Hmm.... That broken laptop reminds me of a time where my old DS just all of a sudden stopped "functioning normally"
It was pretty much a day when I was on vacation playing Pokemon Diamond when suddenly, the top screen started to flicker, and soon, all I could see of it was just a bunch of multi-colored vertical lines. It still works, it's just a little hard to play without the top screen.
Luckily for me, we were in the Twin Cities of Wisconsin, and there was a local Best Buy around so I could get a new one. Not only that, I had a gift card just for it, and I got a brand new DS Lite with Brain Age 2!
....I suppose that section probably should have been in the HOPEFUL Thread....