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New Computer Or Repair Old?

by lanfear63
25 replies
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So I am posting on an old laptop. Last night I came home and due to a thunderstorm and lightning and or power outage my beloved Vista top of the range HP desktop was dead as a Dodo.

Thing is, it was top of the range 6.5 years ago, now even a modest one would beat it. I have all my stuff backed up but what a huge task to put it all back on a 8.1 Windows machine, programs, files, window mail emails no longer supported although I can put on Outlook.

Its always a daunting task to transfer nearly seven years of stuff although I can probably do without a lot of it.

I thought it must be the PSU and went online and ordered a replacement for 50 bucks, for some reason the transaction did not go through which was perhaps prophetic. It Might be the mother board fried or something else. I dont know. Plus it's 7 year old kit nearly.

I could probably take it down a repair place and possibly get it going for a few hundred. Thing is, do I want too. A hundred or so more would buy an I3 possibly. I already have a 24 inch monitor. I had a spike protected power socket too but it still went down. Must have been lightning.

Anyway, what would you do? What I had/have is still reasonable spec and fast enough, here it is.

HP Support document - HP Support Center

ps, it has 6 gigs, put 2 extra in
  • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
    After 6.5 years, I would convince myself I deserve an upgrade.
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    • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
      Originally Posted by Dan Riffle View Post

      After 6.5 years, I would convince myself I deserve an upgrade.
      No kidding.

      Just about anything you buy today will blow your old one away.
      look into 64bit - smoother/faster/ more reliable plus you can stuff
      a lot more ram into them.

      and the best part ... the cost for 32bit vrs 64bit it negligible
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      • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
        Originally Posted by kenmichaels View Post

        No kidding.

        Just about anything you buy today will blow your old one away.
        look into 64bit - smoother/faster/ more reliable plus you can stuff
        a lot more ram into them.

        and the best part ... the cost for 32bit vrs 64bit it negligible
        Even my 2008 dinosaur was a 64 bit Vista machine
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
    Just stumbled on this, Ian: i5, 12gb RAM, 1TB SATA, (unfortunately) Windows 8.1. $429.

    HP Pavilion Intel i5 Quad-Core Desktop
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    • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
      Originally Posted by Dan Riffle View Post

      Just stumbled on this, Ian: i5, 12gb RAM, 1TB SATA, (unfortunately) Windows 8.1. $429.

      HP Pavilion Intel i5 Quad-Core Desktop
      Good spec that but a factory refurbished one. Not looking for the ultimate speed necessarily, not a gamer or graphics fanatic, just want something solid and reliable which will still be faster than what I had, say $500 max for just the tower. Would like to just go out and see it and buy. Frys is about 45 minutes away Best Buy local, Office Depot and all the usual places local.

      Seeing other makes like Dell and Lenovo and also Quad Core AMD processors which make them cheaper. Wondering about the different makes, always had HP before, also the AMD processors, how do they measure up these days?

      I used to sell them back in 2003 so knew specifications well but lost touch with them and their significance over the years. Ram and hard drive space is obvious, the more the better.
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      • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
        Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

        Good spec that but a factory refurbished one.
        Yeah, I just stumbled on it whilst poking around Woot. Personally, I don't mind refurbs. Never had a problem. However, I can understand the opposing perspective.

        When shopping for a new computer, I have no brand loyalty. I shop purely on spec. I've probably owned a computer from every major brand and never found a significant difference among them.

        I've never owned a computer with an AMD processor, so I can't speak to that.

        Good luck, though. I envy you. I enjoy the buzz of shopping for a new computer.
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

        Good spec that but a factory refurbished one. Not looking for the ultimate speed necessarily, not a gamer or graphics fanatic, just want something solid and reliable which will still be faster than what I had, say $500 max for just the tower. Would like to just go out and see it and buy. Frys is about 45 minutes away Best Buy local, Office Depot and all the usual places local.

        Seeing other makes like Dell and Lenovo and also Quad Core AMD processors which make them cheaper. Wondering about the different makes, always had HP before, also the AMD processors, how do they measure up these days?

        I used to sell them back in 2003 so knew specifications well but lost touch with them and their significance over the years. Ram and hard drive space is obvious, the more the better.
        INTEL about pushed the limit! Last time I checked, most of the higher range AMD processors only made it to about i5 level. In fact, I bought an i5 to replace my last AMD. So INTEL was maybe two steps ahead of AMD. AMD had a lot planned for the near future though, so AMD could leap ahead of intel if intel doesn't keep up. Of course, I was judging by MY definition of rounded. AMD and INTEL have NEVER really been exact equals. The best of one brand has often done something better than the best of the other.

        BTW last time I checked, if you buy intel, I recommend i5. It works well, and last I knew, was about as high as you could go and keep costs reasonable.

        Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author GlobalTrader
    Personally, I would opt for a new machine.

    You could spend a couple of hundred to have it repaired and in a month or two (after the repair warranty expires, of course) something else could decide to go on it. There are programs out there that will assist in transferring your files, I used one on my next to last PC. On my present PC I simply put files on a thumb drive and transferred them - takes time, yes, but well worth it!
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

    So I am posting on an old laptop. Last night I came home and due to a thunderstorm and lightning and or power outage my beloved Vista top of the range HP desktop was dead as a Dodo.

    Thing is, it was top of the range 6.5 years ago, now even a modest one would beat it. I have all my stuff backed up but what a huge task to put it all back on a 8.1 Windows machine, programs, files, window mail emails no longer supported although I can put on Outlook.

    Its always a daunting task to transfer nearly seven years of stuff although I can probably do without a lot of it.

    I thought it must be the PSU and went online and ordered a replacement for 50 bucks, for some reason the transaction did not go through which was perhaps prophetic. It Might be the mother board fried or something else. I dont know. Plus it's 7 year old kit nearly.

    I could probably take it down a repair place and possibly get it going for a few hundred. Thing is, do I want too. A hundred or so more would buy an I3 possibly. I already have a 24 inch monitor. I had a spike protected power socket too but it still went down. Must have been lightning.

    Anyway, what would you do? What I had/have is still reasonable spec and fast enough, here it is.

    HP Support document - HP Support Center

    ps, it has 6 gigs, put 2 extra in
    Electricity is odd, and even manufacture of ICs is not a perfect science. In theory, if the SAME exact electrical event happened in the same way to 10 "IDENTICAL" PCs, they would likely end up with differing amounts of damage in different areas. Surge protectors don't really PROTECT, but mitigate the potential of something to attack your PC. Last time I checked, they had a limited power they could take, and could take MILLISECONDS to react! HECK, some pay THOUSANDS of dollars for ones that react faster and handle more power. Even some of the CHEAP ones have insurance though, so you MIGHT try to get them to cover your event. The problem is you should do this AFTER assessing the damage.

    Back to the damage though. It could be your mother board, memory, cpu, drive, disk, power supply, or any combination thereof. It also could have destroyed any combination of ports, and anything plugged into them. It could cost a few bucks, or several hundred. Because systems are SO cheap, and you likely want to limit down time, I would opt for buying a new system. If you decide not to, you could...

    1.Check the power. It is likely either too low, or just right. It COULD have the primary shorted to the secondaries, but that would fry the computer and the lights and all STILL wouldn't light. If it is too low, you really shouldn't get any lights, or proper sound, etc... If it seems bad, you COULD try checking the different voltages. If the power is fine, your problem COULD be a bad motherboard.
    2. Check the POST, if you can. Is it beeping? If it is, your CPU MIGHT be OK, and you know a lot of other stuff is. Of course, parts of the mother board could merely THINK they are bad, and then you have to get a new motherboard. Try the memory.
    3. Well, you get the idea. It could take hours, and cost hundreds just for parts. And you may have to get HP parts, which would take longer to get. Some name brands might change the power supply and/or case in incompatible ways.

    An apparently bad motherboard COULD be a bad BIOS, CPU, MEMORY, etc....

    HECK, depending on the power and/or time, opening up the case may tell you a lot. Are chips cracked or burned? It is probably unlikely, as most hits aren't THAT big/long and you DID have the protector, but it is worth a look. If any part on a particular unit is that way, I would replace the whole unit.

    BTW if you use the CPU or ram in another system, monitor the temperature. They COULD have a minor short. If they DO, they might APPEAR to work, but get hot, and endanger other components. They wouldlikely get noticeably hotter than normal and more quickly.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author garyv
    Definitely go for a new one, because after 5 or 6 years there are other components that will start failing anyway.

    And don't forget Walmart, they will once in a while have one with decent specs fairly cheap.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by garyv View Post

      Definitely go for a new one, because after 5 or 6 years there are other components that will start failing anyway.

      And don't forget Walmart, they will once in a while have one with decent specs fairly cheap.
      I hate to admit it, I got my last two computers at Walmart. BOTH are good. As for the 5-6 years? WHAT starts failing?

      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author garyv
        Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

        I hate to admit it, I got my last two computers at Walmart. BOTH are good. As for the 5-6 years? WHAT starts failing?

        Steve
        I've had plenty of hard-drives fail between 5 and 7 years. Also some motherboards don't last very long.
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        • Profile picture of the author seasoned
          Originally Posted by garyv View Post

          I've had plenty of hard-drives fail between 5 and 7 years. Also some motherboards don't last very long.
          OK, I haven't had such bad luck.

          Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author bizgrower
    HP hard drives cost about as much as a new system - at least for lap tops.
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    • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
      Thanks for all your input, am definitely gravitating towards a new one and despite the dreaded Windows 8.1 I know I should move on and get to grips with it.

      It's annoying though. I had E-Machines from places like Walmart, then in 2008, came into a bit of money and bought just about the highest spec machine out there. You think well thats going to last. Higher build quality and fast enough. Then bam. Gone. Mind you, 6.5 years ain't too bad in computer terms these days.

      Must remember, consumer computers are just toys compared to industrial build quality ones. You pay accordingly.

      Remember back in the eighties, I was working in a small computer store and a guy brings in a faulty Atari ST that he was running his music studio with. Imagine, thousands worth of equipment run by a toy computer, but it was the only thing around that ran midi. His whole income was more or less invested in this one machine.

      Well, onwards to the fun part. The looking and the buying.
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      • Profile picture of the author Cali16
        Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

        Thanks for all your input, am definitely gravitating towards a new one and despite the dreaded Windows 8.1 I know I should move on and get to grips with it.

        Well, onwards to the fun part. The looking and the buying.
        I agree with getting a new one rather than attempting to repair the old one. I've been thinking about upgrading in the near future, but the idea of having to switch to Windows 8 has been holding me back... Do let us know how you like that part if / when you upgrade. Maybe it's not as bad as some have made it sound.

        In the meantime, enjoy the looking and buying. Always fun to get something new to play with!
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        • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
          Originally Posted by Cali16 View Post

          I agree with getting a new one rather than attempting to repair the old one. I've been thinking about upgrading in the near future, but the idea of having to switch to Windows 8 has been holding me back... Do let us know how you like that part if / when you upgrade. Maybe it's not as bad as some have made it sound.

          In the meantime, enjoy the looking and buying. Always fun to get something new to play with!
          I would not let the Windows 8.1 thing put you off. I recently set up a new Dell for a friend. Neither she nor I liked the giant cell phone app icon concept so immediately downloaded the free windows shell and installed it. Now it boots to a very standard Windows 7 like desktop, you never see the cell phone screen. So, just google windows shell and download.

          It's whats under the hood in software terms that counts and hopefully it will be the most stable and smoothest running Windows yet.
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          • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
            Thought you would like feedback on user experience.

            No Instructions at all in the (factory sealed box) and mouse was usb and not wireless, can live with that. Just as well I can connect these things up though. It was a breeze.

            Setup: Microsoft demand you sign up for a hotmail/Outlook account of which your password becomes the computer login. Now perhaps if I had not connected the lan (internet cable) I would have been able to skip that but with it connected NOPE!

            Dell has a front mounted power button which looks like a logo, to some their would be some confusion as to where the power button was. No hard drive light activity light?.

            Machine is almost completely silent, most disturbing.

            Ok onto windows 8.1 start screen. Very fast start up and response was excellent, Internet sites coming up super fast, do I really need firefox or Chrome, Explorer pretty impressive.. Quickly learned to navigate due to the 8.1 enhancements, feel I will not need to download Windows shell although I did for my friends computer but that was for her.

            First casualty, Belkin Hub Software. Not working/connecting to my printers, they stopped supporting it at Vista. The hub was a brilliant little box that was for printers before they were all wireless. You could plug up to 4 usb devices into it and it would connect wirelessly to computers around the house given that you had their software installed. Now my new pc and my wife's recently updated mac laptop no longer work with it. Thanks Belkin. Will have to plug them in manually or get new ones that are wireless.

            Soo, this looks good I thought, online Outlook for email says you can import other email addresses. Click here to add, it spun round forever, not doing anything, anyway, that's just for stuff like online email, not pop 3 private email.

            Got rid of Office without activating it, have a 2010 version which have to find. then can use Outlook.

            Machine is super fast, pulls up websites at incredible speed, silent running, easy to navigate.

            That's the story so far...
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            • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
              Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

              Setup: Microsoft demand you sign up for a hotmail/Outlook account of which your password becomes the computer login. Now perhaps if I had not connected the lan (internet cable) I would have been able to skip that but with it connected NOPE!
              seriously? that would be a deal-breaker for me - that is so very insecure - and more than a little intrusive. Wow!

              Thank goodness, I am running Win 7! I think the next laptop I buy, I will also buy another OEM version of Win 7 Pro
              until Microsoft gets it's act in gear -
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              • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
                Originally Posted by Karen Blundell View Post

                seriously? that would be a deal-breaker for me - that is so very insecure - and more than a little intrusive. Wow!

                Thank goodness, I am running Win 7! I think the next laptop I buy, I will also buy another OEM version of Win 7 Pro
                until Microsoft gets it's act in gear -
                It was a case of internet plugged in, no skip button, so bear that in mind. I seem to recall getting the option to skip when I did my friends without the lan lead plugged in.. Pity you could not use the Online Outlook for all email addresses as well. That would have been handy but it also means you would not have the emails in a program downloaded to your desktop to keep, relying on online retreivability only.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by bizgrower View Post

      HP hard drives cost about as much as a new system - at least for lap tops.
      Since when? When laptop drives first came out, they cost about 4 times what desktop ones cost. NOW, they tend to be relatively the same price.

      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author bizgrower
        Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

        Since when? When laptop drives first came out, they cost about 4 times what desktop ones cost. NOW, they tend to be relatively the same price.

        Steve
        About three years ago I was helping someone with a fried one year old HP laptop.
        They had left it running on a bed in blankets. The tech told me that the drive would cost
        about as much as the computer - and you don't know what all is fried.

        The tech offered to recover their data and said she could repair the laptop, but
        recommended that they try the Best Buy warranty or replace the laptop.
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        • Profile picture of the author seasoned
          Originally Posted by bizgrower View Post

          About three years ago I was helping someone with a fried one year old HP laptop.
          They had left it running on a bed in blankets. The tech told me that the drive would cost
          about as much as the computer - and you don't know what all is fried.

          The tech offered to recover their data and said she could repair the laptop, but
          recommended that they try the Best Buy warranty or replace the laptop.
          Yeah, in a perfect world, there would be thermistors on drives, near memory, and on heat sinks, and shut down the computer the moment it reached 1 degree above max spec, and stay off for 5 minutes! ALSO, there should be airflow over a certain temp.

          ALAS, the ONLY protection is generally in the CPU. The repercussions are MINOR! Even a system in SLEEP MODE could BAKE itself!

          Let that be a lesson! If you want to keep it "up" under blankets, do it a few minutes after putting it in HIBERNATE!

          Steve
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          • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
            Well the deed is done, the purchase has been made. First shop I went into which often has some good prices and deals. Office Depot. I tend to go there first.

            Dell Inspiron. 3847-4616BK

            Intel i5-4440 (4th generation)

            8 gigs ram

            1 Terrabyte Hard Drive

            Usb keyboard and wireless mouse, Windows 8.1

            Boxed and new.

            Price $549.99, a little more than I wanted to pay but the next option down was an i3 for $479.99, a bit more processing power for not much more. Sould run like hot snot

            Now the real fun begins.:-)
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  • Profile picture of the author bizgrower
    They have the thing that makes 8.1 look operate like 7,
    and Windows has the automated transfer and config software.
    Or, something like reimage.com.

    Enjoy the search.

    I live in the boonies now, but in Denver I liked to go
    to the local shops that refurbished computers.

    Dan
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