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Cracked or Broken Laptop LCD Screen Repair Prices Drop

January 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Need to fix a broken laptop screen but are afraid of the cost?  Fear not!  Prices for replacing laptop LCD screens have dropped dramatically over the past year.  With the proliferation of laptops, prices for screens have dropped below $100 for many models.  Even the larger, High Definition screens can be as low as $125.  Compare that to $250 plus, just a year or two ago.

That means it’s now worth fixing your laptop versus replacing it.  With labor, the total cost of most LCD replacement now averages around $230 – $250 at most Tucson computer repair stores, such as our shop.  If your laptop is less than 3 years old and is a mid-to-high-end model, it’s definitely worth fixing.

These prices are for refurbished screens.  New screen prices are about $50 – $100 more.  We usually recommend going with a new screen for higher end laptops less than 2 years old.  For all others, refurbished is your best bet.  We’ve been doing laptop LCD screen repair for several years, and have had very good luck with the refurbished screens.

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Laptop Repair: Liquid Spills on Keyboard

November 27, 2011 By 3 Comments

What should you do if you spill liquid on your laptop’s keyboard?  How can the damage be repaired?  What’s the possible extent of the damage?  These are common occurrences unfortunately.  We can repair laptop liquid spill damage, but the seriousness of the damage and the needed repairs depend largely on what you do when it happens.

Possible Extent of Liquid Damage:

I’ll just describe the worst-case scenario.  This would be if the liquid goes through the keyboard and into the the deeper parts of the laptop.  It can short out any of the internal components, including the motherboard (or logic board).

Even if it dries and works for a while, if the liquid was anything other than water, it can corrode the electronics and the machine could die later on.  This is why I always recommend letting a technician look at it.  The damage can get worse over time, thus costing more to repair if you wait.

Emergency Procedure:  If you spill liquid on your laptop, do this immediately:

  1. Close the lid and turn the laptop upside down. This prevents the liquid from seeping too far into the laptop.
  2. Unplug the power and remove the battery. Cutting off all power prevents short circuit electrical damage.

Don’t worry that this will cause an improper shutdown.  It’s better than ruining the machine and occasional improper shutdowns are not a big deal.

Leave the laptop this way and let the liquid seep out of the keyboard.  If the spill was just water, let it dry out for several hours or overnight.  When you get home, you can open up the lid, but leave the laptop upside down, perhaps propped up against something so you don’t damage the screen.  When it dries, turn it on.  If it works… cool!  If not, bring it to a repair shop.

If the spill was not water, bring the laptop to local PC Repair Shop.  I mean a real repair shop, not a big box store, as they’re clueless.  If you’re adept and adventurous, you can try to do more, but I strongly advise against it.  I’ve seen people mess things up pretty bad when they tried.  Still, if you insist, try the following.

Get an Electronic Cleaning Solvent…. Do Not Use a Household Cleaner!  You can pick up these special solvents at an electronics store.  I don’t mean an Ace Hardware either.  I mean a real electronics store.

If you’re not up to removing the keyboard, get the solvent in a spray can so you can get it into the keyboard while keeping it upside down.  If you do remove the keyboard, you can soak it in a tray of solvent.  Inspect the area under the keyboard and see if the liquid got in deeper.  If so, stop and bring it to a repair shop.

In closing, don’t try this yourself, but if you do, be careful!  Some of these repairs are difficult.  It’s not always apparent which component was damaged, so we often have to test everything.  Give us a call and we’ll do everything we can to save your laptop.

Filed Under: Laptop Repair, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Laptop Repair Issue: Deciding on New or Used Parts

November 25, 2011 By 1 Comment

If you need parts for a broken laptop repair, an important choice to make is, should you get new or used/refurbished parts?  Here’s my thoughts and policy that I use in my repair business.

I’m talking about major components here, like motherboards and LCD screens.  Other minor parts are no big deal, as they’re not expensive.  For these major parts, the difference in cost between new and used/refurbished can be as high as $100 for LCD’s and $150 for motherboards.

If your laptop is over 3 years old, you’re better off with used or refurbished parts, unless it’s a high-end model (e.g. if it was over $1000 new).  If your laptop was a basic model with only a year or two of life left in it, you want to keep your repair cost low.

If your baby is a high-end beauty that still runs fast and is pretty up to date, you want to stick with new parts, as they are more reliable and will give your laptop longer life.  You want a good machine to last a while, since you spent a lot to buy it in the first place.

For newer laptops (less than 2 years old), you want to stick with new parts.  You want your machine to last 4 or 5 years, so you want the longer life and reliability of a new part.  Of course, if your laptop was a budget unit you bought for $299, it’s probably not worth doing a major repair.

What other considerations are there in choosing new versus used, or even in doing the repair it at all?  This is a cost/benefit decision.  If the cost of the repair (including labor) is half the cost or less of buying a new unit, you should definitely repair it.  If you can do this with new parts, go for it!

Most of these major repairs cost $300-$500 using new parts, or $200-$350 with used parts.  A good, solid mid-range laptop these days goes for $600-$800.  So you can see it’s a close decision.  If you bring your laptop to us, we’ll advise you on what’s best to do.

If you need help with this type of issue, or any other computer repair issue, our contact information is on our website at Saguaro PC Tech – Tucson Computer & Laptop Repair.

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Laptop Repair: Finding a Good Repair Shop is Not Easy

September 4, 2011 By

While general laptop repairs, like virus removal and software issues (Windows problems, etc.) are the same as for desktop computers, repairing laptop internal hardware components is a very difficult and specialized area.  Therefore, finding a good laptop repair shop is not so easy.

Why is this?  There are two reasons:

  1. Internal repairs require extreme precision and skill.  Soldering and electrical testing are also often required.
  2. Parts are very specific to each model, sometimes even varying among different revisions of the same model laptop.

See what a laptop motherboard replacement is like in this video.

Therefore a repair shop must have technicians with the appropriate skills.  Plus, the owner of the shop must have the knowledge and patience to deal with the often frustrating process of finding and ordering the correct parts for the job.  I personally went through hell learning this and often wondered if it was even worth bothering with laptop repairs.

For this reason, many of our competitors do not offer laptop hardware repair.  However, the reality of the computer business is that the desktop computer is fading away and laptops are taking over.  If a computer shop wants to survive, it must offer laptop repair services.  These days, over 75% of our business is laptops.  Of these jobs, roughly a third require internal component repair.  So I hung in there and have since learned the process of managing laptop repair work.  Its still tough and frustrating, but I’m used to it now.

So what should you do if your laptop’s LCD screen goes out, or your power jack breaks, or the machine just won’t turn on?

  • First, don’t try to fix it yourself.  You have no idea how many things can go wrong, or how easy it is to break something.
  • Don’t try to save money by ordering parts yourself.  Because parts are so specific and can even vary for the same model, you’ll probably order the wrong part.

On the second point, I can’t tell you how many customers have come in with their own parts, only to find it’s the wrong one.  Is it worth having to go through the hassle, pay for return shipping and restocking fees just to save $20?  I don’t think so.

So I suggest taking it to a reputable local repair shop, hopefully us here at Saguaro PC Tech.  Let our techs take a look at it and consult you on the repair.  If the machine is over 4 years old, we’ll let you know if it’s worth fixing or not.  We won’t steer you the wrong way just to make a quick buck.  We prefer you be happy with your experience and remain a long-term customer.

To learn more about us, please visit our Website or out Facebook page (don’t forget to “Like” us).  Even better, give us a call at (520) 250-5948.  Thanks!

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