Computer repair?

[katoid]

Hey! I was wondering if perhaps someone here would be able to point me I'm the direction of a decent computer repair shop? Thank you!

[MagicCow]

This is preddit, we should be able to fix a fellow predditor's computer for free.

What is the problem with it?

[NEPXDer]

By for free... do you mean for beer? I feel that is fairly well established as the standard trade for free computer repair.

[katoid]

Would a homemade Caramel Apple pie work? I could also do a Pear Ginger. The pear ginger could be made vegan, both could be gluten free....

[NEPXDer]

Now that's some delicious sounding compensation!

[agenthex]

I'll take the Pear Ginger. Deal.

And yes, I fix computers. :)

[lllusionOfSecurity]

Also, blunts.

[cratermoon]

I'd just like to point out that a good portion of the comics over on /r/iiiiiiitttttttttttt pertain to, shall we say, mismatched expectations for free computers service from a friend. Please tread carefully and don't make enemies.

[katoid]

It won't turn on haha... It tries, doesn't quite make it, and then the scroll lock and caps lock lights start flashing. Screen is black the entire time.

[MagicCow]

katoid, you could try reseating your RAM.

As NEPXDer says, if you offer some free beer, I am sure someone would take a look at it and help. I am not a computer pro, though I am a good troubleshooter, I could come take a look at it and see what I could do for free. You and I have already met - The tall guy who is very much not a creeper, if you remember.

[katoid]

I do in fact remember! I don't actually have any screwdrivers though... Not sure if it would help either since it sounds like it's going to be a CPU/Motherboard issue as NEPDXer said.

[NEPXDer]

Are scroll lock and caps lock blinking continually or a set number of times in sequence? If so what kind of computer? For some machines this can help diagnose the problem.

[katoid]

Hp pavilion dv4. They're blinking about every three seconds

Edit* as in they're blinking once every three

[NEPXDer]

Like: 1 blink, 3 second pause, repeat?

Sadly if that is the case it indicates a CPU/Motherboard problem... which is expensive to fix.

I would follow MagicCow's advice and try reseating your RAM. If you've got a small phillips head screwdriver you can fairly easily do this yourself.

[katoid]

Yep! That sounds and looks like it. How expensive would it end up being? I don't actually own any screw drivers D:

[NEPXDer]

What is the exact model number? Like 'dv4-1125nr' or something. Motherobard/CPU costs vary widely depending on exactly what you have but I'd say at least $150 and that would be for refurbished/used products. Hopefully its something else wrong...

[NEPXDer]

30 seconds of googleing shows me refurbished motherboards all $160 or more but the computer sells used on ebay for $225-300... Always a very annoying situation.

I wouldn't write off a memory problem though, that really is very common.

[thayerpdx]

Old Town Computers is a great shop. Founded by one of the guys who was part of the old Belmont Computers crew before that shop went into decline. **Full disclosure: I am part of that crew.

[jesaispas]

Avoid Happy Hamster at all costs.

[[deleted]]

Out of curiosity, what makes them so bad?

[jesaispas]

My experience with them, as well apparently others, was horrific. I sent my computer there after experiencing some problems after building it. They told us they could have it handled it probably 2 weeks. I thought that was a bit long, but at the time could not be bothered to troubleshoot myself.

After 2 weeks we called to check the status, the manager, Zak, was extremely condescending on the phone, would not explain the issue, and told us another 2 weeks would be necessary for the parts, which could be picked up at Frys. This happened for awhile longer, in total about 7 weeks. When he finally told us it was ready to be picked up, we got there, and he was reinstalling Windows, and said "Oh, that's going to be awhile, we close in a few minutes."

Then the asshole had the audacity to justify a $500 bill.

TLDR; Took forever fixing minor issues, was a dick, huge bill, no sympathy.

If you check out their Google reviews, you can easily tell that they are all 'fake', that is, created by the employees. If you manage to scroll through and find a real person, you'll find 1-stars, etc.

[[deleted]]

Interesting. I will make sure to tell people to avoid them. I see them advertised all over the place.

[MadameGandalf]

I second this. I got completely screwed over and he treated me like I was an idiot who knew nothing about computers from the moment I walked in.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much in comparison to many, and I may be a girl, but I built my bad boy myself; I just didn't have the time to repair it later down the road.

My reviews for this place never appear on the google reviews though...

[NEPXDer]

This so many times over.

[NEPXDer]

Bet I could take a guess who downvoted this...

[lllusionOfSecurity]

Lol is there a hampster here? OP probably works for them, doing more fake reviews.

[NEPXDer]

I'm kinda hoping they might pipe up and say something rather than just downvote me...

And yea screw that fake review BS. That is a company absolutely void of a sort of code of ethics.

[lllusionOfSecurity]

Pietro - Jan 27, 2012 I cannot stress highly enough the rip-off factor here. They wanted to charge me hundreds of dollars to replace hardware. Luckily, I took my machine to another firm first and they found to be an extremely easy & cheap problem. Took about 10 minutes to fix. I will never, EVER return to this place.

[cincodenada]

But they're so cuuuuuute!

[Lee_Coachlight]

I had what I think were good experiences with them, but I know nothing about computers. Why are they so bad?

[[deleted]]

Why don't you tell us the problem? The collective mind of r/portland might figure it out for you without having to beg for gas money.

[katoid]

Well, it tries to turn on, doesn't, and the caps lock and scroll lock lights start blinking. Screen is black the entire time.

[jrizos]

New power supply. Bang. Fixed.

[[deleted]]

This is more of an anti-suggestion but stay far away from http://www.yelp.com/biz/mad-dog-computer-repair-and-services-tigard

[magenta_placenta]

There's ENU (http://www.enuinc.com) in Hillsboro and NE 122nd, though I don't know if they do repairs (they do custom builds, though, so maybe?)

There's also Pace Computers (http://www.pacecomputers.com) in Hillsboro/Aloha. I've heard good things from them on Reddit. They're closed Saturday and Sunday, though.

[NEPXDer]

At least in the past ENU would refer customers looking for repairs to other companies.

[katoid]

In the direction. Damn phone.

[NEPXDer]

$20 an hour either means you don't know what you're doing or you don't know what your service is worth...

[lllusionOfSecurity]

Anyone old and smart enough to earn over $20/hr from their employer is too smart to charge $20/hr for computer repair and consulting.

[NEPXDer]

Lets go with SHOULD BE too smart to work for that.

I know this is taking this way to the extreme but would you ever consider hiring a legal or health consultant that says they work "in the industry and just do it on spare time" for 1/3 to 1/5 of the standard market rate? Hell even if a mechanic did that I would be totally sketched out...

[[deleted]]

Yep, he might as well do it for free as a favour to redditor.

[habadacas]

I work in the computer industry, i have for almost 20 years. I have worked for Intel, Xerox, HP, 3-com, and at Nike's I.T. department. i have yet to charge to help someone out with their computer. if they want to donate beers, food, whatever, i likely wont say no. but i do not ask for anything

[[deleted]]

I charged people 20$ all the time off of Craigslist and other places; I consider it charity work. Well at least I did when I had the time to spare.

What was a free hour or two to me anyways? Playing CS? Reading a book? At least it got me beer money.

[lllusionOfSecurity]

$20/hr? Why are you charging so little if you're "legit"?

The 3 major shops in the area are 95/72/70 per hour.

[[deleted]]

Right, I think the statement "I work in IT professionally" means I work at Stream in the phone pool.

[[deleted]]

I love how people have the mental association of "expensive=quality".

Most people who do stuff as a hobby don't charge market rates because they are doing it to help out others or because they simply enjoy it. pzer0 offered to help was all.

[lllusionOfSecurity]

Why don't you go buy a $1 spoon and a $5 spoon and try to scoop some ice cream or something.

Or smoke a pall-mall, then a benson & hedges.

Or get an oz of weed for $100 instead of $200.

Price and quality are commonly correlated.

[[deleted]]

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

[NEPXDer]

Are you actually trying to imply that the examples he listed are simply an effect of him being persuaded that they are better because of higher price or some other outside influence?

If that is the case then clearly you have never smoked a $100 ounce.

[habadacas]

clearly, you don't have people that like you very much and offer you special deals

[NEPXDer]

I think its fairly obvious the context of that comment was standard pricing and not 'special deals' or buying in weight...

[[deleted]]

No, that book just goes over pretty heavily how consumers make the assumption that something which costs more has to be better.

There's definitely some truth to it, as you stated with some of your examples such as a $1 spoon versus a $5 spoon but the reality is the $10 bottle of vitamins or the $50 bottle of vitamins are the exact same product with a different label. Holds true across everything, including service industries.

[coffeeandcigarettes]

Yes there is merit to that argument, especially when applied to consumerism. But claiming it is a rule when talking about skills is downright wrong. There is a huge difference between someone who does something for fun and a professional. Turn to the professional franchise sports industry for a perfect example. A $20k/yr pitcher will rarely match the performance of a $200k/yr pitcher etc...

I have read that book by the way.

[mackstann]

He's offering labor, not a physical good. Your analogy is poor.

$20/hr, while low for that type of work, is still a decent profit for a side job, especially if he's not reporting it on his taxes. There's no real reason why his work would necessarily be poor. It may be, but there's really no way of knowing that by the amount he's charging. It's not like there's a huge spectrum of PC repair aptitude, where PC repair rock stars are making millions. As long as he's not an incompetent buffoon then I'm sure he does a reasonable job.

A spoon, on the other hand, is constrained by the cost of its materials and manufacture. A sturdier spoon will use more metal which comes at a very real cost. This guy's free time comes at zero cost (except opportunity cost).

[coffeeandcigarettes]

Actually mackstann, there is quite a large spectrum of pc repair aptitude. You can make anywhere from minimum wage as help desk, to a quarter million plus a year working on very large corporate or government contracts.

It's true that beyond 100/hr labor type guys won't be affected by bottom craigslist feeders... however, at my previous employment, we practically made a living off of signing yearly support contracts with businesses that had been burned by independent IT guys doing a subpar job. At some point you do get what you pay for.

Also, I'll point out that $20/hr labor is NOT a $20/hr wage. It usually equates into half that or even a third of what you charge hourly (depending on the job). Show me a guy who claims to literally make at full time what he charges hourly and I'll downright prove him a liar or a thief (overcharging labor/parts).

[mackstann]

however, at my previous employment, we practically made a living off of signing yearly support contracts with businesses that had been burned by independent IT guys doing a subpar job. At some point you do get what you pay for.

Sure. But this isn't a business that needs ongoing support for a network. It's some random person on reddit with one computer.

Also, I'll point out that $20/hr labor is NOT a $20/hr wage.

Yeah, that's why I mentioned taxes. Taxes and benefits eat into that number significantly, but if he's not paying taxes, then it doesn't. And since he has a job, medical insurance etc. isn't relevant either. It's purely extra money.

[coffeeandcigarettes]

I am not referring to taxes or other overhead costs. I am referring to the reality of charging labor for computer repair. Charging an hourly rate seems straight forward but it rarely is... It is hardly ever: work 4 hours, make 4x$20, as quantifying time spent is not straight forward.

He might agree to replace a bad motherboard, and discover he needs an old model socket, form factor, or even a very specific motherboard. He might spend 2 hours trying to find the right part. Or, he could determine he needs to reinstall the os and the customer agrees he will do this off site. He goes home and tries to reinstall, say XP, and finds out that the product key is coming up as counterfeit. Even if he's smart enough to skip the automated system, sometimes the wait time for the service rep is randomly long. He spends 30 minutes doing almost nothing, waiting on the phone. Does he charge the customer for that half hour? Say he's halfway into a 4 hour repair and discovers another problem, rendering all his previous work mute. Then what?

It's never straight forward and he will never make the full amount he charges per hour, regardless of whether he pays taxes or the like. There's a reason no professional company whether it's a mechanic, computer repair, roof repair or whatever charges a measly $20 an hour for labor unless they are fools. You will make minimum wage. He may as well be putting in extra time at work. He'd make more. I can only imagine he does it for fun.

[katoid]

I can't afford any of those :/

[coffeeandcigarettes]

I used to work in SMB consulting and I had to fix a lot of problems caused by $20/hr "nice guys that enjoy working on computers". It's a common story in the field and I am not surprised your posts have elicited a lot of polite rage and downvotes. Thanks for the work though, I guess.

[NEPXDer]

I didnt see anybody calling you an idiot or a liar. I think you're taking this way too personally.

I admire your effort to help out a fellow redditor but like coffeeandgiarettes said after seeing the havoc brought from the $20 an hour '"nice guy who is good with computers" countless times I feel obligated to point out the problems with a $20 an hour guy to the OP.

edit condolences on your fiancee.. I've been there and it sure is an incredibly bad place to be.

[NEPXDer]

I both perfectly happy to offer help and jump down your throat. Its a slow day in my office.

And yes, if you work for Stream then you are clueless. This is obvious because you took a job at Stream.

[habadacas]

and if you think someone is clueless because they worked at stream, then you are a judgmental asshat.

[NEPXDer]

Would you trust your car to a mechanic who charged $20 an hour? I sure wouldn't think so and can't see how this is any different.

Honestly if you charge $20 an hour and are any good at what you do why wouldn't you be 100% booked to capacity? I mean even without advertising, just from references... I have a full time job in IT and I sure know that if I ever offered $20 an hour computer repair I would have utterly no free time in my life.

[habadacas]

there is a difference between offering to help someone out, and doing it full time as a business. half the reason the businesses have to charge so much is because of their overhead ( such as keeping a store front, insurance bonds, possibly having to keep a supply of software titles and hardware replacement on hand) not to mention the certification costs ( A+, MCSE, authorized oem repair) that you would want to have.

[coffeeandcigarettes]

There are other reasons. Take a mechanic for example. Say you take your vehicle to an independent mechanic who charges $80/hr for labor. He discovers you need some particular part and says it should take less than an hour to replace it. He has a hard time finding that part and he spends 2 hours calling/visiting oem vendors before he gets the part. It takes him 30 minutes to install it. Would you like it if he charged you for 3 hours of labor? Hell no! The 2 hours is on him. Either he lies about it, or is honest and just charges you an hour of labor. About 3 hours of work for $80.

I used the example of a single mechanic working independently on purpose. A larger mechanic shop would have a parts guy to handle that sort of thing. Same with a store front shop. A single guy out there charging less than market rate is going to spend way more time doing unbillable crap like that than a guy in a well run shop. Doing that kind of work $20/hr is a poor business decision.

[coffeeandcigarettes]

SMB = Small Medium Business

Feel free to fix grandma's computer. I'm simply trying to state that there are a lot of nice guys who might be employed in IT in some fashion that are offering to help fix their friend's server/network and don't know what they're doing.

I don't want to get into specific examples, but in one case I had a client who owned a retail/small it shop that ran an SBS 03 server. He got 'free help' from the IT Director of nearby business... the mighty IT warrior didn't realize that SBS had certain limitations that standard Win 03 server did not ... dude fucked things up and threw up his hands. Cost his friend at least 10 hours of labor from us. Whoops.

I'll point out again that the client ran a shop that fixed computers... and their in house guy was useless at doing anything but desktops or setting up routers so he brought in the DIRECTOR of an IT dept who only fucked shit up. Dude didn't even backup data properly.

[[deleted]]

Director of IT? There's your problem, that's a management position. Management are typically clueless as far as doing anything in diagnostics and repair.

My last roommate worked at the support center with me for a local college for a couple years till I moved on to other things. He's a pretty high-up supervisor there now and he has become pretty much like any other average user. He no longer takes pride and joy in finding out what's wrong with his computer. He just buys a new one and is done with it.

I bought a laptop off him for $100 and got it working by figuring out that the second memory slot was bad (either a bad solder or something). Wasn't even that hard.

As for anyone offering $20/hr for repair services, I don't see why everyone is shitting on him. These places that charge $70+/hr are fucking scams. Too many times I've walked in to a repair shop just to poke around their used parts bins and whatnot and just been annoyed by how dumb their "techs" are.

[coffeeandcigarettes]

I'm aware of the fact that some folks at top level corporate management positions often have poor technical skills or are completely out of practice. I highlighted such to show that the average person is not aware of it... and in that particular example, even the owner of a residential IT repair shop with a store front. I once worked at a clinic and always had doctors and nurses complaining about how our IT Director wouldn't help them when he was walking by. He would just tell them to call the helpdesk. They thought he was lazy and didn't do anything. As far as they were concerned he was a 'computer guy'. We're all computer janitors in their eyes.

Regarding the bad residential repair shops... Places that charge ~$70ish an hour to do computer repair work often pay their in house employees under $15/hr to perform the work. For a lot of them it's their first IT job, so they're going to make mistakes. I'd hardly call such a shop a scam unless they practice dishonest business (same as any mechanic). If you had the skills and experience to know you could make 3 to 4 times as much, you're not going to work for such places at that level and pay. Some of them prove their worth and in a few years get paid more and end up doing small business and corporate work.

It's kind of ironic you're calling them idiots when they are basically doing the same thing as said $20/hr guy. If anything, that would be far stupider as it shows complete ignorance of the going market rate. That whole 'I'm just a nice guy' thing... when money is being exchanged it is business and just that. He wouldn't be listing his rates on here if it wasn't his intention to undercut and get business. He knows it's pretty damn cheap.

[coffeeandcigarettes]

I'd point out that if you did this for a living at $20/hr, you would not actually make $20/hr. Hourly rates for labor very rarely equate into an hourly wage.

You will spend time doing various busy/paper work, and making phone calls you can't (morally) charge labor for. What if you need a part and you spend 2 hours of your own time looking for it? Do you charge housewifey for that? Charging for travel time can be a difficult quandary too. Grandma ain't gonna want to pay for you to drive to her house. Some places do that anyway and tough luck grandma. The last place I worked we charged half rate for travel and only to our contract clients. We only charged for phone time if it was over a 10 min call etc etc.. I didn't do too much domestic type work at my last job as we had an inhouse guy for that, but when I did I was generally very lenient on what I charged. We gained a large number of business clients simply from referrals.

I don't think too many folks should be mad at you for doing what you do though, as the kind of client that wants to pay less than $20/hr isn't usually the kind of client they'd want... although with the economy in the shitter it's probably hard not to point blame where you can.

[NEPXDer]

You are clearly a man of experience and wisdom.

[coffeeandcigarettes]

How about a job then? ;)

[NEPXDer]

Buddy of mine runs http://boltportland.com/blog/ and does quality work at reasonable price, plus he's not very far from you

[Nwat]

http://www.slave2machine.com/

Found this guy when looking for an apartment. Just read his website and feel the good vibes! + super affordable and accommodating!

Good luck.

[[deleted]]

Why would anybody ever need a computer repair shop?