How Much Should It Cost To Replace The Motherboard On A Laptop?
John's wife's laptop died, and his local Geek Squad wants $800 total to replace the motherboard. John says he found the motherboard for $150, and he wants to know why Geek Squad thinks it will require $650 in labor. So all you IT and geek readers out there, we ask you: is this a fair price?
Here's John's story. The first paragraph is really more about how Best Buy screwed up yet another easy sale by failing to offer the bare minimum of service. Paragraphs two and three are about the motherboard.
My wife's laptop died about a 2 weeks after the 1 year warranty expired. We paid about $1000 (including tax) for it from Sam's Club. We contacted HP on the off-chance that they'd be cool about it and cover it anyway. No luck. So my wife, desperate to get her laptop working, decided to take it to The Geek Squad. First, they told her that they couldn't diagnose it there that they'd have to send it away to do so. She uses this as her work computer, even though we bought it ourselves, and couldn't wait to get it back. So she said she'd buy a new one then and there and have them transfer the data to her new laptop. I'd already found one that would be good for her while she was at the Geek Squad counter and we went over to it. We couldn't find a store associate anywhere. So my wife went up to the counter to have someone come over to help us. We told them where we'd be standing/waiting and they said they'd send someone right over. We waited, and waited, and waited. No one. My wife was fuming at this point and she went back up the counter and demanded that they give her back her laptop, and told them that they just lost out on a guaranteed $1200+ sale then and there.
But it gets better.
So, desperate to get her laptop working, she had me take it back the them the next day. They sent it in ($89 just to look at it, btw) and 2 weeks later the diagnosis is that it needs a new motherboard. I looked online and a new HP motherboard for this unit costs $150 to a consumer like me. This means, they're charging $650 minimum to install a motherboard. Being a year old, I could buy a brand new laptop that's almost twice as good for that same price!
We found this "Ask a Geek" article from a year and a half ago that says you should expect to pay anywhere from $250 to $500 for a new motherboard, but that's including the cost of the motherboard, a new operating system license to replace the one your computer came with (which likely is not licensed to work on the new hardware), and 3-4 hours of labor to swap out the part and reinstall everything. Opinions? Advice? Suggestions on better places to go for this sort of computer repair?
"The Cost Of Replacing A Motherboard" [Ask a Geek]
(Photo: tarale)
Post a comment
Comments:
If you bought the laptop with a credit card, they may have extended the warranty by one year. Call your credit card company and see if they will replace it.
Going to BB was your first problem. Actively seeking out the geek squad was your second. Either do the repair yourself (it's not as hard as it looks) or just buy a new laptop.
I'd be interested to hear what the out-of-warranty repair would cost on that item from HP.
Its a bit excessive but not by much. The issues here is we would need to know the model, not every model is designed the same and some can be really difficult to replace.
The other thing is that places like Best Buy tend to overcharge with the hope of you doing EXACTLY what you said you where going to do, buy a new computer.
To be honest 800 is a lot, but laptops because of their tolerances are REALLY difficult to repair sometimes. I wouldn't pay it though, I'd pull the hard drive, buy another machine, and hook the hard drive up with a drive caddy to offload your stuff if you didnt back it up.
No.....not a fair price....but we are talking about Geek Squad here.
I have replaced many a mobo on laptops and desktops. Laptops are inheirently harder to work on because of the small form factor and making sure you get all the heat removal pipes in th right place, tiny connections on an off without breaking and such. But 3-4 hours labor? Not so....maybe an hour...hour and a half tops. No software, including Windows, would not have to reinstalled at all. They are lying there ass off there. Windows will boot fine as long as the mobo is the same, which it more than likely would be. Worst case...you might have to reactivate, but I don't even see that happening.
Just another bad Geek Squad story....nothing to see here....
Good luck OP. If you're in the DFW, TX area give me a shout....you will get A+ service and a smile at fair price!
CZ
I've replaced the motherboards on computers before (not laptops but same difference when you get right down to it) and never needed to purchase a new licence... Only one time did I need to do a "reinstall" of the OS because it didn't recognize the hardware when it booted up, and I just used the serial number on the case.
I had a friend that went to the local computer science/IT college and found a couple of ads posted by students looking to make some money that were doing hardware repairs for under $100 (if you paid for the parts of course). Of course in this case you would be probably be voiding your warranty, but if getting it professionaly fixed costs more than a new laptop anyways...
The $89 charge is usually what's needed on a desktop in my experience with Geek Squad. Last time I sent it a laptop the deposit was $50 which I found fair since it needs to get sent to the service center and back.
I'd also like to know if the OP found this 'new' motherboard at a reputable supplier or on on a place like ebay. Chances are it's not a new motherboard but a used one pulled from a unit with a shot screen or another defect so they part the computer out.
By the way....I would have charged parts plus $75 labor for this job....barring no issues. And my diagnosing would have been $45. Find a small computer repair business or check with friends or neighbors to see if they know anyone. Most of my work comes by word of mouth.
Laptop motherboard replacement is a trick affair getting all the wires in the right location tearing down the laptop to get to everything back in the right place and right order plus every laptop is different while $650 is ridiculous it isn't an easy task.
Replacing most things on a laptop is a real pain. It may also have a soldered CPU, which means they'd have to replace the CPU at the same time. The price seems high, but then that's what I'd expect at the Geek Squad.
You must have found the wrong motherboard. There is no way the replacement costs only $150 and that you can get it without a service agreement from the likes of HP.
@Thanatos: "tricky affair" pretty much if the mobo on a laptop goes just get a new laptop its not worth it and not cost effective to get a new motherboard and have it repaired and as Cant_stop_the_rock pointed out if the processor(CPU) is soldered to the board its going to cost even more.
The Ask A Geek price seems about right for a laptop mobo replacement, although the prices for the part itself can vary wildly. For a common model, they'll probably range from $100-300. In some fringe cases the motherboard itself might cost as much as Best Buy is quoting, but that is pretty rare, and the OP already said they found it for $150. I sure know I don't want to have to replace the motherboard on my tablet PC- scary scary price on that thing.
Now on a desktop, if it uses a standard ATX board, most systems could have their board replaced for $100. That would be a really crappy board though, a more reasonable price might be $200-300 depending on the features desired and including labor.
150 for the board sounds about right, but as with most specialty repairs, most of the expense is in the labor. I'd think around 200-300 in labor would be more in line with a correct estimate. At this point it would become important to evaluate if it's worth fixing it or not. My advice would be go to a mom and pop PC shop and get a estimate from them.
$650? No, that's a good deal over-priced.
While notebooks are small form factor, and normally a bit difficult to disassemble and reassemble they dont require great skill. Normally you can find a tear-down guide and do it yourself.
Most items you can interchange between the two motherboards, but items like the GPU and CPU, you may need a bit of help on.
Paying for this type of service would be something out of leisure, not necessity. I would highly recommend either bringing your business elsewhere, or doing it yourself. Especially when you have already found a replacement motherboard :)
Okay, I'm the guy in this story. And unfortunately, I bought it with my debit card and not a credit card. I called Wells Fargo (I know, I know... I need to fix that error too) and no luck on the extended warranty front. Thought it was worth a shot though.
Hey take it easy on the Best Buy geek squad!
You guys obviously aren't factoring the many man hours it will take for them to nose through his wife's personal photos and documents, and steal any movies or music she might have on there.
I repair computers on the side and $800 is outrageous. I'm in the wrong business. I usually charge a flat rate of $100 for anything that will require some time, other wise I usually charge around $50 for basic OS install and Virus/Spyware scans.
Laptop parts are a lot more expensive than desktop parts so sometimes it's better to just buy new rather than fix it. Also ebay might have old labtops for parts, that's where I find some of my stuff.
My brother-in-law took is Toshiba to in to Geek Squad to have the LCD replaced and the they wanted $400. He bought one of their extended warranty rip off plans and they didn't bother to fix it. He had that thing in four times for the same problem and every time, they said it was fixed when it wasn't fixed. The last time he took it back to fix the same problem that he had told them to fix, they said that his warranty had expired and he would have to pay for the service.
Geek squad sucks. I'm glad I turned down the job offer from them 5 years ago. $11 an hour and 75% of the time you will be selling stuff and not fixing stuff.
I want to point out that if you replace the motherboard with an identical model you shouldn't have to pay Microsoft for a new license.
I know very little about HP laptops, but there is a place down the street from me that specializes in Dell laptops, parts-people.com. Great prices on the parts, and labor is a flat $100.
Find a local company, I'm sure they can put it in for an hours labor (even the most complicated laptops can be done in about that time IF You have done that model before).
I will say $150 is a tad on the low side for a late model laptop motherboard, so you should feel lucky.
i have an almost-3 year old laptop bought from BBY... with a 2-year service plan extension. the service plan expires in july... 2 of my USB ports are bad, and the computer randomly stops charging/running off AC power. i'm 90% sure it's a bad motherboard - should i brace myself for an epic fight with geek squad?
Look at someplace like Laptopparts.com and make sure this wasn't a one off of someone selling the board that cheap. It takes 30 minutes to 2 hours to change out a motherboard in a laptop plus time to make sure it is working right.
You don't need to buy a new operating system. You shouldn't even need to reinstall it. Your swapping identical hardware.
If you use Geek Squad you deserve what you get.
With the cost of laptops, and the leaps in technology in the last year, save your money and just buy a new one. You can buy a brand new laptop for around $500 nowadays and it will match up in specs. DO NOT TRY TO INSTALL IT YOURSELF if you have never done so before. I have replaced a ton of laptop motherboards and it takes time to get good at it.
As many others have noted before, Consumerist, you are not providing enough information to get any worthwhile or valid answer.
There should be three costs to a repair: parts, labor, taxes.
What is BestBuy's break down in relation to the $850 quoted price?
What is the model number of the laptop so one might look to find a reasonable price for said item?
How much would BestBuy charge to replace the motherboard if supplied with the part?
It is going to take much more information than provided above before anyone can give a accurate opinion.
While $650 for labour is insane (since a new and highly capable laptop would be around $800) it does take a lot of labour to do this on a Laptop. Not $650 worth but maybe $100-$300.
I'd recommend just yanking the drive and putting it in a different or new laptop and getting your wife's files off. Like other recommended you might even be able to boot from that drive and get EVERYTHING. Some files in protected directories may be hard to access if you just add that drive as a second drive to another machine. removing the drive should be relatively simple but if you can't you may want to consult with someone other than the geek squad.
@thereij:
I second this statement. Replacing a motherboard (especially laptops these days) is simple and often times the manufacturer will have step-by-step instructions on how to do this.
Hell, I'd replaced the motherboard for $50 labor. Can easily get the part on eBay. Since it's just the motherboard, everything else should be working fine. Just replace the motherboard and slap in the hard drive and Windows should boot fine.
Laptop repair is *MUCH* more difficult than desktop repair. You're lucky to get someone to help repair it.
Not entirely true. Sam's takes all forms of Debit cards, (Sams/Wal-Mart) Discover, and Mastercards.
Typical of low end tech support. It's easier to over charge for a repair to get the person to buy another PC. And if they do go for the repair they just made $800!
Seems like a good idea for all that are looking to get into the do nothing life that is best buy tech support. (send out??? What the hell is going on in that 2500sqft of space they are occupying??)
This is the risk you take when you don't buy an extended warranty for a laptop. I usually don't buy one with a desktop since most of the time I just build it myself. A laptop, however, I make sure I get an extended warranty. Could have taken that $650 and gone to Dell Outlet to get something way better than your currently laptop.
Impossible to say for sure without knowing the model of the laptop. Is it just me or has there been an increasing lack of pertinent information in news posts?
I can safely say most new parts from most laptop OEMS are absurdly overpriced, Lenovo being the worst at a pinch over half the cost of the whole machine for most of their business machines. And I'm talking about $800+ up towards $1600+ for the board alone.
On the other hand, most places that do sell parts online have re baked or heat gunned parts on the motherboard such as the graphics to revive them, coming only with a convenient 30 day warranty. The problem with this is that it only puts a band aid on the failure, which will inevitably fail soon.
My biggest suggestion for when you shop for laptops is to research replacement part costs as much as possible or at least tack on the accidental warranty and add 3 years. You'll be thankful when that machine conks out due to natural causes.
Generally speaking, repair joints will price out a mainboard failure on any item (phone, laptop, PC) to be almost the whole price of replacing the item. It's very labour-intensive to strip the item down that far and reassemble so they want to discourage people from doing it.
I echo comments here, find a reputable local place (or a tame geek) and they'll do the replacement at a much more reasonable rate. The OS can be re-licenced to the new machine, even if it's an OEM licence.
Cost comes from (apart from greedy CSR):
1: Propietary motherboard design
-One size does not fit all
--If I remember correctly, Asus Eee PC1000 and PC1000H have different motherboards. H-model has a conventional rotary HDD, non-H model two SSD drives. Different connections and firmware.
2: Design
-One case, one motherboard
--Ms Round Hole, meet Mr Square Peg
Desktop cases are mostly the same except for design differences. ATX and mATX motherboards are pretty close to except actual PCB size and mounting holes. Six vs nine.
LOL. I don't trust Geek Squad's diagnosis that it's the motherboard. They need the extra cash & time to rummage about and find the real problem after the motherboard switch fails to solve the problem.
As most have said, this is a ripoff. The best thing you can do is find the local computer store and have them fix it. It shouldn't cost more then $300 with the labor costs.
Computer repair is the new car repair. Oil change, rotate tires, check fluids = Reformat hard drive, remove unwanted programs, Virus/Spyware check. They cost a lot to have someone else do for you, but are cheap and easy if you can do it yourself.
For PC laptops, it's almost never worth it to repair it...especially at a chain store. Get a new one (they're cheap, only a few hundred bucks) and donate the old one to a church, school, or relative.
For the price of that repair you could get a decent dual-core laptop, especially given all the dell deals floating around these days.
I used to work for Dell. They charge around $500 for a MB replacement, and that's for the part only. No labor or anything. The actual cost to Dell for the MB is around $6. It's highway robbery!
@wardawg: With Windows when you replace the hardware, in particular the motherboard or processor, it will whine about the HAL detecting a major hardware change (possibly the theory is that you clone the harddrive bit for bit and put it somewhere else?) and demand you reactivate Windows.
While that alone will not make you buy a new copy of Windows, the license keys fall off pretty easily on heavily used laptops and many people don't write them down.
@thereij: Yeah really. Replacing the motherboard on my old laptop took less than an hour, and all you need is the instructions (HP supplies these online) and a screw driver.
Also, the thing about buying a new license for Windows is BS. Windows can be installed several times with the same license, and if it won't work, just call Microsoft and tell them your old computer died.
Speaking as an ex-firedog, that's a ridiculous price. However, I'm surprised their management is even letting them do it. They wouldn't at our store, except for the technicians who actually knew what they were doing.