My office neighbor always has a way to surprise me. He's military, but very enthusiastic about restoring older computers and laptops that can still get some decent mileage. For him it's not a side-hustle, it's not a weekend hobby, but more of a lifestyle.
So, a few days ago he brought this into my office:
A 2009 Toshiba Satellite in better condition than my 2020 lappy. Not a scratch, not a speck of dust, brand new battery (non-original, but a near-ideal fit), and of course - perfect 17" 1600x900 display. All came bundled with an original 120W charger... Unfortunately - it's dead...
I'm usually very unenthusiastic about fixing pre-2013 laptops, and I'm even more unenthusiastic about fixing pre-Zen AMD laptops, but this thing of beauty has to live. It's going onto my operating table this week. Finding a good-quality replacement NB for this platform is a nightmare, but still doable. I'll post updates if it shows any signs of life.
I think last time I was so excited about repairing an old laptop was with Acer 9920G - a 19" monstrosity(or 20.1" according to spec), with remote control and bad-ass 2.1 speakers.