Laptop repair - worth it or just replace with a new laptop?

[92redragtop]

Dell Inspiron 15Z 5523 stopped working and it appears the motherboard is toast according to Dell (turns on, black screen, 3 beeps on a loop). The laptop is 3 years old so while still fine for what the wife uses it for, I'm not sure I should dump a lot of money into it versus just buying a mid-range replacement with newer/updated parts.

Specs:

Manufacturer: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3337U CPU @ 1.80GHz
Clock Speed: 1.8Ghz
L2 Cache Size: 512
Virtual Memory: 6,970.5MB
DIMM_B: 4,096.0MB
DIMM_A: 2,048.0MB
Drive Size: 464.4GB
Display Adapters: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000



I took it apart a couple times (replaced the coin battery) and got it re-started but that only works for a couple days then it's back to the black screen and 3 beeps looping.

Anyone replace a motherboard on a laptop and have a lead for where to get it done at reasonable cost (not sure if the standard rate is what Dell charges)? I believe Dell's repair price is about $400 for this work and at that price I may as well add a little more and just buy a new laptop.

[Ghost Rider]

probably best to just buy something new for the cost of the repair, less hassle too...IMO

I just bought a new ThinkPad a couple months ago...I should have made the upgrade from my old one a long time ago...nothing wrong with it at the time...just old and out dated, love the new one!

[92redragtop]

Yeah I upgraded my 6-year old Dell in November (i7 processor, 16GB RAM, AMD Radeon 4GB video, HD, iTB HDD, etc)...this is the wife's laptop so it sits in one place at home usually, gets used for Facebook, MS Office type docs, web surfing/news, and basic games like Solitaire so she doesn't really stress the laptop's capabilities.

I'm just not sure if Dell's repair prices are inflated and if a local shop can do it for less (depends on motherboard price I guess). I can get into the motherboard in under 10 minutes since the only way to restart it is to take it apart (3 times since last week but it restarts and works for a couple days before doing the black screen/3 beeps thing again), remove internal and CMOS battery, RAM, etc, then reassemble so labour shouldn't be too bad (an hour or so) for someone who actually knows what they're doing. If a motherboard is a couple hundred on it's own then that's a non-starter.

[Ghost Rider]

if you can get the part number off the board, maybe search ebay and see if you can the same board cheap...might be able to replace yourself, just back everything up first...

[92redragtop]

if you can get the part number off the board, maybe search ebay and see if you can the same board cheap...might be able to replace yourself, just back everything up first...

Sounds like a plan - have to take it apart again tonight so should be able to get the part # then. Seems to be a "common" issue from the google searches I did.

[RedSN]

You're neglecting wife browny points in your cost analysis: "Honey, i love you so much I bought you a brand new computer to replace that old piece of junk".

[Ghost Rider]

^^^I disagree...

"Honey, I love you so much, look how hard I worked at taking this apart and putting it back together for you if only to have it work for you for just a few more days each time, instead of taking the easy way out and just buying you another."


:D

[ZR]

^ Says the single guy. ;)

[92redragtop]

^^^I disagree...

"Honey, I love you so much, look how hard I worked at taking this apart and putting it back together for you if only to have it work for you for just a few more days each time, instead of taking the easy way out and just buying you another."


:D

Yeah the putting money down on the table does have brownie points associated with it but there's a bigger premium to rolling your sleeves up and fixing stuff (especially if it's not in your general area of expertise or everyday activity - you'll look like superman!).


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/rimohamed/General/108981-106718_zps4ivm0h8p.gif (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/rimohamed/media/General/108981-106718_zps4ivm0h8p.gif.html)






Of course if the initial fix doesn't work you gotta move fast to buy the brownie points the cash way.

[Redfire427]

Get yourself a Mac/Macbook Pro and never look back. A little pricey, but a fantastic investment.

Carmen

[Rino]

Try this trick. Take the battery out and have it plugged in, with the charger.Turn it on and then once its on, turn it off with the power button,"Holding" the power button down for at least 1min.Once you press the the power button, don't let go,for at least a min.Plug power cord in and turn on.I know it sounds stupid but try it.Also would look up the model and see if others have had the same issues.Maybe some one has figured out the problem and a solution.

[baddbullitt]

Get yourself a Mac/Macbook Pro and never look back. A little pricey, but a fantastic investment.

Carmen

This!!! Can't go wrong with a Mac!! Might be pricey, but well worth the investment.. I have a MacBook air and love it.. Also have an iMac as well (that needs a to go tot he repair shop) but it's a 2008 so it doesn't owe me anything at this point..

[Scrape]

I am still using my Mac Mini from 2009! It is on all the time since I bought it. Never shut it off and works like a clock.
This!!! Can't go wrong with a Mac!! Might be pricey, but well worth the investment.. I have a MacBook air and love it.. Also have an iMac as well (that needs a to go tot he repair shop) but it's a 2008 so it doesn't owe me anything at this point..

[92redragtop]

Try this trick. Take the battery out and have it plugged in, with the charger.Turn it on and then once its on, turn it off with the power button,"Holding" the power button down for at least 1min.Once you press the the power button, don't let go,for at least a min.Plug power cord in and turn on.I know it sounds stupid but try it.Also would look up the model and see if others have had the same issues.Maybe some one has figured out the problem and a solution.

There are google results and videos about it (Dell 15Z 5523 black screen and 3 beeps) - common theme is motherboard although some claim they've resolved it (not sure if it was a long term fix or short term). In my case, it seems a short term fix as the problem recurs.

[92redragtop]

I am still using my Mac Mini from 2009! It is on all the time since I bought it. Never shut it off and works like a clock.

With Apple like other brands you'll always find users who have great experience as well as those not so good. My iPhone 6 battery started to crap out about 3 months past the one year warranty period and Apple said "too bad" even though they have extended the warranty for the same issue in other countries. I have never had other Dell laptops fail even though they were used for 6 plus years and I even drove over an IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad, pulled the hard drive out of the mangled/twisted bent machine and popped it into another Thinkpad to copy all my files to a backup drive.

I find the price difference between PC and MAC hard to justify so haven't pulled the trigger that way over the years (BTW, buying a Mac or PC isn't an investment).

[swalt]

Have seen a lot of Dells that corrupt the OS when the cmos battery dies. Keeps looping at startup. Wipe the hard drive and reload the OS and see if that resolves your issue.


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