Repair or replace?

What failed matters more than how old it is

Age is a poor guide. A six-year-old desktop with a failed drive is usually worth fixing; a two-year-old laptop with liquid damage across the mainboard often is not. The question is what the repair costs relative to what the machine will still do for you afterwards.

The parts that commonly fail — storage, memory, batteries, fans, charging ports — are also the ones that are usually straightforward to replace. That is why so many machines written off as old are not.

When repairing is the clear answer

If the machine was adequate before the fault and the fault is in a replaceable part, repair is usually far cheaper than replacement and takes less of your time. Moving to a solid-state drive at the same time frequently leaves the computer feeling better than it did before it broke.

• A failed or failing drive, in a machine that was otherwise fine
• A battery that no longer holds charge
• A cracked screen on a sound laptop
• A charging port that has worn out
• Slowness caused by too little memory

When replacing is the honest answer

Damage to the mainboard, liquid that has spread through a machine, or a design where the failed part is bonded to several others can push the repair past what the computer is worth. Several separate faults at once usually means the same.

When that is what we find, we say it. Your data can usually still be recovered and moved to whatever comes next.