On Mon, 11 Aug 2014 06:02:40 -0700 (PDT), Tim R
wrote:
On Sunday, August 10, 2014 11:29:17 PM UTC-4, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
As for "an appreciable fraction of a new laptop", I'm curious as to
what percentage of the cost of a new laptop you would be willing to
pay for a repair?
The cost is a good question. I'm still using a laptop (not this one!)
I paid $1,000 for ten years ago. It has a wonky fan and I'm backing
up files waiting for it to die.
Until just recently, I was running a Xenix server that's been running
since about 1993. I got tired of waiting for it to die, so I pulled
the plug.
The local shop quoted me $200 to fix it, which is 20% of the purchase
price, but a new laptop that is faster and better in every way would
run me $300, or a refurb would be $179.
Thanks. 20% of the purchase price is not what I'm looking for. I'm
curious about the repair cost percentage of the replacement price.
$200 / $300 = 67%
which is far too expensive. If you can find a $300 replacement
laptop, I would certainly replace instead of repair.
However, if you're looking for a Windoze 8.1 machine, I don't believe
you can buy anything decent (i.e. i3 CPU or better) for less than
$400. If you want a screen that you can see, which means 1920x1080, I
would guess about $500 minimum. Since laptops don't come with built
in CD/DVD drives any more, add another $40. (Add about $150 for MS
Office 2013 Home and Student). Ignoring MS Office, taxes, Geek Squad,
time to reinstall, and some extras, my guess is a shiny new Win 8.1
laptop will set you back about $450 minimum.
$200 / $450 = 44%
So, what percentage of the REPLACEMENT cost would you be willing to
repair the laptop rather than replace it?
I think the break point is not a percentage but an amount. $80 I
would pay, $100 is a maybe, $120 is definitely no.
$80 / $450 = 18%
$100 / $450 = 22%
$120 / $450 = 27%
I usually use 25% as my fix/replace break point, which puts the jack
replacement as marginal. I just wanted to confirm my pricing. The
$75/hr shop rate allegedly includes any warranty and failure to fix
costs. At 25%, I guess the decision should be by whether the laptop
is worth fixing. If it's a single core CPU or older, forget it. If
it's a dual core or later, then it might be a worthwhile repair.
Incidentally, for the laptop tightwads, the $130 laptop:
http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-acer-116-chromebook-with-14ghz-dual-core-processor
I have several and they run Ubuntu 12.04LTS quite fast and fairly
nicely.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558