Hi Hutch,
Ok, the golden rule for calculating computer prices here is: every US$100 spent in the US is around US$150 that you'll have to pay for here..unfortunately the import taxes are high here.
Now, your motherboard may have any number of issues, although with the best intentions, most general computer shops here do not have the skills or equipment to be able to competently diagnose & fix a laptop electronically speaking. They are usually very quick to point to a motherboard fault, but most often they do not know what is the exact electronic fault...they will sometimes say its a video chip problem but it may be any number of other related problems such as a faulty memory chip that the video chip uses, or solder fatigue on a part of the circuit etc.
If you could describe roughly what the symptoms where just before the laptop died, then this will give me some big clues. Yes you can get a second hand motherboard here in Argentina for a reasonable cost of around US$100, maybe a bit more or a bit less, but you don't want one that has a similar weakness to your faulty one cause they usually are a design weakness.
THen again your laptop is 4yrs old & that's not too bad, it has lived more than most.
ANother option, if you don't have a need for a high performance system, is to just go for a netbook. Netbooks are very versatile & you can even install Linux or Mac OSX10.6 on them.
I have installed the lates Mac OSX10.6 Snow Leopard on mine Bellow is a pic of one of my netbooks running OSX10.6.3 Snow leopard.
The beauty of installiung Linux or Mac OSX is that you'll avoid the usual Windows virus problems & therefore you'll get a lot more 'Up time' out of your system...you won't be as vulnerable to failures.
A netbook will sell for around US$450 to US$500 here in Argentina.
But PLEASE note that they are designed for a longer battery life rather than high performance.
All the best.
EDIT: When installing Mac OSX on a netbook, most of the time the Wi-fi module inside has to be replaced with a Mac OSX compatible wifi card, they cost around US$25 to $30 ea.
hutch85 said:
The laptop is almost four years old so i would rather not not sink several hundred into a new motherboard when I could get a significant upgrade with a new laptop for a little more. Or perhaps I am over-estimating the cost of a motherboard. Also, I imagine the time it would take to find and a acquire a new motherboard with installation, would probably take a few weeks.