Laptop out of warranty and want to know what to do next.

[varun706]

Hello all,

I've had a Lenovo Ideapad Z500 laptop for 3 years and it has served me really well. Runs smoothly without a hitch. Last year, I tried to open the laptop after it's fan stopped spinning in the middle of class. I had damaged a plastic bit near the ventilation area on the left side of the laptop. It didn't seem serious at that time and due to repeated heating and cooling (I presume) the rest of the plastic around that area has given way. Now every time I want to use the laptop, I have to be very careful and apply pressure on the left part of the laptop so it doesn't come off when I open or close the lid.

I spent a lot of money and energy taking the laptop to the service center to have it replaced and I had even ordered for spare parts. But Lenovo said the parts weren't available and there's nothing that can be done. They took 6 months to tell me that after taking my money.

In October this year, the extended warranty on the laptop ran out. The laptop still works beautifully but the hinge and the ventilation area on the left still bother me. I don't know what I'm going to do with the laptop. I don't know when the hinges will snap or when the motherboard will shatter. I'll be going off to work soon and I don't have a reliable laptop with me. Please suggest me what I can do.

Here a picture of the affected area.

 

[varun706]

For some reason, I can't upload pics. Sorry about that.

 

[hang-the-9]

Not sure what you are looking for here, either replace the laptop or buy a replacement lower assembly if that is what is broken. Not sure why Lenovo would charge you for parts it did not have.

Check ebay for parts, or get a full used working model of the same one you have and swap the drive into it.

 

[jsmithepa]

Agree with hang, browsing eBay is your last option, there are a few vendors there who sell used laptop parts at reasonable prices. After that, start saving for a new one.

Oh, did you buy with an AMEX? I forget if they double your warranty or add another year.

 

[varun706]

Terribly sorry for the late response. I did find a way to get this sorted out. My friend suggested AliExpress and I gave it a cursory search and found all the parts that I can replace on my laptop. I'm amazed to see that all parts are still available even after 3 years. And the prices are awesome. Lenovo had me pay $150 (Rs.10,300) for the parts they didn't have. I added a chassis, a keyboard and an LCD bezel and that costs me $95 (Rs.6,700). Even adding another item to the cart didn't increase the price to what Lenovo charged me.

Although, I haven't ordered from AliExpress yet. I don't know much about it and would like someone to share their experience with AliExpress. I will order parts from it in December by the time for Christmas perhaps.

 

[varun706]

Check these out:

https/www.aliexpress.com/item/FOR-LENOVO-Z500-P500-Palmrest-C-shell/32658615543.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.277.XlRg5G

https/www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Original-for-Lenovo-Z500-Bottom-Case-Base-Cover-AP0SY000B10/32735970772.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.264.XlRg5G

https/www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Original-for-Lenovo-IdeaPad-Z500-LCD-Front-Bezel-Cover-Silver-90202123-AP0SY000200/32742007753.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.267.XlRg5G

https/www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Replace-FOR-IBM-FOR-LENOVO-Ideapad-Z500-Z500A-Z500G-U510-P500-keyboard/32323125885.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.274.XlRg5G

 

[hang-the-9]

They are a well-known site, but I think China based, or at least the vendors that sell are all based in China from what I can see. That usually means long shipping times and possibly no tracking info for long periods, as well as long times to get issues resolved if wrong part was sent or was broken or something.