yeah, i guess the laptop isn't too bad. it could have a maximum of 2GB RAM, but one 1GB stick costs £30 (so i've stuck with 2x256MB).
good point about the motherboard as yeah, as far as i know all the other parts still work, but i'll get a new case as well (as the 'Tiny' one was shorter than standard ones so I couldn't get a better PSU without sacrificing the dvd drive). Any idea if using a 180W PSU could have been the cause of it eventually dying?