& another mobo dites the dust

[CrAz3D]

Are these things hard to replace?  I'll assume not, but yeah.

[Chavo]

Assuming you mean a laptop motherboard, they are far from trivial to replace and I wouldn't recommend doing so.  Finding a compatible, working motherboard would be a challenge in and of itself (apart from buying a replacement board directly from the manufacturer, which as you stated, isn't cheap).

Design-wise, the motherboard is the single biggest difference between a laptop and a more traditional desktop computer (ignoring the aesthetic differences).

[CrAz3D]

hmmmmmmmmmm. crap!