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Revitalizing an Aging Notebook On the Cheap

Posted by timothy on from the but-I-want-a-wind-instead dept.

jcatcw writes "Brian Nadel's ThinkPad R50 just hit its fifth birthday, and the years haven't been kind to it. When it was new, the notebook was reliable and fast. Now it's slow and prone to annoying shutdowns. Is it a good investment to revamp a notebook that's worth about $350? It sure is, because this old notebook will get a new lease on life for about $125 — a bargain, considering what it could cost to replace." On the other hand, upgrading RAM, keyboard and hard drive don't get you a smaller (netbook-style) computer, a new battery, or the transflective screen on the Toshiba linked above.

9 of 261 comments (clear)

  1. Huh? by Bombula · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A 5-year-old notebook is worth $350? I don't think so. Hard for me to pay much attention to the rest of any article that begins that far off base...

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    A-Bomb
    1. Re:Huh? by White+Shade · · Score: 5, Informative

      I've noticed that it's next to impossible, via normal channels, to get even old laptops for less than $300.. they may be worth about $1.50, but that doesn't stop people from charging the big bucks for an outdated piece of shit.

      It's like craigslist syndrome; no one wants to admit that their ancient worthless crap is actually worthless.

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      ìì!
    2. Re:Huh? by Gulthek · · Score: 5, Informative

      http://dellauction.com/ is your friend.

  2. Or battery life! by jkerman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    With a few exceptions, battery life just sucks with an aging laptop. and replacement batteries are either used up themselves, insanely expensive, or impossible to find.

    1. Re:Or battery life! by Bandman · · Score: 5, Informative

      I've seen quite a few instructables about how to replace laptop batteries yourself.

      I'd say the screen quality would be the limiting factor. Dead pixels eventually add up.

      If there were a way to get new screens, then this would be the next big way to save money.

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      Check out my sysadmin blog!
  3. I just did some work on my thinkpad by damn_registrars · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I am a cheapskate that also owns a thinkpad R-series (an R32, to be more specific). I just dropped about $60-70 in parts (more when you include shipping) to replace a crack in the LCD bezel.

    I almost gave up on it, and replaced it with a new unit, until I realized just how well my 7-year-old thinkpad still runs. I've seen my colleagues replace numerous dell, apple, and HP laptops in this time. This notebook has been in 4 countries, 3 provinces, and over a dozen US states with me. Its on its third battery, but thats not bad for its age. I bought it when I was finishing my 4-year degree, and its still with me now, over halfway into my PhD.

    And when I realized that I would spend over $1,000 to get a new thinkpad with the options I wanted, I realized that my repair was a great investment. And of course the IBM (lenovo) website has all the documents you need to completely disassemble your laptop (and put it back together, too).

    Unless you have extra money - and I'm guessing you don't, since you bought an R-series - you would be wise to put some money into refurbishing your laptop. You'll be glad you did.

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    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
  4. Wow..... by mr_nazgul · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've been working on and in PC's for years and have never seen THAT bad a clog. Big dust bunnies are the worst I've seen...

    Where the hell did this laptop go? It looks like it sucked up a ferret (look at the page 5 gallery).
    http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9096720&pageNumber=5

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    Good.. Bad.. I'm the guy with the gun.
  5. Re:Those "horseless carriages" people mentioning.. by Obfuscant · · Score: 5, Funny
    I also heard if you tie hundreds of horses together your cart may run as fast as a Ferrari...

    Been there, done that.

    Your cart goes as fast as the fastest horse can run, minus a bit since he's now dragging the cart AND the other horses.

    The vet bills to fix the broken legs of the horses that are slower outweighs the cost savings. RoHS prevents the simple solution to a broken leg.

    Like Larry the Cable Guy says: I heard the right thing to do when your horse breaks its leg is to shoot it. So I did. Now I have a horse with a broken leg and a gunshot wound.

  6. Re:I don't think so by alan_dershowitz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When you can get a brand new and amazingly more powerful laptop for 400 dollars, five year old laptops are not worth 300 dollars. MOST people by that point sell the laptop rather than spend the money on a new battery, so let's say that I'm looking at one of these used laptops I see everywhere for 300+ dollars. I know that a new battery is going to cost me 80-140 dollars, so why the hell would I buy used when I can get a brand new one for around the same price?