Broken laptop: repair or ditch?

Broken laptop: repair or ditch?

According to recent research by Which? 42% of respondents decided to buy a new laptop rather than having it fixed.

Of course, some of this depends on cost and the age of the machine but there are also environmental considerations.

Which? found that the most common laptop faults were diminishing battery life and slow speed. It calculated that it would cost between £67 to £87 for battery repair and £53 – £75 for slow speed repair.

More expensive faults cost:

Motherboard failure	£51 – £164
Screen problems, including dead pixels or dark spots	£45 – £130
Hard disk or SSD failed	£82 – £127

However, there are various things to consider before ditching.

If your laptop has a fault within the first six months, it’s presumed it was there when you bought it – so contact the retailer.

After six months, check whether your laptop is still within its manufacturer’s warranty period.

Repairing v replacing depends on many things, including for how long you’ve had the laptop, what you think it’s now likely to be worth and how much a replacement would cost you.