Anyone care to recommend a computer repair shop?  I have a friend
who has probably blown a major component on her pc clone and needs
work done fast.  It may be the monitor and not the computer so would
it still be best to use a computer repair facility instead of a television
repair shop?

19 responses total.

Dominant Systems (971-1210) does repairs on clones.  You may consider
the prices a bit steep, though, for a personal system -- bench time
is $95/hour with a half-hour minimum.

(I should probably also mention that I'm not quite an unbiased source,
being an employee of Dominant.)

 and I thought that $45/hour to fix my radio was expensive.

Er, that's fine I'm sure for when she owns her own company but at 
present she's a struggling student.  Anything out there for people
of a more moderate income?

Perhaps you could describe the problem..  It might give us a clearer
idea of what she could check herself or whether major repairs are likely
to be necessary..

When she turns on the system the computer makes its usual noises but
the monitor screen flickers with light, then goes dark (like off dark).
This happens repeatedly whenever the system is powered-up.  Once the
computer is on, turning the monitor on and off simply produces a dark
screen with the monitor light on.  If I remember correctly, she also
said that for a few days before this stuff started, the edges of the
video picture tended to move slowly in and out.  

I once had a similar problem on a Mac and ended up having to replace 
the power supply.  

Does the monitor work on another system?  Can you try another card before
taking it to a shop?  A.L.E. in Ypsi does really good work, usually pretty
reasonable on prices, too.  Also, they'll only do the work you need done.
They're fairly small, on Michigan avenue one street west of Huron.  They're
in the phone book, too.

I had a fan next to my computer monitor once that caused the screen to waver
immensely.  Could a large magnetic force be present near the monitor?  I'm
not sure if long exposure to external magnetic forces could cause problems, but
hey, I'm not a repair expert. :)

ditto on the last. with my old computer, i used to get very visible distortion
on the monitor if an electric appliance were near it. 

External magnetic fields are very bad for monitors.  They will cause spots
and distortions to appear on the screen.

From what you've described, it definitely looks like either a monitor
or video card problem.  The procedure most repair places will use to
diagnose the problem is to swap out the monitor and video card individually.
You might want to try that yourself if you have access to another monitor
and video card.

  Yes, try to swap either the monitor or the video card to see which
one is misbehaving..  From the sound of things, I'm guessing it's the
monitor.

And if you end up needing a used monitor or video card (of any
flavor) I might be able to help.  Can typically find EGA, CGA, + MDA
stuff on a day or two's notice.

Yes?  I need a CGA card, preferably with a composite connector, but if
not I can get an adapter, and I'd like to get it in a day.

(seriously)

Computer Medic on State between Downtown and Briarwood seemed somewhat 
reasonable to me.

That's actually where she has taken it.

I've had a series of VeryGood experiences with Computer Medic. Even
on some older machines.

What was the result of her trip to the Medic, Mary?

Er, I forgot to ask her how it went.  Next time I see here though...

For repairs, try A.L.E. in Ypsi, right on Michigan avenue, acrosst from
Ypsi Cycle.

Response not possible - You must register and login before posting.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss