Cat smashed our all-in-one PC - What to do?

DJT75

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Our cats like to sleep on top of the cardboards that surround our fridge freezer. The youngest one went to jump down onto our worktop/breakfast bar area on Friday, but where he would normally land was a loads of stuff (ipads, pens, etc etc) so he instead went to hurdle our 24" HP Pavilion all-in-one PC. He's tipped it forward, it only landed on the worktop, but caught the edge of an Amazon Echo Show on the way down and he's smashed the digital crystals (but not the outer plastic screen).

Called HP this morning, the repair cost is £650 but they'll do it for £550. The machine is 3.5 years old and cost £800 new. To be honest it's barely used but it's the only PC in our house apart from my work laptop, so we sort of need it as a family computer. The alternative is to buy an inferior machine (ugly as hell) from HP with a 12% discount for £439, or shop around. I've seen a Dell I like, and a ASUS, and there are nicer HPs out there that they would price match, give a 12% discount, or give the equivalent of 15% cashback with proof of purchase.

We like the look of existing machine, it goes nicely in our newish kitchen. Would you pay that sort of money to repair it or do something else? Would it be much cheaper / worth it having an independent repairer have a look at it?

Another thought I had was to move it to a different room, where the machine can be hidden away and plug a monitor into it. However I tried that earlier and can't seem to work out how to get the display to move to the monitor when I can't access the settings. 25% of the screen is unusable in a reversed L shape down the right hand side and along the bottom.

There's obviously stuff saved on this machine we don't want to lose. Not a lot, just a few photos. No idea how to grab them either.

This is the machine he's damaged: HP Pavilion All-in-One - 24-a250na PC Product Specifications | HP® Customer Support

24" Touchscreen
Intel core i5
8GB Memory
128GB SSD
 
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Winkey + P is the shortcut to cycle displays on Windows 10, or Winkey + i to launch settings.

All in ones as a rule don't tend to have high quality, cutting edge screens until you get to the top end so I'd imagine most of that is labour and official parts premium rather than screen cost so you may be able to replace it yourself or get it replaced elsewhere for much less money.

You could also look second hand and buy a similar machine.
 
So the computer works fine, I have it plugged into a monitor right now, but there’s not room to leave it like that where it’s supposed to be (in the kitchen). So the options are:

1. £550 HP repair
2. £305 Independent repair
3. £550 buy new (probably this https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7955763?istCompanyId=a74d8886-5df9-4baa-b776-166b3bf9111c&istFeedId=c290d9a9-b5d6-423c-841d-2a559621874c&istItemId=ilpqrwlit&istBid=t&&cmpid=GS001&_$ja=tsid:59157|acid:804-627-9544|cid:9596128019|agid:97868753414|tid:pla-979026648411|crid:424831971289|nw:g|rnd:14255542277982966581|dvc:m|adp:|mt:|loc:1007097&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=9596128019&utm_term=7955763&utm_content=shopping&utm_custom1=97868753414&utm_custom2=804-627-9544&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr7PtkYTt8QIVD4SRCh1G8gMEEAQYByABEgLOh_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds ) and either sell the HP damaged to help fund it (maybe £100?) or keep with a monitor somewhere else in the house as a second family PC.

The other issue with keeping is the lack of sound and webcam when used with monitor.

decisions decisions
 
So the computer works fine, I have it plugged into a monitor right now, but there’s not room to leave it like that where it’s supposed to be (in the kitchen). So the options are:

1. £550 HP repair
2. £305 Independent repair
3. £550 buy new (probably this https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7955763?istCompanyId=a74d8886-5df9-4baa-b776-166b3bf9111c&istFeedId=c290d9a9-b5d6-423c-841d-2a559621874c&istItemId=ilpqrwlit&istBid=t&&cmpid=GS001&_$ja=tsid:59157|acid:804-627-9544|cid:9596128019|agid:97868753414|tid:pla-979026648411|crid:424831971289|nw:g|rnd:14255542277982966581|dvc:m|adp:|mt:|loc:1007097&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=9596128019&utm_term=7955763&utm_content=shopping&utm_custom1=97868753414&utm_custom2=804-627-9544&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr7PtkYTt8QIVD4SRCh1G8gMEEAQYByABEgLOh_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds ) and either sell the HP damaged to help fund it (maybe £100?) or keep with a monitor somewhere else in the house as a second family PC.

The other issue with keeping is the lack of sound and webcam when used with monitor.

decisions decisions
If you have a spare monitor, maybe look into mini pc that can be attached to vesa mount?
 
Ended up finding a replacement monitor on eBay from Spain (£199) and someone fit it for me for £25. Annoying outlay but seemed the best solution in the end.
 

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