Which is More Secure? Your Phone or Laptop

October 21, 2018 by doctordave

With many people having both a smartphone and laptop synced, you’d think people would secure them equally. In reality, it seems people are more worried about their phone rather than their laptop (or desktop). That’s a big mistake.

This article has some interesting facts! The ones that stood out to me are related to leaving the laptop unattended. I see this in coffeeshops all the time. Someone will take their phone in the restroom with them or up to the counter, but otherwise just leave their laptop there. It also makes sense it’s easier to carry a phone in your pocket compared to a laptop.

Nonetheless, both devices should be protected equally. That includes proper password, encryption, and other security methods. This is a much bigger deal if you’re bound by professional codes of conduct like HIPAA, FINRA, or PCI. We’re here to help with that and have lots of clients in these situations.

Photo by Kevin Johnston

Is Your PC Dirty Inside?

October 14, 2018 by doctordave

We see all kinds of computers here. Inside, most of them are dirty. Some are pretty wild inside. Most of the time it’s not the client’s fault.

There’s a fun subreddit where people post pics of dusty computers. I’ve never posted there, but I’ve thought about it. Computers have cooling fans and sit on the floor many times, so it’s natural they collect dust inside. Dust can causes the fans to fail and overheat, so it’s a good idea to have them cleaned. Pet dander and smoke debris get in there as well.

Don’t just take a vacuum to clean it, please. While we love seeing you, we don’t want to see you because of this. Static is what causes computers to get “fried.” If you don’t make sure to ground yourself, you’ll transfer a charge to the computer.

We have special equipment to clean inside the computer without zapping it with electricity. Checking the insides of a computer is part of our standard tune up process, but feel free to ask for it during any service call. We carry the tools with us.

Photo by Lee Edwin Coursey

Best. Upgrade. Ever – Solid State Drives (SSDs)

November 12, 2017 by doctordave

Laptop hard drives, on average, last about three years. We recommend replacement of computers after three years. However, if you want to keep your laptop, we highly recommend Solid State Drives (SSDs).

This is the same technology in your smartphone or tablet that lets it boot up and open applications quickly. All Apple laptops now come with SSDs as do many Windows laptops. If we’re going to repair your computer, or you just need a speed boost, an SSD is the way to go.

SSDs give you more of a performance boost than a memory upgrade or any other single procedure we can do during a tune up. The price is reasonable: right around $50-$100 for the parts. Speed increase can be up to 10-fold. That’s a good return on investment. Even if your hard drive hasn’t failed, putting in an SSD is like a fountain of youth for your desktop or laptop.
Photo by vishwaant

Are Laptop Screen Repairs Worth It

July 9, 2017 by doctordave

A common call we get here at DoctorDave Computer Repair is “Can you repair my laptop screen?” The short answer is yes, the long answer is no. Yes, we can repair them. We’re computer repair professionals. However, we don’t recommend screen repairs and here’s why.

There’s Usually More Wrong Than the Screen

The typical reason a laptop screen breaks is because it’s been dropped. When we get inside the laptop we see a whole heck more wrong than just the screen. Here are the top problems we see:

Cracked case: once we attempt to remove the screen, other parts that were cracked separate. It never quite goes together the same and we have to replace the case.
Cable tears: the insides of a laptop are delicate and the drop causes damage to these. Often times damaged plastic inside the case tears these.
Cracked components: if it’s dropped hard enough to crack the screen, other things are cracked inside and will get worse.
Hard drive: 50% of the cracked screens we see have damaged hard drives. The hard drive is what stores all your important stuff.

While we can repair each of these, the cost of the repair keeps going up.

It’s Difficult to Find Components

Kansas is one of the states fighting for a “Right to Repair.” That gives everyone the ability to buy components to fix their computers. Right now, the only way we can get screens is used or counterfeit. Each manufacturer won’t sell original screens, partially to protect their own revenue stream.

Our policy is to fix things right, the first time. In our tests the failure rate of these screens is 10%-30%. That’s unacceptable to us. We don’t like clients to go through the hassle of waiting until we get a working screen. Honestly the other reason is our time. When we get a bad screen, it causes double work for us. Most computer repair companies figure that into the repair costs. I don’t like overcharging customers to compensate for these situations. As a business owner, I believe you should be charged for the work done. If it takes an hour to repair, you should be charged an hour. You shouldn’t be charged more because someone else’s repair took more time.

If we are able to get original screens from the company, we’d revisit this policy for sure.

Generally, it’s Not Worth Repairing

Even if we can get quality screens and we don’t find other damage inside the laptop, laptop screen repair may not be worth it. Other computer companies probably will hate me for saying this. After all, we don’t sell computers and we’re talking ourselves out of work.

Here’s why. If the computer is less than a year old, then it’s still under warranty. If you don’t get the computer repaired by the manufacturer, they’ll void the warranty. That means anything that’s wrong with it, you’re on the hook for. If they fix it, they’ll keep your warranty intact. With so many things that can go wrong with a computer, you want to keep your options open. The company that makes the computer will charge a hefty fee for the replacement, but your protection remains intact. We think it’s worth repairing, just not through us.

Year two of a laptop is tricky. It’s probably not under the original warranty, but your credit card generally extends the warranty an extra year. So if lets say your keyboard goes out in year two, your credit card will cover it. Consumer Reports did a study on laptop repairs. They don’t recommend a repair in year two of computer ownership if repair costs would exceed 50% of the cost to replace.

I tend to use an alternate rule of thumb, but it’s the same conclusion as Consumer Reports. Their formula is hard to use sometimes because people aren’t sure how much an equivalent laptop costs today. Generally a laptop depreciates about 30% each year. A good rule of thumb is a laptop repair isn’t worth it if it’s 25% of the original cost. If you paid $500 for a laptop, if the screen cracks in year two, you shouldn’t pay more than $125 for the screen to be repaired. Anything higher than that, it isn’t worth it. Another tip is to check how much the computer sells for used on eBay. Look for completed purchases, not what people are asking. People often ask too much for a computer on eBay.

In year three, a laptop repair is never worth it. In the third year, we start seeing all the typical problems. Hard drives, batteries, keyboards, trackpads, and power jacks all go out in the third year. Even without those verified numbers, three year old laptops generally sell for about 10% – 20% of their original cost. We’ve had clients tell us they are unable to sell three year old laptops at garage sales for $25. Most people realize stuff starts failing after a few years and would rather have something new and reliable than buying someone else’s problems.

Why We’re Honest About Laptop Screen Repairs

Other computer repair business owners chastise me for this. If the person wants the repair, why say no? Hey, we’re in this for the long haul. We’ve been doing this since 1990. Moreover, I know the frustration of putting money into something when it isn’t worth it. I’ve had too many used cars that turned into money pits. I don’t want to inflict that pain on anyone else. While declining many of these repair hurts our computer repair profits, we know it creates loyalty and trust. Ultimately, I’d rather you trust us than pay us and regret your decision.

Photo by BruceTurner

Repair or replace an old computer?

April 16, 2017 by doctordave

Although we do a ton of computer repair in Lawrence, you’d be surprised how often we turn away computers. Sometimes it’s just not worth repairing! I hate to talk myself out of work, but sometimes it’s the right thing to do.

After Three Years, Trouble Starts

After doing this for almost 30 years now, I’ve seen the lifespan of computers. In the early days, computers cost a small fortune but lasted for a decade. Now, we see them last about three years. A good analogy is three years on a computer is like a car with 100,000 miles. Not all cars fail at that point, but many start having troubles. Part of it depends on usage and brand, but everything has a lifespan. Some things last longer, some last shorter, but there’s always an average.

What Goes Wrong?

The Hard Drive

The most common part we replace after three years is the hard drive. That makes sense because it has moving parts. Parts wear out. Some drives fail after two years and some after four, but three is the average.

While we have tests to determine if the hard drive is failing, the user is the best early warning system. In these situations, the computer just randomly locks up and doesn’t respond. In a healthy hard drive, the activity indicator on the drive flashes. On a computer with a failing drive, the light stays lit. The indicator is sold because it keeps trying to use the hard drive but fails. You’ll sometimes hear a clicking or grinding noise but not always.

We can’t repair failing hard drives because they are sealed units. We can replace them though. Usually it’s about an hour of labor to remove the drive, put in a new one, and then install your operating system. Reinstalling programs, configuring printers, and transferring your data takes extra time.

The Power: Batteries, Power Jacks, and Power Supplies

If you have a laptop, eventually your battery fails. It’s just like any other battery. You can find cheap laptop batteries under $50, but we don’t recommend them. We’ve seen too many leaking or exploding batteries in our travels. Some airlines have proposed banning laptops because of exploding batteries. That’s like the ban of the Samsung Galaxy phone. A quality replacement battery (we don’t sell them directly), is about $75.

The other part to go out on a laptop is the charging port. It loosens up over time after being plugged and unplugged so often. The replacement inside the computer is easy. The hard part is taking the laptop apart and putting it back together. It usually takes about an hour and the parts are usually about $25.

When a power surge hits a desktop computer, the power supply goes out. That’s by design. It acts as a kind of circuit-breaker to prevent damage to other parts of the computer or to stop a fire. Computer manufacturers don’t make it easy to find power supplies. Each computer seems to take a slightly different one of these. We often have to look through dozens of different types. They range in price from $25 to $75. To install them we basically have to rebuild the computer. That takes about an hour.

Fans Stop Blowing

Computers run hot, so to cool them, manufacturers put in fans. They have fans on the processor, on the video card, in the power supply in the case and a few other places I’m probably forgetting. Each of those fans collects dust and debris from the environment. If you smoke or have pets, the damage to the fans multiplies. When the computer overheats it can shut down, or in rare cases, cause a fire.

We can replace those fans, but again, we need to find the right fan. You’d think it would be easy to find, but it isn’t. The other complex problem is figuring out which fan is failing. We often have to replace multiple fans in a system. Once one starts making noise, they typically all start doing it. That makes sense since they all have the same moving parts subject to wear and tear and environmental hazards.

Keyboard, Trackpads and Screens

This problem is unique to laptops. Eventually the more you type and click, the more things wear out. Keyboard are usually easier to replace than trackpads. Both wear out though and we need to disassemble and reassemble your laptop. Since clicking and typing go hand in hand, pardon the pun, we often see that both need to be replaced at the same time.

Screens also have a limited lifespan. They’re like TV screens so they’ll stop being able to light up after a while. That’s usually after about seven years, though. Newer laptops aren’t supposed to have these problems, but we’ll see. We’re seeing fewer screens burning out, but it happens.

Is It Worth Repairing?

Given all these problems after three years, any one replacement might be worth it. The problem is that actual value of a three-year old laptop is pretty small. We’ve had clients try to sell working ones at garage sales and they can’t even get $50 for them. After five years, they can’t even get $10. If you look on eBay, you’ll find the same story. If everything is working, you can expect to pay $50 for these systems.

The problem becomes, even if they are working, you can expect all this stuff to start failing. That’s why we never recommend paying for a used laptop without at least a year warranty. Too much stuff could go wrong.

With new laptops averaging about $500 and all the repairs associated with a three year old laptop, repairs just aren’t usually worth it. Most repair shops won’t tell you this, but it’s the right thing to let you know about. It’s also why we have great reviews. Some people get upset we decline to fix this stuff, but again it’s the right thing to do. We’re in this for the long haul and will always try to do what is tin the customer’s best interest. Sure we lose money with this approach, but we gain client loyalty. That’s the key to long-term success and why we’ve been in business since 2003.

We’ll keep doing computer repair here in Lawrence, but occasionally we’ll tell you it isn’t worth it!

Photo by ardenswayoflife