computerdoctor.ie

Tusky

Has anybody used these folks ? How much do they usually charge ?

Laslo

They're pretty crap. They gave my old man's laptop back to me in a worse state than I gave it to them, so their 'no fix, no fee' policy isn't all it's made out to be. Turns out a fellow in India was able to retrieve the data for him where computerdoctor.ie couldn't.

Kinetic^

M3rl1n ftw!!!!!:p

red_ice

computer doctor isnt really anything special i would think. They would have a basic set of guidelines to follow, and are given certain procedures on how to fix things. If you want something fixed these days you either do it yourself or go to someone you know you can trust, never a company as its not a personal matter to them, its a job

biko

Why is this not in Computer section?

Winters

Kenny 5 wrote:

M3rl1n ftw!!!!!:p

Is he off in India setting up some 25,000 person lan or something?

Kinetic^

Winters wrote:

Is he off in India setting up some 25,000 person lan or something?

What?

TedKelly

I have used computerdoctor before however I know absolutely nothing computer hardware. My computer would not turn on and I brought it to them. They replaced the power supply unit (as far as I know) and charged me 120 euro. That was roughly 5 months ago and I have had no problems since. How good a deal this is, I have no idea.

Winters

You can pick up quality PSU's for about 70 or 80 euro these days. They take maybe 15 minutes to install.

TedKelly

Cheers for that Winters. If that's the case I'm reasonably happy with the price I paid. As I say I know feck all about computer hardware and happy to pay the extra few quid to have it installed for me.

ntlbell

Winters wrote:

You can pick up quality PSU's for about 70 or 80 euro these days. They take maybe 15 minutes to install.

You have to include their time to go to the user, find out it was actually a problem with the PSU first, then install so it's slightly more than 15 mins.

It seems resaonable enough to me.

Sully

Its scary to see they offer webdesign, when there own site is pretty horrid.

OP: There are a few ads open on Adverts.ie which offer this service. Im down in Waterford, and do a similar service. Tho, I would take it personally when taking in anybodys computer. Not sure about these guys, but they seem OK. I would recommend taking up a Boardsie on the offer, there is one chap doing it in the Dublin area if I recall.. Good luck anyway!

HelterSkelter

Winters wrote:

You can pick up quality PSU's for about 70 or 80 euro these days. They take maybe 15 minutes to install.

People don't have a problem paying plumbers, mechanics, doctors for their time, why such a big problem paying someone for their time to fix a computer? Really pisses me off the way people I know expect me to spend hours fixing their PC for free but have no problem paying my bro to fix their car. They even force him to take the money if he refuses.

Winters

tbh, I never said it wasnt resaonable. Id charge someone about the same, maybe a little less but not much. Hopefully the PSU they installed is a decent one and not some Q-Tec piece of .... well, you get the idea.

Shouldn't this be in Computers and not AH?

far2gud

I take pride in doing a good job for a friend or family and rarely except cash. Most of these companies are cowboys and grossly overcharge for a less than satisfactory service.

I would stick with getting someone you know to do the work for you..but also try and pay them for their time.

DonalN

how come this hasn't been moved yet ? :rolleyes:

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.marxcomputers.ie/ - 400W PSU €30 one of the cheaper places to pickup one on a saturday morning

that said call outs for a plumber are quite expensive

the problem with supplying stuff for friends / relatives is that you have to provide free technical support for life

Creamy Goodness

Kenny 5 wrote:

M3rl1n ftw!!!!!:p

/me does two thumbs up pose.

stepbar

Reminds me of the time years and years ago when I wanted to get some memory for my Toshiba laptop. Found a supplier and took a trip up to somewhere round the airport. The one serving me took the laptop out the back, opened one screw and put the chip in. 10 minutes later the transaction was complete. I was charged 130 punts. Found out (a lot later) that the cost of the said memory was 80 punts and that the company charged me 50 punts to install it :eek: I didnt go back again let me tell you.

stepbar

stepbar wrote:

The one serving me took the laptop out the back, opened one screw and put the chip in. 10 minutes later the transaction was complete. I was charged 130 punts. Found out (a lot later) that the cost of the said memory was 80 punts and that the company charged me 50 punts to install it :eek: .

I'm in the wrong job!!!:(

Orange69

stepbar wrote:

Reminds me of the time years and years ago when I wanted to get some memory for my Toshiba laptop. Found a supplier and took a trip up to somewhere round the airport. The one serving me took the laptop out the back, opened one screw and put the chip in. 10 minutes later the transaction was complete. I was charged 130 punts. Found out (a lot later) that the cost of the said memory was 80 punts and that the company charged me 50 punts to install it :eek: I didnt go back again let me tell you.

Why didn't you just install it yourself.. Its not rocket science and the instructions with the laptop usually tell you how to install extra ram.

People are too quick to run to the "experts" instead of putting a bit of research in and doing the job themselves...

Orange69

Sully wrote:

Its scary to see they offer webdesign, when there own site is pretty horrid.

That is a horrid web site.. very amateurish..

One of their services is "Internet & E-mail Configuration".. i guess they install firefox and sign you up for a gmail account :rolleyes:

Capt'n Midnight

Orange69 wrote:

That is a horrid web site.. very amateurish..

One of their services is "Internet & E-mail Configuration".. i guess they install firefox and sign you up for a gmail account :rolleyes:

install ?

they haven't heard of portable firefox

stepbar

Orange69 wrote:

Why didn't you just install it yourself.. Its not rocket science and the instructions with the laptop usually tell you how to install extra ram.

People are too quick to run to the "experts" instead of putting a bit of research in and doing the job themselves...

A) I didnt buy the laptop from new and there was no instructions.
This happened 7 years ago, installing hardware was not my forte. I was told some jiped up story that If I touched the memory chip, it would be zapped. Not "entirely" true.

SirLemonhead

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

http://www.marxcomputers.ie/ - 400W PSU €30 one of the cheaper places to pickup one on a saturday morning

I wouldn't let a €30 psu anywhere near my pc

ActorSeeksJob

what do you need to be done to your PC OP?

Sully

stepbar wrote:

Reminds me of the time years and years ago when I wanted to get some memory for my Toshiba laptop. Found a supplier and took a trip up to somewhere round the airport. The one serving me took the laptop out the back, opened one screw and put the chip in. 10 minutes later the transaction was complete. I was charged 130 punts. Found out (a lot later) that the cost of the said memory was 80 punts and that the company charged me 50 punts to install it :eek: I didnt go back again let me tell you.

Complete rip off. Its that kind of crap thats driven me into doing this kinda stuff, offering proper prices to show people that not everyone wants to rip of the Irish consumer. Great to see sites like Marx Computers doing same.

Its the same with web design. Iv seen designers charge over a thousand euro for "professional" design, when really it doesnt cost that much at all.

*shrrugs* Think Ireland has gone pretty expensive if you ask me, evertything over priced. I had this debate a while ago on boards, with regards to Irish webhosting. Cheaper in the UK/US.

TerrorFirmer

Winters wrote:

You can pick up quality PSU's for about 70 or 80 euro these days. They take maybe 15 minutes to install.

Key being quality. They might have charged him 120 euro for a Q-Tec psu, or even worse, one of those crap ones that come with the Maplin cases for about 50 euro for case, psu, keyboard etc....shudder to think actually.

humaxf1

Lets just say...Bill Gates keeps me in a job with his flakey OS and joe public who don't know too much about computers. I did an intro to PC maintenance course & a 48week course and got my A+ and Network+ certs. Got employed straight away after completion, a year & six months later and still learning.

As regards computerdoctor.ie, i went for a job interview maybe 2.5 years ago...can't remember exactly. I thought it went well...but didn't hear anymore from them. When you advertise full-on on the radio etc (which ain't cheap) you don't want to let yourself down by providing a shoddy service.

"no fix no fee"...well in my relatively short experience, sometimes you have to try different "fixes" to see if it solves the fault, which can be non-reversible some of the times! So, in reality it's chargeable if you fix it and the customer might balk at the cost and tell you to feck off, BUT it's a catch 22 if you return the PC/laptop repaired.

I'll finish on this...(from their site)

---

Virus & Spyware Removal

Virus and Spyware infection is the number one cause of PC malfunctions; here at Computer Doctor we have an experienced team in the detection and removal of these infections. You can be sure that when your PC leaves our office it will be 100% infection free.

---

No virus is 100% removable no matter how many AV/spyware programs you use. Depending on the severity of the virus, it could have embedded files lurking on the hard drive which will pop up again a few days later or another PC on the customers network could be spreading a virus. If I'm suspect at all of an infection/windows issue(s), format and reinstall is my motto AND you won't have the customer back on the phone 2 days later provided they don't start mucking around with Limewire which caused the infection in the first place!

rygor07

Place seems like a rip off, my aunt was charged over €200 for them to format her laptop and re-install xp. Seems a bit dear considering the low prices of machines these days.

Took over a week to get it back too.

monkeyfudge

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

http://www.marxcomputers.ie/ - 400W PSU €30 one of the cheaper places to pickup one on a saturday morning

Marx service PCs as well... They're a good bunch too.

I get people mistaking me for the Computer Doctor all the time... my office is just around the corner and people come in all the time by mistake... If I'm not too busy I'll help them out as it's usually something really basic.... Even had Gay Byrne in one day...

monkeyfudge

monkeyfudge wrote:

Marx service PCs as well... They're a good bunch too.

Good to hear some nice feedback. I'm relatively new there but liking it so far.

CyberGhost

Well they are expensive, but what isn't?

And if you think about "it's easy I can do it myself"

I bet lots of you have cars, when something has to be done do you do it yourself? or do you take it to the mechanics?

Since we're all computer savvy here it's hard it imagine someone not being able to install ram or PSU or even a CDROM, you think "wtf is there to it?" just take it apart stick it inside and install drivers if need be, that's it. Now try changing a timing belt on a car, can you do it? I bet it's "wtf is there to it?" for a car mechanic but not for a computer mechanic.

rygor07

monkeyfudge wrote:

Marx service PCs as well... They're a good bunch too.

I get people mistaking me for the Computer Doctor all the time... my office is just around the corner and people come in all the time by mistake... If I'm not too busy I'll help them out as it's usually something really basic.... Even had Gay Byrne in one day...

Just checked their support page on their website.

2.1 operating system (Windows XP, 2000, Linux) € 75

As I said previous my aunt was charged €200 for the same job, Marxs seems the best value for money for both parts and services.

The rest of their services seem much cheaper too.

1. Installation of hardware
1.1 small jobs (PCI cards, DVD/CD drives, hard drives etc.) € 35
1.2 big jobs (motherboards, multiple parts, HD part./format) € 55

2. Installation of Software
2.1 operating system (Windows XP, 2000, Linux) € 75
2.2 other (anti-virus, DVD, writing, office etc) € 35

3. Upgrades 3.1 see 1. Installation of hardware
3.2 migrate old parts into new case € 55

4. Repairs
4.1 diagnosis € 25
4.2 further charges depending on time spent + € 55/h
4.3 virus/spyware removal, normal € 45
4.4 virus/spyware removal, extended +€ 55/h

5. Data recovery 5.1 diagnosis (is recovery possible?) € 25
5.2 recovery from faulty hardware (incl. data on CD) € 75
5.3 recovery from faulty software e.g. os (incl. data on CD) € 75
5.4 extended data recovery +€ 55/h

matt-dublin

humaxf1 wrote:

No virus is 100% removable no matter how many AV/spyware programs you use. Depending on the severity of the virus, it could have embedded files lurking on the hard drive which will pop up again a few days later or another PC on the customers network could be spreading a virus. If I'm suspect at all of an infection/windows issue(s), format and reinstall is my motto AND you won't have the customer back on the phone 2 days later provided they don't start mucking around with Limewire which caused the infection in the first place!

I think you need to go back to your classes, (no offence) but i'm in the jobe over 6 years now, and if you're cleaning down pc's properly (using spyware, av and manually) genereally you can get a virus 100% off. You just need to know what you're looking for.

Mcaffee and Symantec provide security bullitens for that specific reason.
If you have to re-format your pc every time you got spyware or a virus you would be there for months, and by your rational one of your personal documents could be infected which would mean personal data loss.

You really just need to know exactly what you're looking for, on for example in the registry, you need to know what shouldn't be there...
(gotta love hijackthis!)

ActorSeeksJob

true that, hijackthis ftw. although if you have a bad backdoor trojan on your PC there decent chance you can never get your PC 100% clean.

matt-dublin think you could tell me more bout your job, I want to clean up viruses, spyware, etc as a job over summer, any suggestions?

matt-dublin

It depends on your qualifications and background history.

If its only for the summer I'm not too sure, but if you're looking for something more permanant i would suggest getting your CV out there.

I'm a senior sys admin with a global company with about 2000 users, been working here for over 6 years and i pretty much learnt everything i knew in the first 2 or 3 years, after that all new things are pretty much variations of the old stuff.

If you're really into the security side of things i would suggest looking into a security/network penetration course somewhere. (they're pricey but companies are always looking for IT security people, sure we have about 10 globally!)

ActorSeeksJob

Thank you for replying, was helpful. Would love to do a security/network penetration course, and ideally a job in that area in the future. Alas my experience at the moment is limited, I have a computer science degree, and generally just an expert when it comes to viruses/malware/spyware etc for PCs/laptops. can find me here and other big sites fixing up PC's a lot

sorry to go off topic, this be last bit !! matt if you have any links or details on places for security/network penetration courses, think you could PM me them before I go off searching myself since you would know better than me. Once again thanks!!

humaxf1

Scanning and rescanning, sifting through oodles of registry entries VERSUS backing up data and reinstalling! How long does one take compared to the other? Are you guarranteed that after slaving over a virus removal it will leave windows running smoothly? One thing you don't want is customers coming back with more or less the same problem.

I find that customers wont pay anymore than €140 for a software repair (reinstall) and its also hard to know how long a virus removal will take. How do you price a job like that...base it on your knowledge or time?

matt-dublin

It depends on whoe the job is for, and that the virus is.

Generally i try to keep it as cheap as possible, ill try and repair the virus without them losing data/personalizations unless its a last resort.

They i charge between 80 and 130 depending on what needed to be done.

Reformatting is good, if you want a brand new pc, and then have to reinstall all the users software with it. unless you're just giving back a bog standard windows installation without the users previous software.

Which again can take an hour or two, so instead of having to hunt around peoples machines looking for stuff they may or may not need, i would try and get the machine repaired.

i brought my laptop in about a year ago, they kept it there for 3 months and couldnt even fix it. when i got it back the whole drive was formatted and i lost everything. then they ahd the nerve to ask for 150 euro! ripp off. you would be better off getting a computers for dummies book and fixin it yourself.

humaxf1

I take your points on board, but the last thing you dont want is an ignorant and rude customer coming back to you after paying 100 odd euro and the PC is back to the same state or close enough to it.

Most people havent a prob with reinstalling progs and most personal files are handy enough to copy. They bought it new and had to do all the donkey work...they dont mind doing it again once they have peace of mind that windows will run trouble free.

matt-dublin

You're taking a corporate money approach to your customers, which i would have to say i would never do, and because i don't i get a lot of referrals, and I also generally stand by my work, ie, if the computer breaks down again due to the same problem i will go at it for free.

And any time i tell a customer im going to wipe their computer the first question they ask is will you make sure all the programs i have on it are re-installed.

People do mind doing the work, hence why they sent it to be fixed in the first place! If they have the ability to install a program such as picasa, or any camera software for example, they have the ability to install windows.

The majority of times there is a way to fix software related issues, re-installing and re-formatting is pure lazyness and shows no interest towards your job/client. Highly unprofessional.

rygor07

matt-dublin wrote:

You're taking a corporate money approach to your customers, which i would have to say i would never do, and because i don't i get a lot of referrals, and I also generally stand by my work, ie, if the computer breaks down again due to the same problem i will go at it for free.

And any time i tell a customer im going to wipe their computer the first question they ask is will you make sure all the programs i have on it are re-installed.

People do mind doing the work, hence why they sent it to be fixed in the first place! If they have the ability to install a program such as picasa, or any camera software for example, they have the ability to install windows.

The majority of times there is a way to fix software related issues, re-installing and re-formatting is pure lazyness and shows no interest towards your job/client. Highly unprofessional.

You seem to know what your talking about and have a really decent attitude towards the people you do work for, fair play.

workaccount

Orange69 wrote:

That is a horrid web site.. very amateurish..

One of their services is "Internet & E-mail Configuration".. i guess they install firefox and sign you up for a gmail account :rolleyes:

This is more or less bull****ting a market that don't have a clue. It's like those companies that sell that liquid product that's supposed to give you better fuel economy.

*irrelevant abuse removed*

matt-dublin

rygor07 wrote:

You seem to know what your talking about and have a really decent attitude towards the people you do work for, fair play.

well my point of view is that if you look after someone they will refer you to someone else.

Friend of a friend : "ah my computer's acting up again"
Friend: "ah, i know this guy, he fixed my laptop, he was good, wannt his number"

And plus there's the favour aspect of it, its like barter.. its great!!
For example, i also build websites, sometime for barter... IE. i need a website, ok I need s suit, lets come to an agreement!

workaccount

matt-dublin wrote:

You're taking a corporate money approach to your customers, which i would have to say i would never do, and because i don't i get a lot of referrals, and I also generally stand by my work, ie, if the computer breaks down again due to the same problem i will go at it for free.

And any time i tell a customer im going to wipe their computer the first question they ask is will you make sure all the programs i have on it are re-installed.

People do mind doing the work, hence why they sent it to be fixed in the first place! If they have the ability to install a program such as picasa, or any camera software for example, they have the ability to install windows.

The majority of times there is a way to fix software related issues, re-installing and re-formatting is pure lazyness and shows no interest towards your job/client. Highly unprofessional.

I take the same attitide as you when fixing computers.

Reinstalling and reformatting is often much quicker and cheaper for the customer. I would not say it's unprofessional at all. There's nothing wrong with a fresh windows install every few months anyway.

matt-dublin

workaccount wrote:

I take the same attitide as you when fixing computers.

Reinstalling and reformatting is often much quicker and cheaper for the customer. I would not say it's unprofessional at all. There's nothing wrong with a fresh windows install every few months anyway.

Yes, if you're working in an IT field, but not if you're using the computer for standard stuff, ie internet, office, email, digital camera etc etc.

And its not always the quickest option...

Installation averages for me are:
Find and backup files/favourites/psts etc :1 to 2 hours
Windows XP : 45mins to an hour
Office: 10 to 20 mins
Windows UPdates: 10 mins to 2 hours.
Replace backed up files: 40mins
Plus the possibility of crappy drivers, etc etc.

I would prefer to find out whats causing the problem, and find out how to fix it.

That way if i can see it again i can fix it.

For example:

In work we use this oracle/java application, One day on one of the PC's it stopped working, Our head IT Dept in some majestical land far far away had a solution, re-install windows xp sp2 and don't apply any windows updates what so ever.

I bitched about this as i use WSUS to apply my updates (internal windows update server) and i didn't like the whole lack of patches/updates thing.

So i attacked it, and two hours later I found that there was an issue with Oracle and Microsoft .Net Framework v3.

Oracle didn't know about it either as they had only tested on v2.

Sent that back to the boys above and they were delighted as they had been trying to fix the problem for nearly 6 month.

Now we have a solution that takes 10 mins to repair instead of 2 or 3 hours to reinstall and re-configure

rygor07

It's not only their own website that looks appalling check out some of their sites in their portfolio,

http://www.fahymotorhomes.com/ who would actually pay money for that extremely amateurish and must of took all of two hours to create.

http://dwwebdesign.net/archive/psp/

workaccount

matt-dublin wrote:

Yes, if you're working in an IT field, but not if you're using the computer for standard stuff, ie internet, office, email, digital camera etc etc.

And its not always the quickest option...

Installation averages for me are:
Find and backup files/favourites/psts etc :1 to 2 hours
Windows XP : 45mins to an hour
Office: 10 to 20 mins
Windows UPdates: 10 mins to 2 hours.
Replace backed up files: 40mins
Plus the possibility of crappy drivers, etc etc.

I would prefer to find out whats causing the problem, and find out how to fix it.

That way if i can see it again i can fix it.

For example:

In work we use this oracle/java application, One day on one of the PC's it stopped working, Our head IT Dept in some majestical land far far away had a solution, re-install windows xp sp2 and don't apply any windows updates what so ever.

I bitched about this as i use WSUS to apply my updates (internal windows update server) and i didn't like the whole lack of patches/updates thing.

So i attacked it, and two hours later I found that there was an issue with Oracle and Microsoft .Net Framework v3.

Oracle didn't know about it either as they had only tested on v2.

Sent that back to the boys above and they were delighted as they had been trying to fix the problem for nearly 6 month.

Now we have a solution that takes 10 mins to repair instead of 2 or 3 hours to reinstall and re-configure

I'd always try to work out whats causing the problem also but if a machine was annoying me with spyware or rubbish like that, I just wouldn't bother if spybot or adware don't reveal the problem. I need to learn Hijack this but I just haven't got round to it.

If you have ghosted images of your disk then why in a million years would you bother really. It's abit of pain at work now because theres no correct procedure as to where psts and stuff are stored but I'm working on changing this (so everythings on the network...mapped drives) so if theres a problem we can have a fresh windows install in a short amount of time (less than 10mins - ghost is genious [though true-image is meant to be better]) and the drives automatically get mapped through a logon script. If theres one thing I hate in this world it's sitting through a windows install.

Regarding your oracle issue, I would'nt have time to look into an issue like your oracle one though I would love to...I have too much to do.
Were a small IT dept.



Apol now removed.

humaxf1

matt-dublin...

how many people have come back to you reporting similar probs after virus removal ...and be honest :-)