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Is it worth fixing my laptop?
I have an Alienware 14 Gaming Laptop, that was purchased 3 years ago (Dec 2013). Recently the laptop fell off a table and got damaged. I was wondering if these things are worth repairing and if so can/should I go through Alienware or a local computer repair shop? I never purchased the extended warranty either.
Damages:
- The input for charging it was bent and the cord no longer fits to charge it
- Track pad isn't functioning (This is lower priority)
Thanks,
Leif
beamermt79
2.3K Posts
1
December 15th, 2016 11:00
They could possibly fix the charging port but it being attached to the motherboard Dell will probably charge you for a new motherboard and the labor. A local computer place could possibly re-bend it back into place. Also the trackpad cable could have popped out and just needs to be reseated back in.
5thAlien17
35 Posts
2
December 18th, 2016 12:00
Buy a replacement port and solder it into place. Buy 35 watt soldering iron, solder, solder wick, and a grounding wrist strap, then Google how to disassemble your laptop. You can find case parts and other things on eBay and through different retailers online just Google search.
s0manythings
2 Posts
0
November 12th, 2017 12:00
Sorry for following up so late, but thank you very much for the responses. I ended up taking the laptop into a local place to get fixed and the power input and track pad were replaced for $190 for parts and labor; However, im starting to see a deteriorating speed on the laptop, with everything lagging heavily. It's running windows 10, so i decided to go back to windows 7, but when trying to install 7 it wasn't able to detect any hard drives to install the OS to. I ran a Diagnostic and got the below error message regarding my hard drive.
Error Code 2000-0142
Validation 116080
Msg: Hard Drive 0 - S/N WD-WXM1E83MPV01. Short self test unsuccessful
Do you potentially know if this is something worth fixing? I'd rather not purchase a new laptop if this is fixable for less than a few hundred, but I don't wanna sink money into a sinking ship either
Thanks!
-Leif
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
1
November 12th, 2017 15:00
If this laptop has a conventional spinning hard-disk-drive ... if the fall didn't damage it or shorten its life-span ... maybe old age just caught-up with it (they don't last forever).
Another good HDD test program is PassMark's (free) DiskCheckup
PassMark DiskCheckup - SMART hard drive monitoring utility
If you have to replace the HDD, I suggest a SSD. You might have to give-up some space to keep it affordable, but for Windows, programs, and a few games ... a 240-256gb one should be fine. However, now-days, a 512gb might not be that much more money. Laptop will also boot and run programs faster (probably even faster and generally snappier than when new).
If you get a new laptop in a couple of years, you can maybe grab this SSD back-out and use it for new computer somehow.