Attn: Computer Experts and Electricians

[Pointg5]

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.

[Cajungator26]

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.

[Pointg5]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

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

[dr. fager]

Originally Posted by Pointg5

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.

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by Pointg5

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

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!

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by timmgirvan

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!

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.

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by Danzig188

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 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!

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by Pointg5

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 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.

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by Downthestretch55

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?!!!

[Pointg5]

Originally Posted by Downthestretch55

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.

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..

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by Pointg5

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.

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by Downthestretch55

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.

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

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

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

Too funny!

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Pointg5

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..

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.

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by Danzig188

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.

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

[Danzig]

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.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Pointg5

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.

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.

[Pointg5]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

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.

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.

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by Pointg5

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.

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

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.

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