Broke Laptop, repair or buy new?

The Laptop is about 5 yrs old. It's a compaq, the battery cord would get really hot when it was plugged in and the battery wouldn't hold a charge. If the fan wasn't exposed it would get hot and shut down. Now I can't get it to boot up all the way, it gets stuck on the black screen. Would it be an easy fix our should I buy a new one. Also all my pics from the last 5 years are on it and I would hate to lose them. Other than the overheating and shutting down problem I never had issues with it.

 

Could be a pretty easy fix, but unless you know someone who can do it for you it will probably cost a good bit. I'd look into possibly just getting a new one. If you get one at a physical store I think some places will transfer files and such over for you(assuming the hard drive is still good and accessible).

 

The chargers are known for going bad from my experience anyway. I have replaced them with the cheapo's on Ebay for about 20 bucks. They are usually 100 from the manufacturer. You can buy batteries on there too, haven't had any experience with them and wouldn't invest too much into a laptop past 4-5 years old anyway. I would however take the battery out since it's getting hot if you get a charger, maybe try taking it out first and see what happens? But it sounds like you may have bigger issues. Might be worth investing for the charger for your pics on the chance it works that is. That would be the only reason I would invest in it though. You can get some great deals for black Friday if you want to fight the crowds. Good luck!

My bad, just reread. Cord is getting hot. So it's the cord or the box attached to it? The box does get warm, that is normal.

 

Buy a new one... There are really good deals this time of year. You will be surprised at what $450 will get you. You will wonder why you put up with your old one for so long.

 

Buy a new one................... in this time all laptop are cheap... go get a new one.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0375171

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230165

 

Well since its 5 yrs old i say get a new one, the thing is obsolete anyways

 

The Box gets super hot. I took the battery out and left it plugged in and it still wouldn't turn on. I'm pretty sure the hard drive should be fine. Can the files be recovered even if it won't turn on? Sucks cuz it ran fine until it got hot then one day it wouldn't come on. 400 would be the absolute top of my price range....i got a truck to fix up

 

Yeah But buying used you don't know what your getting or how it was treated and if theres any issues with it that don't show up immediately them I'm sol. So it's either fix this one or get a new one. It's never had a virus or anything just got ridiculously hot.

 

You can get one of this, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119152
take your hard drive out from your old laptop, and hook up the usb adaptor to your new laptop, and copy whatever you need.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&N=100006740 4019&IsNodeId=1&name=$300 - $400

I hope this help.

 

Try buying a can of compressed air and blowing out the fan exhaust and intake ports. After 5 years, it's probably caked with dust/fur/hair, etc. If you can get past the post screen that says HP, start pressing F8. See if you can get in via safe mode. Once in, you can retrieve your pictures. Once you get your pics off, try reloading it with the factory image if available or a fresh install of Windows. Worst case scenario you can pull the hard drive and have a shop retrieve the pics or buy a USB to hard drive converter like this one and do it yourself.

My laptop is nearly 8 years old and she still runs like day 1. Old doesn't mean its trash.

 

You can get a pretty alright NEW laptop for ~$400. Just won't be brand new super fast newest etc etc. It'll be a new laptop, just with parts that are 2 years old. It'll be new to you, what do you care?

If the laptop was fairly new, I'd say repair. But 5 year old Compaq? Replace.

 

Awesome I think I will do that. I done need a fancy new one,i just need something to get on the internet with,i don't play computer games.

 

Whats a good brand?

 

I did that, even removed the back, it was surprisingly clean for a 5yr old laptop. I take care of my stuff. when I turn it on, it doesn't even make it to a Screen, just barely starts then gets stuck and the scroll and caps lock light start flashing.

 

I have found Lenovo and HP laptops for under 400 when I signed up for RapidBuyr. It send you a "special Deal" every day. The last laptop I saw was and HP business class laptop for 349. Frys has some good deals as well. As with any laptop, I recommend the 3 year warranty, be it onsite or not.

As for the recovery of files, I just had to do this today. As the hard drive is good, you can buy an adapter for the drive to plug it into a USB port, or a spare IDE or SATA channel on a desktop PC. Which type depends on the drive type in your existing laptop. If you go the route to make it a secondary drive on a PC, it is a simple drag and drop to a thumb drive, or removable drive.

Good luck. you can PM me if you need assistance.

 

I have found Lenovo and HP laptops for under 400 when I signed up for RapidBuyr. It send you a "special Deal" every day. The last laptop I saw was and HP business class laptop for 349. Frys has some good deals as well. As with any laptop, I recommend the 3 year warranty, be it onsite or not.

As for the recovery of files, I just had to do this today. As the hard drive is good, you can buy an adapter for the drive to plug it into a USB port, or a spare IDE or SATA channel on a desktop PC. Which type depends on the drive type in your existing laptop. If you go the route to make it a secondary drive on a PC, it is a simple drag and drop to a thumb drive, or removable drive.

Good luck. you can PM me if you need assistance.