Short circuit'd XPS M1210

[Daemeon]

My sister's boyfriend accidentally spilled water on her laptop. So they took it to lolGeekSquad to diagnose and apparently the motherboard is fried. They don't know if the processor still works or not. They want $300 for a new motherboard and another $150 for installation. So the question is whether or not my sister should go ahead and do that or should she just buy a new one one. Of course the specs isn't that great, but considering the laptop's size and weight, a new laptop of like proportion would costs a lot more than $450. Granted, the processor, too, might not work. So we're looking at a potential price increase. I don't have the exact specs, but it should be like this:
Processor: 2ghz ish Intel Core Duo
RAM: 2gb DDR2
HD: 80gb ish

That's all I can remember. So dear BG, what should she do?

[Shuemue]

Send it back to Dell to get a proper quote. You don't want to do business with somebody who can't even tell if a CPU is fucked or not.

[Cephius]

Enter the service tag on Dell's website, see what kind of service plan it has. If it's still under warranty and/or you have complete care, you can get it replaced from dell for free. Otherwise... you might as well buy a new laptop, replacing the motherboard is pretty much the same thing and who knows what else is fried.

[Xanthe]

Enter the service tag on Dell's website, see what kind of service plan it has. If it's still under warranty and/or you have complete care, you can get it replaced from dell for free. Otherwise... you might as well buy a new laptop, replacing the motherboard is pretty much the same thing and who knows what else is fried.

100% agree. Usually if you short your motherboard the damage will travel to any connected components; graphics card, CPU, RAM, etc. Hopefully you have a warranty plan, but note that Dell won't cover spills and the like unless you have the optional "accident coverage". You might be able to get service though if you don't tell them about the spilled water. The more vague you are about the circumstances surrounding the hardware failure the better your chances are of getting help, but you'll still need to at least be under a valid warranty.

[Daemeon]

So she took it back from lolGeekSquad, thinking she had to buy a new laptop. She gave it to me to salvage the HD for her files. And as I was taking the laptop apart to steal her memory sticks, I took the sticks out and looked at it then plugged it back in. Then when I tried to turn it back on... it turned on. I mean, seriously, how can the people at GeekSquad tried to charge $450 to replace a "broken" motherboard when it's not even broken? All it was is that a memory stick got loose. =\

Lesson learned: Never take your computer to lolGeekSquad, they'll diagnose a problem you don't even have and then try to fix the problem that's not even there. Oh also, they even offered to sell my sister some 1.3k mac notebooks.

[The Stig]

I own a M1210. Poor thing!!!!

Anyway, it turned back on? I'm happy for that. Otherwise, it'd be an excellent opportunity to buy a 1330 or a 1530, both very good laptops too! I'm looking for an excuse to break my one but it's doing its job.

[Xanthe]

It could be that you just needed to wait for the laptop to dry out. Glad to hear that it works again; hopefully it will continue to do so. And yeah, never go to Geek Squad, Fire Dog, etc. They don't require certification for their techs and generally they either have no idea what they're doing or they are salesmen in disguise with no intent to repair in the first place. If you ever get a computer serviced make sure you're taking it to a certified repair center, use your warranty, or a friend you can trust to know their stuff.

[mootsfox]

Since I basically fixed it for you, I think you should give it to me. I don't trust you will a XPS anyways.

What did your sister say about it? Are you getting it?

[shiarua]

It could be that you just needed to wait for the laptop to dry out. Glad to hear that it works again; hopefully it will continue to do so. And yeah, never go to Geek Squad, Fire Dog, etc. They don't require certification for their techs and generally they either have no idea what they're doing or they are salesmen in disguise with no intent to repair in the first place. If you ever get a computer serviced make sure you're taking it to a certified repair center, use your warranty, or a friend you can trust to know their stuff.

In most cases, a computer will get sent off to a service center to be repaired anyways to be worked on by certified technicians. Its the same with Geek Squad. In store techs work mostly on diagnosing problems and fixing software issues. Anything hardware related is usually sent off to a service center to be repaired, unless it is something that can be replaced in store (ie power supply, memory, hard drive).

Misdiagnosis is a common problem, but don't say that only Geek Squad and Firedog do it, because that just isn't true.

[Guyverarmor]

It could be that you just needed to wait for the laptop to dry out. Glad to hear that it works again; hopefully it will continue to do so. And yeah, never go to Geek Squad, Fire Dog, etc. They don't require certification for their techs and generally they either have no idea what they're doing or they are salesmen in disguise with no intent to repair in the first place. If you ever get a computer serviced make sure you're taking it to a certified repair center, use your warranty, or a friend you can trust to know their stuff.

In most cases, a computer will get sent off to a service center to be repaired anyways to be worked on by certified technicians. Its the same with Geek Squad. In store techs work mostly on diagnosing problems and fixing software issues. Anything hardware related is usually sent off to a service center to be repaired, unless it is something that can be replaced in store (ie power supply, memory, hard drive).

Misdiagnosis is a common problem, but don't say that only Geek Squad and Firedog do it, because that just isn't true.

Maybe around in your area, but here in San Antonio, the roflgeeksquad is dumber than a box of rocks, I swear. Have tried to dupe my dad into buying a new computer each time when just trying to see if he could get a matching pair of RAM. Now I just tell him to come to me and I will fix it or help him out with upgrades. t(-_-t) GeekSquad

[Azalee]

In most cases, a computer will get sent off to a service center to be repaired anyways to be worked on by certified technicians. Its the same with Geek Squad. In store techs work mostly on diagnosing problems and fixing software issues. Anything hardware related is usually sent off to a service center to be repaired, unless it is something that can be replaced in store (ie power supply, memory, hard drive).

Misdiagnosis is a common problem, but don't say that only Geek Squad and Firedog do it, because that just isn't true.

Do you work for Best Buy? >>;

[mootsfox]

So I bought it for $40 under the guise that just the AC adapter was fuckled. This kid lied to me, I want my money back.

Actually I'm currently working on it. Replacement motherboards are not easy to find for it, so I'm starting my testing to see where the motherboard is failing, as it is receiving power just fine.