How much should I sell my laptop for when there is just one tiny problem with it, like a bent pin on the motherboard?
How much should I sell my laptop for when there is just one tiny problem with it, like a bent pin on the motherboard?
Hi and thanks so much for any advice. What is a fair price to sell my laptop? (It has a very small problem: a bent pin on the motherboard). About three months ago, I almost dropped this laptop off my desk, but I caught it mid-air so it never hit the ground. Right as I grabbed it with one hand to steady the other, that same hand accidentally touched where the headphone plug connects. After that happened, I was worried I might have bent something from the tension, but after testing, the sound works perfectly with no crackling or popping. The jack is still just as tight and straight as before. So I thought I got lucky.
I use this laptop at least a few hours every day for things like YouTube, movies, games, etc. But not until about a week later, sometimes in random times during the day, the sound from music or videos on my computer starts going into slow motion for just one second and then goes back to normal. This only happens maybe 1 or 2 times a week. Even though it's such a small annoyance that I really wish there was an easy fix like fixing the motherboard directly instead of risking cutting myself, replacing the motherboard is expensive.
Is it likely this sound problem will just stay forever? Or could using this damaged laptop cause more new problems later on? I don't have experience with computers and I don't want to take a chance on breaking something else when I try to fix it. So I am thinking about selling this one for someone who knows tech, and if that is the case, how much should I ask? This laptop was one year old but I bought it new for $1,300 (it had a big discount). I got this ASUS ROG 14-inch with Ryzen 9 -5900HS, RTX3600, 6 GB VRAM, 1080p screen at 144Hz, and 1TB SSD. It also had 16GB RAM. BTW, this was my first PC after a whole lifetime of using Macs, so I just felt super happy about it because everything worked better than expected, and I didn't research enough to know I shouldn't have gotten the Ryzen 9 instead of something cheaper like an RTX3070.
Thanks for your help.
A long-standing problem: the seller charges low prices, but buyers pay high ones. If a laptop works fine with no problems, I'd pay up to $650 for it (that's half of what you're paying now). But since yours has issues and they could be serious things, you probably need between $200 and $400 just to get the parts fixed.
Thanks for sharing that info. One last question though: Is it likely this problem will just stay fixed as a sound issue, or could things get worse over time? For example, maybe new crashes happen and files don't save correctly because I'm not replacing or fixing the motherboard?
Why not just try some bluetooth speakers? That way we can see if it's the speaker or the headphones. If it was just the headphone jack problem, why would that happen only on bent pins? For sellers, low price makes sense; for buyers, high price seems wrong. I wouldn't buy something expensive without checking first since I don't trust this story as a buyer. You are a real OP asking good questions here, but in regular life, nobody knows you well enough to risk losing money. If the seller gives me parts that aren't working, I want my cash back if not even more.
I'm pretty sure from all my research that this little pin got bent on the board because other people with the exact same problem posted on forums too. I am 40 and I like being careful, just to stop things happening in this way. I moved around a lot once and one spot I lived in didn't have a desk in that area, so I used a big trash bin sitting on top of another bin as a temporary table. It looked sturdy enough, but the top bin slowly slid off the bottom one. I caught my laptop mid-air so it never touched the floor, but when I grabbed it, I could tell there was lots of tension holding that headphone jack in place. I don't blame anyone for not trusting people. Let's say just to argue: If a friend knew me and knew how to swap motherboards, what would they charge? I am trying to find the lowest possible price. Thanks so much for your help.
There are many issues that look alike, but I'd never guess just because symptoms seem similar unless you looked at it yourself and saw the real picture. I'm pretty sure the problem isn't what you think it is; you only see a problem when something actually happens, not by guessing. I don't know why a specific "motherboard pin" would cause this since that socket type isn't LGA.
I'd give you nothing if things weren't okay there. It's a big no-no, and this isn't just a tiny detail—it matters more than that.
It is hard to find a fair price for your laptop right now because we need to know what conditions the market has and how much damage the bent pin on the motherboard caused. But since this laptop is only one year old and has powerful parts like a Ryzen 9 processor and an RTX 3060 graphics card, it still has some value even if there is a small problem. If you decide to sell it, you need to tell people what's wrong with it and give them a low price for that reason. You can check online places where people sell stuff to see how much similar laptops are going for, which helps set a good starting number. You could also take it to a repair shop to get an estimate on the fix, because that might make it worth more money in the end. About what else might go wrong later, it's hard to say exactly when we need to worry. It is possible the problem will only stop working with the sound and not hurt other parts, but there is also a chance something new could break down after this one fails. Using a laptop with a broken motherboard always comes with risks, so selling it might be a good idea if you do not want to try to fix it yourself.
The Socket FP6 has a PGA layout, which means the pins stick out of the socket itself. In contrast, LGA sockets have the pins sticking out from the circuit board underneath. Here is a quick guide: https://www.raypcb.com/lga-pga-bga/ This connection only works if your laptop is perfect and free of problems. But since it isn't, we can't compare its value to other similar laptops because of this issue. As things stand right now with serious problems, the value is basically zero or nothing. It depends on who you trust and how close a friend you have. For example, if my good friend comes to me with the same offer, my stance stays exactly as I wrote above. Just because I bought something from them doesn't mean I'm willing to pay way more money than usual. On the other hand, I expect to pay way less at the second-hand market price or get it completely free. One benefit of being friends is getting things cheaper or even for free compared to regular prices. Otherwise, you'd just be taking advantage of your friendship if you ask for a lot when the normal rate is high. This reminds me of a trade I had with my buddy. We met because we bought their GR puppy from him and now we are good friends together. He had an air cleaner station that he used to get rid of pet litter smells (he has a bitch, our pup's mom). Once the litter was sold off, he no longer needed that machine anymore, so he offered it to me for free (except for me having to pick it up from his place). If I would have refused the offer, he might have just sold it. He paid about €300 for it when brand new, and at that time, the air cleaner was only 6 months old. So, I accepted it. Now, I have a plan to make him an even better deal: I'd like to give him a powerful air compressor that runs directly from the wall outlet (and which I've used just once). It turns out it makes way too much noise for indoor use. So, I'm willing to give it to him for free, even though I paid €180 for it and it's only been 4 months old. I am also willing to deliver it to his house. This is the kind of proper friendship we have now, not the type of upselling you are trying to do.
If I had a buddy who knew exactly how to swap motherboards, I would stop worrying about distrust. That's why I used this example: just to see what the laptop is worth in parts, not because I wanted you to get lucky with a price cut. It's rude for you to guess my personality without knowing me. You have no idea who I am. I never even said a single word bad about you. You are here to teach others how computers work, not to personally mess up your friends when they aren't trying to hurt you. But here is a tip: if you want to look like a real pro, keep your weird autistic habits quiet. Harisrehman also replied before yours, and his reply was much more professional and helpful than yours.