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Jamie asked: “I have a first generation Nexus 7 tablet. I had gotten the lollipop upgrade and it essentially bricked the tablet. It turns on, but is so sluggish that I just can’t use it anymore. Is there anything I could do? Could I install another OS on it or what could I possibly use it for? Also, I had a Win7 laptop and apparently the motherboard went bad on it. I had it for about 5-6 years. Is it worth trying to get it fixed or would I be better off trying to find a used laptop?”
You’re not the only one feeling the pain after that upgrade, luckily Google does allow Nexus devices to be rolled back. Unfortunately though, it’s about as simple as building a spaceship in your garage.
Here is a guide that will show you all the steps you need to take to roll back your tablet, but keep in mind that this is a 9 page, text heavy guide. You can roll it back, but it involves downloading a lot of tools, downloading an image of your previous operating system, and actually typing up some commands.
It will take a while to get it done
≈, and depending on your comfort level with computers and electronics, it may look a little scary.
About your laptop, if your motherboard went bad and your laptop is 5 or 6 years old, it’s basically dead. It may be challenging to even find the part you need, and even if you do find it, it will be far too expensive to be worth the trouble.
You will likely find brand new computers for the price of that repair, so you’re definitely better off looking into used laptops, like you said, or even new ones.
As long as you don’t need a very high-end computer, you can probably find decent replacements for less money than a new motherboard that will perform better than a 5 or 6-year-old machine.