Computer & Laptop Repair

Laptop Repair Liverpool offer Computer and laptop repairs and mainteance in the Liverpool / Merseyside area. With no shop front we can pass on our operating saving to the customer providing them with a hard to beat quality service at credit crunch prices. give us a call today or make an enquiry by email using the form to the right.

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There are quite a number of laptop makes and models.  In fact there are so many makes I could not list them easily.  Having repaired many laptops makes and models of the years in Liverpool I’ve gotten to know the good brands and the bad brands of laptops.

I used to do sales and only sell laptops and computers to the general public and I thought my knowledge was pretty good at the time.   However it wasn’t, I was going on general assumptions for instance Sony being  a good name – this is something that most people know mainly because Sony charge more for their products.

It was not until I started learning the trade of doing software and more importantly hardware repair on laptops and computer I quickly found out that my general assumptions were wrong.

There are some common faults that can happen with laptops and Laptop Repair Liverpool deal with 99% of laptop issues.  However when it comes to hardware faults some fall under the category as having nothing to do with the laptop manufacturer and build quality.  Whilst build quality and poor production having everything to do with how good a brand name is.

Here are a list of common faults.

• Smashed screen on laptop
• Hard drive failure
• Display problems
• Laptop not turning on
• Power jack/ power connector damaged
• Faulty keyboard
• Overheating issues

These are the main hardware issues we deal with on a daily basis at Laptop Repair Liverpool.  Cracked or smashed laptop screens can’t be blamed on the manufacturer as this is usually caused by the client dropping the laptop or causing accidental damage to the laptop.

Hard drive issues and failures can sometimes be blamed on the laptop manufacturer.  This really depends on the maker of the hard drive.  You see some hard drives are better than others.  Seagate are known to be a good brand however IBM have a very bad reputation in the hard disc drive trade.  However hard drives can fail for other reasons to so that really disqualifies then from my study here.

HP also known as Hewlett Packard have a series of laptops with defective graphics chip.  I’ve seen may HP laptops with this same issue.  It can cause not only display problems but due to the way the chip is integrated with the motherboard can stop the computer from powering on and cause wireless network issues as well.  I’ve seen so many of these defective laptops by HP that I would steer clear of HP.  Now if you asked me this a few years ago how good HP were I would have probably told you good as they have a wide range of laptops on the market.  Not now, in fact they are stopping production of laptops soon and this is probably due in part to the issues around their graphics chips.  There were a lot of unhappy customers.

Laptop’s not turning on can also be caused by bad GPUs as mentioned above but also due to the design of the laptop itself.  Excessive heat can fry components in laptops.  I’ve seen a few Toshiba’s in my time with heating issues however it usually just slows down the computer.  I can’t really say that there is one specific laptop manufacturer that has more bad designs than another.

Acer laptops used to be known for their bad build quality and power jacks amongst other thing breaking off the laptop.  When I was in sales I always bad named Acer as being a cheap brand.  However Acer in my opinion now are one of the best brands.  I rarely see Acer laptops in for repair and their prices are good.  Of course this might be because they are so cheap people just by new laptops when their other one fails but I still give them a thumbs up as they have a good range of models and as mentioned pricing is pretty good.

I also like Dell laptops.  They to have some good prices and the Dell Outlet is somewhere you can always pick up a bargain.  Dell laptops are also  easy to fix if they break down.  They have simple design internally so you can get to most components quickly and taking apart a Dell laptop is not that difficult compared to other makes.

One of the things that really makes me bulk is a dirty keyboard.  In all the years I’ve been repairing laptops in Liverpool I’ve only had a few laptops that have been really dirty.  One I can remember clearly it was a complete state I had a hard enough time just taking it out the laptop bag.

Whenever I get a laptop in for repair I always give it a good clean on the outside prior to handing it back to the customer.  There is good reason to clean a customer’s laptop after a repair.  One of the main steps in repairing laptops is turning the laptop upside down so the battery can be removed prior to any repair.  When turning the laptop upside down you usually find that a lot of dirt/grim/dust comes up from underneath the keyboard and then rests on the laptop screen.  So a clean is usually required.  I personally use a floor cleaner wipe to as they are big enough to wipe the whole laptop down and give kills most bugs.

Of course there are other reasons for cleaning computers and laptops.  In some cases you’ll find that your computer or laptop might actually be running slow because of a build up of dust.  This dust will clog up inside the CPU cooler grill on a laptop and block the vents.  Over time the CPU has to run slower because it’s getting hotter.  This is an inbuilt system depending on how hot the CPU gets.  If your laptop is running slow or if the fan is making a bit of a dodgy noise it may be because of a build up of dust inside the laptop fan.

That’s 2 reasons stated so far in why a laptop or computer may be cleaned.  the other reason it’s good to keep a laptop or computer clean is because it will increase the life of your computer system.

On two separate occasions I’ve collected desktop computers due to boot errors (computer does not start).  On closer inspection the boot errors have occurred because the internal hard disc drive has failed.  After opening up the desktop computer case a thick layer of grim and ashtray deposits have been found.  What happened in both cases is that the customer dropped their ash tray on the floor/desk next to the computer.  The computer’s fan then proceeded to suck up the contents of the ash tray and they clogged up inside the computer.  Over the course of a few days the hard drive started getting particles of this ash on it’s disk platters and data errors started occurring.

Of course one of the main reasons that keeping your computer clean helps the keyboard itself.  It is a harbour for dirt and germs.  If your computer is shared in the house and someone has a cold/flu and uses the computer.  Then you use the computer after them you can pretty much guarantee you’ll get the same cold or flu as your friend/family member or flay mate.

This article is intended just to be a simple reminder of why you should keep your computer clean.  Of course Computer and Laptop Repair Liverpool offer computer cleaning services and will do an external and internal cleanse of most computer systems.  we can also clear the CPU grills to make your system run that little bit faster if required.

thanks to the reg for some examples of dirty computers….

IT advice can in many shapes and forms that because there are so many areas that IT covers.  I get questions everyday about best practices when working with computers on how things “should” be done.  To tell you the truth the way I learnt my knowledge about laptop and computer repair was fairly simple.

At the age of 12 my grandmother told me she had £1000 and that this was for a new computer!  I was delighted with this.  She’d been saving up this money for many years and waiting for the correct time to give it to me.  The first thing I had to do was purchase a few computer magazines.  After a few months I narrowed my search for a new computer.  I remember picking up a magazine called from what I can recall PC shopper.

This magazine hand hundreds if not thousands of adverts and pages for new computers.  With bewildering specifications I looked for the best spec’d machine for the price. Finally I found the best computer for the price and went and spent all the money on it.

I got the computer and was on it all the time if fact I’m still on computers all the time!  Anyway after a few month I got curious on how the computer worked and what types of parts I had actually got inside my computer.  I opened the case up and peered inside.  I then proceeded to take the thing apart and try and put it back together again. I proceeded to wipe my operating system of my computer.  At the time it would have been something like Windows 95.

Dell Computer 1993

If only my grandmother had know what I got up to!  I had to figure out how to reinstall the operating system and all the software and drivers that went with my computer.  It was a learning process but best of all it was fun as it was all new to me.  I dove in with two feet and have never looked back.

My advice to you is “play” with your computer hack it see what it can do and what it can’t.  If you get stuck or are looking for advice we’ve got things like google where you can ask a question and get an instant answer.  This did not exist back in 1995 I had to make my own mistakes and learn from them.

In my twenties I had come full circle, desktop hardware repairs and upgrades were easy for me.  I could do them with my eyes closed.  However laptops were becoming more and more popular.  As they came down in price I got my first laptop when at college and hacked away at it.  Google was in it’s infancy and again I had to learn what all the bits inside a laptop did.  Luckily they are very similar to desktop computer however it take a good few hundred laptops before you really get a feel for stripping down a laptop completely to it bare motherboard.

To summarise the best way to learn is make mistakes and treat it as a game.  Like in life the same can be applied to computers and IT.  What makes this bit of advice so special is the fact that you can enjoy a game – something you can’t do in an exam or class!

Laptop screens can fail for a number of reasons.  At present the availability of LCD replacement screens has come down in price quite a lot over the years.

You’ll find the most typical size of laptop screen is 15.4” screen.  Newer screens are using ultra thin components and are LED backlite they come in 15.6 inch size.  Price of replacement screens are around £60-£90 depending on the size of screen and the type of screen required.

The most difficult part of the laptop screen replacement process is sourcing the correct screen from your laptop.  You may have dropped your laptop or netbook. The screen has cracked or maybe it’s just stopped working – this does happen.  Sourcing the correct screen is important and we’ve developed a process second to none.  Once we have the laptop we can usually have the correct screen next working day if ordered up by 3pm.  This gives us a 24-48 hour turn around on laptop screen repair in Liverpool.

As mentioned the most common size screen is 15.4/15.6” however laptop screens do vary in size.  You may have one of those ultra small laptops commonly referred to as netbooks.  It’s basically a laptop on a smaller scale without a CD/DVD drive. The screens inside these types of computers are usually 10” in size and we can source as low as £40 depending on model.

Of course there is also the time and knowledge required to order up and swap out the screen.  This is where we have a business is and we do charge a small amount for our time and labour.  If you have faulty laptop screen and are in Liverpool call now for a quote and you’ll be pleasantly surprised on the price for repairs and replacements.

Sometimes we get lucky and are able to offer reconditioned screens at even cheaper prices.  We usually source used screen from faulty laptops that have been given to us for recycling.  A lot o the time say for instance if an older laptop is not turning on and requires a motherboard repair it’s just not economical.  We will buy the faulty laptop from the customer and can utilise the screen in a laptop that requires a replacement.  This is what we call green computing at it’s finest.  There are some many companies that offer “recycling” or green services when in fact it put more carbon into our atmosphere.  We this is true recycling – reusing the parts in other systems.

We do however tend to order and use brand new replacement screens whenever possible as we can offer a 12 month warranty on the repair which we can’t do with a reconditioned laptop screen.  We also give the customer the choice of either new or used parts in the repair process.

One of the primary laptop repair service issues is when the power connection breaks down on a laptop. Often they’re known as the Dc jack port, power connection or power socket. Just about all these titles refer to the main power port on a laptop.
The laptop computer DC port can stop working for several factors. Occasionally we get customers visiting us which suggest that the notebook power port has failed when in truth it is really the power charger and nothing related to the netbook itself.
The power jack failure are usually as a consequence of following causes:

Broke away: the electricity cable may have been aggressively pulled from the netbook.

Worn out: with time plugging and also removing the power cable to the laptop computer wears down the laptop computer dc jack port connection and the soldier connections could become loose

Dropped the laptop computer: maybe you have dropped the laptop and the electrical power connector has fallen into itself.

These are only some of the reasons dc jack port could have failed. Thankfully the majority of Dc jacks are extremely cheap to exchange, the price of a brand new jack port is simply a couple of quid based on the model of notebook computer.

The major expenditure whenever fixing a Power jack on the notebook computer is the time associated. The entire notebook computer is required to be stripped down and taken apart to access the main system board which usually contains the laptop Dc jack port. This consists of generally between at least an hour to two hrs worth of work. The moment the laptop has been dissembled it’s then a case of de-soldering the existing Power jack port and changing with a new Dc jack port.

The brand new Dc jack will be analyzed ahead of re-constructing the notebook. When all of checks are accomplished it is then a case of putting the laptop back together. This particular practice is time intensive and as part of the process we have a tendency to give the interior netbook elements a good clean seeing that particles may build-up gradually and having a internally clean notebook computer can lead to longer life span which is an extra value service that we offer.

As pointed out the leading expense whenever it comes to exchanging a netbook Power jack is the time involved luckily the service is provided at a fixed price. There a few types of laptop computer where it may cost a bit more to repair the Power port however this is due to the availability of parts. You’ll find several models of Sony VAIO systems and acer’s fall under this particular group but it really a small percentage.

As stated at the beginning of this post we sometimes get clients coming to us when they believe that there port is on the blink however after some preliminary checks the notebook battery charger is at fault. We use top end multi meter’s to determine the voltage from the netbook wall charger, if we don’t get a consistent current from the battery charger then we swap the battery charger – this typically cures the issue. The additional advantage of testing both the Dc jack port along with charger is the fact that swapping a notebook battery charger is a much easier and more affordable choice.

This months special is 50% off the listed price of computer, mac and laptop MOT’s.

Laptop Repair Liverpool’s MOT service is a bit like your car MOT but on a computer.

We will take your sytem in run some softare to speed the system up, defrag the hard drive, clear out temp files that are taking up room on your system.  Give it a good clean out, if we spot any porblems with your system we’ll let you know what these may be.  This service is being offered at a reduced rate for the months of September and October so book now!

Summer blow out, if you’ve got a dodgy laptop screen give us a call at laptop repair liverpool and we’ll quote you a price at 30% lower than usual.  This is because we’ve just taken a delivery of a huge amount of fault laptops that have perfect screens, so you won’t be getting a new screen just a reconditioned one.  The price is right!

Quite often we receive notebooks in for maintenance that may not boot up or even turn on this may be for a number of reasons. Most start up problems are trojans which infect the boot segment or system services of the operating system. Sometimes windows 7 update services (this is the automatic security update program in-built into windows) could change the boot up sequence normally attributed to a driver that is automatically installed upon the process or an update that clashes with another computer software program that is set up on the computer.

As described we also observe dead netbooks, generally a main board error and the notebook computer may not even power on. Or it can turn on but then turns right back off. The system board fault is normally a faulty capacitor or different component part on the main board of the laptop or pc. Some editions associated with Compaq and also Hp have a known problem with the graphics chip (GPU) which causes to the identical issue; this often influences the nvidia based laptop computer graphics controllers.

We’ll quote for a cost for service but this is not necessarily always the most cost-effective option and from time to time customers necessitate the information off the notebook computer which they can not access. This brings about the data retrieval alternative that laptop repair Liverpool provides.
If that hard disc drive has been unaltered by the computer issue then 9 out of 10 instances we can access the files on the hard drive. Notebook computer hard drives typically come in a distinct form factor recognized as SATA 2.5” or IDE 2.5”. This is all depends on the era of the laptop computer if it is SATA or IDE.

The hard drive can be withdrawn from the notebook and inserted inside a USB caddy housing. This enables the customer to hook up their laptop computer hard drive specifically into the USB interface of another computer which is really practical for being able to access files preceding to a laptop computer repair or perhaps disposal job.

One of the most common laptop faults we see at laptop repair Liverpool is a smashed laptop screen or cracked LCD with bleeding lines.  This fault is so common that we can repair LCD screens in less than an hour usually.

In fact we don’t actually repair the screen as this would be a technical feet as it would probably have to be sent back to the screen manufacturer.  Like many other laptop repair companies if not all we replace the LCD panel with a new one.  This problem is now so common that our suppliers have dropped the price of LCD laptop screens to really low prices compared to just 5 years ago when you’d pay hundred’s for a replacement laptop screen.

The average size of a laptop LCD is around 15.4” there are newer laptops on the market which employ a 15.6” screen which are a little wider.  Other popular sizes of laptop screens are 10” which is generally what the small netbook laptops use.  A net book is simply a smaller version of a laptop without a CD/DVD drive.  Other sizes are 17” – these are a little bit pricier but again still usually under the £100 mark.

Occasionally we get laptops in from customers in Liverpool that have a dim or very dark screen.  The display on the laptop is still visible but only just.  This is usually caused by a faulty inverter board in the laptop.  The inverter board is the component in a laptop that powers the back light in the laptop screen.  If you have a dim or dark screen then it’s just a case of replacing the inverter board, which you’ll be happy to hear cost even less sometimes only a tenner.  However be warned that sometimes it’s the actual backlight that has went in the LCD panel.  If this is the case then the screen will need replaced.

very dim laptop screen - can only just see the XP logo

If you have a laptop or computer with a faulty screen – even an Apple Mac (we repair these too) Give Laptop Repair Liverpool a call for a quote.  As mentioned LCD screen replacement service usually takes less than an hour however we do need your laptop to identify the fault and order up the correct inverter or replacement screen so turn around is usually 2-3 working days in this case.

TOP TIP: If you laptop screen is faulty and need to access something on it prior to booking it in at LAPTOP REPAIR LIVERPOOL you could try connecting the laptop to an external computer monitor.  You’ll find most laptops have a VGA port that allows you to output the display of the laptop to a regular desktop PC computer monitor or project.  Some laptops even have HDMI connection or S-video which allows you to connect your laptop to a TV.  This tip is really helpful to most of our customers.  If you have to save up or wait for your wage to come through before booking it in for a repair with us this is usually a good temporarily solution.