Wiz Kid's Spellbook
Repair or replace? A simple rule of thumb
Matt Davis
Owner, Wiz Kid Tech Repair
Buying adviceAug 10, 20264 min read
It is the question we hear more than any other at the counter: is this thing worth fixing? There is a simple way to answer it that does not require knowing anything about computers.
The half-price rule
Compare the quoted repair to the price of a comparable new machine. If the repair costs less than half of that, and the rest of the hardware is in good shape, repairing is nearly always the better value.
A $120 screen replacement on a laptop that would cost $650 to replace is an easy yes. A $400 board repair on that same laptop is a much harder sell, and we will tell you so.
What 'healthy' actually means
One expensive failure is worth fixing. Several small ones stacking up usually are not. Before we quote anything, we check the parts of the machine that tend to fail next.
- Drive health — a failing drive turns a cheap fix into a data-recovery job
- Battery condition and charging port wear
- Hinges, casing, and keyboard damage
- Whether the manufacturer still supports the operating system
The part nobody prices in
A new computer means moving your files, reinstalling programs, and relearning where everything lives. That transition has a real cost in time and frustration, and it is a legitimate reason to repair a machine you already know how to use.
When replacing genuinely is the better call, we will say that plainly — and we can move your data over so the new machine feels like the old one.
“Bring it in for a free diagnostic. We will tell you what is wrong, what it costs, and whether we would fix it if it were ours.”
— The bottom line
