Should I Repair My Laptop Or Buy A New One

When deciding whether to repair or replace your laptop, there are often many factors to consider (i.e., age, price, personal preference). However, the overall condition of your computer and the potential price of repair can help make this decision crystal clear. In short, if the cost of repair is over half the cost of a new laptop, consider getting a replacement.

should i repair my laptop or buy a new one

In short, you should expect to pay at least $100 for replacement and installation. And if a bad hard drive is only one of several problems with your laptop, repairs may surpass the cost of a new device. In which case, you might want to consider replacing your computer altogether.

How long will the repairs take? Repair shops may be unable to turn your laptop around for a week or longer. The next questions are for you to answer: Can you live that long without a computer? Can you borrow another one until yours is fixed?

Will they back up your hard drive before making repairs? Some shops do this without your asking. Or they may perform a backup for an additional cost. But to be safe, back up your important files (if possible) before taking the laptop to the shop.

How secure is the shop? Small computer repair shops are sometimes targeted by thieves. One day after my partner, Nick, took his laptop to a local repair shop, the store was broken into. His was one of several computers stolen. This raises another question.

New Rugged Laptops: Panasonic introduced new models in its rugged Toughbook line of laptops. Among the models is the Toughbook F8 weighs 3.7 pounds, has a 14.1 inch-wide display, an integrated handle for easier portability, and a 160GB shock-mounted hard drive. The smaller Toughbook W8 weighs about 3 pounds, features a 12.1-inch display and reportedly has a battery life of seven hours. Panasonic also announced the Toughbook T8 tablet PC. All will be available in November.

Remember though, if you repair a broken laptop, you will still have a laptop that is an older model and probably out of warranty. New laptops that have a lot of features, and the latest software, are available from $400 for a Windows based system. Mac laptops are start at about $1,000 and go up in price from there so the decisions are a little different for repair versus replace for Macs.

If your PC laptop can be repaired for less than 50% of the cost of replacing it, it's probably OK to repair if it's 1-2 years old. If your laptop is 3 years old or older, a replacement is probably better since there is a higher likelihood that you'll need to replace it within a few years. Laptops just take more wear and tear than desktops but I have seen some that have lasted 5-6 years.

Mac laptops are a different issue. If you're no longer under warranty, your labor is going to be the same for almost any repair, but the parts costs for Macs are usually higher than those for a PC, with the exception of the hard disk drive, which uses industry standard disk drives for Intel based Mac models.

If you can, get a diagnostic from a technician who can advise you on the best course of action. It's worth investing in a diagnostic call to see if your laptop can be repaired and to get an idea of the parts cost. Then you can make a smarter decision about repair versus replacement. (For netbooks, a replacement is always the best course, since they are almost non-repairable items).

Laptops take more wear and tear than desktops. Computers and sensitive electronics really don't like to be banged around much. Remember, if a repair is going to cost 50% or more than the cost of replacing, it's not worth doing, because you'll still have an older laptop when you're done. Also, if your laptop is 4 years old or older, you're better off replacing since you'll only get a year or two of use out of it even after the repair since something else is likely to wear out.

Here's a quick reference guide to some common laptop items and my recommendations for going ahead with the repair. It's not cast in stone however, and your decision will be based on the prices quoted from your local repair technician, which can vary quite a bit.

Prices for electronics usually come down in price and chances are you can get a better laptop for the same money you paid for yours, or even for less. Then you'll have a new one with the latest software (saving you upgrade costs) and a new warranty, along with better performance.

I bought it brand new in August 2012. 7 years later it is still running well, but it is kinda slow when i'm running more than 4 programs. as an aspiring web developer, i'll need a laptop that is fast and can run 4-5 programs smoothly, especially when i'll be compiling code. thus i'm wondering if it'll be enough to just fix the problems below, or should i fix it and also upgrade certain parts (tell me which parts), or would it be more feasible to just buy a new laptop?

i don't think i'll be too worried about that. i just would like the laptop to last for 3-4 more years, i'm a college student and i first need to get a job to even buy a new macbook, my parents won't be buying me one this time

Ah! Remember that would be the worse case! This also gets into your personal skill set if you repair the system on your own. Replacing the displays cover glass ($25) and keyboard alone ($30) is a lot cheaper! But it's more work! Do you really need the optical drive? That saves you $50!

One factor to consider is the age at which most Macs start to experience issues, such as random shutdowns and degraded batteries that no longer hold their charge. Unfortunately, at one point repairing your Mac or MacBook will no longer be a viable option and you will need to look for a replacement.

In this article we will address the above, as well as give advice about which Macs are still supported by Apple, the Macs that can still be repaired if required (Apple stops providing the required parts after a number of years), and the Macs that Apple considers obsolete and vintage.

You might find that the Mac was included in part of a recall due to the issue you are experiencing, in that case it might be worth enlisting in a repair program. However, if the time period in which Apple was offering the repairs has passed then you will still have to find the money for the repair, which again might be prohibitive.

In 2017, somewhere between getting my office and my website off-the-grid, I decided not to buy any more new laptops. Instead, I switched to a 2006 second-hand machine that I purchased online for 50 euros and which does everything that I want and need. Including a new battery and a simple hardware upgrade, I invested less than 150 euros.

Each year, we purchase between 160 and 200 million laptops. Using the data above, this means that the production of laptops requires a yearly energy consumption of 480 to 868 petajoules, which corresponds to between one quarter and almost half of all solar PV energy produced worldwide in 2018 (2,023 petajoules). [2] The making of a laptop also involves a high material consumption, which includes a wide variety of minerals that may be considered scarce due to different types of constraints: economic, social, geochemical, and geopolitical. [3][4]

The production of microchips is a very energy- and material-intensive process, but that is not the only problem. The high resource use of laptops is also because they have a very short lifespan. Most of the 160-200 million laptops sold each year are replacement purchases. The average laptop is replaced every 3 years (in business) to five years (elsewhere). [3] My 5.7 years per laptop experience is not exceptional.

Circular and modular products are all the hype these days, but my IBM Thinkpad was precisely that. Every component in the laptop could be screwed off and replaced, the sturdy case (with steel hinges) was spacious enough to make serious upgrades possible, and it had every connector you can imagine. My 2005 machine still works today, and I am convinced that it could keep working for another 500 years if given proper care. Like a pre-industrial windmill, its lifetime could be extended endlessly by gradually repairing and replacing every part that it consists of. The question is not how we can evolve towards a circular economy, but instead why we continue to evolve away from it.

Not finding what I was looking for, I decided to go back in time. By now, it had dawned on me that new laptops are of inferior quality compared to older laptops, even if they carry a much higher price tag. I found out that Lenovo switched keyboards around 2011 and started searching auction sites for Thinkpads built before that year. I could have changed back to my ThinkPad R52 from 2005, but by now, I had become accustomed to a Spanish keyboard, and the R52 had a Belgian one.

Having used Microsoft Windows for a long time, I find Linux operating systems to be remarkably better, even more so because they are free to download and install. Furthermore, Linux operating systems do not steal your personal data and do not try to lock you in, like the newest operating systems from both Microsoft and Apple do. That said, even with Linux, obsolescence cannot be ruled out. For example, Linux Lite will stop its support for 32-bit computers in 2021, which means that I will soon have to look for an alternative operating system, or buy a slightly younger 64-bit laptop.

Installment is pretty straightforward and well documented online. Solid-state drives run silently and are more resistant to physical shock, but they have a shorter life expectancy than hard disk drives. Mine is now working for almost 4 years. It seems that both from an environmental and financial viewpoint, an old laptop with SSD is a much better choice than buying a new laptop, even if the solid-state drive needs replacement now and then.

Then, last year, my X60s suddenly refused to charge its battery, an issue that had also appeared with my cursed 2013 laptop. It seems to be a common problem with Thinkpads, but I could not solve it yet. Neither did I really have to because I had a spare laptop ready and started using that one whenever I needed or wanted to work outside. 041b061a72