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Issue
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Work charged per hour
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Price per hour
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Initial booking fee
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To try and ascertain what is wrong. Subtracted from the cost of repair if work carried out.
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£30
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Express service
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When a laptop is booked in for repair it goes into a queue to await the services of a technician
- usually within 48 hours. However, if you are in a hurry we can start work on your laptop immediately
provided you agree to pay an extra charge over and above what we would normally charge.
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£48
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Overheating
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Laptop crashes soon after start up. This could be because the inside is clogged with dust and
fluff, overheats and crashes. We dismantle the laptop and clean the inside.
Another factor maybe poor design. Some laptops run hot. Changing to a slower processor can help.
Buying a fan cooler to sit the laptop on and which is specifically designed to cool laptops can also help.
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£48+
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File system error
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Blue screen error which can indicate the file system within windows has become corrupted and requires fixing.
Usually a relatively simple fix, however, the fault could also indicate a possible problem with the hard drive
which caused the files to become corrupted in the first place.
If the hard drive has become damaged with a few bad sectors it is sometimes possible to fix (re-map) these
sectors using special software. The fix is only a temporary measure to allow the customer to backup important data.
The hard drive may continue to operate for months but it also may fail within hours. Such repairs carry no guarantee
beyond the fact that the hard drive should operate long enough to effect data backup.
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£48+
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Reinstall operating system
(Windows, MacOS, Linux)
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Software problems may require the operating system to be reinstalled.
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£59
(Students: £48)
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Hard drive failure
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Can usually be diagnosed by the sound of constant ticking (death rattle) as the hard drive "head" crashes against
the revolving discs. The problem with this tale is that not only does the drive have to be replaced but so does
the operating system.
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Requires a diagnosis for a quote.
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Power socket
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Battery fails to charge and then laptop stops working even when plugged into the mains. Usually caused by the power
socket on the motherboard becoming damaged/detached from the motherboard. Repair of the power socket requires
completely dismantling the laptop and replacing the power plug on the motherboard.
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£72
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Broken USB/audio sockets
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Similar story to above with the same conditions. The USB sockets become detached from the motherboard. Very labour
intensive repair. In the case of audio, it may be cheaper to buy a USB audio "pocket/card" for around £10.
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£72
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AC Adapters/Chargers not working
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We carry a large stock of adapters and can usually supply what you may need. Prices range from £25 depending on type.
Best bring in your laptop so that we can ensure we supply the correct adapter and all is working satisfactorily.
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Usually £25
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Broken screen
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We can usually replace broken screens. The cost will depend on the size and manufacturer settings but is usually
around £100 (inc. VAT and all labour costs) for a 15.6" screen.
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£100+
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Backlight
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This is when the screen fails to illuminate. The laptop continues to work and the images on the screen can just be
seen but its extremely dark. We can usually replace the backlight. In many cases the backlight does not illuminate,
not because the backlight itself has failed, but because the power inverter is defective.
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£72
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Inverter
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Power inverter repair (symptoms as above). Price can vary according to the cost of the inverter.
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Around £60
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Data backup
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Obviously its best that you back up your work before bringing in a PC/Laptop/mac for repair.
If you wish us to backup we will but we will charge.
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Usually £40 but could be less if its small.
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Data recovery
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If your hard drive fails, the data can be retrieved but in some cases this involves specialist equipment and can
cost several hundreds of pounds. We do not carry out such work However, in many cases although the drive is
inoperable, data can be retrieved relatively easily and we can help .
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£48+
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Virus/Spyware/Malware
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If your laptop has problems due to a virus or spyware we can sometimes remove the "malware" although it's far more
effective and usually simpler and cheaper to wipe the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. We can do this.
If you wish us to backup your data there will be an extra charge (see above).
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£48+
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Liquid damage
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Very common. If it happens to you:
- Unplug from power (if connected)
- Turn the machine off immediately
- Remove battery
- If liquid has come from atop, turn upside down. If the liquid has ingressed from underneath DO NOT turn upside down
- Mop up excess liquid (toilet tissue is OK and normally near to hand). DO NOT be tempted to turn the laptop on
until it has been dried out
- Do NOT use a hair drier to dry the machine - we have seen many cases of melted keyboards as a result of this
- Have a technician (or someone who knows how) open the machine up and clean and dry the inside
Speed is of the essence. For water based incidents (water, tea, coke etc), corrosion starts almost immediately
therefore the quicker the cleanup starts the better the outcome.
Even by taking these precautions the laptop's motherboard or keyboard could have been damaged by the spill.
Usually the hard drive has enough resilience in its construction to avoid being damaged by a minor spill and
therefore your information is most probably safe but its not always the case particularly if there is a lot of
liquid involved. Notwithstanding all of the above, we have a reasonable success rate in bringing liquid damaged
laptops back to life.
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£48+
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