possible bad capacitor - out of warranty laptop - struggling college student. Help

[Sara-i]

Im very frustrated as I bought my HP Pavilion barely two years ago. Last week it wasn’t charging, I spoke with the virtual agent and was told to buy a new battery, bought a new battery and laptop started shutting off even when it was connected to a power source. I had to have it checked out because it said the battery couldn’t calibrate. Now the person who looked at it said that it most likely is a bad capacitor on the motherboard which would not be my fault at all. My warranty expired on September which means my laptop really is not even 2 years old, I take care of it and I’m just frustrated at the fact that I even have to pay to talk to an agent from HP even when this issue is not my fault. The person that looked at my computer said that replacing the motherboard could possibly be an option and would cost me $300 dollars. I don’t know what to do 

[WAWood]

@Sara-i 

What you were told is correct.  HP does not do repairs of individual motherboards -- so they will not replace the capacitor.

HP also does not do out-of-warranty repairs, so I seriously doubt they will replace the motherboard even if you offer to replace it.

And even then, since the Windows license is tied to the motherboard, you would have to by a new RETAIL license, since HP does not sell OEM licenses. So, you're looking at another $100 or so on top of the motherboard replacement charge.

It's not cost effective to replace motherboards -- its' generally a better deal to replace the entire laptop.