Ding Dong, the Dell is dead

August 23rd, 2008 · 7 Comments

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It’s almost official.

We decided not to extend our warranty on our Dell Inspiron 9100 (from 4 years to 5 years) because of the cost. It would have been about $350, and we had just gotten a new hard drive, DVD drive, and motherboard while it was still under the 4-year warranty. What could possibly go wrong?

Maybe the CPU could die?

That’s a possibility. At least, that’s what the error code said yesterday. I reseated the CPU in a lame attempt that it might have been knocked loose. This process took a little over an hour and countless numbers of tiny screws, but I still got the same error message after putting it all back together (hey, at least I didn’t break anything in the process).

So here’s the question: Should I purchase a refurbished CPU for about $120 and hope that this is what is wrong? It could also be memory, but I reseated both individually to no avail, and I doubt that both of them went bad at the same time. It could also be the motherboard, which isn’t even worth replacing (in terms of cost). From what I can find online, if purchasing a CPU doesn’t work, I would have to pay the shipping to send it back as well as a 20-25% restocking fee.

We could also start looking for another computer. This behemoth of a laptop is almost 5 years old, and my husband hates it (he’s the one that is the primary user). Ideally, I would like to find a new computer, and then try to repair the Dell and sell it online.

I want to be frugal, but at the same time I don’t want to pay money to temporarily revive a dying horse. What would you do?

7 responses so far ↓

1 Margaret // Aug 23, 2008 at 5:54 am

While the initial outlay of money might be more than replacing parts here and there, it sounds to me like you have a lemon there. I’ve had computers for 5+ years running day-in and day-out that never had any of the issues you have had with this one warranty or no warranty.

My advice would be to get a new computer. Try buy.com as they often have great deals on laptops.

For example, the Toshiba Satellite I paid $775 for in March at HH Gregg was $650 at Buy.com — exact same computer with 2GB ram, 160GB hard drive, RW/DVD — and it is a literal powerhouse of a computer!

Just my .02….

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2 Karen (Who am I?) // Aug 23, 2008 at 8:28 am
I know how you feel. My frugal tendencies often lead me to resist replacing things that need to be replaced for a long time. However, as a blogger, you need a reliable computer that will allow you to maintain your site.

If you can work it into your budget, I’d suggest looking for a good deal and replacing it. Once you have a new computer, you’ll wonder how you survived with the old one.

If I were you, I’d made a frugal compromise. After you buy the new computer start saving $15 a month. In 5 years when it’s time to replace your computer again, you’ll have $900 put away to painlessly get a new one.

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3 Scott @ The Passive Dad (Who am I?) // Aug 24, 2008 at 12:58 am
It would probably be a good idea to find another computer or at least a back-up, just in case your PC does quit. I currently have 3 PC’s and a Mac Powerbook, the PC’s just collect dust while my Mac is used daily. I actually am hoping my Powerbook starts acting up, so I have an excuse to buy the new Mac Air. But that wouldn’t be frugal
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4 Rick Vaughn (Who am I?) // Aug 24, 2008 at 9:31 pm
I have had a refurbished Dell for 4 years now and it has really been running great. Knock on wood!

I might have gotten lucky though. Careful

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5 Turnip (Who am I?) // Aug 24, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Check that the power supply works, and has all the proper connections made. That usually breaks sooner or later.

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6 Carole (Who am I?) // Aug 25, 2008 at 7:28 am
I have a Dell laptop. I will never buy another. Cut your losses with the Dell and buy a new, different brand laptop.

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7 moneyloveandchange (Who am I?) // Aug 25, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Thanks for all the suggestions! We went to Best Buy this weekend (only to look), and I think we’re going to go with a desktop instead of a laptop (we already have a MacBook that is still running). In the end, this will save us some money. I’m going to spend some time to look for a deal, and try to get some gift cards to go towards the purchase (via credit card rewards, etc.)

Turnip - I like your idea about the power supply - I had been toying with this idea myself. Yet I still have the little green light on the power supply and all the connections seem to be good. On the other hand, these particular power supplies are known to go bad. In any case, to test the theory is not going to be much cheaper - a replacement is going to set me back about $80.

The other thing is that I actually get a flashing sequence of lights when trying to turn on the computer. According to the peeps in the Dell forums, this particular sequence happens when the CPU isn’t functioning. When I took out the RAM and tried to start it up, I did get a different sequence of flashing lights (corresponding to no memory).

With our current financial situation, I have a couple of weeks to think about it. I’ll keep everyone posted.
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