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Skip to the bold if you want don't want to read the boring story part of this post.


Basically, over the last 2 years, my laptop has been slowly falling apart. This is a list of things wrong with it:
-Left hinge, is very close to coming off, with the paneling popping up every time I open it
-The thing that holds the screen to the laptop base has a major crack
-The section at the back where the hot air is pupped out, the grill has bee cracked and is missing numerous bars
-The cover of the CD tray has popped off, meaning whenever I want to open the CD tray, I have to do it from inside explorer
-The lack of cover on the CD tray has left very sharp pieces of metal exposed, one of which, sliced my finger open pretty badly.
-The popper on the expansion port is constantly out due to the fact that the spring inside has broken. And constantly gets caught going in and out of my bag
-The rubber padding on the mouse buttons, has completely come off, meaning the buttons have a about a 5mm hollow in them to where they should be.
-The LED indicating whether or not the mousepad is switched on/off is broken
-The feet on the base off the laptop have broken off, meaning whenever its on a flat surface, i either have to prop it up on a book, or it over heats
-The media card reader has ceased working

Then, today, I came home tried to open my laptop and it wouldn't open. Found that the latch was stuck on one side and that it was impossible to open. I tried to pry it open, but to no avail as it would simply ripped the paneling off and that would never be good.
I ended up removing the whole bottom casing (losing a screw in the process), and still not being able to open it.
So i turned to google, and found that other people had the same problem, one saying that he had to cut the latch with pliers(which wasn't possible for me, as I couldn't open the lid enough to cut the metal hook), and another saying that he used a paper wedge to push it open.
Needless to say, 2 hours later after removing the hard drive, the ram, the network card, and everything single screw that existed in the laptop, and STILL not being able to remove the bottom paneling due to there being screw underneath the area where the lid was. I FINALLY managed to get it open, using a mixture of paper clips, a screw driver, a pen knife, a usb drive and a section of my zune dock (don't ask). Put it all back together, very surprised that it still worked, made me giggle as it booted up from hibernate like nothing had ever happened, even thought pretty much everything had been remove.

So, my laptop is coming to the end of its life, I want to upgrade the ram, but know eventually it will fall to pieces and I will need to buy a new laptop.
Right now, my laptop is crucial, as I have a lot of typed worked that needs doing. But next year, I'm going to be living alone (or with my GF depending on what boarding arrangements are at her Uni), working to get enough money to rent a flat (somewhere in the UK, Bristol/Chichester/Nottingham/Bath, but thats another story.
I have about 450 pounds (around 900$ if the exchange is good), and a spare 80 euros lying around (from my time in Belgium this Christmas, maybe another 150$?). However I was planning on using this to help me get started next year. But, it's come to the point where this laptop is on its last legs.

Do I live everyday expecting the laptop to blow up or fall to pieces, or do I just buy a new one, cheap in the US before I move back to the UK, where laptops are a lot more expensive, and hope that my current laptop will last me another year or 2? I'm by no means a retard when it comes to computers, I know my stuff, however theres only so much a man can do.

My laptop:

How long is it before you move? If it's under warranty, maybe you could get it fixed before you move back. If you can get it repaired, it should come up much cheaper then buying a new laptop altogether. You'd just need to back everything up in case they wipe your HDD.

Worse come to worse, I'd go with getting the new computer if it's that vital.

Compaq ? Every time I have come in contact with a Compaq I wanted to self inflict pain upon my eyes.

Buy a new one A.S.A.P.

Necrobat wrote:How long is it before you move? If it's under warranty, maybe you could get it fixed before you move back. If you can get it repaired, it should come up much cheaper then buying a new laptop altogether. You'd just need to back everything up in case they wipe your HDD.

Worse come to worse, I'd go with getting the new computer if it's that vital.

When I bought, it my dad insisted on buying the circuit city 3 year warranty (I refused, but he insisted >_>). The hinge first had a problem, after bout 8 months, went into circuit city asking them to fix it, and they refused, as they said they don't fix physical damage (300$ for a 3 year plan, to find out they don't even fix physical damage, what do they fix? Software damage? Any retard can reformat their computer >_>...anyway). So as it was still within the 1 year warranty with Compaq, I sent it off, they fixed it without complaint, and it was back to within 2 days (Yes, 2 days).

So repairing, isn't really a viable option

My GF wants me to buy a new laptop, just because of the amount of issues I have with this one, but it's easy for her to say that, when her dad buys her a $4,000 sony vaio, because her year old laptop has a teeny crack in the screen.

Crumpets wrote:Compaq ? Every time I have come in contact with a Compaq I wanted to self inflict pain upon my eyes.

Buy a new one A.S.A.P.

I actually find their customer support to be quite good, although I did have to send my compaq DESKTOP off 3 time, it always came back within 3/4 days.

Maybe you should contact Compaq and see if you can't get a rough estimate of how much repair costs would be? Though if it's a recurring problem, it would be better to just replace it to avoid those problems again in the future I suppose.

Just get a new labtop you can wake up oneday and find it busted, so just get one now its cheaper in the US (for u sorta)

StealMySoda wrote:
I actually find their customer support to be quite good, although I did have to send my compaq DESKTOP off 3 time, it always came back within 3/4 days.

Ha, yeah I agree their customer support is great. My recovery CD got damaged during a move and after a phone call I got a new CD in the post 4 days later.

But, Compaq hardware in it's self .. is OMFG. I would rather Brush my teeth with a chainsaw than have to sit through bullshit Compaq propaganda on a PC system again.

Crumpets wrote:But, Compaq hardware in it's self .. is OMFG. I would rather Brush my teeth with a chainsaw than have to sit through bullshit Compaq propaganda on a PC system again.

I had the exact same thing with my Acer. I just uninstalled most of it, just keeping the software which runs my quick-launch keys.

Money comes and goes. Think right now. If you are not moving for a while, you have plenty of time to save. Get the laptop, you will thank yourself. A year from now you might not even be dating that girl.

Cereal_Killer wrote:Money comes and goes. Think right now. If you are not moving for a while, you have plenty of time to save. Get the laptop, you will thank yourself. A year from now you might not even be dating that girl.

Either way, I've gotta set myself up to live on my own. My mum wont let me live with her, and my dad will still be living here in the USA, so basically the only reason I'm setting up by her, is because I'm gonna have to do it SOMEWHERE. Fool proof plan.

I'll be moving...in oooh, 3 or 4 months, so really not MUCH time. The only 'income' I have is 50pound a month from my mum. Other than that, I have nothing as I can't work in the US legally.

I'll probably end up sticking it out with this laptop, if it does fall to pieces, I'll buy a new one, if it doesn't fall to bits, then great.

Much love to those that answered

Crumpets wrote:Compaq ? Every time I have come in contact with a Compaq I wanted to self inflict pain upon my eyes.

Buy a new one A.S.A.P.

+1 yes customer service is good, but generally I don't like compaq.

imo compaq and toshiba are the worse quality laptops. I really suggest dell, sony, samsung, HP..there are some better ones, more robust ones. My dell inspiron 2200 is nearly 3 years old, no problems, no scratches.

it really depends on what you need. For serious gaming, you'll probably need at least $1000. if you just need a laptop for school, internet, some average games, just get a dell or something. I heard apple has good software for notetaking and software programming stuff not sure though.

New laptop. If its more cheaper in US then dont risk having to give up other stuff to have to buy a new comp there.

If that makes any sense.

at a laptop it isnt easy to replace hardware cuz of the hardware are almost always made like sticky to each other. imo buy a new laptop is a better thing

theblindarcher wrote:Just get a new labtop

hmmmmm...

My advice is buy a new laptop, you can get a fairly decent one now for $700 that you won't need to upgrade any time soon.

My 2c stay far away from Dell, their customer support and builds have plummeted recently, I've had 3 separate encounters with them that just make me bang my head off the wall This is what happens when family buys computers because of advertising instead of asking someone.

Crumpets wrote:Compaq ? Every time I have come in contact with a Compaq I wanted to self inflict pain upon my eyes.

Buy a new one A.S.A.P.

You read my mind. +1

Dude. youre gettin a DELL.

My desktop ages ago was a compaq presario and I never had any problems with that, still works fine enough to entertain my little sisters. I don't use it anymore cuz I had to get a laptop for school and it's way better. So I would say try to find someone(or maybe you know someone) who buys lots of laptops together for the school or something. A friend of mine did the same at my school and he got to pay about 200 euros less for his laptop (still more than mine which I paid about 600 euros for and works just fine, not the best there is but good enough). I'm sure that you can find a laptop good enough for what you need with around 1000 euros. I hope this helps maybe

OT: I hope you enjoyed your stay in Belgium, did you like the chocolate? :p

sodapoop, i think you should save that money for when you move out. talk with one of your parents (assuming you dont have any credit), most of the computer companies give u the option of monthly payments. if you can convince them that you can pay them the monthly payment i say go for it. but trust me youre going to need that $900 when you move out especially when its just around the corner for you. goodluck!!