Mac Repairs

I had my computer literally catch fire earlier this year (I have/had a PC) and I found that it was easier to get a new one than try to restore the old one. But mine was pretty old. My brother's more of a computer guy than I am (he worked for Sun for a while studied computer science etc.) and he said it was just best to get a new one.

I assume you mean the hard drive got fried right?

The only bad thing is that I lost all of the files and had on there. It would cost me a couple of hundred dollars to transfer them to a disk. So far I haven't needed them. But my experience was all with Walnut Creek and I didn't find any particularly good deals.

Actually, my hard drive is the one thing that is definitively working.

So far, AllMac was very reassuring but has been very inaccurate with both their timing and their customer service. I was told I would have a diagnostic by mid-day Friday and it is now Saturday night and I have had no response. When I called today (they are supposed to be open on Saturdays) they were closed.

Sadly, my computer is < 6 months old, so I need to salvage it as best I can.

Sometimes when a store gives a better deal on price we pay for it in terms of service, but it might be worth it. I took mine a few years ago to a really run down looking shop in Concord and they fixed my problem for a while (until my computer caught fire earlier this year). So it might be worth the inconvenience in terms of money--if they fix the problem anyway.

On an unrelated note, I did something really crazy with my keyboard about a few years ago. I heard on the radio that you could put your keyboard in your dishwasher and wash it that way, so long as you let it dry after wards. So I had this really icky keyboard that I was really icky, so I did it and it turns out that it works. Well, sort of anyway. It didn't do any damage to my keyboards operation but it didn't completly clean it either, it still looked more yellowish than white. (By the way, I don't remember the details about it, so I would recommend replicating my experiment.)

Okay - AllMac quoted me the same price for the repair that I can get for a new machine from my mom, who is an educator. I found another place - Monterey Computer Repair - that quoted me the same repair for $650 MAXIMUM. They buy their parts wholesale and/or slightly used, so there is no need to order parts directly from Apple, which is the direct majority of the cost. Their labor is cheaper by about $15/hour, and they don't charge a premium on any of their parts. Overall, it's definitely the better buy.

It's a little far from San Francisco but the ground shipping option can definitely make it financially viable for those who are willing to wait. I'll follow up once the machine is repaired.

You could always take a day trip down to Monterey too. I bet there are probably some good hiking trails--although I think the forecast is for rain this weekend.

Hahhahaaa, thanks, @Nightowl! I'm actually in Vegas right now but I do like Monterey. It's more a matter of getting it fixed as quickly as possible.

I hear that. I have difficutly going a full day without my computer.

Aaaand I have just gotten word that my main board, which was previously given a death sentence, is fine. I have to wait to find out what the true damages are but I do think that this place deserves an endorsement: http://www.montereycomputerrepair.com/

I hate to jinx things, but I do hope to write them a killer recommendation when I do get it back.

That must be a relief. It sucks losing everything you've been working on and storing.

It's like those people who had all their information in one of those new fangled "clouds" and the whole thing crashed and a lot of them just lost all their data, photos, files etc.

You kids and your new tech. Oh yeah, and get off my lawn!