Attn: Computer Experts and Electricians
 

For the computer experts, on or about BC Day my laptop started scrolling and I couldn't use some of the keys. I took it in to have it looked at the Monday after Thanksgiving, first he thought it was a keyboard issue, now he says it's a motherboard issue and I still haven't got it back. Should I go and get my computer back or is this about the normal time frame?

For the electricians, I almost burnt down my house by hooking up too many Christmas lights to a floodlight on my back porch?(Yes, I am an idiot) I have an old house and there were no outside outlets. I had an electrician fix the floodlight wiring and install an outside outlet(not just for Chrismas lights, but for other outside uses where I had to previously run a cord through the house), the charge was almost $800 and he was there for about an hour and a half, he gave me the quote and I agreed to it, before the work was done, but I was in a bind and with no time to get other quotes, because I was worried about a possible fire from the damage, so I told him to go ahead. Did I get hosed? I believe I did, but I have asked many people and they can't tell me how much they think it should have cost. I have no recourse other than cussing out the owner, but I was wondering if anyone thought this was off base, before I lay into him.

I think a month is a long time to replace a motherboard. I had to replace mine in my laptop a year or two ago and I sent it to HP and got it back quicker than that.

I can't answer your first question...I'm ignorant there.
Your second question, though, can be traced. Find your service panel. It's what comes into your house after the meter. Is it fuses (old stuff) or breakers? Is it a 100 or 200 box? If the circuit he put it on didn't pop a breaker or a fuse, your wiring should be ok. Did he put in a "ground fault" outlet? Take a look at the bill he gave you. See what he put in.
And don't run cords, especially off 14-2 wire. Ask him questions.

OMG... what language were you speaking, Wayne?!!! :eek: :D

I think it's been too long as well...

Way too long, even if they didn't have the parts they can get them in 2-3 days normally...unless it's old, obscure, or they're not certified to work on the brand.

DTS,

It's a breaker, he seemed surprised that the mini fire did not kick the breaker, before the wiring burnt out. The new outlet has a GFC, which he told me would definitely prevent any future problems. I have a feeling that some of the old owners of the house may have wired it themselves, the house was built in 1926.I'll look at the bill this weekend. Thanks for the reply.

I have no mechanical aptitude or knowledge of these things, I respect people who do this work, because I know they work hard and went to school for it and simply I have no ability to do this, but sometimes I think they know they can take advantage of people. The other end of the spectrum is that I had a plumber at my house for about 5 hours and he only charged me $200 for everything..

OK...that's good.
Now look at the breaker that the circuit feeds back to. It will have alittle number on it. It will say 15 amp, 20 amp..on up.
If the demand of the wiring is below the capacity of the breaker, it won't trip.
However, if the wiring is above the capacity, it's time to get the breaker replaced with one that will accept the "load".

Cajun,
It's "electric speak". Figure it this way...like plumbing, if a pipe has a certain volume of stuff that you want to put through it, and you try to put more into it than it can handle, the pipe will burst and you'll have a flood.
With electricity, it's a lot like that, except you'll have a fire.

How old is your computer and how expensive will it be to fix? If your computer is a few years old and they are going to charge you $200 to fix it, you are probably better off getting a new computer. If you paid $1,500 for a laptop about 4-5 years ago, you could probably buy a far superior one now for about $600.

Ok... I just spit my drink out (guess the pipe exploded there :eek: )... HILARIOUS that you used that as an example. CLASSIC! :D

Too funny!

The computer is 3 years old, it's a Toshiba laptop, I paid $1,100 for it at the time. It's going to cost about $250 to get fixed. I have thought about buying a new one for around $600, but the only thing I used it for is to surf internet, manage finance, and to watch races, it suits me just fine for that, for the difference in price I would rather get it fixed.

It's driving me nuts, because I can't follow any racing that's going on other than what I read on here, most of the other sites are blocked at work.

I have heard that Toshiba's are excellent laptops, too. I'd love to get one of those and get rid of my stupid HP. :rolleyes:

Cajun,
Now you're talking!
I'd also love something excellent on my lap...top.;)

HAHA!!! You need to stop this, Wayne... I'm not one for spitting things out. I prefer something else... er... hehe. :D

It's nice, when the guy came to setup my wireless connection, he was really impressed with the computer, he told me he asked me where I bought it, because he wanted one...Like I said it suits me fine, I don't do much with it...

Be still my heart!

It's not your heart I'm worried about! :p

For Whatever people don't like Dell.....I called them to check one of my laptops...they called to schedule an appt. the next day..and the guy took the laptop apart and was finished in under an hour! I was amazed What ever you do,P5, hope it turns quickly for you!

my husband is an electrician, but even if he were here it wouldn't do much good to ask, as he's industrial. but i don't think your bill sounds unreasonable.

in future, always get references--tricky i know in a situation like this one. and of course, bonded and insured.
big difference as well between electrical and plumbing. i've done both, believe me, i'd tackle plumbing over electric anyday. screw up on a pipe, you have to wipe up a puddle. on wiring? weelll, that can kill you.

we bought our first dell last year. i believe it's also going to be our last from them...desktop, but far inferior to what we thought we were upgrading.

I agree the bill seems unreasonable...in Cali you can a small house rewired for 800 bucks!

I don't use the laptop...my daughter swiped it from me...I'm happy parked right in front of my 19" screen with favorite beverage and DSL to while away the time!:D

no, i said it didn't sound unreasonable.
wiring is incredibly expensive these days, due to the price of copper. $2 a pound now. a roll of copper line for use in plumbing costs over $100 dollars. haven't priced romex recently, but i can imagine...
and of course many residential plumbers/electricians charge a 2 hour minimum labor fee just for showing up to your house. that can be $100 or more just for them to pull into the driveway.

Zeig: you said it will kill you...I thought you meant voltage-wise,not price wise,lol!

lol
i did mean voltage wise. but definitely sticker shock as well.

Danzig,
You are correct about the price of copper. It's through the roof.
As far as your idea about plumbing vs electric, I prefer electric. Plumbing is just very frustrating to me. I always have "do overs". At least with electrical stuff, at the end of the day, my hands are clean. If there's anything scarey, I just pop the main breaker, though I admit, at times I've worked in a hot box.

Hey Cajun,
You are too funny!

ok, glad i wasn't drinking just then. i know it wasn't what you meant, but funny all the same!
i don't mind doing either kind of work. now, back before pvc pipe took over, i hated working with copper. hold the pipe while my dad did the soldering, that crap falling all over you and burning--but don't move!! lol
very glad i spent all that time working with him, i can do any kind of remodelling--really any carpentry work from digging and pouring footings to putting on a new roof--and everything in between. can run wire, install switches and outlets, etc. but i excel at drywall mudding. all that knowledge has saved me a ton of $ since buying this house.

as for the price, they just had about $80k worth of copper stolen--bound to be an inside job-at a warehouse about an hour from my house.
fat lot of good it'll do the crooks. now if you sell more than $20 worth, you have to show picture i.d. that'll take forever to unload if they do such a small amout at a time!!

I'll let it go, you seem to have a pretty good handle on this...One thing I will say is that there customer service was excellent, both the guy who came and the phone rep, I filled out their reply card and said they were outstanding, I figured those two were great, why should they get a bad reply card, because I thought the owner was gouging me...


I am moving from this house this summer, moving to Northern Kentucky. It's a great little old house and it's plenty for my wife and I, but I am tired of dealing with these little issues...

Sometimes I'm funny when I have no intention of being so...and then at other times, when I try to be...flat on my face, bombs away.
Go figure. I need lessons.

Sorry, but it WAS funny. HAHA!!! Either that or my mind is in the gutter (or the pipe! HA!)

I dunno, I dunno...
I've been taking this correspondence course..."You too can become a Psychiatrist".
Maybe we can get together and talk about the "gutter" thing.
Just make yourself comfortable on my couch. (that's how it says to start).:)
I'll write it up later.

a lot of people fall in love with an older home, but all those nagging little problems take their toll.