Last night I went home and put my pc on. There was a burning smell that I noticed almost instantly. The computer locked up and I got a blue screen telling me to shut the pc down and try to reboot it again. So I did that but I couldnt get my pc to start up again. It would turn on but it would stop doing anything, and I couldnt get a picture on my monitor.
I shut it down and I took the case off to see if I could see where the burnt smell was coming from. It turns out that I burnt my Power Supply box. I am going to pick one up today from my friend that built the PC 3 years ago.
I was talking to a guy at work that does PC troubleshooting, and he told me there is a possibility that I burnt out my mother board and video card. If that did happen do you think it is worth it to fix the computer, or do you think I should get a new one. I was thinking of getting a bare bones system and installing my own operating system or maybe getting a refurbished computer from tigerdirect.com
Any advice would be appreciated.
Scott
tourist
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Re: Computer problem. Question
hmm. FH is the computer nerd in the famiy, but from what I understand if the motherboard goes, you may as well get a new one, unless its a brand new computer.
I'm not positive how much $ they are or how hard they are to install. Canyou even buy jsut that/ I knwo Fh has gottenreplacemtn ones when they came defective form teh manufacturer, but I'm not sure about replacing them.
the same thing happened to me, my mother board went up in smoke, literally. i got the computer fixed and it was not worth it at all. i recommend just getting a new computer.
Danielle&Scott
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I was thinking of getting a refurbished pc from tigerdirect.com. I am buying the power supply today and installing it tonight. If it still doesnt work then I am not going to bother to fix it. I will get something else.
I dont play games on line, and I basically just surf, do email, check out forums and post stuff on ebay. What do you think of this?
MrHostility
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Re: Computer problem. Question
Replace things in a systematic way. First try the powersupply. If that works, you're good. If not, try reseating the components(especially the video card). You might have killed the mobo, but I don't think so.
I wouldn't get a refurb pc, especially from Tiger Direct. I wouldn't buy anything from them...ever.
MrHostility
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Try this Dell System instead. It's a celeron, but since you don't play games, or use apps like Autocad, it would work fine for you. At $322 bucks, it's a pretty good deal. MUCH better than a refurb system, especially an older E-Machine. You may want to get a little more memory for it. Looking again at the tiger direct specs...get the Dell, no doubt.
Replace things in a systematic way. First try the powersupply. If that works, you're good. If not, try reseating the components(especially the video card). You might have killed the mobo, but I don't think so.
I wouldn't get a refurb pc, especially from Tiger Direct. I wouldn't buy anything from them...ever.
Really, I love them. I have bought alot of stuff from them already. I think you are the first person that I know that doesnt like them.
Danielle&Scott
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Posted by MrHostility
Try this Dell System instead. It's a celeron, but since you don't play games, or use apps like Autocad, it would work fine for you. At $322 bucks, it's a pretty good deal. MUCH better than a refurb system, especially an older E-Machine. You may want to get a little more memory for it. Looking again at the tiger direct specs...get the Dell, no doubt.
Danielle's dad has the same pc but he got the pentium 4.
MrHostility
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Posted by Danielle&Scott Really, I love them. I have bought alot of stuff from them already. I think you are the first person that I know that doesnt like them.
I dunno if you have ever been to Fatwallet. But people trash them there all the time. Especially about rebates never coming. It's up to you, but why get a refurb PC (which is an e-machine), over a Dell? I'm not a Dell fanboy, but I'd trust their quality over E-machine. (though e-machine was bought out by Gateway recently, so they are getting better I guess)
Danielle&Scott
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Im not getting anything yet...I am praying that my pc is ok. I dont need the added expense of having to buy another pc now.
cooky11111
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Scott me and two other friends bought Dell's all within the past year and a half and....We all have been having huge problems with them there customer Service is horrible. Sunday I call twice the first time I was on hold for an hour the 2nd time I hung up after 3 hours!!! Well hope you don't need a new one, just wanted to let you know about Dell's in case you do.
MCDO15
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Dell is 50/50 (i had problems but finally resoloved and more - they gave me free stuff and money back after rebate issues)
i own 3 of them... no problems here besides i can fix problems my self
as far as Tiger Direct..they are 50/50 also. try power supply...even if MOBO went, a replacement MOBO should cost around 50 bucks depeding on age of the system. if you need a newer MOBO like 100-125...you might as well looking into a new system.
The link MR. HOSTILITY howed ya for 322 doens't offer anything worth special. If you are into games are more advanced apps, a Celeron is not for you.
MrHostility
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Posted by MCDO15 The link MR. HOSTILITY howed ya for 322 doens't offer anything worth special. If you are into games are more advanced apps, a Celeron is not for you.
No kidding. If you read his post, or mine for that matter, I said that. He said he didn't need to play games, only web surf, email, and ebay. He wanted to buy a refurb for $300+, when he could get a new PC with similar specs for the same price.
Ophelia42
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Re: Computer problem. Question
Hoenstly, I wouldn't buy an Emachine. Ever.
That said - all of those Dell systems that are ~$300 only have 128 MB of memory. You are going to have major issues trying to run Windows XP with 128 MB of memory. 256 is the absolute MINIMUM, and honestly, it's worth it to go up to 512.
Of course, you can do that far cheaper on your own (rather than getting a system with the 512, get one with 128 or 256 and install it yourself) The extra memory will cost ~$100 (that is to get it to 512MB, obviously going up to only 256 will be cheaper)
Danielle&Scott
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Well I got the power supply for $12, installed it myself and it still didnt work. I brought the CPU over to my friends house last night and he saw that I blew the mother board. So thankgod....my luck, he had a nother mother board in stock for me. He is charging me $25 and free install. He already checked my hard drive to see if it was shot too, but it wasnt....So all in all it is going to cost me $37.
Maybe I will buy another 256 chip from Crucial.com. I could use the extra memory. Thanks everyone for the advice on the e machines and the dell. Hopefully I can get a few more years out of this pc. Other than my problem today, I have had no problems since I upgraded to XP. I think I am going to upgrade my chip soon too. I think I can get a 2.3 on this motherboard and none higher.
Scott
MrHostility
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Ironically enough, my computer just shut down about 3 hours after that last message. I believe my power supply is dead, at least I'm hoping for that instead of my motherboard or more.
Damn computers.
Danielle&Scott
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I know where you can get one for $12.
MrHostility
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Appreciate the offer. But I have a top of the line PC...well close. So I like to get the really powerful ones, with less noise on the electric lines.
