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Do you have a threshold for this? I assume that if your laptop wasn't working and all you had to do was take a single screw out then you'd do it, rather than t

Do you have a threshold for this? I assume that if your laptop wasn't working and all you had to do was take a single screw out then you'd do it, rather than taking it to a repair shop or buy another. Or if the repair cost was extreme, but it was relatively easy to fix it yourself. Your point of view is valid of course. At the same time I believe many people don't have sufficient money to allow them the luxury of never repairing anything themselves. Having hardware that is repairable is rarely a problem for the end-user who doesn't want to repair it themselves. For users who DO want to repair it themselves, having hardware that's designed to be hard to repair is a huge burden.

pvarangot 5y ago
> Do you have a threshold for this? Not OP but I have a really high threshold for this. I don't want to own a house and rent because of this.
- GhettoComputers 5y ago
  Hire from taskrabbit. ;)
aeturnum 5y ago
There's the old joke about a plumber to charges $100 to fix a hot water heater by hitting it once with a hammer. The home owner, incensed by such a bill for a simple action, demands the plumber justify it. The breakdown is: $1 hammer strike, $99 choosing correct location. Even a decade ago, the rewards for being able to repair computers were pretty substantial. Your computer was likely to have routine failures and you could probably save a lot of money doing piecemeal replacements. I think those things are still true for people who are trying to stay on the bleeding edge of computer hardware or use unusual setups, but for 95%+ of folks it is probably going to be a net loss. For most people performing most tasks, they are better off taking the "one-screw" computer into the shop because it would take them hours and hours to do the research figuring out if it really is a "one-screw" problem. If you are wrong you could seriously damage your hardware. In addition, because hardware that is sufficient for most purposes and inexpensive is widely available - there is very limited utility in learning those skills otherwise. If you want to learn about and repair computers as a hobby that's great! I do it and I enjoy it. But it's not a "smart financial decision."
- bastardoperator 5y ago
  Exactly this. The amount of time, effort, labor, sourcing tools, parts, coupled with education, or making a costly mistake, etc... The warranty or repair person is actually cheaper if you're able to put a price on your time. They also do better work in most cases. I just leave it to the professionals because it saves me money/time. I have no doubts I could do my own repair but from this vantage point it's just not a sound investment.
  - justin_oaks 5y ago
    That's fair enough. Everyone has a different cost/benefit analysis based on their own situation. Some people have more money than time, some have more time than money. And there are a million other factors too.
minhazm 5y ago
The problem is knowing what's actually broken in the first place. A friend of mine took their laptop to Geeksquad and they told my friend the power circuit was broken and the motherboard needs replacing. I checked the charger and realized the charger was broken and told them to buy a new one and what do you know it works fine. Most people are generally incapable of figuring out what actually is broken and will go to a repair place anyway. Or if the device is old enough they will just buy a new one. These days devices last a long time if you take care of them physically so by the time something starts failing it's likely already time for an upgrade for most people. So the actual DIY repairability of laptops just doesn't matter for the vast majority of people. What Framework is doing is awesome amazing though and I hope it does encourage companies to make easier to repair computers to lower the actual cost of repairs.
- justin_oaks 5y ago
  Yes, many people don't know what's broken in the first place. My minimum threshold for reaching out to a repair technician is 1) the problem must not have a solution that is easily found through an internet search, and 2) the solution must require more time and effort than the time to get it to and from the repair shop. What saddens me is how few people will do the internet search before giving up. Yes, I'm tech-savvy so I'm speaking from a position of privilege, but if you're looking for "What's wrong with this thing?" how can you NOT think to search the internet?

pvarangot 5y ago

> Do you have a threshold for this? Not OP but I have a really high threshold for this. I don't want to own a house and rent because of this.

GhettoComputers 5y ago
Hire from taskrabbit. ;)

aeturnum 5y ago

There's the old joke about a plumber to charges $100 to fix a hot water heater by hitting it once with a hammer. The home owner, incensed by such a bill for a simple action, demands the plumber justify it. The breakdown is: $1 hammer strike, $99 choosing correct location. Even a decade ago, the rewards for being able to repair computers were pretty substantial. Your computer was likely to have routine failures and you could probably save a lot of money doing piecemeal replacements. I think those things are still true for people who are trying to stay on the bleeding edge of computer hardware or use unusual setups, but for 95%+ of folks it is probably going to be a net loss. For most people performing most tasks, they are better off taking the "one-screw" computer into the shop because it would take them hours and hours to do the research figuring out if it really is a "one-screw" problem. If you are wrong you could seriously damage your hardware. In addition, because hardware that is sufficient for most purposes and inexpensive is widely available - there is very limited utility in learning those skills otherwise. If you want to learn about and repair computers as a hobby that's great! I do it and I enjoy it. But it's not a "smart financial decision."

bastardoperator 5y ago
Exactly this. The amount of time, effort, labor, sourcing tools, parts, coupled with education, or making a costly mistake, etc... The warranty or repair person is actually cheaper if you're able to put a price on your time. They also do better work in most cases. I just leave it to the professionals because it saves me money/time. I have no doubts I could do my own repair but from this vantage point it's just not a sound investment.
- justin_oaks 5y ago
  That's fair enough. Everyone has a different cost/benefit analysis based on their own situation. Some people have more money than time, some have more time than money. And there are a million other factors too.

minhazm 5y ago

The problem is knowing what's actually broken in the first place. A friend of mine took their laptop to Geeksquad and they told my friend the power circuit was broken and the motherboard needs replacing. I checked the charger and realized the charger was broken and told them to buy a new one and what do you know it works fine. Most people are generally incapable of figuring out what actually is broken and will go to a repair place anyway. Or if the device is old enough they will just buy a new one. These days devices last a long time if you take care of them physically so by the time something starts failing it's likely already time for an upgrade for most people. So the actual DIY repairability of laptops just doesn't matter for the vast majority of people. What Framework is doing is awesome amazing though and I hope it does encourage companies to make easier to repair computers to lower the actual cost of repairs.

justin_oaks 5y ago
Yes, many people don't know what's broken in the first place. My minimum threshold for reaching out to a repair technician is 1) the problem must not have a solution that is easily found through an internet search, and 2) the solution must require more time and effort than the time to get it to and from the repair shop. What saddens me is how few people will do the internet search before giving up. Yes, I'm tech-savvy so I'm speaking from a position of privilege, but if you're looking for "What's wrong with this thing?" how can you NOT think to search the internet?