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KC

On 1/21/2014 12:43 PM, Hank wrote:
On 1/21/2014 12:13 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 1/21/14, 11:59 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 21 Jan 2014 08:36:13 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 1/21/14, 12:59 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 20 Jan 2014 22:10:56 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

I still have an older XP laptop but something recently died
in it. It won't boot up anymore.

Any idea of what is going on? Does it get through POST? Do you see
signs of life from the boot drive?

I hate seeing these things getting thrown in the land fill for a minor
problem.

If it is an old laptop, and it isn't a software or software update
problem, then you have to weigh the time and expense involved in a
repair versus buying a new laptops. Run of the mill laptops are pretty
cheap these days, and almost any of them would be many steps up from an
old XP-era laptop.

I suppose if you take it to a shop that wants to sell you a new
laptop, fixing it will always be more expensive but if you can take
out 2 screws yourself and throw a $50 hard drive at it you are at
least $450 ahead.
I am still not sure what is wrong with an XP machine. What can your
new I-Mac or W7 machine do that mine can't?

I tried to have this discussion with our HOA. They only manage a
$12,000 a year budget, maybe 200 transactions a year total and they
want to buy a new machine because the XP machine is "old".
My wife ran a quarter million dollar business on a 5150 (original PC)

There also are plenty of used, operating laptops available at
pawnshops.
I saw a whole showcase full of them when I was salivating over the
McIntosh amp I finally bought.

At that point, why not fix the one you have?

I usually get mine from a surplus outfit that sells off lease machines
They come with legally licensed business software and a warranty.
You can reload the whole thing from scratch since you have the license
keys.
A pawn shop would be the last place I would get a machine.

That assumes one has the skills and tools to do it. Some laptops are not
easy to open, and you might not be able to find a replacement drive that
fits physically and electrically.
Computers are getting to be about as disposable as lightbulbs. Oops, bad
example. Some folks are reluctant to part with their cfl's and incand.s.

My laptop was a monster when I bought it, still faster than my wife's
last desktop...