moishe - 8:54 pm on Jul 27, 2004 (gmt 0)

It must be me, but I've NEVER had good luck with AMD stuff. Seems like no matter what, SOME hardware doesn't last long with them

Must be you:) I have been running AMD based boxes since 386's, built tons of em and with the exception of the K6-233's which ran too hot, I have been nothing but happy.

As to the laptop question, unless it is pretty new and still worth some cash, it just isn't worth fixing. Sell it on Ebay, describe the problem it has, someone will buy it anyway.