I'll Tell You if You'd Be Better Off Just Buying a New Computer

I charge a flat fee of $60 to fix your computer (which does not include the cost of replacement parts; more on that below). I need to charge at least some kind of minimum fee for me to look at your computer. So, I charge an initial $15.00 USD diagnosis fee. The diagnosis fee is nonrefundable without regard to what I discover about your computer. After that I will tell you what needs to be done as well what it will cost including replacement parts. For example, let's say your hard drive died. You have a choice of what to replace it with. You and I both can go online and see what the prices are if you want an SSD or a SATA 10,000 RPM, or whatever. Normally, the $60 fee will never change regardless of whether you choose an SSD (and of course I'll tell you if your motherboard will support one) or just the same kind of drive you had before.

For business owners who wish to outfit an entire office with low cost computer: I can assemble very low-cost computers which are surprisingly robust and reliable in their performance. I anticipate you'll want them all running "free" copies of Windows 10 (and this is 100% legal, please see the paragraph just below this one for more information). You could be looking at costs of full-functioning ready-to-go PCs at $200 USD a pop.

A note on the operating system: although you may not know it, Windows 10 can now be had for free with the exception that Microsoft removes a few little, inconsequential customization features from the user interface. What exactly do I mean? I mean that now (in the Spring of 2018), you can install and start using Windows 10 without activating it. During the installation process you can indicate that you do NOT have a license key but still wish to install it (and even the "professional" version which gives power users the features they like). The only drawback is that in the lower left of the screen you will see a small watermark which reads "Activate Windows". Also, you can't change your desktop background. Really I don't think these things are important at all. You have a fully functioning operating system on your custom-built powerful PC that does EVERYTHING the paid version of Microsoft Windows 10 does. The truth of it, and the underlying trend, is that Microsoft is moving towards making Windows free and available for download to a greater number of devices. It's too expensive to build a custom computer and then spend $100.00 on the operating system when you may have paid only $200.00 for the actual hardware/machine. You could get Linux for free. I'd move everyone to Linux if I could but that will never happen anytime soon, and it would be an entirely impractical business model for me personally.

If you want a good custom-built computer: I charge $150 USD for part choice and full assembly. I will not charge you one dime more than I pay for the parts. That is why the service fee is a bit more than others. I will discuss with you what your needs are and then suggest options. You really can built a far more powerful computer when you simply pay for powerful components individually and then connect them all up through the motherboard. Let me give you an example. You may be familiar with the new Mac Pro tower (its the one in that strange black oval-shaped "obelisk" like case). The lowest level model starts at $3000.00 USD. I can build you a computer with 95% of the power (and in some areas MORE power) for $1300.00 USD after all is said and done (and if you're in a state with sales tax that $3000.00 is of closer to $3100, ans assuming no shipping).

When it comes to custom computers and doing it yourself (albeit through me), there is one fundamental fact to remember: all the big manufacturers take you to the cleaners in terms of component quality and price. That's worth repeating: they give you lesser-performing CPUs, RAM, motherboards, and graphics cards for a higher price. Please understand that fundamental fact, and all of its ramifications.