How do i know if im being robbed by service center?

[himendra]

Guys just recently i posted a thread about my lenovo z51 laptop display driver not responding. I gave my laptop to the the service center today. I just received a call from them and they are telling me that its a graphics card problem and they wil have to replace the motherboard entirely which will cost me 35000rs. Guys how do i tell if they are not just taking advantage of my lack of knowledge about these things. What should i do plz advise.
Thanks

 

[Ferrum Master]

You should cure your paranoia.

Who, especially in a service location needs your crappy old laptop parts?

 

[himendra]

You should cure your paranoia.

Who, especially in a service location needs your crappy old laptop parts?

plz give an answer to the question instead of revealing ur sick character here.

 

[pigulici]

100% you can't be sure, but if you don't trust them, just tell them to give back your tech, without any repair.

 

[Frick]

Guys just recently i posted a thread about my lenovo z51 laptop display driver not responding. I gave my laptop to the the service center today. I just received a call from them and they are telling me that its a graphics card problem and they wil have to replace the motherboard entirely which will cost me 35000rs. Guys how do i tell if they are not just taking advantage of my lack of knowledge about these things. What should i do plz advise.
Thanks

Honestly, you don't. Such is the way of dealing with people.

 

[mad1394]

Is that a 500 dollar repair? ouch.

 

[R00kie]

if the part costs more than the laptop itself, might as well not bother.

 

[silentbogo]

For other's reference: 35,000rs is about $535, since the author thinks we all know the exchange rate of the indian rupee.

To OP:
It's a ripoff. paying over $500 for a motherboard replacement on a $600 laptop is a bit too much...
Getting replacement GPUs for these boards is hard, but just for the sake of curiosity I've checked market prices:
- A z51 motherboard with discrete graphics(i5-5200u && R7 M360 4GB) costs ~$280-290, so even with an outrageous $50 premium for a quick modular repair (diagnostics+swapping the board) is still nowhere near $530 they've asked
- If you are ready to sacrifice your discrete graphics in favor of having a working laptop, it is possible to convert it to UMA (disable discrete Radeon R7, remove GPU power, and flip a few board ID resistors).
- Replacing a GPU is not a problem in a proper workshop. Original R7 M360 is hard to find, but it should be compatible with M260, which is around $10-15 in retail. The rest is just labor cost.
- GPU driver issue may be also the result of overheating, which 300-series mobile radeons also suffer from. Checking that would be on my priority list.

Here are the links to replacement boards:
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20171007023736&SearchText=LA-C281P

If you are capable of disassembling your laptop, you may be able to replace it on your own.


Another thing: your laptop is relatively new... Did you check if it's still covered by Lenovo warranty?

 

[Ja.KooLit]

Like @pigulici said, if you dont trust them take back your laptop and bring to service center you trust. That will give you an idea if previous service center was trying to rob you. Its always good to have second opinion

 

[pigulici]

Usually, as repair shop , for a laptop, if you want to buy a motherboard from official channel, the cost most of the time it is 90% from price of same laptop, bought as new and whole. This is from producer side, they (the manufacture guys) don't want you to repair it, they want you to buy a new one.

 

[Toothless]

Something about "revealing ur sick character" made me giggle.

Don't bother about having them "repair" and just get a new laptop.

 

[jboydgolfer]

oh the urge is SO strong.........all the pieces are here.....

...on topic, the best way is replace

 

[RejZoR]

Question here is, was driver not responding due to hardware fault or because of driver itself? I find it somewhat unlikely that driver would be failing because of hardware without experiencing other issues (other than just driver not responding).

I still remember an old test some computer magazine/outlet did, they just unplugged a SATA cable from HDD and dropped off machine at service shop and said "It doesn't work" to see how honest they'd be. Some were kind enough to just say it was unplugged cable and didn't charge anything, others recommended new HDD, others whole new PC because it was "too old" etc. It's slightly more difficult with laptops because a lot of things are proprietary there, but still.

I know that if I had driver issues, I'd do EVERYTHING with software first. Fiddle with drivers endlessly. I'd only give up if I'd exhaust all the software possibilities. And even then, hardware failures are super rare. The last one I had of such nature was GeForce 8400M GS series which were known to have defective chips. Other than that, I don't really remember ever hearing about faulty GPU or CPU in a laptop. At least as far as my systems and systems of people around me goes. It was usually just a worn out optical drive or worn out HDD (mechanical stuff).

 

[TheGuruStud]

Question here is, was driver not responding due to hardware fault or because of driver itself? I find it somewhat unlikely that driver would be failing because of hardware without experiencing other issues (other than just driver not responding).

I still remember an old test some computer magazine/outlet did, they just unplugged a SATA cable from HDD and dropped off machine at service shop and said "It doesn't work" to see how honest they'd be. Some were kind enough to just say it was unplugged cable and didn't charge anything, others recommended new HDD, others whole new PC because it was "too old" etc. It's slightly more difficult with laptops because a lot of things are proprietary there, but still.

I know that if I had driver issues, I'd do EVERYTHING with software first. Fiddle with drivers endlessly. I'd only give up if I'd exhaust all the software possibilities. And even then, hardware failures are super rare. The last one I had of such nature was GeForce 8400M GS series which were known to have defective chips. Other than that, I don't really remember ever hearing about faulty GPU or CPU in a laptop. At least as far as my systems and systems of people around me goes. It was usually just a worn out optical drive or worn out HDD (mechanical stuff).

Yep.

Make a backup, wipe, reinstall and see what happens.

 

[P4-630]

Yep.

Make a backup, wipe, reinstall and see what happens.

And it should be easy if the laptop comes with a recovery partition.

 

[himendra]

100% you can't be sure, but if you don't trust them, just tell them to give back your tech, without any repair.

Exactly i am unsure about it thats why im trying to find out as much as i can. Just now i returned from the service station... The thing i understood from them and a friend of mine is that the gpu is integrated with the motherboard and if the gpu is broke they have to replace the entire motherboard....
I have got the laptop back. I have to find out if any graphics card can be run with this laptop externally

 

[P4-630]

I have to find out if any graphics card can be run with this laptop externally

Only if your laptop has a thunderbolt connection.
But it'll be expensive as well, you're better off buying a new laptop I think.

 

[himendra]

For other's reference: 35,000rs is about $535, since the author thinks we all know the exchange rate of the indian rupee.

To OP:
It's a ripoff. paying over $500 for a motherboard replacement on a $600 laptop is a bit too much...
Getting replacement GPUs for these boards is hard, but just for the sake of curiosity I've checked market prices:
- A z51 motherboard with discrete graphics(i5-5200u && R7 M360 4GB) costs ~$280-290, so even with an outrageous $50 premium for a quick modular repair (diagnostics+swapping the board) is still nowhere near $530 they've asked
- If you are ready to sacrifice your discrete graphics in favor of having a working laptop, it is possible to convert it to UMA (disable discrete Radeon R7, remove GPU power, and flip a few board ID resistors).
- Replacing a GPU is not a problem in a proper workshop. Original R7 M360 is hard to find, but it should be compatible with M260, which is around $10-15 in retail. The rest is just labor cost.
- GPU driver issue may be also the result of overheating, which 300-series mobile radeons also suffer from. Checking that would be on my priority list.

Here are the links to replacement boards:
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20171007023736&SearchText=LA-C281P

If you are capable of disassembling your laptop, you may be able to replace it on your own.


Another thing: your laptop is relatively new... Did you check if it's still covered by Lenovo warranty?

thanks for replying friend

my warranty is over and i want to understand what u have suggested but its too technical for me....i will ask a few questions once i read other replies thanks

Question here is, was driver not responding due to hardware fault or because of driver itself? I find it somewhat unlikely that driver would be failing because of hardware without experiencing other issues (other than just driver not responding).

I still remember an old test some computer magazine/outlet did, they just unplugged a SATA cable from HDD and dropped off machine at service shop and said "It doesn't work" to see how honest they'd be. Some were kind enough to just say it was unplugged cable and didn't charge anything, others recommended new HDD, others whole new PC because it was "too old" etc. It's slightly more difficult with laptops because a lot of things are proprietary there, but still.

I know that if I had driver issues, I'd do EVERYTHING with software first. Fiddle with drivers endlessly. I'd only give up if I'd exhaust all the software possibilities. And even then, hardware failures are super rare. The last one I had of such nature was GeForce 8400M GS series which were known to have defective chips. Other than that, I don't really remember ever hearing about faulty GPU or CPU in a laptop. At least as far as my systems and systems of people around me goes. It was usually just a worn out optical drive or worn out HDD (mechanical stuff).

thank u for replying,,, can u suggest what i should do more to test if its just a software problem????

Only if your laptop has a thunderbolt connection.
But it'll be expensive as well, you're better off buying a new laptop I think.

i will check if this has a thunderbolt or not

 

[jboydgolfer]

Imo, Better to spend 50,000rp on a new LT, than 33,000rp fixing an older one is what seems to be a common sentiment, or diy if possible

 

[himendra]

guys look at this...
i disabled intel hd graphics card and then got this report using gpu-z....does this mean anything???

 

[silentbogo]

thanks for replying friend

my warranty is over and i want to understand what u have suggested but its too technical for me....i will ask a few questions once i read other replies thanks

Basically it boils down to the following:
a) Buy a motherboard from China and replace it yourself
b) Find a service center that's legit and does more than flipping parts at outrageous prices

P.S. Looking at your screenshot I couldn't help but notice that you are running an old Catalyst 14.502... Have you tried newer Crimson drivers from AMD website?

 

[Jetster]

Just sell it. When they offer to fix a laptop for the price of a new one this is your first clue they do not have your best interest in mind. Such is the life of a laptop

 

[himendra]

Basically it boils down to the following:
a) Buy a motherboard from China and replace it yourself
b) Find a service center that's legit and does more than flipping parts at outrageous prices

P.S. Looking at your screenshot I couldn't help but notice that you are running an old Catalyst 14.502... Have you tried newer Crimson drivers from AMD website?

i did install latest catalyst from amd site...but it didnt do anything...will disable intel hd graphics and check if amd gpu is running or not (im reinstalling latest catalyst again

guys i think the amd card is not working coz when i disabled intel hd graphics and ran on amd only its says "ur pc ran into a problem..."

 

[sneekypeet]

@himendra multiple posting is frowned upon at TPU. Please read over this tutorial and try to be more mindful of your posting habits.

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...osts-and-use-the-multi-quote-features.234427/

 

[Solaris17]

plz give an answer to the question instead of revealing ur sick character here.

Well factually speaking if the display driver kept not responding and you were getting TCL timeouts in conjunction with most laptop GPUs being directly soldered, then yes it would be a full mobo replacement.

Typical pricing for this is.

Part + Markup
Labor

-CIO for a PC repair chain.