My 2-year Toshiba Satellite Pro has given me problems right after the warranty period expired. First, the pointing stick went bust, and the mouse cursor started moving left or right randomly. Later, this became so serious, that I had to use the stick to steady the cursor, with lots of force, then use an external mouse to control it. Later, the keyboard went bust and no longer works.
Is it worth sending this for repair? Will the cost of the repair and shipping be close to what I can buy a laptop for now? It's 2 years old and is a Pentium 4 1.8 GHz, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB HDD, 16 MB Graphics, 802.11 b built-in wi-fi, 15" SXGA+ LCD. The specs are still pretty good, which is why I'm considering repairing it. Most cheap laptops these days have XGA, even with 15". But, this one has SXGA+, so its nice to use with Photoshop, Excel, Access, etc. Please advice. Thanks in advance.
You could fix it yourself.. the keyboard that is. But I would see how much it would be to fix, and if its under $300 then yeah i'd fix it, but $300 is still expensive. 1.8ghz with 256 and 16 mb for photoshop isn't that great, im sure you could find something better for not too much. But its all about what your willing to spend, and if you want to transfer your files over or not.
The keyboard is probably around $90 and the labor about $100 give or take. Ebay has keyboards for good prices and installing a new one isn't too bad if you're somewhat 'tech savvy.'
Thanks, folks. I called the nearest Toshiba Repair Center, which is 3 hours from where I live. I explained the problem to them and the rep told me that it sounds like its the circuitry that's gone bad, not the external keyboard or stick. So, I'll need to send it in to them, so they can make an estimate of the repair charges.