Help, is this computer worth fixing?

[Trailrider1951]

Or should I just buy a new one? A friend gave me a Compaq Presario Model 1247 laptop that had gotten wet. It is now completely dried out. When I plug it in, the battery light comes on showing that the battery is being charged, but when I hit the "on" switch, nothing happens. I really need a laptop, but I cannot afford to buy a new one. I could afford to spend up to $200 fixing this one, but is it fixable at that price? Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give me.

[soothsayer]

1. have you tried shoving a boot disk in it? (you can make one from files

you find on the internet---you're friend will need to tell you what operating system).

See if that will get it to do anything. If it won't boot with an emergency boot disk, then I dunno what to say.

[trotsky]

2. Not worth it.

That thing is pretty old - probably only has a Pentium II chip in it. Check Ebay or visit Dell (even though I try to avoid them, because of Michael Dell's Repuke leanings) for their refurbs, where you can get amazing deals.

[2Design]

3. watch circuit city for sales ....

[Bossy Monkey]

4. That there is a galaxy of questions, mainly leading to other questions

What do you need the laptop for? If it's just for word processing it probably doesn't matter how old it is. If you want to play games or use other new software, then of course it does matter.

Do you also have a desktop? If so and if you only want to write, you'd probably do better with an AlphaSmart. www.alphasmart.com/ They start at $200. I love mine crazy mad.

Unfortunately, nobody here can see your machine, so you'll probably have to take it to a shop and ask for an estimate to get an actual idea whether it can be fixed at a reasonable cost.

[Dookus]

5. if it's really water-damaged

probably not. Replacing the motherboard on an old laptop wouldn't be worth the investment.

[soothsayer]

6. try overstock.com

www.overstock.com

lots o'cheapos!