Hi everyone...my computer has gone to the crapper and I have contacted HP and they believe it can be an issue with the motherboard and I can have it fixed for free in the US, but the problem is it will take far too long to fix having to send it there and receive it back. So my question is if anyone can recommend a good place to take my HP laptop to get checked out in Zurich? and where they will possibly speak good english for me to effectively rely the problem with my computer. I have also contacted HP in Switzerland but conveniently enough the hotline here does not have an option for english and I tried to explain my problem in very broken german and someone is supposed to be calling me back, but i would also like to check out a repair shop to get a quoted price of fixing it quickly! Any suggestions would be fantastic thanks!

walk in to a Fust and they will have a repair counter (certainly the larger ones do).

Motherboard repair will be > cost of a replacement laptop, in my opinion.

Whatever you do, dont go to the one near Haldenegg. Im sorry to say that from experience they rip you off! I had to pay 500 for memory replacement and they didnt even called me to aprove it. (I did some search on the internet and found that the price of the memory was 49.99 USD or 129.99 for the best one, obviously they used the crappy one.

I think there is someone in the forum who does computers (just search computer repair). You will find him. Best to ask a specialist who speaks english first.
Dont waste money and time.

You could try http://www.pagevision.ch/

They speak English and sell refurbished HP laptops (from memory) so might do it for an ok-ish price.

As Lob said I would have thought the cost of motherboard replacement would be more than a new laptop.

so the big problem is that it will be an issue of time vs money... HP in the US will fix everything for free whatever it may be, b/c it has apparently been an issue with my computer type. But that could be over a month to get it back which I am much too impatient for that. If the HP service center in CH would fix for free I would jump for joy...but also it is not certain if it is the motherboard....so wanting to take it somewhere to have someone tell me immediately what the exact problem may be.

Don't bother going for a motherboard repair if it comes down to that.

In that case you'll need to buy a USB caddy and retrieve all your data from your HDDs once you've hooked them up to your new comp/laptop.

What exactly is the problem?

well.. all was fine and dandy and then i went to turn on my computer and the lights all light up but the monitor would not turn on..and then it sounded as though it would start but couldn't quite do it. then the lights would flicker on and off and then it will try to start up again but cant...kinda like the little engine that could. all the while the monitor remains black and not working. anyways..i've taken the battery out held the power down for a minute...took out the 2 memory cards and put them back in and tried starting it again and still the same thing. The lovely piece of crap is just a year old last week...

Heat sync problem or graphics card problem would be my guess.

Get your hoover attachment onto the fan and make sure it's free of dust.

If you're brave enough to take the lid off the computer unscrew the fan over the CPU and hoover that too.

Detach the graphics card if it's not intrgrated into the motherboard and then screw it back in tightly. Is the monitor cable connected properly?

I hope I haven't missed the answer to this in my search through the site. If I have just point me that way.

I am looking for a computer repair shop in Zürich it would be great if it was close to Wiedikon, but any place would help, or if theres an IT person around that could help with the problem, the computer no longer lets me do any work on my own personal account but lets me work on the guest account, which causes a problem that I can't download anything to help remove the virus/viruses I believe it has.

Any help suggestions would be great, I really need to be able to a least get into the account to rescue a program and back it up.

Also would be useful to know where I could buy a new notebook in Zürich should repairing the computer be impossible.

I've moved your post to an existing thread on the same subject. You could also check the commercial area of the forum we have a couple of members advertising computer repair services there.

mellykm

most laptops come with a worldwide warranty, and I suppose HP's certainly would.

I would call HP cust service in the US, give them my serial number and ask if they will not fix it in Switzerland, or indeed anywhere they have operations...