Shall I have my laptop repaired or shall I get a new one?

I would say buy the netbook. You are right that it module not have the processing power of the laptop, but whether you dont do a lot of multitasking or gaming, the netbook is very portable. Or you can exhaust the $250 towards another laptop. Acer laptops against www.newegg.com go for about $400 and free shipping when against sale.