Laptop Repair Bristol

Welcome to our new website.  Laptop Repair Bristol is a small locally run business that helps provide IT solutions to hoe and business customer with laptop and computer problems.  We have a been in the computer industry for many years and have experienced engineers ready to help with your IT problems.  So if you’ve got a Apple Mad, desktop PC, laptop or some other IT related problem please get in touch we cover 99% of IT related tech support problems in the Bristol area.

I was gonna upgrade my graphics card so I may well play the latest games for my computer however I had 2 issues.

1) I didn’t have the money or budget to do this

2) I didn’t figure out how to change out the graphics card on my home pc.

Fortunately I use this website which provides Wonga Promotional Code this provided the extra money I needed.

I contacted Laptop Repair Bristol and they informed me on the best return for buck graphics card to buy with the money I had. They even fitted the graphics card at no cost so I only needed to finance the actual hardware. First class service from these guys!

Simon ~ Bristol

One of the most effective was to speed up your computer is a RAM upgrade.  RAM which stands for random access memory in the old day used to be very high in price. This has all changed thanks to the modern world and cheap overseas labour.

Now RAM is very cheap and I believe there is actually too much of the stuff!  Most laptops now come with 4GB or RAM this is a pretty good starting point when it comes to running Microsoft Windows 7.  But you see as like most things in life, you will want more!

As new software comes out it tends to require more storage space, which entails bigger computer hard drives.  The other factor is the system memory.  Luck would have it that a standard 2010 laptop with an average of 4GB RAM can in fact hold up to 8GB of RAM.

Pricing as mentioned for RAM has come down a lot in recent years.

A quick search on google and I can see 2 sticks of laptop memory for £29.99 (priced at 8/11/11) I have intentionally put the date in here because you might be reading this in the future ( a year or so) and 8GBs of RAM will be Childs play.  So for £29.99 you can upgrade your laptop to 8GBs of system memory.

That’s quite a leap.  You’ll notice a big speed boost in your operating system and loading times with large office documents with 8GB of computer memory.

You have to be careful though when it comes to upgrading computer memory.  There are many different types of RAM and there are some precautions that you must make when upgrading your computer RAM.

First off is the type of RAM.  Best place to check and see what type of RAM your netbook/laptop/computer takes is on crucial’s website.  They have a tool where you can select your laptop or computer model number and it will tell you what type of memory you can use with your computer.

Please note that most laptops only have two slots for RAM and desktop computers may have 3 or 6.  It’s a bit of a mix.  That’s where laptop repair Bristol come in.  We can tell you exactly what type of memory and how much memory your computer system will support.

We’ll also take the necessary precautions when fitting computer memory to your netbook or laptop.  Anti static precautions are also something we follow as a rule, it’s an industry standard practice however there are a lot of part-timers and “Mr know-it-alls” that don’t take the precautions.  This in time can lead to the dreaded blue screen of death and can be hard to trace back to a faulty stick of memory.

If you are still running Microsoft Windows Vista do one thing, upgrade!  It’s possibly the worst operating system out there.  It’s only about 4 years old now however it is a real piece of rubbish.  I would use harsher words but this website is public!

The main problem with Windows Vista is the hard drive usage.  On a desktop computer it churns away using up the hard drive on a continual basis.  However on a laptop it’s just plain silly the amount of time you have to wait to do anything on it.

Here at Laptop Repair Bristol we get customers in al the time with slow computers and one of the main issues apart from slow broadband speed that we see is Windows Vista.

An older operating system like Microsoft Windows XP will run better than vista.  You also find that if you system is running Windows XP it is probably not worth the effort to upgrade to Windows 7 as you’ll probably require additional memory and you may even need a bigger hard drive.  Best stay with what you have would be my advice.

However if you are running Windows vista and even worse on a laptop, upgrade now!

It does not have to be that costly and you will have a big improvement that will be noticeable in day to day use on your computer desktop machine or laptop.  Bristol Laptop Repair offer Windows 7 upgrades and system optimization.  The upgrade process is provided below:

• Take customers laptop in for inspection.
• Note all require files, folders, pictures, music, emails for backup
• Provide customer with list of files that will be backed up.
• Extract software licenses from programs such as Microsoft Office
• Purchase Windows 7 License for customer.
• Clean install of Windows 7
• Install any required drivers from Laptop/Computer manufacturer’s website
• Restore data from backup, movies, music, itunes, photos, files, documents
• Reinstall software apply license keys where required.
• Deliver upgraded laptop/computer back to customer
• Reconnect to broadband/printer(s)/internet

As you can see there are quite a few steps involved the actual upgrade process does not take that long it’s just all the additional steps that take up some time.

Before we upgrade your computer or laptop we will inspect the system to see if it can actually run Windows 7.  The operating system itself takes up additional memory so a RAM upgrade may be required.  Due to this prices can vary from around however RAM is now very cheap.

Once Windows 7 is installed on your laptop or computer you will notice a big difference in speed.  When Windows 7 is up and running it will seem like you’ve got a brand new computer.  It will run a lot smoother and be far more secure than past operating systems.

Of course Laptop Repair Bristol don’t only upgrade computer and laptops to Windows 7.  We can also help with Apple Macs to.  The apple Mac operating system OSX comes in newer versions every other year or so and we can easily perform similar upgrades for Mac users to the new version of OSX.  Not to be lest our Laptop Repair Bristol have support ipad/iphone and ipod touch system upgrades also.

My wife’s got an almost 3 year old Samsung netbook.  It’s starting to look a little long in the tooth though it has served her well!

The netbook is a Samsung NC10 and it’s stating to get the white screen of death problem that this model is known for.  There is a fix for it however as it’s that old it’s probably just worth buying her a brand new one.  I was contemplating purchasing an Apple Ipad however they do not support Adobe flash and she plays a lot of web based games that use flash so the tablet is no up as an option.

One thing I have noticed on the market sine repairing many netbooks is the new sub laptops style netbooks.  They are a breed of mobile computer that have usually a 11-13 inch screen.  Most netbooks have 10” screen or smaller and most normal size laptops have 14” screen or bigger.

The sub-laptop is what I think I’m after as it has the best of both worlds – mobility – size and a half decent sized screen that you would be using the scroll bar.

If anyone has any suggestions on what model I should buy my wife please get in touch thanks

Here at Laptop Repair Bristol we see a number of laptops in for repair with faulty keyboards.  There are a few reasons why a keyboard can fail on a laptop.  The most common issues are listed below.

Liquid spill (wine, coffee, tea, water, any type of liquid)

Customer comes to us after accidentally spilling a glass of something over there laptop.  The best solution to this problem is to immediately turn the laptop upside down with the screen open.  This will allow the liquid to drip out of the keyboard.  If you lucky the liquid will not affect any of the main components on your laptop like the motherboard or CPU.  If you get liquid damage to your motherboard it’s usually game over and a repair is out of the question.  In most cases though things can be fixed.  And usually it’s just the keyboard that goes a bit wonky if liquid is spilt onto the laptop.

Key break off.

Another common laptop fault is when keys come off your laptop keyboard and you loose them.  They usually just click back into place by pressing the key back into the space where it sits.  Sometimes the actual plastics that hold the key in place can become broken.  If this is the case you may need to swap out your keyboard.  This is where Laptop Repair Bristol come in.  Most laptops keyboards are no more than £30 and the keyboard replacement usually take around 30 minutes so you can expect to pay in some cases on £40 for a replacement keyboard on your laptop.  Of course this all depends on the model of laptop you have and the availability of the specific keyboard for your model of laptop.

Out supplier offer a 24 hour delivery so we can usually get keyboards on laptops fixed within 2 days.  If however you find your just missing some keys on your keyboard it might be worth searching ebay for “laptop model + keys” there are a few people on ebay that sell individual keys for laptops.  These keys usually come from laptops that are beyond repair and the keys themselves can usually be picked up on the cheap.

Loose data cable

The keyboard is held on to the laptop by a few screws and there is a small ribbon cable on the keyboard that is fed into the laptop motherboard.  Occasionally this becomes loose and your laptop keyboard stops working.  Some laptops keys might work where as other don’t this is usually the sign that there is a problem with the connectors on your keyboard.  If this is the case there is a procedure to fix this issue.  However it may be your actual keyboard at fault in which case you ill require a new laptop keyboard.  As mentioned these are pretty inexpensive.  We have a trade account with a large supplier of these components so can usually source for excellent prices and repair next day.

My mate cracked his laptop screen stupidly!  He left this headphones on the keyboard and closed the laptop lid whilst the headphones were still inside.  He tells me he heard a big crack as he closed the laptop lid.

well you can probably guess what happened.  His laptop screen was goosed.   After calling me he described the laptop screen as “bleeding”.  I asked him what colour the blood was – no reply to that

Anyway it’s a fairly common issue. Laptop screens are pretty delicate.  However my so called friend decided to go to PC World in Bristol to get his laptop fixed.  BIG mistake.  They wanted to charge him a flat fee of £230 to fix his laptop screen.  The laptop is probably not even worth that price!  You can buy a new laptop for about £400. I guess it’s PC World’s policy to charge and arm and a leg for laptop repairs.  In the hope that the customer will decide it’s not worth getting the laptop fixed and just trading in their laptop for a new model.

Well guess what, PC World are such a  big name for one reason only.  They rip their customers off.  We now out source all our laptop screen repairs to a national company.  Probably the same company that PC world use but add on an extra £100 just because they can!

Laptop Screen Repairs UK charge £129 for standard laptop screen repairs.  Whether you’ve cracked your screen, have a dead screen or failing screen they are well worth the money.  We used to repair laptop screens here at laptop repair Bristol however most people have day jobs and it’s not always easy to drop your laptop off to us.  Laptop Screen Repair UK offer free collection and delivery from your home or work.  Now I may sounds like I am recommending them- well that’s because I am.  We’ve out-sourced all our screen repairs and replacements to them.

If you’ve got a laptop or netbook with a faulty or broken screen you’ll probably find it can’t actually be repaired.  Like 99% of most components inside computers the item is replaced.  A laptop screen AKA LCD Panel usually cost around £80.  Obviously you have to pay the laptop engineer something to fit the thing as it take knowledge and experience.  Like they say there is no such thing as a free lunch.

The most common laptop hardware faults we’ve experienced are

DJ Jacks:  Where the laptop computers power connection has broken off.  We can fix Laptop DC jacks at a fixed price.  We’ll also test the laptop charger to see if it has been damaged also.

Hard Drives: The laptop hard drive or hard disc drive is usually the most common component in a laptop to fail over time.  If you’re lucky the hard drive will still be accessible to some degree and we can recovery your data from your old laptop hard drive.  As part of the repair process we’ll swap out the bad hard disc with a brand new drive.  Usually much larger in capacity and then do a fresh install of the operating system be it Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7.  We can also clone bad drives so once a new drive is installed your system will be exactly how you left it prior to the hard drive fault.

Keyboard: Another common problem is when the keyboard stops functioning either due to accidental damage or a liquid spill.  Sometimes keys may just break off.  In this case a new keyboard will be sourced and swapped out for the defective laptop keyboard.

Optical drive: The laptop DVD/CD drive may become dirty or the motor may stop working.  This type of fault is not that common however if you suspect your optical drive to be faulty the best course of action is to try cleaning the drive with a CD/DVD cleaner disc if this fails to fix the problem take it to us for repair.  It’s pretty cheap at only £20

Dead laptop:  Some models of HP (hewlett packard and Compaq) have a know fault in the video chip.  If you have a laptop with an Nvidia graphics chip you may be unlucky enough to have this fault which can cause display errors or complete failure of the laptop.  The good news is it may be covered under warranty as it is a known fault depending on the model.

However you may not have one of these models and the power failure could be due to a component failure on the motherboard.

Cracked Screen:  Possibly the easiest type of laptop repair we undertake.  All we require is the laptop so we can order up the correct screen for your model of laptop and then it’s just a case of swapping out the screen with the newly sourced part.  Laptop screens can fail due to all manner of reasons usually accidental.

Software/Operating system repair: Another common fault is when the operating system on your laptop fails.  This can be for any number of reasons maybe due to a badly developed device driver for a peripheral connected to your laptop or a virus infection.  Some failures even occur due to incompatible Microsoft windows hotfix updates that enter your laptop into a continuous start-up loop or the dreaded blue screen of death.

What even the issue we are here to help so give us a call and we can give you a specific quote and time for repair.

One of many notebook computer repair service problems is when the power jack breaks down on a notebook. Sometimes they are called the Dc connection, power connection or power socket. Just about all these names refer to the primary power port on the notebook computer.

The laptop DC jack may stop working for many causes. Sometimes we get people visiting us that claim that the laptop power port has failed when in fact it is actually the power charger and absolutely nothing related to the laptop computer itself.
The power jack port malfunction are usually a result of the following factors:

Snapped away: the electricity cable has been aggressively pulled from the laptop.

Worn off: over time plugging and also unplugging the power connection into the notebook computer wears down the notebook computer electrical jack port connection and the soldier connections could become loosened

Dropped the notebook computer: maybe you have dropped the notebook computer and the power connector has fallen within itself.

These are just one or two of the factors power jack may have failed. Thankfully many Dc ports are very inexpensive to replace, the cost of a new port is just a couple of quid depending on the model of netbook.

The primary expenditure when replacing a Power jack port on the notebook computer is the time associated. The whole netbook is required to be stripped down and taken apart to get at the main logic board which houses the netbook Dc jack port. This consists of generally between at least an hour to two hrs worth of work. Once the netbook has been dissembled it’s a case of de-soldering the old Dc port and replacing with a new Dc jack port.

The brand new Dc jack port is then screened prior to re-constructing the notebook computer. When all of tests are accomplished it’s a case of putting the laptop computer back together. This particular operation is time consuming and as part of the procedure we tend to give the internal laptop parts a good thoroughly clean as particles can easily develop over time and having a internally clean netbook can lead to lengthier life expectancy which is an additional value service that we provide.

As pointed out the primary cost whenever it involves fixing a laptop Power jack port is the time needed luckily the service is offered at a fixed price. Presently there a few models of notebook computer where it could cost a little more to fix the Dc jack port however this is because of the accessibility to parts. You will discover several models of Sony VAIO notebooks as well as acer’s fall under this particular class but it really a small %.

As stated at the beginning of this article sometimes we get clients coming to us when they think there connector is on the blink however after some initial checks the laptop charger is at fault. We use top of the range multi meter’s to calculate the voltage from the netbook battery charger, if we don’t get a regular siginal from your battery charger then we replace the battery charger – this normally cures the problem. The other benefit of screening both the Power connector and battery charger is that often replacing a laptop computer battery charger is really a much easier and cheaper solution.

We had a client during this week that has a laptop that they had slipped upon a tiled floor. The notebook hinge had snapped away but from the looks of the item there seemed to be no other harm. This might possibly be a fairly easy patch up we believed. Virtually all which was required was a spanking new hinge along with laptop cover for the screen.

But once we had the particular laptop taken apart for testing reasons we noticed that the notebook wasn’t booting or even turning on. On top of this the customer said that the display has been rather pixelated. Out of these additional 2 complications we learned that the netbook logic board was faulty as was the laptop display screen.

Our client had asked us for an insurance coverage statement, well right after uncovering these additional 2 issues the notebook computer would have been a write off. This would have be more pricey to obtain a completely new hinge, case along with revive the system board and then exchange the netbook display. In reality the model of laptop computer goes for a lot less used on autcion websites versus the cost of the estimated repair. It hasn’t been worth the clients time or our time to complete the repair on this notebook computer.

Luckily here at Laptop Repair Bristol we usually provide the customer more than one solution to their problem and we consistently like to offer our clients the very best experience from our support.

We completed an engineer’s assessments record for the insurance company and email

ed this off to them. Then phoned the client and reported the bad news, it was not fixable and therefore they’d have to buy a new notebook computer. As we provide such good assistance we reclaimed the data off of the notebook at no cost for the customer and supplied a duplicate of the customer’s files on blank discs ready to be used their brand new netbook.

In return for all our labor we agreed to recycle the laptop free of charge! You see a faulty netbooks does carry some value. The lcd if still operating was a nice glossy 15 inch panel.

These can be quite costly to source at over £100 therefore if the display screen continues to be functioning we’ve just ended up saving ourself a several ££ off our following laptop screen repair issue. There is invariably a plus side towards the misfortune involving other individuals. This just happens to be ours. On the topic of malfunctioning laptop computers we do offer cash and will buy your old laptop computer as we are able to use several of the components inside them.
This includes the hard disc drive, however we often be put off by utilizing used hard disk drives within our repairs due to bad sectors as well as other things like the fact that the hard disk is crucial to the laptop process and we prefer to utilize brand-new HDDs in every our repairs.

Laptop displays as stated may be re-used in alternative laptop computers. This has the additional advantage as the client has to spend less for a used screen or just what is identified in the business as “B grade stock”
Netbook memory could also be used inside other netbooks, this is convenient if we are coming to update a netbook owning 2nd hand dimm sticks if large enough capacity is fantastic.

We without exception examination our 2nd hand memory before installing it in a different other netbook with our memory burn in assessment computer software. This is easily the most critical key to utilizing used memory in other netbooks.
So in the event you possess a faulty notebook that’s gonna cost you an arm or a lower leg to fix (it’s possible both) do not worry! Sit down back and de-stress. You can sell it as defective and use the cash to a new mobile computer!