whether to take in for repair but can't get the last 2 screws out.

If you don't have the knowhow to repair it yourselves (or even the correct tools), then please don't attempt to take it apart as you'll likely cause more damage than you already have. It's not going to show your anything that will help you. Either claim off your contents insurance for a new laptop or find a local PC repairer who may be able to tell you whether it's repairable or not.

PoGee

No I would never try to repair it myself especially as it belongs to my daughter. If it was my laptop I would have forced the screws open but scared to do that to hers.

matelodave

 Liquids and electronics just dont mix and even if it was repaired it may not be reliable afterwards and you'd have no way of getting it sorted out after that. I wouldn't even bother going down the repair route, just try get it replaced under your insurance.

Ideally you want a replacement rather than a repair, at least then you'll get a new machine with an intact warranty rather than a doubtful repair for the cost of your excess.

been there and had the problem with a camera that my daughter dropped. Insurance only paid for a repair but it wasn't as good afterwards., She'd have been better off losing it rather than just cracking the case - it knocked all the innards out of alignment as well which never got sorted out satisfactorily.

The cost of the repair wasn't much more than my excess, so the insurance company ended up paying out very little for the claim and we ended up with a duff camera.

Ibrahim5

Same repair on a desktop £5.

mgfvvc

I would guess that it will need a new PSU (power supply unit) and maybe a new motherboard. Can you find a recommended local repair guy and get a proper assessment? Maybe you can get a recommendation on a local facebook group?

Also, if it was paid for on a credit card, some credit cards used to provide accidental damage cover on purchases. I don't know if that's still a thing?

neilmcl

PoGee said:

No I would never try to repair it myself especially as it belongs to my daughter. If it was my laptop I would have forced the screws open but scared to do that to hers.

My point was that as you don't have the knowhow to repair it yourself how can you possibly be in a position to assess the damage if you did manage to take the laptop apart safely. It's a bit like a car owner without any car mechanics skills staring under the bonnet not knowing what they're looking at.