Problems with laptop/ebay/ebay seller

[Battlesmurf]

Alrighty- so I wanted to help a friend's fiance out. Her laptop would power up for 5 seconds, shut off for 4 and repeat. I checked the memory, power supply, etc. Looked on the net- fairly common problem dealing with the motherboard/cpu (think along the lines of Xbox 360 and whatnot).

So I purchase a motherboard (on eBay- from someone with lots of feedback, not many negs). I keep hassling them, they give me the run around, about 1 1/2 months later I get a refund when I start calling them every hour. This transaction is done and over with. (The questions are coming up)

So I try again. I find a 100% positive feedback (1500 feedback) seller who repairs motherboards. $125 (but I have to ship- so about $30 to ship it out there). I was quoted at 3-5 days (business days) turnaround. They received the laptop on the 6th. I *just* received it today. IT DOES NOT WORK. Same exact issues that it had when I sent it out to them. They are terrible with communication- but until today had zero negatives (they have one now from someone else). I have been able to get in touch with them over the phone, though.

Basically- the guy said he'd email me a shipping label (when I threw up a stink about having to spend another $30 to re-ship the thing back there- originally he wanted me to send it out on my own dime- very silly considering I opened the package, tried to power it up, and called him on the spot informing him that it does not work). I have not received the label (it's been about 1 hr 30 minutes since I got off the phone with him). I was told he was "sending a label" while I was on the phone with him.

What do you guys think? If I file a Paypal claim- will I get the money back (considering ? Do I take my chances and re-send the thing (He assured me it would be expedited- but I have little faith as I was told the first time that it would only take 3-5 business days to begin with and it took about a month- and even then only because I called so much!). What I don't want to happen is for the seller to get burned out and keep the laptop- then I'd be out much more than the $160 I have into repairs so far.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Sounds like a nightmare trying to get your friend's laptop fixed. Would it be easier to take said laptop to a local PC repair shop and if any problems arise, get it taken care promptly? Seems like you're getting shafted big time going the eBay route.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Ed Oscuro]

What do you guys think?

I've looked at upgrading PCs, toyed with the thought for a long time, even looking seriously at the options for upgrading laptop GPUs. I always found it's better to move on to a newer solution entirely.

This is a slightly different situation, but this still was a bad idea. Even if you weren't playing roulette with a minimum of $125 on the table, it makes more sense to look at a different notebook or (ideally) a different type of computing device altogether, if appropriate.

The fact that the motherboard being defective is a common problem with this model should have been reason enough not to go through this, putting yourself out (always nice when it works, but can strain relationships when it fails, as I've found with tech support stuff to be the case), ultimately giving them false hopes when that money should be going towards a complete replacement. Even if it works for a while, odds are it'll just fail again - either because they are letting it overheat, or because the thing, like all laptops, is wildly designed with precise parts and paradoxically low tolerances. Economically, the $125 is being thrown away after outmoded technology instead of moving further along the curve. An ultracompact might not have the nicest screen for reading but $125 will get you most of the way there - and heating issues won't be as much of an issue.

It's not to me to dictate what the user's needs are, but it does make sense to rethink the problem, instead of setting up the problem to happen again at a probably even more inconvenient time.

The only examples I could think of involving the need for a laptop motherboard swap were farcical, and either involved businesses with an inflexible hardware setup, encryption inappropriately dependent on "high end" laptop "features" like biometric scanners (I bet a motherboard swap with TPMs wouldn't work though, unless you could desolder one, LOL), or reliance on vendor-supplied malware that only worked on a specific model...all these seem pretty far-fetched.

I'd salvage what I could from the laptop - sell the bare chassis on eBay to somebody who needs it Save the hard drive if it's any good and you can put it in an enclosure (if it's SATA anyway; the notebook I'm typing on is out of warranty but also features e-SATA ports).

[ED-057]

I'd be skeptical of any talk about repairing a laptop motherboard. They're such complex beasts lately, I'm guessing anyone that has the skill level to troubleshoot one and handle BGA parts and the like is not selling their services on eBay for $125. If a new motherboard is what you need then I would be on the lookout for another of the same model being sold cheaply due to a cracked screen/etc. and then salvage the motherboard from there. Or just scrap it as Ed suggests.

(On the subject of BGA parts... I want my ULV Banias replaced with a Dothan, my 855PM chipset replaced with the newer revision, and my Mobility Radeon 7500 replaced with a 9000)