Free advisor · honest answers in 20 seconds
Should you fix it — or replace it?
Tap what you’ve got and what’s wrong with it. We’ll run the same math we run at the counter — real repair ballparks against the 50% rule — and give you the answer we’d give you in person, even when that answer is “don’t pay us to fix this.”
Want a straight answer from a human?
Bring it by — flat-rate diagnostics in Kill Devil Hills. If it’s not worth fixing, we’ll say so, help you pick what’s next, and move your photos and files over so nothing gets left behind.
(252) 686-1451Good to know
The 50% rule, explained
The rule of thumb repair shops actually use: if a repair costs more than about half of what a comparable replacement costs, replace it. The honest version adjusts for age — a 2-year-old machine justifies a repair at 50% of replacement, but a 7-year-old one only justifies 25–30%, because you’re buying fewer remaining years with the same money. Macs get a little extra credit because they stay supported and useful longer.
Why an SSD makes a 6-year-old laptop feel new
Most “my computer is so slow” laptops still boot from a mechanical spinning hard drive. Swapping it for an SSD makes everything — startup, opening apps, saving files — 5 to 10 times faster, because the drive was the bottleneck all along, not the processor. With a RAM top-up it’s usually a $100–200 job, and it’s the closest thing to a miracle we sell.
Windows 10 support ended — what that actually means
Microsoft ended Windows 10 support in October 2025: no more security patches, ever. The machine keeps working, but every new vulnerability stays open — a bad place to do banking or email. If your PC can upgrade to Windows 11, do it (free). If it can’t — most pre-2018 hardware can’t — factor that into any repair decision, or ask us about free Linux Mint / ChromeOS Flex, which turn an “obsolete” PC into a perfectly safe browsing machine.
Is it safe to keep using a cracked screen?
For a while, usually — but cracks spread with every pocket flex and temperature swing, glass slivers work loose, and moisture creeps in and kills the display for good. Once touch starts misbehaving or black blobs appear, the panel is dying. And a cracked screen tanks trade-in value, so if you’re keeping the device, fixing it sooner is cheaper than fixing it later.