On Sun, 15 Aug 2021 12:36:39 -0400, Ralph Mowery
<
[email protected]> wrote:
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
One more example. One of my customers has Dell GX620 he wanted fixed.
I didn't have time and suspected that something on the motherboard was
cooked (because the case fan had stopped). So, I ordered a
replacement motherboard for $40:
<https://www.ebay.com/itm/143971853748>
It took me about a hour to replace (mostly cleaning) the motherboard,
which worked just fine and didn't cost much to repair.
So you had to get your $ 40 back for the mother board and charge the >customer arund $ 100 to replace it. He could probably get a refurbished
one off ebay for the same price.
I guess he would have to reload everything off his hard drive so maybe
for him the price is worth it to just get another motherboard.
He would not be doing any software reloading. The various software
vendors would charge him to have someone do it online using remote
control software, or I would end up doing it. For the operating
system and network setup, I would be doing the work. Going from an
old XP machine to a new Win 10 machine is not easy and does take some
time.
The customer is the auto shop where my car (Subaru 2001 Forester L)
was getting a new drive shaft. Don't ask what happened. The Dell
GX620 SFF computer ran Windoze XP and was used mostly for looking up
vehicle parts, instructions, procedures, specs, etc and running
various engine analyzers. There were other computers available that
could do all this, but this one was in a convenient location. After I
was sure that the computer had a motherboard problem, I discussed
various options with the owner. We both wanted a new and better
replacement, but I didn't have time to do much more than a quick fix.
So, I recommenced a quick fix in the form of a new motherboard. If it
didn't work, we go shopping for a replacement. I paid for expedited
shipping and had it fixed 4 days later. The old machine was somewhat functional during the 4 days as long as it was allowed to cool down
between lookups. Eventually, the machine will be replaced with
something better, but for now, getting it back in operation without
reloading old software and dealing with a possible XP VM (virtual
machine) to run the old software made the motherboard replacement a
good idea. Since they gave me a good price on the drive shaft work, I
don't plan to bill them for the $40 or the 1.5 hr labor needed to do
the computer work.
--
Jeff Liebermann
[email protected]
PO Box 272
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
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