Laptop / Notebook / Netbook Repair Services

Serving Macomb, Oakland & Wayne - Detroit, MI Area

When your notebook computer is not working right, there is no better option than Metro Computer Group. We specialize in all laptop computer repairs including Sony, Apple, HP, Compaq, Acer, Asus, Fujitsu, Toshiba and Dell. In addition we can service any other laptops, often white labeled as something else, but manufactured by one of the major companies listed above. In addition, we guarantee to beat any legitimate quote on laptop repair from any of our local competitors located in any of the following cities: Allen Park, Auburn Hills, Belleville, Berkley, Birmingham, Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills, Canton, CenterLine, Clawson, Clinton Township, Commerce Township, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Detroit, EastPointe, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Ferndale, Flat Rock, Fraser, Garden City, Grosse Pointe, Harper Woods, Harrison Township, Hazel Park, Highland Park, Lathrup Village, Lincoln Park, Macomb, Madison Heights, Mount Clemens, New Baltimore, Northville, Novi, Oak Park, Plymouth, Pontiac, Redford, Richmond, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Romulus, Roseville, Royal Oak, Saint Clair Shores, St. Clair Shores, Shelby Township, Shelby, Southfield, Sterling Heights, Taylor, Trenton, Troy, Utica, Walled Lake, Warren, Waterford, West Bloomfield and Westland.

There is a lot that can go wrong with your laptop and we can diagnose and repair most of these issues in a timely manner:

Overheating Laptop , HP, DELL, Acer, Toshiba & All Others

Regular maintenance and cleaning are crucial in order to prolong the life of your laptop. With most major chips attached to the motherboards using cold solder joints, even a small amount of overheating will cause sever damage. It will lead to motherboard failure (which many times we can fix for $139.99 using a professional reflow station). Having said that, you should not let things get that bad in the first place. Make sure the cooling system gets cleaned as often as possible. If not, this is the final result leading to failure. As electronics become cheaper and more integrated, regular maintenance is ignored and forgotten. Below are the images of a dell 1545S that was shutting off after a few minutes of operation. As you can see, the problem is pretty obvious.

Broken LCD Screen Repair in Detroit Area

Laptop Screens (LCD) displays are very fragile by nature. They are easy to crack by applying excessive pressure to the lid of the laptop, or by leaving an object on the keyboard and shutting the screen. In addition, a dropped notebook or net book can often result in a fractured LCD. If your screen has multiple colors along a line or spider lines or blotches of multicolored spots, it's a good indicator that the screen has been cracked and will have to be replaced. As a general rule the cost of repair is only $59.99 or less for the labor plus the price of the LCD screen. Screens prices vary by size and manufacturer, but generally (on popular computers) cost as follows:

 8'' = $65
10'' = $85
12'' = $95
14” = $105
15” Widescreen = $120
17” Widescreen = $139
19” Widescreen = $175

Please note, that replacing an LCD on a Mac laptop is usually a lot more labor intensive and is not included in the $59.99 flat labor fee. 

Failed Back Light Inverter Repair in Detroit Area

Occasionally the back light or a high voltage transformer called the inverter fails, in turn resulting in your screen being very dark or almost black. The computer may be operating normally, but you won't see anything, or just a ghost outline of the picture on the screen. An easy way to diagnose back-light or inverter failure, is to put a flash light next to the screen at an angle. If you can definitely see a picture now, one of two elements has failed. The back light tube, in case of which you will need screen replacement, or a transformer that supplies high voltage to the back light element. If your screen has shown any tint of pink prior to failure, most likely the back-light itself has failed, as fluorescent back-light turns pink after so many hours. If the failure was sudden, it may be a less expensive repair as sudden failure usually is indicative of inverter being bad. An average inverter costs around $30 dollars and labor is covered by the flat fee of $59.99. Please notice that Apple laptops are excluded from all flat fee offers.

Broken DC Jack (Charging Port) Repair in Detroit Area

A DC Jack, otherwise known as the charging port is the second most common failure in notebook computers. The jack itself is affixed to the system board via 4 to 6 pins soldered just above the surface of the motherboard, and constant stress of plugging and unplugging the charging cord will eventually wear out the jack itself, or solder points that provide power to the rest of the system. Unfortunately, there is no easy fix for this problem, and the system has to be disassembled to have a new jack installed. Why new jack instead of re-soldering failed connections you may ask? Because when the solder points get broken, very often the jack itself is on a verge of failure as well. Metro Computer Group stocks most common DC jacks and often, the repair can be done within a day or two. We have the proper high temperature equipment as well as the parts, and we are ready to fix any DC jack problem in the Metro Detroit Area. In Addition, we will match any legitimate quote on DC jack repair in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne County. Our DC Jack repair service runs $139.99 including parts and labor. How do you know your DC Jack is bad? If the computer powers up with the power cord propped up or in a certain position, that is indicative of charging port failure. Occasionally, another symptom of charging port failure is the fact that computer runs on the battery and shuts off once the battery has been depleted, but be forewarned. Under rare circumstances, it is the charging circuitry itself that fails, and in that case your laptop may need a motherboard replacement. The best way to diagnose your situation is to visit our store for a no fee visual diagnostic.

Failed Cooling System (Fans, Obstructed Radiator) Repair in Detroit Area

If your laptop works fine, but shuts off during heavy use, it may be due to cooling system failure. Overtime, the cooling system (consisting of a small fan and a miniature radiator) may get plugged up leading to intermittent shut downs due to overheating. We often find a fan completely covered in lint that has a hard time turning, and the radiator completely plugged up with debris, dust and particles making it impossible for the laptop to efficiently cool itself. Overheating will sooner or later lead to complete motherboard failure, especially evident on cheaper laptop computers with insufficient cooling. We advise all customers to have their cooling system professionally cleaned once a year, or every six month where there are pets and smoking in the household. At $59.99 we dis-assemble the cooling system and clear up all debris. Although it is relatively normal for laptop computers to run warm, you may see the warning signs early. If your laptop fan constantly operates on high setting and always seems to be revving, you should have the cooling system cleaned up immediately to avoid severe damage to your laptop computer. We also strongly recommend purchasing a cooling pad that goes underneath the laptop to channel the heat away. In addition, you should never obstruct the cooling system by using your laptop on your lap, carpet or bedding. Try to use your laptop on a desk, and keep it elevated as much as possible. In addition, retrofitting your laptop with rubber “feet” available at any local hardware store, will help it stay cooler and last longer by keeping it slightly elevated from the surface. Remember – heat is the portable computers worst enemy.

Failed Motherboards Repair in Detroit Area

Sometimes, the overheating is ignored by customers leading to severe damage. Your computer may turn on and shut off right away, display gibberish on the screen, or may not react to anything at all. If charging system failure has been ruled out, chances are your motherboard has failed and you will need a replacement. It is a labor intensive process, although it is covered by the 59.99 flat rate repair plan. The part, however, can range anywhere from $100-$300 dollars depending on make and model of your laptop. Our certified technicians can determine the proper course of action and rule out other failures before we advise that a motherboard replacement may be necessary. We welcome customer supplied parts, however in such situation we can not offer any kind of warranties and guarantees of performance. Please notice that Mac laptop motherboard replacement is not covered by the flat rate plan.

Failed Laptop Keyboards, Missing Keys Repair in Detroit Area

Occasionally, the keys on your laptop keyboard go bad, stick, or in other ways act up. Laptop keyboards are rather inexpensive, $20-$35 for most models and keyboard replacement is covered by our flat labor fee. In some cases, where replacement does not require disassembly of your laptop, we can reduce the labor fee in half. If you are missing keys on your keyboard, we recommend replacing the whole thing, as the expense and difficulty of finding the key, set of clips, rubber spring and metal clips for a particular keyboard can end up being considerably more expensive than a complete replacement. Call us with your model number and we will give you a quick quote. The service usually takes only a couple of days.

Cracked Hinges, Separated Screen Lid Repair in Detroit Area

The hinge system on modern laptops is design to be as cheap as possible, and often fails due to normal wear and tear. We have access to replacement hinge kits for most laptops as well as LCD back lids, front bezels and various mounting hardware that may need to be replaced as well. As long as the aluminum framework inside the laptop is intact, a loose screen or a busted hinge is a relatively inexpensive repair. Your laptop will need to be disassembled to see exactly which parts have failed, and to insure that we order all the parts needed.

Failed Laptop Hard Drive Repair in Detroit Area

On laptop computers, hard drives are very prone to failure. A typical laptop SATA or IDE (PATA) hard drive spins at 5400 RPM. That’s approximately as fast as a blade of a skill saw. The read/write head that picks up the information from hard drive surface is positioned only a few micrometers above the high speed, spinning disk platters. Often, even shutting the lid with slightly excessive force will damage the hard drive. A Dropped laptop, especially while it is on, can result in complete hard drive failure. As modern hard drives record their own health information, we can often diagnose the condition of your hard drive right at the front counter using the SMART monitoring system. This will tell us the health status of your drive and whether it can be simply “patched up” or if a complete replacement is necessary. We recommend a complete replacement any time when SMART health indicator dips below 90%, as often, it is an indicator of imminent failure. Replacement laptop hard drives cost anywhere from $45 for used drives all the way to $120 for the largest capacity brand new drives available on the market. We prefer to use Western Digital Hard drives for notebook applications, as they have proven to be more reliable and have an excellent manufacturer’s warranty. You are always welcome to provide your own drive, however, with customer supplied parts we do not provide any guarantees or warranties on the repair as we can not be held responsible for the condition of parts you supply.

Failed Memory Chips Repair in Detroit Area

Is your system acting funny at times? Crashing or blue screening when working on documents or with large photographs? Get Invalid Host Process Errors? Software installation halts or aborts? Fatal Exception or Illegal Operation errors occur? Stop condition occurs? CRC Errors when copying files? Windows refusing to install? IRQ Not Less or Equal to Errors? These, as well as many others can be a symptom of intermittent or complete memory (RAM) chip failure. We can repair your machine by replacing the failed memory chip, however, the challenge is finding the one that has failed. We have the equipment to run deep scan memory tests, which will often show a failure only after a few hundred passes. Each chip will have to be scanned to find the faulty one, which is a very time consuming process. It is however covered by the standard $59.99 Flat fee repair plan. Please call us, and talk to one of our technicians to see if you may be having issues with your DDR, PC-133, DDR2, or DDR3 DIMM / RDRAM or other memory module. Replacement memory is inexpensive, but do keep in mind that finding the failure is an extensive process and may take a day or two depending on the speed of your system.

Charging System Not Working

In most cases charging system does not work properly if the battery is old or worn out. Sometimes one of the Lithium Ion cells within the battery can become weaker than the rest, disabling the whole battery for safety reasons. Sometimes they simply fail. A laptop battery is only designed to last a certain amount of charging cycles. If a replacement battery is all you need, we can special order a replacement battery for a fraction of what it costs to buy one for the manufacturer. Generally speaking, our most common battery types run from $38 to $65. Some , such as Sony ™ and Apple™ replacement batteries are more expensive due to their rarity or complexity. Either way, Metro Computer Group of Detroit can get you back in business with a new battery in no time!

Another common failure of the charging system is the DC Jack (charging port) itself. These wear out due to excessive use, physical shock, or low quality aluminum based solder used in today’s manufacturing techniques. At Metro Computer Group of Detroit we do not re-solder old jacks. Instead, we replace the whole jack completely to reduce the likelihood of failure. In Addition, some laptops benefit from the new jack being re-enforced with silicone, which we can do at customer’s request. There is no additional charge for silicone re-enforcement. Please consult one of the Metro Computer Group Detroit Area technicians for best approach when it comes to DC jack and charging system repair.

Fractured or Broken LCD (LVDS) Video Cables

If your laptop has intermittent video problems, and video gets garbled when touching the screen or shutting the lid, it could indicate one of two problems. Either the video cable that carries video signal from the system to the screen has fractured or the LCD itself has become defective. If your laptop hinges are loose, this could be the reason why either went bad.

Broken or Cracked Chassis, Covers, Power buttons

Accidents can happen often resulting in cosmetic or mechanical damage to your laptop. At Metro Computer Group we can repair cracked chassis, broken screen hinges, lcd screen bezel, power buttons and keyboards. When it comes to missing keys, we often times replace the whole keyboard as they are usually very inexpensive ($25-$35). Not only will you have a brand new keyboard, you will also have plenty of spare keys if it happens again.

Software Issues Such as Blue Screens of Death and Crashing

A laptop computer shares the same operating systems as desktop computers. As a result, your laptop may have same software issues such as corrupted registry files, windows updates not working, blue screen of death (which can be a software or a hardware problem). We can fix all of the above as well as missing dll errors, error messages at startup, slow boot up, Internet connectivity problems, wireless adapter issues, files that can not be deleted, video file playback issues, sound issues, missing driver and driver issues, programs that refuse to uninstall, deleted file recovery, Windows Upgrade not working, operating system reloads, DCD or CD drive not found, Aero not working in Windows 7, iPhone and Itunes ™ sync problems, printing problems, missing folders, applets or extensions, forgotten Windows passwords, virus, Trojan and spyware removal, system cleanup, Windows Xp, Windows Vista or Windows 7 upgrades, shut downs for no apparent reasons, running slow or freezing, data backup solutions, virus protection, antivirus issues, registry and disk cleanup, bios updates, etc. We can even perform many of the software services remotely.

Replacement, Inexpensive Laptop Chargers

At Metro Computer Group we stock over 200 varieties of laptop chargers as well as universal chargers that can fit other, less common laptops. We have replacement chargers for your Asus, Acer, Apple, Compaq, HP, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, Toshiba, Sony, Lenovo, IBM, Samsung Toshiba as well as poff brand laptops. Our replacement chargers cost a fraction of what original laptop chargers cost, ranging from $35 to $60, whole the original OEM chargers can run upwards of $100. We can match your laptop to a proper adapter by comparing wattage, voltage and amperage with the original one. Call us today at 586-778-3859 to get a replacement charger for your notebook or netbook!

Replacement Batteries for all laptops

Metro Computer Group stocks some common replacement batteries and can order batteries for all notebook computers at a fraction of the cost. We can get you an Asus battery, Acer battery, replacement Apple battery, replacement Compaq battery, replacement HP battery, replacement Dell battery, new Fujitsu battery, replacement Gateway battery, replacement Toshiba battery, as well as replacement batteries for Sony, Lenovo, IBM, Samsung Toshiba laptops and netbooks.

Replacement Wireless Cards

MCG stocks a variety of replacement internal wireless cards for your computer. We have mini and micro PCI and PCI-E internal notebook wireless cards as well as some of the cards specific only to certain notebooks.

Replacement Touchpad Assembly

Is your touchpad acting up? Do you have a drifting mouse cursor or touchpad that simply doesn’t work right? Often times, touchpads wear out and their sensitivity can decrease overtime. We can replace the touchpad assembly or touchpad lid assembly if necessary

In addition we are qualified to perform any other laptop / netbook /notebook related repairs. Please call Metro Computer Group at 586-778-3859 with your problem, and you can be assured that your problem will be fixed correctly, in a timely manner the first time around!