Toshiba Satellite L55-B5276 failed, replace logic board?

[mynameisjoe1]

Hi all,
so if anyone google image searches the Toshiba L55-B5276, it looks like a decent laptop. The one I am talking about is my dads girlfriends old laptop, with a Core i5, so it's not too old. It lasted her 2 years before it stopped working, so the HDD was recovered and removed, and hasnt been turned on for a few months.

So, it was given to me, incase I could possibly fix it and use it as a new laptop. My dad fixed an old macbook pro awhile ago just by replacing the logic board. Does anyone agree that this would be a good idea for this laptop?, will replacing the logic board most likely bring it back to life?.

Toshiba isn't my favourite brand in laptops, but they are usually affordable. A new logic board that is working costs around $100 USD on eBay.

Any ideas would be great, I do have some experience with replacing keyboards and other peripherals in laptops so this might be doable but i just need some advice, thanks guys.

 

[USAFRet]

To fix, you'd have to determine exactly what was wrong.

It may have been the motherboard. But it also may have been just about anything else.
Bad drive, corrupt OS, cable came unplugged, etc, etc, etc.

Time for some troubleshooting, before you buy any new parts.

 

[mynameisjoe1]

Tru dat, though the problem is exactly: while it was being used constantly everyday for two years, it eventually just stopped turning on

So I am just guessing that since the HDD has already been removed that this is a problem that is most likely to do with the logic board, since thats the main guts of the laptop.

 

[USAFRet]

What were the exact symptoms of "just stopped turning on" ?

Bad switch, bad battery, loose cable, overheating due to dust.
Motherboards don't usually go 'bad'.

 

[mynameisjoe1]

What were the exact symptoms of "just stopped turning on" ?

Bad switch, bad battery, loose cable, overheating due to dust.
Motherboards don't usually go 'bad'.

The laptop was always plugged in, so i will open it up to see if there is any dust. Thannks for the tips, so far it just wont turn on at all. It does nothing.

 

[USAFRet]

"always plugged in" could (will) still leave a worn out battery eventually. And often, that can cause no power on. Even when plugged in.

 

[mynameisjoe1]

I pressed the power button just to see again what it would do with the power supply plugged in. The power button turns on and the screen is blank, I hear fans spinning a little bit and the screen just stays blank, the LED in the power button stays lit and it just does nothing, doesnt even sound like its loading something.

Then if I hold down the power button it eventually shuts off after 4-5 seconds.

In the stories I've heard from friends who buy laptops, there is a 50% fail rate at laptops that are used daily for a couple of years or more. Usually the hard drive fails, the battery needs replacing, the screen starts to turn greenish, keyboard keys fall out, and it's rare for me to see a laptop last a long time without any problems. But thats just from stories I've heard.

In this case I think that the logic board needs replacing, as the CPU/GPU and everything else is all inside and saudered to the logic board. I'm still debating if I want to replace it, but it wouldn't be a loss if I ordered the part and it didn't work, I did not pay for this laptop.