Revive old dell laptop?

[BAcon]

I have a 13 yr old Dell laptop that is in need of some tlc, it is of the following specs:

Dell L702X XPS 17"
I7-2630QM
GT550M (may be a gt555m)
6GB DDR3 (2gb and 4gb)
256GB SSD and a 500gb hdd

The screen hinge/bezel etc is cracked on one side of the screen, the vertical bar that supports the screen and attaches to the hinge is snapped and the lid itself which the hinge screws into is broken as a result. Additionally the 9 cell battery is completely dead and requires plugging in to operate at all times.

So my thoughts process is basically surrounding whether this old thing is worth repairing to a low standard in order I can keep it going and using it as a laptop to an extent, or whether I call it a day.

Repair cost:
Epoxy the hinge to the snapped mounts on the lid or replace lid £20 (used and a bit scruffy but structurally looks good)
Hinge bar £20
Replacement battery £15 (cheapest junk) or £70 OEM
Total cost £35 to £110

I Won't be worrying about cosmetics, but that would get it operational as a laptop.

Additionally it could do with
Memory 2x8gb ddr3 £20

So cheapest solution is epoxy the lid, replace the hinge bar, cheapest battery and memory upgrade to 16gb, should be around £55.

Given the specs, is this old dog worth keeping going? Or is the spec going to struggle against even some basic micro pcs that cost as much as these repairs!

 

[Manbatius]

I have a 13 yr old Dell laptop that is in need of some tlc, it is of the following specs:

Dell L702X XPS 17"
I7-2630QM
GT550M (may be a gt555m)
6GB DDR3 (2gb and 4gb)
256GB SSD and a 500gb hdd

The screen hinge/bezel etc is cracked on one side of the screen, the vertical bar that supports the screen and attaches to the hinge is snapped and the lid itself which the hinge screws into is broken as a result. Additionally the 9 cell battery is completely dead and requires plugging in to operate at all times.

So my thoughts process is basically surrounding whether this old thing is worth repairing to a low standard in order I can keep it going and using it as a laptop to an extent, or whether I call it a day.

Repair cost:
Epoxy the hinge to the snapped mounts on the lid or replace lid £20 (used and a bit scruffy but structurally looks good)
Hinge bar £20
Replacement battery £15 (cheapest junk) or £70 OEM
Total cost £35 to £110

I Won't be worrying about cosmetics, but that would get it operational as a laptop.

Additionally it could do with
Memory 2x8gb ddr3 £20

So cheapest solution is epoxy the lid, replace the hinge bar, cheapest battery and memory upgrade to 16gb, should be around £55.

Given the specs, is this old dog worth keeping going? Or is the spec going to struggle against even some basic micro pcs that cost as much as these repairs!

Heh, I just fitted some new keys (one got ripped off, other dodgy) on a I5-2350m Fujitsu Siemens laptop of similar vintage.
As ever, it entirely depends on your use case. Mine is browsing email and some light homework duty for the kids, perfect for that and I don't care if it gets damaged. (or the youngest puts stickers on it)

If its powerful enough for your use, I would sort it for that price. (cheaper option). You mention micro pc, but then if you are not moving this round, dont change the battery.
Mind, I did a dull tear down of mine last year as fan was running all the time, basically had no thermal paste..... Much better now.

 

[BAcon]

Yeh just taking it apart at the moment, 13yr old thermal paste on the CPU and GPU are pretty crusty. Surprisingly clean inside otherwise though, considering how loud this has become.

Will replace the paste now and put it back together, ready for my screen repair option of choice.
You're probably right on the battery, perhaps not worth it. Was just thinking if the power cable ever comes loose at least it wouldn't just instantly power off!

 

[Barry Smalley]

I bought one of these new in 2010 and its still going today. Think it was the 701x with a GT435M in it. Swapped the 500gb sata drive for a 240gb SSD and put the 500gb in the spare slot. I think i put 16gb ram in it, but it could have been 8gb - its a while ago.
Having said that, its still a great machine and running like a dream. If i were you, i'd keep it going.

 

[OldKitMan]

I've still got my old Dell work laptop which is around 13 years old now as they let me keep it when I got a new one. Put an SSD in it and it ran fine for many more years. Think it's past it now but old Dell laptops (the business stuff anyway) tend to be very capable home devices for quite a while.

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

For me, I'd fix it and keep it going. Ebay replacement lid, even if it is a bit scuffed, and sort the hinge out, would keep the screen safe.
I'd likely choose the cheap battery option, unless planning on using it for extended periods out of the house. 16gb of memory is worth it at that price too.
Throw on Linux Mint, install TLP to sort power usage, and it'd be an ancient but decent enough laptop.