Computer savvy- what to do with my $4000, non-functioning gaming notebook

COMPUTER SPECS:
Sager 9262 / Clevo 901c
Cost: $3802.51 (CAD) in 2008
17” WUXGA/GT w/ BLU-RAY
BLU-RAY burner
CORE 2 Quad 06600 2.40 GHz 8M
(plus new CLEVO 901c motherboard – which I was told was defective)
nV GeForce 8800M GTX w/ 512 (may not be working)
(Plus new nV GeForce 9800 GTX)
4096MB DDR2 800 (2 DIMMS))
2.5” SATA 100GB (7200rpm) primary HD
2.5” SATA 200GB (7200rpm) secondary HD
INTEL 4965 802.11 A/G/N
NP9262 BLUETOOTH CARD
RAID-OFF

QUESTION: What can I do with my non-functional laptop? What are my options?

STORY:
In 2008 I purchased a Sager 9262 / Clevo 901c gaming laptop from the Sager website. In 2000, I accidently spilled a beverage over the keyboard. After a couple days of being unable to use the keyboard, it eventually started working again. It worked without any problems for another 6 months or so, but after that point, the screen started glitching-up (blocks of random colors, freezing etc..)

I should also mention I live in rural Japan. Most people here refuse to even LOOK at computer that isn’t made in Japan. So, I took it to a local computer guy who said it was my GPU. So I went online and bought a new (upgraded) GPU – a nV GeForce 9800 GTX (my previous being the 8800GTX). It cost be about $600 at the time. I installed it, and the screen continued to glitch up.

Having very little money left, I put it on the backburner for a while. I went back to Canada to visit some family and brought my Sager with me to have it checked at home. I brought it to Future Shop and they said it was the motherboard. “Are you sure?” I said. “100%” they replied. I returned to Japan.

Not wanting to waste any more money on my Sager, I brought it to a recommended computer fanatic in my small Japanese town. This guy was a maniac and his office was packed wall-to-wall with computer equipment, diagnostic tools etc. In sum, he looked to know what he was doing.

He checked it and told me that the only problem was the KEYBOARD. He said the keyboard was all sticky and there was a short or something. So I bought a new keyboard ($40). Then he said it still wasn’t working and that it was, in fact, the motherboard. So I ordered a new motherboard ($400). After a few weeks of him trying and trying, he said the motherboard I ordered was defective. .

After spending all that money, I just want to be done with it and buy a new notebook. But I don’t know what to do with my non-functional, $4000 laptop. Can I use any of the parts? Can I sell the parts? I need some help as to what are my options with this once-awesome laptop that isn’t working. Thanks to all who respond.

Note: I've contacted Sager and since my warranty expired a few years ago, they will look at it for $40. that. I don't want to bleed any more money into this aging gaming laptop.

 

Since it sounds like you aren't sure what works on the machine, I'd suggest selling out the parts that definitely do work on NBR marketplace:

NBR Marketplace

You could potentially sell the defective parts there too as some people are looking for specific parts of them.

Otherwise, you could try other sites where you can part it out and sell the parts individually.

Or worse case scenario- use it as a big fancy doorstop if you don't have any luck there

 

In hindsight, do you wish you would have sent it back to Sager for repair?

 

This is a very sad story. Repair might have been a good thing.

While I don't think you have much choice than to sell it for parts, I would like to put out there that if the blu ray drive works I would be interested in purchasing that from you. Just somethinf to think about.

If you have access to Craigslist that is another option. I know people who get stuff from there all the time.

 

In short, yes I wish I had sent it to Sager for repair.

In fact, I was in contact with Sager, had my repair number and everything. I went to the post office here in Japan and they said I could not send the computer by air since it was classified a "dangerous product." They said I could do it by but it would take 3 months to get there. I guess in hindsight I was impatient, but Ive made my bed and now I must lie in it.

I am looking to buy a Lenovo ideapad Y570 for $800 CAD, which seems like a good price.

But what to do with the goodies on my Sager. I will miss the 1080p resolution and 17" screen!!

 

sad story and I have no solution for you. BUt if you miss the 17inches you could always try to mod the new Lenovo into the chasis of the sager

 

That or buy a beauuuutiful external monitor

Mr. Mysterious

 

I would love to be able to do that but my computer skill is not up to par, I think. The most ive ever done was upgrade a GPU

 

Have you tried using an external monitor?
Does the external monitor glitch up?

 

I really think its a hardware issue. During bootup, the screen glitches slightly, then windows boots. But when watching a video, using the internet to DL stuff etc, it just feels like there is no power behind it. Like it is running on bare minimum juice or something. Had the RAM and everything else tested. My computer guy in japan here says its the motherboard and that the one I bought is defective. Go figure.

 

Did you ever test the performance with something like 3dmark to see if it's really working incorrectly?

What I would do is sell all of the parts on ebay and give the buyer personal warranty for a few days, so that if the parts dont work the buyer can send them back and you can refund his money, that way you wont need to know if they work or not.

It's highly unlikely that both motherboards and GPUs are broken, so you should be able to make a decent amount of money by selling the parts.

 

Wow, sad story indeed.... I agree with what others have said. Part it out as you will definitely make some money back on the parts that are still working.

 

try to record how you play game using FRAPS. If you will see fine video then it is bigger chance that it is a monitor problem.. but still you will not be sure. Better ask that guy to test it on external monitor. He should know what to do

Also ask him what is happening with that motherboard. If he see same glitching with new MoBo then it is not defective. But if it doesn't work AT ALL then try send it back. 600$ is not a joke

 

Skip the conjecture. Test it on an external monitor.

 

Sorry to hear your story my fellow Canadian.

The short lesson is this: don't use the local computer guy, don't EVER goto Futureshop. I cannot stress the second point any more than that. Going to Futureshop to fix a computer is like going to McDonalds to fix your car. All you're going to get are idiot teenagers breaking your stuff. To the Americans who don't know what Futureshop is. It is Best Buy in Canada (who also operates a separate Best Buy).

There are Sager resellers in Canada. There is even a dedicated Clevo builder in Canada (Eurocom).

Sadly, your laptop is not worth the $4000 anymore because of the fast depreciation of computers so take heart that you got some value out of it while you owned it but even if fully functional today, it's only worth about $500 as the Sager notebooks that cost even $1100 totally outclass it in every way and are about 4 times faster in terms of CPU and graphics power.

Test the laptop with an external monitor. If it still feels like it is slow for some reason, it's likely something is wrong with the power circuit. Are you sure you are on high performance mode? (Windows 7) or "always on" (Windows XP)?

If you don't, it will throttle the performance of the laptop. If you are on full speed power settings, then perhaps something has damaged the power circuit so that laptop does not know when it is on battery or AC and it's constantly throttling the computer to save power or even to keep something running.

Download and run CPU-Z and GPU-Z and report what they say about clock speeds when you are watching a video, etc. and feel that slowdown.

CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

GPU-Z Video card GPU Information Utility

If your Q6600 isn't running at 2.4GHz when your computer is on maximum load (press CTRL ALT DEL and goto the task manager window and click the performance tab) then your laptop is throttling.

If you want to salvage something, I'm sure you can sell your Q6600 CPU for about $100. The harddrives and ram are pretty much worthless with today's technology. The 9800GTX however would be worth quite a bit for someone with an older laptop looking to upgrade.

You know, my friend experienced something similar to you. He was a JET and went to rural Japan on the JET program and he bought a $3000 Compal notebook to take with him. The LCD died on him.

 

I take it you want the blu-ray for your laptop? Unfortunately it won't fit as the D90xC has an IDE interface and the P150 has SATA.

 

Thank you for the heads up But i wasn't planning on putting it inside. I ordered an optical drive bay caddy for a second hard drive. If I were to get the blu ray drive I would convert it to external with an enclosure. It's not an essential for me, but if the owner was interested I wouldn't mind making the purchase.

 

OK, just make sure that you get the right caddy (IDE) if you do go ahead.

 

Your first mistake was NEVER checking it with an external monitor!

The process of elimination clearly indicates the LCD cable being broken.

However, if the 9800m GTX and the motherboard was also dead? I bet you'd have a hard time returning them NOW, which is a 2nd mistake...
I don't want to be mean but if you wanted to use your money wisely you should have used more common sense.