Life on the Cheap!

by Jack

Life on the Cheap. . .

Lesson #64. What to do when your computer goes kaput!

The options here are many, from junking it to taking it to a repair shop, but here’s what I did and if you happen to be mildly capable, this might work for you too.

When my 2.5 year old computer broke down the new Windows 8 operating system software was just coming out. With the advances in hardware and software O/S I figured

I would be buying a new computer next year anyway, but I still needed a computer right now, so what to do?

Buying on the bloody edge of any new technology has never quite worked out for me in the past, so ruled out buying a new puter right now. I like to wait at least a year after something new and whizzie like Windows 8 has been out. Then most of the bugs have been worked out and those computer reviews are more complete too.

So for the present time I needed something to get me by. What to do?

I went shopping on ebay, but there are several other online places to buy a used computer for cheap, like Amazon or Craigslist. In my case, for a mere $34 I picked up a very solid platform called the E4500 Gateway desktop. It was a turn-in on a lease program for some company. They had a bunch of them and they were going cheap! It came with a hot Pentium 4, 2 gigs of RAM, but no hard drive and no DVD player. No problem. I simply robbed the components from my downed Gateway SX2800. These components are pretty much a universal fit among PC’s of a similar vintage, give or take a few years.

I had a VISTA CD that came with my ruined computer and I also had the upgrade to Win 7. So, I loaded Vista as my operating system software. My bad puter had the Win 7, but no bootable CD for that with the E4500. I was stuck using Vista, I know, it’s not as good as Win 7, but for my short term project it will be fine… and it is fine…heck, I’m typing from that puter right now!

So now I have my first problem solved. I have a decent running computer and no rush to go out and buy a new one. To be honest, I can’t see much difference in speed or ability with that newer unit that failed and this one.

Now I’m thinking, what do I with that fried computer? Right now it’s worthless. In good shape it should sell for about $220. But, the local techies wanted $200 labor, plus parts to fix it. That’s a big net loss.

Okay, something on the motheboard was fried, that much I knew and I also knew everything else, like the fan, the power supply, wiring, memory, was all in good working order. The problem was ONLY in the motherboard.

I went looking around on the net and I found a good motherboard for $35 (a pull from a new unit) and a nifty 500 GB Seagate hard drive for $29.50, used of course, but guaranteed to work. Seagate is a good hard drive. That’s enough to get my other computer back up and running, and with Win 7 on board too!

I should have my broken computer fixed shortly for $64.50 plus $15 for postage – $79 total. That beats the heck out the $200 labor, plus parts the techies wanted.

Once it’s repaired I can either keep it (it’s as good as any selling with Win 7 today) or I can then sell for $220 and net $140. So it went from junk to $140, not bad.

But, what about the older Gateway puter I bought to use temporarily? Lost money? No way!

All set up with 2 GB of RAM and a big 640 GB hard drive, it should bring in about $150-175 and remember my cost was only $34! So, on that unit I should net about $116 minimum. Both sales add up to around $260 give or take…and its all clear money, in my pocket, ready to go towards my new computer.

If had not done it this way I would be out what I paid for the computer that failed ($495) and what the next new computer will cost…around $575. (A thousand dollar expense) But, because I spent a little time and trouble… I have more options and more money to play with. Now, I can either keep my computer with the new motherboard and sell the older computer to pay for my repair cost or sell both and buy a new one in a year. And you don’t need to be a computer expert to do it…just a little knowledge and it’s basically plug it together and play it.