Computer Repair in Kalamazoo

(Laptop Cords/AC Adapters)

Laptop computers have changed our lives over the past decade as they have given us greater and greater computing power anywhere on the planet. If you have the batteries, the will and a strong sense of tongue-in-cheek irony, you can use an air card and a laptop to blog from some remote bit of wilderness about how wild and unspoiled by technology it seems. They have allowed us to take the full spectrum of computing capabilities to anywhere we might feasibly want to compute, and they are doing it faster and cheaper every year. But with the great power these portable computers afford us comes a great need for (electrical) power.

Batteries fuel our techno-travels, and batteries charge from good-ol’ electrical current. If you’ve owned a laptop, you know the hassles that can come from batteries, cords and the DC jacks themselves. Batteries lose charging capacity after time. Laptop power cords short out, fray at the tip or get gnawed on by wild animals like the Canis Lupus Familiaris (domestic dog). However it happens, these need to be replaced, and that’s fairly straightforward.

What some people don’t know is the frequency that DC jacks themselves can be damaged. The DC jack is the place on a laptop where that power cord plugs in. These can wear out over time or through rough removals. They can be bent or broken out of place by dropping the laptop on the plugged-in cord or walking by it and bending it out of socket. No amount of AC adapter replacement, duct tape or shamanic ritual (depending on where you’re computing from) is going to repair an ailing DC jack.

But all is not lost! When a DC jack has been damaged, it can often be replaced. The process involves stripping down the laptop to a bare motherboard and often soldering in a new jack. The process is labor-intensive, but the parts themselves are typically really cheap. Some computer shops will suggest purchasing a new laptop or replacing a motherboard (in essence the two are often very similar in cost) when a simple DC jack repair can get the laptop up and running for a third of the cost or less. These places don’t have the tools or the right technical skills to perform the repair, but not at Geek Easy.

We offer DC jack repair between $125 and $175 depending on the laptop, and we let you know which one it will be before you commit to the repair. That cost covers the 1-2 hours our technicians spend stripping down the laptop and the part all-in-one. There are surely some laptops that aren’t worth the money, and we will let you know your full range of options. It’s something to consider before dishing out $500+ for a new laptop.

We also stock replacement AC adapters for the most common laptops and can order nearly any charger or battery for between $40 and $90 depending on the manufacturer. Having a backup is always a good idea if your battery dies or you forget your charger while working on an important project or are stuck in the middle of the Serengeti. If your cell phone is important enough to have a backup, isn’t your laptop important enough to warrant some redundancy? Stop in at Geek Easy and let us help you harness the full power of your laptop computer.

Geek Easy Computers
Making Technology Easier