[imintheloserssquare]

As a custom builder i face a problem about where to take my computer when it needs fixing because geek squad won't look at it because not a dell or hp. Which sucks big time for me! I took it to this shop a couple of times before but the last time i did i think they messed with my computer. Of course I didn't realize how bad they did until I tried to install a blu-ray drive and realized the old dvd burner wouldn't come out! in my case its a simple slide in system where you attach these 2 plastic things to the side and you just slide the drive in...well this one was so stuck i had to basically rip apart the drive while it was still in the case. When i finally got everything out i realized that some of the little screws that were in the drive weren't the ones that were supposed to be in it! they were bigger and caused the drive to get jammed inside the case. they also moved my SATA drive connectors on the motherboard around so instead of them being on 1 and 2 they were on 2 and 4. the ram memory was also out of place instead of being on 1-2 they were on 3-4. they also forgot to plug back in a case fan. I wanna go throw a brick thru their window but i dont really have any proof they did anything because they could just lie and it would be my word against theirs.
all of these so called "custom shops" are usually rip offs and over priced yuppies trying to make a buck off you...so it don't feel right then follow your instincts somewhere else.

[phileysmiley]

I'm in the same boat. I have a custom-built rig that I can't bring into any of the major retailers. So I have to trust the local ads and storefronts.

There's a place near me that's been there for years so I figured they must be good. I was right. I had a PSU problem and it turned out I'd bought a standard one. I also had hooked it up wrong. They were able to give me the correct one (it needed a Dell proprietary PSU) by cannibalizing a rig they had in the back.

My advice is, look for a place that's been around a long time. Small businesses generally don't last unless they know what they're doing.

[augie]

Ya Larry, you're right about longevity. However I remember one tech at work($250M outfit) was bragging that he stole a math-coprocessor from a board he was troubleshooting, so it happens even with larger outfits too, sadly. At least he got fired for theft. It's the same as getting a real good and honest car mechanic. Good luck.

[c0ldfyr3]

i custom build all my systems, minus the Sun systems, and manage them all myself... regardless of what goes wrong with them. so i never get swindled.

[NT50]

Ditto on the custom builds. Every computer in my house is a custom build except for an iBook, Mac Book, and Toshbia notebook (Toshbia belongs to the school)

I rarely ever have any problems except for this new "Green" hard drive I purchased. Don't buy a green hard drive, they are slow JUNK.

[_Taz_]

As a custom builder i face a problem about where to take my computer when it needs fixing because geek squad won't look at it because not a dell or hp. Which sucks big time for me! I took it to this shop a couple of times before but the last time i did i think they messed with my computer. Of course I didn't realize how bad they did until I tried to install a blu-ray drive and realized the old dvd burner wouldn't come out! in my case its a simple slide in system where you attach these 2 plastic things to the side and you just slide the drive in...well this one was so stuck i had to basically rip apart the drive while it was still in the case. When i finally got everything out i realized that some of the little screws that were in the drive weren't the ones that were supposed to be in it! they were bigger and caused the drive to get jammed inside the case. they also moved my SATA drive connectors on the motherboard around so instead of them being on 1 and 2 they were on 2 and 4. the ram memory was also out of place instead of being on 1-2 they were on 3-4. they also forgot to plug back in a case fan. I wanna go throw a brick thru their window but i dont really have any proof they did anything because they could just lie and it would be my word against theirs.
all of these so called "custom shops" are usually rip offs and over priced yuppies trying to make a buck off you...so it don't feel right then follow your instincts somewhere else.

sounds like you found a "swap" shop they just swap around parts to see if the problem goes away. never actually diagnosing anything. there are a lot of car repair shops that do the same thing. put in a bunch of parts until the problem goes away. you can do the swapping yourself.. I just try to follow a pattern and the KISS principle. (Keep It Simple Stupid) look for the simple stupid things first, cables, chip creep etc.. then get into it. if I do the swapping thing, swap one thing at a time, if no difference put it back, or if not make notes so you know what you change and in what order.

[rippinchikkin]

Ditto on the custom builds. Every computer in my house is a custom build except for an iBook, Mac Book, and Toshbia notebook (Toshbia belongs to the school)

I rarely ever have any problems except for this new "Green" hard drive I purchased. Don't buy a green hard drive, they are slow JUNK.

LMAO

Personally I don't let anyone touch my PC's, well except me.
Its always a good idea to learn as much as you can about what your doing, especially when you build custom machines. Every time mine dies or an app goes wonky, I learn something new.
Seems the last time I was forced to take my machine into a shop, turned out the problem was a mother board that I had bought from that shop (bad out of the box, and with out an extra one, no way to test that) that one would require a store's help (or an extra mobo). But, over time with a few new tools, and a little 'know how' got me a long way (and a few extra parts). Of course you can also run into issues with specialized, and or rare items, but usually with the right amount of head scratching, things work them selves out.

[poisonbl]

As a custom builder i face a problem about where to take my computer when it needs fixing because geek squad won't look at it because not a dell or hp. Which sucks big time for me! I took it to this shop a couple of times before but the last time i did i think they messed with my computer. Of course I didn't realize how bad they did until I tried to install a blu-ray drive and realized the old dvd burner wouldn't come out! in my case its a simple slide in system where you attach these 2 plastic things to the side and you just slide the drive in...well this one was so stuck i had to basically rip apart the drive while it was still in the case. When i finally got everything out i realized that some of the little screws that were in the drive weren't the ones that were supposed to be in it! they were bigger and caused the drive to get jammed inside the case. they also moved my SATA drive connectors on the motherboard around so instead of them being on 1 and 2 they were on 2 and 4. the ram memory was also out of place instead of being on 1-2 they were on 3-4. they also forgot to plug back in a case fan. I wanna go throw a brick thru their window but i dont really have any proof they did anything because they could just lie and it would be my word against theirs.
all of these so called "custom shops" are usually rip offs and over priced yuppies trying to make a buck off you...so it don't feel right then follow your instincts somewhere else.

Oh, ouch... my systems are all hand built, either scrap leftovers, seconhand from my boss or entirely hand built by me... last time I had a system turned in for repairs by someone else, though, was back when my parents bought their first Pentium, which also happened to be the first system with a harddrive we had... but I come from a good family, apparently, as my mother (without having the tools she should have needed to be able to diagnose it so well) sat it on their counter and pointed out that the PSU was flaky and there was a virus on the system despite a fresh reinstall of everything... they, obviously, didn't believe her and proceeded to step by step diagnose the problem (assuming it was one rather than 2 things) over the period of a couple weeks. When all was said and done, the PSU got replaced and a new set of OS install floppies too... since the others had a virus when we got them (the Satan virus, at that). We lost all interest in paying other people to ignore what we already know and started buying the parts and fixing things ourselves after that.

The people you came up with there, though, cross the line from redundancy inducing foolishness to near criminal incompetence... sounds like the work of a teenager... whatever happened to sending things back to their owners in better shape than you got them? That principle went to the lowest bidder too?

[rippinchikkin]

and shortly after reading this flames started shooting out of the front of my office pc...... man you guys got some bad juju going in this thread..

[yeshuas]

and shortly after reading this flames started shooting out of the front of my office pc...... man you guys got some bad juju going in this thread..

Flames!!!!!!!!!!!!! are you serious