Why is there a difference in price? I had a lady bring in a laptop that wouldn’t boot. The UEFI partition ended up being corrupt in the operating system, and she didn’t have a backup. So the repair entails (1) complete disassembly of the laptop because the Dell Inspiron 5423 does not have an access panel for the hard drive, then (2) removing the hard drive, and backing up her data to another drive, (3) setting up UEFI and a secure boot installation media to reinstall Windows and configure it (4) install security, and all the freeware programs – Adobe, 7-zip, browsers, set up Windows 10 start menu, etc etc. (5) copy a few hundred Gb of files back to new user profile, (6) re-assemble, and clean laptop for client. It’s a job that takes a little bit, especially if done correctly, and carefully. The cheap version? …here’s what you may subject yourself to if you opt for the discount technician (not that I am outrageously expensive, I’m not, but it’s not a $50 job either) If you go with the cheapest guy you can find with no experience, this is what may happen to your laptop: (cracked edges, cracked plastic tabs on edges that hold it together, inside: broken tabs on tiny ziff connectors, missing screws, missing/torn rubber plugs & covers, missing protective tape, etc etc) So keep in mind, cheapest is not always wisest. 🙂   (this is the way this laptop came to me, she said it broke 4 times in one year… ) This is NOT the kind of work that Everything I.T. does! We take the time to a thorough, complete, and quality job for you, like it was our own computer.

Ziff connectors are handy, but they are very fragile. You have to handle them carefully, and they don’t all work the same way:

ziff connector exampleSome Ziff connectors are even tinier than that:

So the bottom line is, you don’t want just anyone working on your laptop. It takes time, and patience. many times there aren’t any directions on how to open it, and it takes someone with both knowledge and a gentle touch to work on your laptop without breaking it. Goes for phones and tablets as well. So hire your repair technician wisely. 🙂

NOTE: To read the follow up post, go to UPDATE ON QUALITY LAPTOP REPAIR