Computer Repair – Are Today’s Inexpensive Computers Worth Repairing?
I recently saw an Acer Aspire One 10” Netbook on sale for $248, and even a cheaper deal after a rebate when signing-up for a 2 year wireless 3G plan. These ultra-portable mobile broadband netbooks are very popular and you can find competing models from Dell, HP, and Lenovo to name a few. I bought mine for $358 over 6 months ago and was happy with the price at the time. But recently, I had to replace the LCD Displays on 3 of our customer’s Acer’s, all within a month. No, there wasn’t a manufacturer’s defect, they were all physically broken from accidents or abuse. Motherboards and LCD Displays are the 2 most expensive parts in a laptop, and these displays cost a meager $108 ($130 total with shipping). Adding $99 for the labor to replace the LCD Display, drove the repair cost to over $240 with tax.
Should I Fix It, or Buy a New One?
As you can see, the cost to repair some computers these days can be almost as much as buying a new one. What a dilemma! Now what if that situation happened to my car, even with tens of thousands of sentimental driving memories, I would rather have the new car, rather than my fixed-up old one. I’ll just empty out the trunk and glovebox and transfer my stuff to the new car…bye-bye old car! But what about repairing an inexpensive computer? Some of our customers feel that computer repair costs seem too high compared to the prices they rattle off about how much they can buy a new one for.
I tell people that a computer is just a tool to create, manage, and save their work and sentimental memories. It does a great job at it too! You can make them, change them, print them out, email them, even look at them right then and there…as long as the computer works. But Viruses, Spyware and Hard Drive problems can literally destroy your digital world in an instant, especially when your AntiVirus software is not updated. As your computer takes its last breath, you see your few-hundred dollar investment flash before your eyes, but you quickly shift your heart and mind to your data: the wedding pictures, the baby pictures, the home videos, the college thesis, your emails and address book. You think that “Even if you can repair the computer, will my data be lost, and even if I get my computer fixed, will I have to pay extra to setup the printer and the wireless network again?”
How Much is Your Data Worth?
Don’t mourn over your data yet. Your data might be safe and sound on your hard drive, just not accessible through Windows the way you are used to because your computer is broke. But in the case of a bad hard drive, you might find yourself in a potential data loss situation. So how much is your data worth to you? If you can’t put a dollar amount to it, I can tell you that a .jpg only recovery costs $700 at DriveSavers and a total recovery is usually around $1700, I can tell you that they are extremely successful at data recovery…for a price. In many cases, you can probably get your data back from a local company such as Gakidoo’s Computer Repair for under $200, but the methods most local shops use are limited at best. If your pictures are not worth $700 bucks, then they are your best chance compared to attempting it yourself.
So is your data worth between $200-$1700?, if not, go ahead and buy that new computer and part with the old one. But also consider the value of setting-up and customizing your new computer. Will your old software and peripherals work with the new computer? Can you do it yourself, or are you willing to pay a tech around $75-$100 to set it up for you? In most cases, it will still be cheaper and more economical to just repair your old computer, assuming it isn’t too old already. In most cases, there is no right or wrong answer. Everyone’s situation is different in some way and you have to make up your own mind after being presented the options. We have a passion for fixing computers, and hate to see one go to the boneyard, so we are obviously biased toward fixing your computer, but we will usually come straight out and tell you when it is truly not worth repairing. I would at least consider “eventually” repairing the old computer after buying a new one just to have a backup, because someday, your new computer will probably break as well. Does the cycle ever end? Well, stay tuned for a future article about the specifics about how to prepare your computer for a disaster and break the cycle.
What Can Be Done “Right Now” Before I Get My Computer Prepared for a Disaster?
In the mean time, something anybody with internet access can do now is to take advantage of an inexpensive online backup solution called Carbonite Online Backup. Unlimited backup–secure and encrypted, for just $54.95 per year. Start your free trial today!. The annual fee is cheaper than a portable hard drive, and it is secure and remotely accessible from any computer in the world. Once setup, Carbonite remote access makes your data accessible whether you’re traveling on business or simply need to pull up an important document, photo, or some other file that isn’t stored on the computer you’re using. All you need is your email address and your Carbonite password. You can even try it FREE for 15 days to back up your irreplaceable files automatically and securely, and No credit card is required! You should know that during the first day or two, that all your selected data will be undergoing its first major back-up, but from then on, it only needs to back-up new files or data that has been changed.
Who would’ve known that computers would become so inexpensive that they could almost be considered as disposable when they broke. You might be getting what you paid for, but I still think it is awesome that even a cheap, low quality computer can last several years if properly taken care of. Most people can relate this philosophy to printers, which everybody pretty much knows that the money is in the ink. So it goes with repairing a computer, the money is in the upkeep.
Is a Good PC Tech Worth the Price of Your Computer?
Entry-level PC Techs are a dime-a-dozen, but the passion and experience it takes to become a seasoned PC Tech is mind-boggling. Restoring your computer to perform even better than it did before it broke is a “Lost Art”, and I mean with all your programs, peripheral setup, customizations, and data intact (of course there are a few exceptions). But it is easy to find a “geek” who can reformat your hard drive and reload your operating system. Your friendly tech support specialist from far-away lands can walk you through this over the phone if you have the CDs. I pretty much relate these PC Techs as not being able to find the needle in the haystack, so they just never try or give-up, and instead “replace the haystack” and put the needle on top. So test your PC Tech’s experience by asking them if they have repaired more than 5 thousand computers or so. Ask that if your computer has some nasty spyware infection, will they just reformat your hard drive and reload your operating system (we call these techs “reformatters”). If the number doesn’t even come close to a fraction of this, or you sense they are just “reformatters”, I would call around. Of course, if you don’t know where your friendly neighborhood computer shop is and you take your computer into one of those big stores, you may never know who will be working on your computer. Hint hint… So if your computer and the data in it is sacred to you, a Good PC Tech deserves the going rate, making even an inexpensive computer worth repairing.
By Dale Powell Jr.
Gakidoo’s Computer Repair
