Most laptops that come in aren’t dead. One part has failed and everything else is fine. A screen, a battery, a charging port. The machine around it has years left.
The trouble is that a broken laptop gives you almost nothing to go on. A black screen could be a $180 panel or a dead motherboard, and from the outside they look identical. So the useful thing isn’t a list of services. It’s working out which of those two you’ve got before you spend anything.
That’s what the rest of this page is for.
Start with what it’s doing
Pick whichever line sounds like your machine. Each one explains what usually causes it, what the repair costs, and how to tell the cheap version of the fault from the expensive one.
Fixed remotely, often the same day
- Running slowly Takes minutes to boot, sluggish everywhere
- Blue screen or random freezing Crashes with an error code, or locks up completely
- Locked out of Windows Forgotten password, can’t sign in
- Virus, pop-ups or a scam Someone rang claiming to be Microsoft
- Email not working Can’t send, can’t receive, or won’t sync
- Printer or Wi-Fi playing up Offline errors, or drops out constantly
- Software or updates stuck Windows Update frozen, or won’t install
- No sound, Bluetooth or flickering Usually a driver, not a broken part
- Just bought a new one Files and accounts moved across, ready to use
- Wants a check-over Nothing’s broken, but it’s not like it used to be
Needs a technician on-site
- Cracked or black screen Lines, blotches, or nothing at all
- Won’t turn on No lights, no fan, no beep
- Battery won’t hold charge Dies at 40%, or only runs plugged in
- Won’t charge Have to wiggle the cable to get a light
- Spilled something on it Stop reading and unplug it now
- Running hot, fan screaming Hot underneath, shuts down under load
- Keys not working Dead keys, doubled letters, sticky keys
- Lost files Drive not detected, or files vanished
What it costs
Most repair shops won’t put numbers on a page. We would rather you knew roughly what you’re in for before you ring, so here is what the common jobs run to, parts and labour together.
Screens vary most, because a 13-inch panel out of a budget Acer and a touchscreen out of an XPS are not the same part. The range is wide because we would rather quote you honestly than lowball it and ring you back with bad news.
Anything that isn’t on that list is charged at $150 per hour, on-site or remote, plus parts. Working out what’s wrong over the phone is free, and there’s no call-out fee inside our service areas.
How a repair actually goes
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Tell us what it’s doing
Make, model, and what happens when you press the power button. That’s usually enough to narrow it to one or two causes.
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We give you a price
Before anything is booked. If the answer is “this isn’t worth fixing”, you get that answer for free.
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We come to you, or you send it
On-site across our service areas with no call-out fee. Outside them, remote support handles anything that isn’t physically broken.
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You get it back working
Same day on common parts. You pay when it works, not before.
When a laptop isn’t worth fixing
Sometimes it isn’t, and you should hear that from us rather than after you’ve spent the money. A rough rule: if the repair costs more than half what the machine is worth, think hard.
The ones we usually talk people out of are budget laptops more than five years old with a failed screen or motherboard, and any machine where two separate things have gone at once. Old Celeron and Pentium laptops in particular tend to be slow because of what they are, not because anything is broken, and no repair fixes that.
The ones almost always worth fixing are anything with an i5 or better under six years old, business machines like ThinkPads and Latitudes which were built to be serviced, and any machine where the only fault is a battery, a screen or a port.
Brands we work on
All of them, though they aren’t equal. ThinkPads and Latitudes come apart in minutes. Some ultrabooks are glued shut and every repair on them costs more as a result. Surface devices are the worst of the lot. Each brand page covers what tends to fail on those models and what parts availability is like in Australia.
Where we work
A technician comes to you in Brisbane, Logan, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Perth. Everywhere else in Australia, remote support covers anything that isn’t physically broken, which is more than most people expect. Drivers, Windows problems, email, malware and slow machines all get solved without anyone leaving the house.
Common questions
Do you charge to look at it?
Not over the phone. Tell us what it is doing and we will usually know whether it is a cheap fix or a dead machine before anyone books anything.
How long does a laptop repair take?
Screens, batteries and keyboards are usually same day if the part is in stock. Charging ports and board-level work take two to four days because they are soldering jobs. Data recovery depends entirely on why the drive failed.
Will I lose my files?
Not on a normal repair. Screens, batteries, keyboards and ports do not touch the drive. If we need to replace a drive or reinstall Windows we copy your data off first and put it back afterwards.
Can you fix it if it is out of warranty?
Yes, and that is most of what we do. Worth checking your warranty first though. If the manufacturer will fix it for nothing, take that. We will tell you if we think that is your better option.
Do you work on Macs?
Yes. MacBooks are a different job to a Windows laptop because the storage is soldered to the board, which changes what is possible and what data recovery costs. There is a separate page for Apple.
What if you cannot fix it?
You do not pay. If we cannot get it working you owe us nothing, and we will tell you honestly whether a replacement is the smarter spend.
“Robert was very understanding of problems with my computer and printer. Fixed the problems in record time. I will recommend Robert to my friends.”
