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It seems the debate about buying a Mac or a PC computer has been around since the beginning of the computing age, and there still appears to be no resolution in sight. These days however, the lines are blurring between the two operating systems, with the availability of cloud storage and cloud computing at the back end of both systems, and many of the same apps available to both.

In truth, both machine types have always been very capable of accomplishing computing tasks, but have simply gone about it in different ways. There are still some reasons why you might want to purchase an Apple machine or a PC running the Windows operating system, depending on your personal preferences.

Here are some of the differences which might appeal to you personally, and sway you toward one computer versus the other.

Screen considerations

If you’re a big fan of touchscreen capability, you might want to lean toward a PC with the newest Windows operating system, because Apple has yet to incorporate touchscreen into its own technology portfolio. Users who prefer navigating with a swipe of their finger rather than using some kind of mouse are likelier to find a computer which appeals to them in the Windows arena rather than in Apple. On the other hand, Retina Display, which reduces glare and makes the screen easier to view for longer periods of time, is more apt to be found on Apple machines, and is not in widespread use on PC’s.

Availability

This is one major difference that is likely to remain intact for quite some time, since it has to do with the respective manufacturers. Mac computers are only available for purchase through Apple, whereas PC’s running Windows are available from a whole slew of different manufacturers. The practical impact of this is that Apple computers tend to be priced similarly no matter who you buy them from – but PC’s are available with a broad range of pricing, depending on what kinds of features are included on specific machines, and which manufacturer produced the machine.
It also means that when you need repairs, most take your Mac to an Apple computer repair service, whereas PC’s can be fixed by most repair companies, no matter who made the machine. As for us, we can work on both.

Performance

In terms of memory and hard drive storage, most PC’s have a slight edge over Macs. Whereas PC’s tend to have between 2 and 8+ GB of RAM, standard Mac machines generally come equipped with between 1 and 4 GB+ of RAM. The same difference holds true for hard drive space, with PC’s routinely providing more space than Macs.

Question to Ask Yourself before you buy

No days, buying either is much like buying a Ford or a Chevy. Which one do you like the most? Here are some questions that may help you identify what direction to go.

1. Where is all my data now? Do you have data in the cloud such as movies, music, pictures, documents, etc? If it sits will Google you might just want to stick with a PC. If it sits with Apple you may want to move to Mac for better integration.
2. What is my budget? If a new Mac is in the budget then great. Keep in mind for the same amount you spend on 1 Apple you might be able to get two very decent PC’s. PC parts are generally much cheaper to replace or repair.
3. What do I use my computer for? If you use your computer for cruising the internet only, save the money and get a PC. If you require video, photo, and music editing, Mac has the edge. Game much? go with PC’s

At the end of the day this is your choice. Don’t let anyone settle you either way. We have customers that have switched to Mac’s and hate them. We have customers that switched to PC’s and hate them. Use your best judgement. Spend the right amount of money for you and give it some time to learn. Where most go wrong is comparing a $2000 Mac to a $500 PC. Be sure to compare equivalent prices when comparing Apples to PC. Our bet is you’ll get more bang for your buck with PC than a Mac, But which operating system to you like most?

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You’re all set for a fun session of surfing the internet, your mind is racing ahead with all the possibilities you want to explore and the results you are expecting to be pleased by – but for some reason, pages are loading slowly, images fill in at a snail’s pace, and navigation is so slow you could walk to the next site faster. What gives? What’s responsible for this agonizingly poor performance, that’s turning your pleasurable browsing time into a frustrating session of hair-pulling? You can of course, call your expert PC repair company, but you may want to check for some of these possibilities first.

Excessive number of add-ons

It’s fairly common for computer users to download too many add-ons, or even some that are somewhat malicious, over the course of their computer’s life, and many times these interfere with efficient browser functionality. It’s also entirely possible that you have downloaded a browser extension at some point which is itself a source of poor performance because it downloads ads and displays pop-ups whenever you open your browser. You can cure this yourself by searching for your browser’s extension manager and disabling the ones you don’t need.

Your computer has a virus or malware

Everyone knows that the Internet is is like a minefield loaded with viruses, malware, and spyware, and no matter how careful you are about the sites you visit, you have the potential to involuntarily download one of them every time you fire up your machine. Any of these malicious objects can slow your computer’s performance, because they’re running scans in the background which suck up machine cycles and resources. Luckily, there are a number of really good anti-virus, anti-malware programs which can protect your computer from most of the nasty stuff out there.

Too many programs running

While your computer is built to multi-task efficiently, it will inevitably slow down when you have a huge number of windows open with resources allocated to each of them. A big part of your computer’s capability for running multiple processes concurrently depends on how much random-access memory (RAM) it came with. RAM facilitates the processing of several programs at once. When the demands of all these programs exceed your RAM and your processing power, you’ll quickly begin to notice a slowdown. The obvious solution here is to just shut down some of the windows you’re using, to free up valuable resources. 

Your hard drive is nearly full

When you get to the point where your computer’s hard drive has reached about 90% of capacity, all processing will slow down to a virtual crawl. Full hard drives even prevent your machine from booting up properly. Periodically check how much storage is being used on your hard drive to make sure it never gets anywhere near this threshold. These days all kinds of files and other storage hogs can be moved to the cloud. Pull up your file manager and review applications and files which are taking up an enormous amount of space but not needed. After doing this, run CCleaner to empty out additional trash files. It may be time to replace the old hard drive with a new solid state drive.

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Knowing when to buy a new computer can be tricky unless a catastrophic event like a hard disk crash, someone steals your laptop, or a piano falls on your CPU, forces you into action. Since most people don’t really know when it’s time to replace their computer, they tend to accept its operating quirks and work around them far longer than they really should.

Of course, if you know a really good computer repair service, the technicians will tell you what the true condition of your machine is, but it will still help for you to observe behaviors which seem to be unusual or abnormal about your computer’s operation. Here are some warning signs that can help alert you to the fact it may be time to replace your old system. If you observe just one of these indicators, that may not be decisive on its own, but when you see several of these warning signs, it’s a pretty good bet that your computer is trying to tell you it’s ready for retirement.

New operating system won’t install

Years ago, most people used to stick with the operating system that was installed on the computer when they bought it, since new versions were only released every three or four years. Both Apple and Microsoft are now moving to the point where they release an operating system update on a near-annual basis, which is made available as a free download. When you can’t install the newest update on your machine, it’s a bad sign; however, sometimes there a workarounds.

Can’t run new apps and games

The requirements for new applications and video games are becoming greater all the time, and when you reach the point where you can’t run a lot of these on your machine, it’s time for some kind of upgrade.

Slow performance

This is probably most noticeable during boot-up time and when you have several tabs open at the same time. Granted, a good system cleaning may be all you need, but eventually even cleaning won’t help. Sometimes a Solid State Drive (SSD) or a memory upgrade can fix the slowness.

Running out of space and memory

Check on your available storage. How much hard drive space do you need? Do you have enough? Every once in a while, open file explorer and check it out. Also open task manager to see how much CPU and RAM is used up. If CPU usage is at 80% or greater, that could be a good sign that your computer’s hardware is close to being maxed out.

Can’t connect newer devices

This is one of the most tell-tale signs that your computer is aging. All new gadgets you want to try out simply don’t work when you try to connect them to your machine. For instance, when you try to hook up a brand-new 4K monitor to your system, and it looks like you need a new pair of glasses, that’s your computer shouting out ‘incompatibility’. It’s time to buy a new computer.

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Taking good care of your computer directly affects its performance and its shelf life. It’s a good idea to make yourself aware of what affects the performance of your machine and what causes degradation. Cost of computers are down an awful lot but a computer purchase still represents a significant investment.

That means you should do whatever you can to keep it in good running condition, and avoid the necessity of computer repair. Without getting too deep into tech life, here are some things you can do that will help keep your computer in tip-top shape.

Keep it cool

Heat kills. Plain and simple. Heat may be the biggest single factor in your computer’s day-to-day performance. When the interior components of a computer get warm or hot, their performance is degraded. You’ll notice your computer running more slowly. Computer cases are designed the way they are, with vents strategically placed, and with fans that runs constantly to keep things cool. If you place your computer next to a wall and block any of those vents, you prevent the cooling system from functioning as intended. Make sure your PC is located somewhere so that all sides remain unobstructed, and air can be exchanged freely.

Keep it clean

Another computer killer is dust or debris. Both increase heat and degrade machine performance. Dust, cat hair, and smoke circulating in the air around your computer will automatically be sucked into the case and settle on the components.

If it gets severe enough, it will block gum up the fans and render air exchange non-operational. Keep in mind, even when properly placed there will still be dust. Periodically remove the cover, and blow away as much of that dust as possible with compressed air. Whatever you do, don’t use a rag or cloth to clean the interior, and never use traditional cleaning products when you’re cleaning the inside.

Keep it current

Your computer needs protection from more things than dust and heat. Nasty-minded folks out there will try to gain control of your machine, corrupt it, and hold it for ransom. Make sure you have good anti-virus software installed and keep it current, it knows  know how to stop all the latest malware on the Internet. While you’re at it, keep your computer current with the latest updates from Microsoft or Apple. Most updates are security-related and help keep your computer safe from attacks.

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We’re excited to present a new service offering that gives our customers the best protection, absolute prevention, and overall peace-of-mind regarding their technology; continuous computer maintenance service is now here! We’ll continously protect your personal information, secure your critical data, and clean up your system.

We know regular vehicle oil changes, routine doctors checkups, reviewing checking accounts, and servicing AC units before summer hits are all good practices; however, computer users forget about maintaining their computers until it’s too late. We remove malware from every system, every time; that’s a fact.

Computer users are going way to long without servicing their laptops and desktops. Software is constantly changing, hardware is still breaking, and security attacks will likely never cease.

We developed a program that will keep close eyes on the health of your system, continously. Our trusted professionals will keep a good eye on on each system to inspect, repair, and optimize your computers. We’ll ensure your software is up-to-date, protection is working, and your computer is running as fast as it should be.

Our continuous service is one-of-a-kind and offers Protection, Prevention, and Peace of Mind!

Is it worth it?

If we’ve had the privilege of working with you in the past, you’ll know that the computer maintenance service is absolutely worth it. Below is a brief list of what this service has to offer:

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What does “no longer supported” mean?

What options do I have?

Are you ready? Let us know how we can help get you there.

Information from Google about Google Chrome

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Costs of laptops and desktops have plummeted as tablets and phones have become more powerful. We frequently see customers go out and get new laptops and computers way sooner than they
actually need to because of these low prices. The need for the latest and greatest technology, or impatience for slowness, and sometimes the lack of understanding of how to fix the problem, creates piles of old computer equipment that lay around the house. So customers are asking, “what should I do with my old laptop?”

Here are a few questions we normally ask to find out more about your old equipment.

1. What is the make and model? (this can easily be found on the lcd screen bezel or even the sticker on the bottom of the laptop.)
2. How old is the laptop?
3. What is the current operating system?(Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10?)
4. Why did you stop using it?
5. Can you find a purpose for it?

After hearing the answers to those questions, our response is almost always the same; “breathe new life into it!” If your old laptop is running Microsoft Vista or newer, it’s well worth the money to find a purpose for it and then refurbish it for use. If your laptop is running Windows XP, you might not want to bother with it; however, this depends on you.

What’s the Purpose?

First, find a purpose for the old laptop or desktop computer. Here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Donate it to someone.
2. Sell it.
3. Let the kids use it.
4. Use it for road trips or while working in the garage.
5. Use it for surfing the internet and/or streaming media anywhere.
6. Strip it for parts.
7. Get creative and turn it into something useful.

If there is no purpose and you just want to throw it away or recycle it, then be sure to remove the hard drive first. Leaving the hard drive in the computer you are about to recycle leaves your personal data vulnerable even if you think you did a good job erasing it all. We can manage this for you. Simply drop off the computer at any of our drop off locations and we’ll securely destroy the information, and then donate/recycle/dispose of computer for you at no cost.

Moving on, let’s say you want to repurpose it, give it to a friend, or just want to start using it again. Here are the upgrades worth investing in to breathe new life into that old laptop.

Hard Drive

First, let’s talk about the hard drive. Hard drives typically last 5 years and then they start slowing down and/or failing. Replacing your old hard drive is an absolute must if you want to speed up your old laptop. Go solid state. Solid State hard drives typically range from $60-$175 depending on how much storage you actually need and want on your old laptop. Keep in mind this old laptop is being repurposed and you won’t likely need a whole lot of storage space unless you are going to turn it into a media server. Go with a Samsung Evo 850 250GB or higher. If you know you will not put any personal data on it, you might want to go even cheaper with a 120GB Solid State drive. A hard drive upgrade will be the single greatest upgrade for your old laptop. You should see a 40% – 70% increase in performance compared to when the laptop was brand new. Boot up should take a matter of seconds and you will see positive and instant results. It may even have you questioning, “did I need to buy a new laptop in the first place?”

Operating System

Many agree that Microsoft seems to release Windows operating systems in a good-then-bad-then-good again pattern. For example:

Windows 98 = Good
Windows Millennium (ME) = Bad
Windows XP = Good
Vista = Bad
Windows 7 = Good
Windows 8 = Bad
Windows 10 = Good

Now, even though we think Microsoft Vista is old and terrible, we don’t believe it is as bad as it used to be. Vista has gotten much better over the years. Vista will be just fine for web surfing, streaming, and general typing applications, etc. For a backup machine or a repurposed laptop, save money and keep Vista. Vista will do what you need it to do and it will save you a little extra money without having to buy a Windows 7 or higher. If you really want to do it right then do yourself and the world a favor and help end the life of Microsoft Vista. Order a legit copy of Windows 7 and then attempt to upgrade to Windows 10 for free. This can be done for ~$130.

Once you install Windows 7 with the new media and license key on the new solid state hard drive, be sure to run all Windows 7 updates and then try to run the Windows 10 upgrade. The upgrade process will tell you right away if your old hardware is compatible with Window 10 or not. If not, at least you are at Windows 7. If so, then great, you just upgraded to Windows 10.

Keep in mind, all operating systems have an end of life date assigned. End of life means Microsoft will no longer support your operating system by releasing security hole patches. See chart below, Vista is supported until April 2017; however, it is possible they could extend a year or 2. My guess is Microsoft won’t extend because they know how terrible Vista was and not many businesses adopted it.

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LCD / LED Screen Replacements

We are seeing an increase in cracked or damaged LCD / LED computer screens.  Unfortunately, we do not have a way to repair the displays so we buy brand new panels to replace with. Recently, a sweet grandmother battling health issues dropped her grandson’s Lenovo G50-45 laptop off. The laptop had a cracked screen and a few viruses. The grandmother brought it to us and left it for two days for the repair. We were able to remove the bezel and broken panel to replace the screen with the brand new one that came in that same day. We get the best prices for replacement panels and the swap can typically take less than one hour.

Hard Drive Repairs

Two out of the last nine systems repaired experienced hard drive failures. We worked on a Lenovo Ideapad U530 touchscreen laptop that would boot into a menu that gave options to boot from other media. Because the hard drive failed completely, there was no operating system to boot from. We took the old 1TB 5400 RPM drive (slow) out and put in a new Samsung EVO 850 250GB solid state drive which is extremely fast and affordable and plenty of room for their growth needs. We also had to order a new copy of Windows 10 because the license key was not retrievable from the failed drive and the sticker on the bottom was completely worn off and unreadable. We rebuilt the operating system and installed all the applications that he had previously. Our customer was sad to hear that he lost all the data so we sent the drive out for recovery quotes that came back at approximately $2,000-$2,500. This shows the value of keeping good backups with USB thumb drives, external hard drives, and/or online backups. The Lenovo U530 was not the only make and model we worked on with hard drive issues. Normally, hard drives last about 5 years on average.

We worked on an HP DV7 that experienced slowness, freezing, and applications not opening. Typically this happens because of spyware, viruses, page file corruption, or registry issues. We cleaned all those things up and performance appeared normal. Even though our scans did not find any issues with the hard drive, the bootup process was still taking several minutes. We decided to upgrade the hard drive to a new solid-state drive. During the cloning process, from old to new, it became very apparent that the old hard drive was in the midst of failing. After we cloned the old hard drive to the new, everything was performing perfectly and the bootup process was down to 12 seconds as expected. We upgraded the operating system from Windows 7 to Windows 10 but the AMD video card was having issues with Windows 10. Resolutions would not stick, the drivers would not start, and sometimes boot process would only display a black screen and increase the boot time. After some research we found our new friends at http://leshcatlabs.net/ they develop custom video drivers for older cards that are not yet Windows 10 compatible; this fixed all the video issues and now the system is running perfectly.

DC Jack Repairs

We repaired two DC jacks recently. One in a Samsung 7 Series NP700Z3C and another in a Dell Latitude 1525. Both appeared that drops onto the charge cable cracked the dc jack off the motherboard. We simply ordered new DC jacks to replace. DC jacks are normally less than $30 and some plug right into the motherboard after pulling apart the laptop but some must be soldered on. Either way, it’s the same price for our customers. Normally, DC jacks don’t need to be replaced until they encountered some kind of physical damage like the laptop being dropped or someone stepping on the power cable while it’s plugged into the jack.

CPU / GPU fan Repairs

At first, our customer took their Toshiba Satellite E45T-A4200 laptop to the “Geeks” for diagnostics and was told, “it could be the hard drive or the CPU fan.” This kind of service frustrates customers…” or”?! Clearly, they didn’t diagnose it correctly or they would know which one it was for sure. She brought the laptop to us and while she was here, we pulled the bottom case off and booted it up to show her that the fan was causing the grinding noise. The laptop booted fine and wasn’t experiencing any issues. We ordered a new CPU fan for a couple of bucks and it arrived the next day. The laptop’s CPU fan was swapped out, the OS was cleaned up, and the metal cased laptop is now running perfectly. Since fan failure is not all that common in newer laptops, we did a little digging and found the root cause of death. We found that the BIOS version installed had a bug which caused the fan to run at 100% all of the time. This was fixed by upgrading the BIOS to the latest version. We don’t expect the fan to fail again anytime soon.

Motherboard Repairs

Normally, it’s easier to just replace the motherboard but sometimes there is a chance to swap out the bad capacitors. A customer brought in an HP Pavilion Slimline 400-034 with a failed motherboard. Typically, dust or time kills the components on the board but this motherboard was as clean as new. This motherboard happened to be ~$250 bucks for the replacement and no signs of failed capacitors. The motherboard experienced a failed BIOS upgrade and recovery attempts are not completing. At this point, our recommendation was to buy a different computer and we will transfer the data.

The older your computer is, the more likely a computer hardware repair will be required; much like automobiles and people! 🙂

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This week has been insanely busy for virus removal service with no repeat customers thankfully. One Dell Inspiron 1525 and also a Dell Inspiron 1545, we also worked on a couple of white box (custom home builds) systems; we do not see many of these anymore. Each of the systems were running Windows 7, 8, and 10.  that we were able to use our tools on to effectively remove all the viruses and deliver the computer back in hand running better than ever.  We left our virus removal assault tools on these systems so our users can fire them up later if needed. Tim also brought us a Lenovo with a massive number of viruses that needed to be removed because the system was running so slow.

Our virus removal service is guaranteed, so don’t wait around to get those bugs cleaned up. Start enjoying your computer again!

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