Does anyone know of a place in Arizona that...

[Wendler]

Replaces motherboards in store?

I have an HP Pavilion notebook, DV9500, with a fried graphics card. I am able to order the motherboard myself, I'm just in need of someone to switch them out. I've contacted "Fresh Laptop," who claim to be the only laptop-help in Phoenix, and they no longer do in store motherboard replacement, they send it out. I am leaving for Argentina on June 10th and cannot wait 3 weeks for it to be finished.

If anyone knows of a place, that would be awesome.

[slgrieb]

Hello, Wendler, and welcome to Windrivers! Unfortunately, I'm over here in Texas, so I can't point you to a specific company. But, the board replacement is simple, albeit tedious and a PITA. Anyone that can turn a screwdriver and follow instructions can do it. You can download the service manual from HP right here. Any competent shop can do this. They don't have to be laptop "experts". In fact, you could do it, but I'm not sure it should be your introduction to laptop repair.

Essentially, I'd just call some area shops and get quotes. I'd expect you're going to pay about $200 for the board and most likely get a refurb (i.e. used) so depending on the labor you're quoted, you might really want to think about replacing the machine.

[NooNoo]

Agreed, a replacement laptop (HP) starts at around $600 before offers...

[Wendler]

Thanks. Well, I paid $1600 for this laptop, so it'd suck to throw it away.

I did find a replacement motherboard online for a mere $170 but sadly no repair shops in town know how to do it [or will even attempt] so I was forced to send it in to a company.

Hopefully they'll have it before the 9th.

[slgrieb]

I'm curious about the $ amount you were quoted for the motherboard replacement. Just sort of FYI since the repair is already in progress, but I think you might be very surprised by what kind of price/performance ratio you can get in a new laptop compared to your current machine, or even some refurb laptops.

[Wendler]

I'm curious about the $ amount you were quoted for the motherboard replacement. Just sort of FYI since the repair is already in progress, but I think you might be very surprised by what kind of price/performance ratio you can get in a new laptop compared to your current machine, or even some refurb laptops.

It was a hefty $400, but this is because we paid an extra $80-$100 extra for overnight shipping as we needed it ASAP.

I am aware of that, I also looked into renting a laptop and that ended up being more expensive than fixing mine, and as I like it, I thought I might as well have it fixed.

[NooNoo]

Let us know if you get it back in time!

[Wendler]

Hey guys, happy to say that I'm posting this on my laptop. They did it very fast and the new graphics card works exceptionally well.

[slgrieb]

Congratulations! Got any fingernails left?

[NooNoo]

Alls well that ends well... enjoy your trip!