How to get the most value out of a 6 year old laptop?

[Pink Jazz]

I have a 6 year old HP Pavilion 15t-ab000 laptop that randomly throws 5.3 blink codes, which is a sign that the motherboard is about to bite the dust. It is a configure to order laptop with a red case and Intel Core i5-5200U processor. Ever since buying it, I have since doubled the RAM from 8GB to 16GB, and replaced the original HDD with a 1TB Samsung EVO 860 SSD. It also has the FHD IPS display option.

Looking at eBay, comparable HP Pavilion laptops of the same generation with the same processor are going for about $140-230 depending on condition. However, the SSD alone is going for about $90-100. I was thinking I can sell the SSD by itself and sell the rest of the laptop without an SSD or HDD.

What does anyone here think?

 

[VictorR]

Sounds like a plan! In my experience, people generally value something based on the generic / base, and that upgrades / customization tends to not really change the resale value, and so with a part that is independently sell-able, I agree that selling them separate would likely yield better results than selling the combination.

 

[Judge]

I have a 6 year old HP Pavilion 15t-ab000 laptop that randomly throws 5.3 blink codes, which is a sign that the motherboard is about to bite the dust.

What does anyone here think?

Did you rule out replacing a possible faulty RTC battery and resetting the bios?

Just wondering. From what I see online, seems that can cause a 5.3 blink code as well.

 

[Pink Jazz]

Did you rule out replacing a possible faulty RTC battery and resetting the bios?

Just wondering. From what I see online, seems that can cause a 5.3 blink code as well.

Could be a possibility, although in laptops the CMOS battery is usually soldered to the motherboard to prevent it from being dislodged during transportation. That might be a tricky task to replace the battery.

 

[Judge]

Could be a possibility, although in laptops the CMOS battery is usually soldered to the motherboard to prevent it from being dislodged during transportation. That might be a tricky task to replace the battery.

Sound like it may be worth it to try, considering your investment in an SSD and more RAM. After all, an RTC battery only costs a few bucks. Though you might want to write down all the present BIOS settings in case you need to change them when the BIOS is reset.

Remove and Replace the Real Time Clock Battery for HP Pavilion 15-abXXX Notebook PCs | HP® Customer Support

 

[Joshua the Writer]

I'd just sell it to avoid the expenses of repairing it and get extra cash towards a new (nor newer, at least) computer, to be honest.

 

[Judge]

I'd just sell it to avoid the expenses of repairing it and get extra cash towards a new (nor newer, at least) computer, to be honest.

Depends on what's actually wrong with it. The error message he's getting is somewhat ambiguous. Could be catastrophic like a motherboard component, or something simple and cheap to replace like an RTC battery.

 

[Storm Hess]

This maybe in the wrong direction, but have you ever considered disassembling it and make it into a night table? I can see in my head a motherboard embedded in acrylic, marred up and looking like something from Cyberpunk 2077. That's what popped into my head.

 

[MLE]

For the Blink Code 5.3 try these steps from HP Support Community -

Step 1 Hard Reset -
1) Shutdown the computer.
2) Unplug all the Adapter and peripherals connected.
3) Press and hold down the power button for 15 to 20 seconds.
4) Plug-in the Adapter.
5) Try to turn on the computer.

Step 2 BIOS Restore -
1) Shutdown the computer.
2) Hold down the Windows and B button together while the computer is still turned off.
3) Turn on the computer and continue to hold the Windows and B button until a BIOS Recovery screen appears.
4) Follow on-screen instructions and click on OK

Step 3 System Restore -
1) Shutdown the computer.
2) Turn the computer back on again and repeatedly tap on the ESC until a Startup menu appears.
3) Press F11 once for System Recovery.
4) Choose the Keyboard Layout.
5) Click on Troubleshoot.
6) Go to Recovery Manager and click on System Restore.
7) Choose a Restore point or a Restore date when the computer was working fine.
8) Click on OK to initialize the System Restore.

Step 4 System Test -
1) Shutdown the computer.
2) Turn the computer back on again and repeatedly tap on the ESC until a Startup menu appears.
3) Press F2 once.
4) Go to System test.