[tlug] Buy a computer with a potentially faulty condensor?

[Dave Gutteridge <dave@example.com>]

TLUG,

	Happy holidays to you all.

	Today I was in Akihabara, and at one used PC shop they had these decent
Pentium 4 PCs for a slightly better than reasonable price.
	However, after talking with the sales guy, the reason they were cheap
was because the "condensor" was faulty. Discussing such a technical
issue strained the limits of my Japanese, but what I gathered was that
the condensor, which regulates electrical flow (?), was not currently
broken and worked fine, but somehow in imminent danger of failing. How
they know this, I'm not sure.
	Further, the guy said to me that a condensor is a 500 yen component on
the motherboard, but not easy to replace for someone who is not the type
to usually undertake the task. I assume because it probably means
delicately soldering the motherboard.
	So... my question to the hardware inclined...
	Is buying a PC with a condensor that could fail in the future a poor
risk to take?
	And/or... how bad is it really to fix? Could I get a guy to do it? Do
it myself?

	What do you think? A deal, or a disaster waiting to happen?

--
Dave M G