Laptop repair - is this expensive?

[Batty]

Hi there.  I have a 2 year old Levovo Yoga which has stopped working.  Computer repair shop say the motherboard and CPU need replacing at a cost of 12,000 baht.  I dont know very much about computers but that seems a tad on the expensive side dosent it?  I paid 26,000 for the lappy 2 years ago, and upgraded the memory for another 4,000 after one year so its a 30,000 baht laptop really.  I told the shop to just go ahead and repair it for that cost but they keep saying its a terrible idea and I should just buy another laptop.  They seem to think because it is 'old' the same problem could happen again in a month or two.  When I asked them why that might happen, they seem unable to answer.

 

Is that right?  Could there be some sort of underlying problem with the laptop that they havent spotted, hence the reason why they think it could break again quickly?  It seems really odd to me, that.  Its annoying that they cant give me an answer and just keep repeating 'old already, maybe soon another problem'

 

Is it possible to buy a used motherboard/cpu from somewhere and if so, is that a good move?  And why are they so insistent that repairing it is a bad idea does anyone know?

 

I coyuld do without spending another 30 grand on a new laptop if i can help it!

 

 

[SteveK]

I've had many laptops, lots have needed repairs but never CPU or motherboard, sounds like rubbish to me unless you've split something sugary on it. It's much more likely that they don't have a clue and quoted a high figure hoping that you'd just buy a new one. They were not expecting you to agree to a 12k repair! 

 

Go to another shop.

Edited August 17, 2020 by SteveK

[johng]

Just now, SteveK said:

It's much more likely that they don't have a clue and quoted a high figure hoping that you'd just buy a new one. They were not expecting you to agree to a 12k repair! 

Yes that seems likely to me too... if they replaced the CPU and motherboard then there would not be much more to go wrong, but still not the best idea..take it somewhere else ( 2 or 3 places) for another opinion first.

[OneMoreFarang]

On some notebooks everything is on the motherboard - also called mainboard. Even if just a small part is damaged mostly the whole mainboard is replaced. And because that is the main part of the notebook it is expensive.

 

Some shops try to use used parts. But it might not be easy to get that part used.

 

Your notebook is 2 years old and other things might stop working and you don't have warranty anymore. So if i.e. the screen stops working or maybe you need a new battery there will be again extra costs.

For that reason many people will buy a new one to have new warranty on the whole new device.

[ezzra]

like with doctors, get a second opinion and a third if you have to...

[Oldie]

"the motherboard and CPU need replacing"

 

The board AND the CPU. Ask somewhere else... 

[scorecard]

15 minutes ago, SteveK said:

I've had many laptops, lots have needed repairs but never CPU or motherboard, sounds like rubbish to me unless you've split something sugary on it. It's much more likely that they don't have a clue and quoted a high figure hoping that you'd just buy a new one. They were not expecting you to agree to a 12k repair! 

 

Go to another shop.

'...and quoted a high figure hoping that you'd just buy a new one."

 

Which could mean the profit margin for the shop if you buy a new one is much better.

 

 

[rvaviator]

When you say - stopped working - What do you mean .. does not even switch on ? Completely dead. no light no nothing ....  (do you know if your power supply is working ?)

 

2 year old ... should not fail... unless its has seen a lot of heat .. or you have twisted the screen back a lot and the internal cable for the screen have broken .....

[dddave]

The OP does not say where he is located but if handy to Bangkok, I'd suggest consulting with PRO-CORNER COMPUTER REPAIR, 3rd floor of Fortune Tower.  Totally reliable and above board, excellent English spoken, closed Sundays.  I have been recommending this shop for years and have never gotten any negative feedback.

 

[OneMoreFarang]

7 minutes ago, Oldie said:

"the motherboard and CPU need replacing"

 

The board AND the CPU. Ask somewhere else... 

And how exactly to you replace a CPU without socket?

Solder a new one in? 555

 

(I googled for Lenovo Yoga, I am not sure if that is the motherboard)

 

[dddave]

7 minutes ago, Oldie said:

"the motherboard and CPU need replacing"

 

The board AND the CPU. Ask somewhere else... 

Note what "OneMoreFarang" correctly pointed out: on compact machines such as the OP's, the motherboard and CPU are frequently one unit.   Seems to me the repair shop is being prudent and giving good advice not to spend such a large amount when the real cause is unknown and could re-occur.

[OneMoreFarang]

I think the comments here are amazing.

If one of the main parts (mainboard or screen) in a notebook needs to be replaced then almost any shop will recommend a new notebook. Because if that thing is two years old then the replacement cost is probably more than 60% of a new notebook.

It's like a total write off car. It can be repaired but it often does not make much sense.

[milys]

17 minutes ago, SteveK said:

I've had many laptops, lots have needed repairs but never CPU or motherboard, sounds like rubbish to me unless you've split something sugary on it. It's much more likely that they don't have a clue and quoted a high figure hoping that you'd just buy a new one. They were not expecting you to agree to a 12k repair! 

 

Go to another shop.

I agree with SteveK. That sounds like a lot of BS. I've also had several laptops and replacement of the motherboard and CPU has never been necessary. It's also hardly unlikely that the CPU and motherboard failed to work at the same time. And NO there can not be any underlying problem. CPU and motherboard are already most of the laptop. It's probably something much easier/cheaper. Take your business to another shop that knows what they are doing and talking about.

[Batty]

Wow, fantastic replies and advice from you all here, thanks so much.  Christ this forum is so handy sometimes isnt it.

 

Just a little more info - basicly the laptop just froze one day.  I was using a word document, and it froze.  I am useless with computers really so I dont know if this was the right thing to do, but I ran a disk clean up and disk defrag (it didnt freeze while doing that) then ran a virus check using bitdefender.  On the virus check it would freeze at 4% complete each time.  Looking at the dialogue box with bitdefender, it was stuck on something about 'checking cdrive/outlook/trojan/blahblahblah'.  The 'trojan' bit was alarming so i just figured I had a virus, and took it to a local computer repair shop in my home town, Udon Thani.  The bloke at this shop said no problem, probably just a virus, ill have it back to you tomorow.  4 days later he calls and says 'problem with cdrive'.  Go ahead and do what you need to do, I said.  Tomorow, again, he said.  5 days later he calls and says 'now canot turn on, black screen, maybe motherboard, need to order part from Bangkok 2 weeks'.  I told him to jog on and pulled my laptop out of there.  So when I took it in, it at least turned on (and froze after a few seconds) but when i took it out, it was the black screen of doom.  I asked the guy why my laptop was suddenly black screen when it wasnt 9 days prior, and he just shrugged and then, bizzarely, tried to sell me a CCTV package for my house, completley unprompted.  Imagine that in your home country.  Imagine taking your car into the garage for a new exhaust, and then when you go to collect it the garage says 'oh yeh, turns out you need a new engine for $5000 and by the way, would you be interested in also buying a 16 camera CCTV package for your home'.  It wouldnt happen, would it.  This place is so bizzare sometimes.

 

So then I took it to the local IT mall.  Its like Pantip in BKK, only a bit sh1tty.  Five floors of computer shops, with each one looking extremely devoid of customers or purpose.  The only shop in the entire place with customers was a printer repair shop, and I suspect that owes to the entire back wall of the shop covered floor to ceiling in naked blonde glamour models, for some reason.  I took it to the shop i purchased the laptop from only to find out the warranty litteraly expired 2 days prior.  If the previous shop hadnt messed me around for days, I would have made the warranty.  To be honest, I thought the warranty was only one year in the first place.  Turns out it was two.  I know laptops do take abuse over time but this one hasnt been over-used in any way.  I would guess on average a few hours per day over 2 years, and I have never spilt anything on it, dropped it or anythign like that.  it just sits on my desk.

 

So thats where we are.  I am going to take the laptop out of this second shop and try another.  There is a banana IT at the local Central, I'll take it there.  I wont mention anything about previous attempts to repair it, i'll just tell them it stopped working and see what they say.

 

I might be biting off more than I can chew here - but if it turns out to be the motherboard/cpu, if I find out the spec needed is there somewhere I could order from online?

[taotoo]

Send it to Lenovo. If it is the motherboard + cpu then presumably they will quote you 20,000 to fix it (or maybe it'll only be 8,000). Or maybe they'll send you a refurbished one by return at a fixed price. Maybe they'll charge you 500 baht for the inspection. If it's 20,000 then try another independent place, but first see if you can find out the wholesale price for the part to see if it's worth bothering with.

Edited August 17, 2020 by taotoo

[userabcd]

I have the same, a dell inspiron notebook purchased new 5 years ago for 30000 baht and the screen suddenly blacked out. Did some tests and got the 8 beeps which indicated the screen or graphics on the motherboard had failed (don't know which) Connecting an external monitor also did not work. Noticed just before the screen blacked out there were a few small ants running around on my keyboard so maybe one of them short circuited something.

 

Anyway now the notebook is completely dead and expect any repair would be costly and replacement parts would not be warrantied for long.

 

It may be better to just buy a cheaper new notebook.

Edited August 17, 2020 by userabcd

[kekalot]

4 minutes ago, taotoo said:

Send it to Lenovo. If it is the motherboard + cpu then presumably they will quote you 20,000 to fix it (or maybe it'll only be 8,000). Or maybe they'll send you a refurbished one by return at a fixed price. Maybe they'll charge you 500 baht for the inspection. If it's 20,000 then try another independent place, but first see if you can find out the wholesale price for the part to see if it's worth bothering with.

yeah even out of warranty I reckon you would get better service through them.. if they even do that kind of replacement/refurbs (they probably do)

 

I'm not a laptop person at all, don't like em but I bought a perfectly good laptop for 11,500

 

it's probably not as good as yours is but I'd be wary of paying about half the worth of a device (2 year laptop) just for repairs

it might work for a while and then just break and you will get the same shrugs as you got from the "it worked before, now black screen" situation if it stops working in 10 days.

 

only to be replaced with, "it worked when you left the shop"

[Henryford]

Your first mistake was buying Chinese <deleted>. Just scrap it and buy a decent laptop.

[time2093]

11 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Your first mistake was buying Chinese <deleted>. Just scrap it and buy a decent laptop.

Aren't majority of laptops made in China?....Name a decent laptop.

Edited August 17, 2020 by time2093

[tomazbodner]

18 minutes ago, Batty said:

Wow, fantastic replies and advice from you all here, thanks so much.  Christ this forum is so handy sometimes isnt it.

 

Just a little more info - basicly the laptop just froze one day.  I was using a word document, and it froze.  I am useless with computers really so I dont know if this was the right thing to do, but I ran a disk clean up and disk defrag (it didnt freeze while doing that) then ran a virus check using bitdefender.  On the virus check it would freeze at 4% complete each time.  Looking at the dialogue box with bitdefender, it was stuck on something about 'checking cdrive/outlook/trojan/blahblahblah'.  The 'trojan' bit was alarming so i just figured I had a virus, and took it to a local computer repair shop in my home town, Udon Thani.  The bloke at this shop said no problem, probably just a virus, ill have it back to you tomorow.  4 days later he calls and says 'problem with cdrive'.  Go ahead and do what you need to do, I said.  Tomorow, again, he said.  5 days later he calls and says 'now canot turn on, black screen, maybe motherboard, need to order part from Bangkok 2 weeks'.  I told him to jog on and pulled my laptop out of there.  So when I took it in, it at least turned on (and froze after a few seconds) but when i took it out, it was the black screen of doom.  I asked the guy why my laptop was suddenly black screen when it wasnt 9 days prior, and he just shrugged and then, bizzarely, tried to sell me a CCTV package for my house, completley unprompted.  Imagine that in your home country.  Imagine taking your car into the garage for a new exhaust, and then when you go to collect it the garage says 'oh yeh, turns out you need a new engine for $5000 and by the way, would you be interested in also buying a 16 camera CCTV package for your home'.  It wouldnt happen, would it.  This place is so bizzare sometimes.

 

So then I took it to the local IT mall.  Its like Pantip in BKK, only a bit sh1tty.  Five floors of computer shops, with each one looking extremely devoid of customers or purpose.  The only shop in the entire place with customers was a printer repair shop, and I suspect that owes to the entire back wall of the shop covered floor to ceiling in naked blonde glamour models, for some reason.  I took it to the shop i purchased the laptop from only to find out the warranty litteraly expired 2 days prior.  If the previous shop hadnt messed me around for days, I would have made the warranty.  To be honest, I thought the warranty was only one year in the first place.  Turns out it was two.  I know laptops do take abuse over time but this one hasnt been over-used in any way.  I would guess on average a few hours per day over 2 years, and I have never spilt anything on it, dropped it or anythign like that.  it just sits on my desk.

 

So thats where we are.  I am going to take the laptop out of this second shop and try another.  There is a banana IT at the local Central, I'll take it there.  I wont mention anything about previous attempts to repair it, i'll just tell them it stopped working and see what they say.

 

I might be biting off more than I can chew here - but if it turns out to be the motherboard/cpu, if I find out the spec needed is there somewhere I could order from online?

After reading this, I'd make my guess...

 

Freezing generally means one of 3 things: broken RAM, error on HDD/SSD or overheat (broken fans or alike). RAM isn't soldered onboard as you state you upgraded it - so that could be easily tested. Changing the drive and reinstalling OS could confirm if HDD/SSD is broken (though the connectors would also need to be examined as sometimes it's not drive but cables/solder joints of connectors). Finally the fans can also be inspected.

 

I'd say that your original repair shop messed with the notebook and may have broken something on the motherboard. Now why in laptops, especially thin/light laptops replacing motherboard also means replacing CPU is that often they are soldered on board and not socketed, hence can't be easily removed/resoldered, without some very specialised equipment most repair shops don't have.

 

It may make no difference whether you tell them that someone messed with it or not. They'll know anyway - "Warranty void if broken" stickers would have been broken or removed. And it's now out of warranty anyway so you'll be paying for whatever parts are required to fix it.

 

But I'd suggest you pay that 500 baht for inspection first and ask them to tell you the quote first before fixing it. If the original repair guy toasted mainboard, you're in for much of the cost of a new one. It makes no sense repairing in that case. Data is already lost and that's the only thing worth saving from it.

 

Get a new Dell or HP, at least higher end models that don't cost so much more than you got quoted repair for, come with 3 years of onsite warranty. For thin and light, my personal favourite is Envy with Ryzen7 3700 processor, although it comes with only 2 years onsite warranty. https://www.bnn.in.th/notebook/notebook/hp-notebook/hp-notebook-envy-x360-13-ar0007au-a-193808808548

 

[Oldie]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And how exactly to you replace a CPU without socket?

Solder a new one in? 555

 

(I googled for Lenovo Yoga, I am not sure if that is the motherboard)

 

The statement of this repair company does not make any sense already. He should go to an authorized service center or send it directly to Lenovo. No guarantee that you do not get cheated there but less likely. Ask them for a cost estimate first. 

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Oldie

[Oldie]

1 hour ago, dddave said:

Note what "OneMoreFarang" correctly pointed out: on compact machines such as the OP's, the motherboard and CPU are frequently one unit.   Seems to me the repair shop is being prudent and giving good advice not to spend such a large amount when the real cause is unknown and could re-occur.

With a broken motherboard it is very hard to tell what else is broken. The statement just was not very qualified and better look at an other place then. The repair might not be more qualified... 

[transam]

https://www.lenovo.com/th/th/data-center/services/support/

[tgw]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I think the comments here are amazing.

If one of the main parts (mainboard or screen) in a notebook needs to be replaced then almost any shop will recommend a new notebook. Because if that thing is two years old then the replacement cost is probably more than 60% of a new notebook.

It's like a total write off car. It can be repaired but it often does not make much sense.

as far as cheap laptops or apple laptops or similarly built (compact) ones are concerned, yes.

 

in a few days, I will proceed to remove my laptop's CPU and GPU heatsinks and reseat CPU and GPU with new thermal paste.

 

my laptop is not light, but it's more powerful than your desktop and runs RAID-1 for the system volume (SSD) and I can service it myself without any specialized tools.

 

consider Clevo/Kapok/Sager laptops if you want long service life, flexibility, configurability and serviceability.

Edited August 17, 2020 by tgw

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, tgw said:

my laptop is not light, but it's more powerful than your desktop

My CPU runs with 4.5GHz, how about yours? ???? 

[tgw]

3 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

My CPU runs with 4.5GHz, how about yours? ???? 

 

ah, it's about the same, 4.40 GHz eight core. but it's five years old.

Edited August 17, 2020 by tgw

[Oldie]

One last thing. If your notebook should be really beyond repair think that the hard drive still can be used. It still holds all the data. Take it out. You can use it as external hard drive. If there are confidential data on it and you want to throw it away destroy it. Also take memory out if you added additional memory. Perhaps you can use it at a new notebook. 

[tonray]

19 hours ago, Batty said:

Wow, fantastic replies and advice from you all here, thanks so much.  Christ this forum is so handy sometimes isnt it.

Laptops we can do...post about your GF and you'll still get skewered....

[chrisinth]

I would certainly get a second opinion on the mainboard/CPU failure you have been given. I have a Yoga, about 3 years old now and that came as standard with an NVMe M.2 SSD, I think it was 256GB(?). You stated earlier that you ran defrag on your drive; generally this is not recommended for SSDs and there is a possibility that de-fragging has upset the SSDs structure. If you have the resources you could try changing the SSD board out (or ask a computer shop if they have a spare one lying about) and see if you get a boot. Alternatively, remove the drive and test on another machine using an adapter

 

The same would go for the RAM; first try cleaning the contacts and re-seat or remove and try another RAM board. Also have the power supply checked. If the mainboard is indeed fried then almost certainly something power related has happened.

 

That said, you would expect a repair shop to have done all that already. The Yoga is a sweet little machine, IMO, worth taking the extra steps before writing it off completely.

Edited August 18, 2020 by chrisinth

[Batty]

Thanks everyone for the replies - much appreciated.  I took it to a third shop who asked to leave it with them for a few days.  He opened the laptop and showed me the mainboard, pointing to a small black chip in the middle - no idea at all what this chip is or why he singled it out, but he seems to think if this chip can be replaced/repaired, we are good to go for 1800 baht and the laptop will work.  If it cant be repaired/replaced, the whole motherboard needs swapping out for around 10,000 Baht.  The CPU is actually part of the main board on this laptop he said.  His opinion is much the same as you guys really, he thinks if it needs a new main board its probably better just to bite the bullet and fork out for a new laptop.  he dosent sell laptops, so has no motivation to say that I guess.  

 

I guess I will just go ahead and buy a new laptop if it cant be fixed.  Even if I do repair it, its only worth doing if I want to keep it for another 2 or 3 years and by that time it will be a 6 year old laptop.  

 

Ill see what he says.  As another poster suggested, I have lined up the HP X360 fo 24K.  Seems like a cracking machine so i will just go ahead and buy one, if we cant get the current laptop sorted for 1800 baht.

 

Thanks again for all your advice, much appreciated!