Fix or Buy New

[NightMike]

I have an HP Envy x360 convertible I purchased in Nov 2016; it has 13 inch touch screen,  i7 processor, 16 gb memory and 1 tb ssd.

Keyboard and touchpad been having intermittent problems and the case where the keyboard and touchpad is located has been bulging upwards away from the bottom of the case where there is now a gap between them.

Posted my problem on the Forum and learned HP could repair the problem with a minimum repair cost of $300 to replace the swollen battery and over $650 to repair damage to other items such as the touchpad.

 I am getting conflicting information on the best way to proceed and would appreciate your recommendation on what best to do.   

Several friends knowledgeable on computers said in the computer world, a computer older than 3 years is outdated and it is not worth buying parts and paying for repair.  For example, compared to the latest HP Envy x360, I was told the CPU on my computer is a 7th generation Intel i7, the current CPU is a much faster Intel 10th generation i7 or with the new faster AMD Rygen 7; similarly the memory is now faster at 2933 MHz vs the 1867 MHz I have; the electronic hard drive now has read write and transfer speed of 2000 MB per sec while my computer SSD works at 600 MB per sec, the battery has been improved and the wi-fi now is 250% better than what is in my computer.

So their advice is instead of spending money on repairing an older computer, it’s better to use that money towards a new one that has more up to date, current technology.  HP has a sale for the latest base HP Envy x360 for around $600.  Additional memory and SSD would cost more but there will probably be sales for those during the upcoming holidays at HP, Costco, Best Buy, etc.

A local computer repair facility said something similar; that it was not worth repairing because the costs of repair on older equipment exceeds the value of the older computer. It’s similar to when a car has an accident and is totaled - where the cost to repair is higher than the value of the car   I was surprised at their turning away work but appreciated their honesty.

So what do you think? What is the best way to proceed?  Is it worth fixing or better to buy a new machine?  Pay HP probably about $650 to fix my Envy x360 or use that $650 towards buying a new up to date HP Envy x360? Or even maybe use the $650 to pay a bit more, step up and invest in a HP Spectre x360 13t ?

I use the computer for college lectures and some improvement in rendering videos would be a plus.

I realize the decision is a personal one.  I’d like to hear what you would do.  What do you think is the best way to go and your recommendation on what best to do.

Note – I have a credit card warranty that will be expiring soon.  The warranty requires a written Repair Estimate of the repairs for the battery, keyboard and touchpad, explaining the problem with the swollen battery problem, with a parts list cost and labor cost and or for a Statement of Non-Repair.

So if a HP person can help provide the written Repair Estimate on an Envy x360 – 13t-y000 CTO, Product Number W8Q19AV, to replace the battery, damaged keyboard and touchpad repair along with explaining the problem with the swollen battery, that would be very helpful.

If an HP person feels it is better to buy a new Envy or Spectre x360 and can help provide a Repair Estimate along with a Statement of Non-Repair where it is not worth repairing because the cost of repair in the Repair Estimate is higher than the value of the computer that would be also be extremely helpful.

Thank you.

[WAWood]

@NightMike 

We're not "HP persons" here; instead, we're mostly a bunch of non-HP volunteers.  So, you're not going to get an official HP response from us.

IF this were mine, I would replace it -- as you said, it's like having an old car and deciding when to stop pouring money into it to keep it working.  That is entirely a subjective decision, so I'm not telling you to do this; I'm only telling you what I would do.  You have to decide for yourself what is the best use of your money.

As to the estimates, We are not able, or permitted, to provide any repair estimates or equipment prices.

For this information, you would need to contact an HP Repair or Service Center.

Since you live in the U.S., here is a link to the HP Service Repair Centers:
https://www.service-center-locator.com/hp-hewlett-packard/hp-hewlett-packard-service-center.htm

If that link does not provide you sufficient information, then use the main HP link:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/contact-hp?openCLC=true

I've found those links to be unreliable if you're using Win10 and the new Edge Browser; so if you are, you need to use something else, like FireFox.

Good Luck

[NightMike]

Thank you WAWood, for sharing your thoughts on this and for the links.

The forum to me is a community of helpful people like yourself and also sometimes, HP employees seeing a post's predicament can refer the poster to a private message for more personal details and discussion to help.

As mentioned I realize this is a personal decision and am asking for opinions and advice from others in such a situation.  If an HP employee reads this and is able to help too, that would be much appreciated.