Various laptop stuff

Got two issues with laptops, one far more severe than the other - any help would be appreciated

So the other week my very good friend and I split a tiny glass of water on her MacBook laptop - not sure what model was about £1100 new I think. It's pretty strawberry floated, hasn't turned on since.

She took it along to a repair place today where they quoted her £489 if it's the logic board (that the motherboard? Not down with tech anymore) which seems incredibly steep to me. But perhaps is par for the course with Apple products. Can anyone advise? Apparently it could be only £88 if it only affected the 'top cover' but supposedly it's not looking good.

Other, well, not really issue is that I'm off travelling very soon and would like a laptop to travel with. Nothing more taxing than word, Internet and some YouTube or whatever. It needs to be cheap, cost is easily the most significant factor. Anything out there that's not complete shithouse for an incredibly low cost?

Had a wee look around and if it does turn out to be the logic board it's not looking good. Nowhere near confident enough to take apart a friends most valuable item and replace a gooseberry fool load of parts, and not many other places look even remotely reputable in Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Replacing a logic board on a MacBook is a big deal, you need several tools, a big resolve and knowledge of the construction. Tear one cable and you're looking at more parts you might never find. Still, its possible. Look at some teardowns on ifixit.com

Yes, current or recent macbook motherboards cost that kind of money. You are basically buying half a new or refurbished MacBook. Only authorised repair centres can only buy Apple authorised parts directly from Apple. Basically they have a monopoly on even second hand parts and are banana splits.

Your only other option is finding a reseller for the parts (although really they are recycling), and then there are many "seasonal" and often seemingly random variations depending on the time and place of manufacture and the original spec. The best place I have found is The BookYard.

Asus and Lenovo make good affordable laptops. Toshiba are alright, but they are massive. Expect a slow machine that is a chore to use with a terrible screen and battery life.

I'd recommend a tablet and a keyboard instead. If only for a battery that lasts a reasonable amount of time.

Ok thanks for the response doesn't sound very promising at all, hopefully it's not the logic board then.

I've actually got an iPad with a keyboard already which I love for Netflix type stuff but for job hunting and sending emails with attachments I hate it, takes soo much longer than doing so on a proper desktop style machine.

In which case those are my most recommended brands. I think Lenovo come quite cheap and Asus can look a little more swish.

This is a good price for an i5 processor £368 http://asuslaptop.co.uk/Asus_PU551LA-XO115G_Laptop

Below that you're looking at Intel Atoms and Celerons and generic "Pentiums", basically these are either super low power or downgraded Core i3s, such as this at just £245, comes with a 1TB hard drive which is unusual, so you could travel with all your gooseberry fool and its only 2kg despite being 15 inch http://asuslaptop.co.uk/Asus_X553MA-XX366H_Laptop

If you had more budget I'd try to find something smaller and even lighter with good battery life. Although this transformer (basically a tablet running full Windows 8.1 with a keyboard attachment) looks interesring, is 13 inch, weighs 1.15kg, quotes 6hr battery life and is just £240.

Of course don't expect performance from anything but the i5 maybe but they should be fine for office and general stuff. Please always check reviews for glaring issues, these are just quick examples and I can't vouch for any of them.