Best laptop hardware repair Geek Squad v. Fire Dog v. local

J

jstin

New Member
My daughters Dell laptop (1505, WME) screen goes dark after about 7 seconds. The computer is working fine as I can see using a flashlight. I've tried Safe Mode but condition doesn't change. I think it's a hardware issue. Maybe hinge related as the lappy goes into standby judging by the lights on the right hand hinge lights.

My question is: The national chain stores seem more focused on software. Do I go national or local on an issue like this? Any experiences?

Thamks.

J Stin
 
I worked for Firedog for Work Experience, they were very professional, and know what they're doing. However, they do not deal with Laptops, Geek Squad may do, but id prefer a major chain than a small store, but that is just me.
 
I worked for Best Buy in the computer department. The guys working in geek squad at the tech desk don't have to have any computer experience to be hired to work in it.

Because of this, they run a diagnostic disk on problems that they can't figure out right off the bat. If its not something obvious, and not something like swapping out a hard drive or ram then they just ship it out to the manufacturer in most cases.

You can take it to them and let them check it out. Most guys will look at it for a bit and try to figure out whats up with it for free. You can try that, but if they aren't knowledgeable, which they may or may not be, your not going to learn much, and its going to cost the same if not more than just sending it to the manufacturer yourself if you let them try to fix it/send it out.
 
the backlight in your LCD is not turning on. It could be one of four things:

1) the backlight itself (a small fluorescent lightbulb) is burnt out or broken

2) the inverter (small circuit board) that controls the backlight is broken

3) a wire has come loose somewhere

4) the switch that detects if the laptop lid is open/closed is stuck in the 'closed' position


I recommend bringing it to a repair shop that charges a flat fee, not by the hour for this type of repair. if the backlight needs to be replaced, it can take a while, and if you get charged by the hour you are going to be paying a lot.


By the way, I am a PC tech in a local repair shop
 
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