Bay Area Computerman

I needed to upgrade RAM on my Mac and they got the part, replaced it and I picked up the computer within 3 hours. They could not help me with my other laptop, but that is mainly because it is a custom made computer and getting the parts would be too much of a hassle.

I really hate leaving negative reviews, but I am really upset at the service I was provided, feel taken advantage of and still have a broken laptop.
I brought in my macbook that wasn’t powering on and explained that I wasn’t sure the problem but guessed it was either the motherboard or the power button. I was told that it was highly unlikely that it was the power button. I was quoted $ 185 assuming it was the motherboard but would call if they found anything different. I was told it would take 3 – 5 business days. After 5 business days I didn’t hear anything and had to call 3 times to get an update.
I was told that they replaced the motherboard but it still wasn’t powering on and now they needed to replace the power button which was part of the keyboard so it would be another $ 150. Wait, what?! First of all, they should have tested the power button first. Easy thing to test and could have called to let me know before replacing the motherboard and charging me for that. The correct thing to do would have been to diagnose the problem before replacing anything, then calling me to discuss. The macbook is a 2010 so I would never agreed to spend over $ 300 to fix it. The first guy I spoke to said, he was sure he had to replace the motherboard anyway. I don’t believe that and will never know for sure. I told them not to fix the keyboard and picked it up. I got charged $ 185 to replace the motherboard that I don’t even believe needed to be replaced and still have a laptop that doesn’t power on.

100% disappoint in the service. I would say keep your option open and look at other options in the community if you can

I have taken my grandson to be Kevin’s customer because his computer was slow and heating up. After, Kevin worked on the laptop it no longer heats up and runs a lit faster. Happy customer as always.

The customer service is good, the dog is adorable, and they did everything in a timely manner.
My complaints are these: Why did I pay you 40 dollars for a charger I could have bought for 6 dollars? The charger you gave me was falling apart. I knew I should have made you replace it, but I desperately needed my laptop for school. I actually got electrocuted by the charger today and am buying a new one.
My second complaint is the sticker you put on my computer without asking me. It is a pain to try and get off my computer. That is not right. I consider that vandalism of my property. I will never go back here.

I have a solid one year young PC that needed attention to it’s slow performance. With children sneaking it’s usage I am left to pick up the pieces and have it serviced.
I was not exactly sure what the issue (s) were but I was confident it would need to have the HD wiped and re-​installed from scratch. I have performed this on many of my laptops and am aware of the time it takes to update the drivers and OS patches, etc.
Do be frank I was a little surprised to know it would cost $ 150.00 for the above process to be completed. I am not entirely convinced there is much technical aptitude needed to do this but was okay with having the work done. The fellas were very nice within the office and welcomed my business.
However, immediately returning home I uploaded Blizzard games and noticed the games froze at nearly the precise moment each time, the both of them did. Not sure if I will contact them with my concerns or Blizzard but would return to BAC if needed.

The Bay Area computer man is the man! These are the guys to call when you need your laptop fixed, was traveling through town in our RV and our laptop crapped out, we use our laptop for everything including watching movies, so if sucked when it broke down, these guys fixed it up in a day and even informed us we needed some anti virus software or else it would happen again, they were friendly and professional, the price was the price it costs money to get things fixed and none works for free so all in all good work and back on the road dudes !!

I called, in a desperate attempt to upgrade the memory/​RAM on my laptop and having failed twice, to get some advice. He was really helpful and provided a lot of information over the phone that helped me make a more informed purchase. He provided suggestions on where I could purchase the hardware I needed since I kept buying the wrong stuff. I took his suggestions to heart, purchased what I needed, and they work great! While I did not go into the store myself, but the fact that he was willing to help me over the phone definitely means I will be stopping by the store for my future laptop needs. Thanks a lot!

These guys saved the day on a one of my workstation hard drives. Long story short, my partition was accidentally deleted on a large hard drive which stored all the ORIGINAL raw pictures from my last three cameras, music, and backups from my older hard drives. I was in deep s**t if I couldn’t fix this soon. I realized that there was a possibility the data could be recovered, but I worried in what fashion.
I searched on craigslist for data recovery and then these guys were one of the most recent postings to show up. I quickly found their Unilocal page and at a glance saw positive things. Decided to give them a call and I told them exactly what happened and the condition of the drive. They quoted me the price of $ 249.99, which I was expecting nonetheless. I simply didn’t want to take the time into researching the correct software required and run the recovery myself so I decided to just drop it off here.
They required a another drive big enough to transfer the recovered data onto, which I luckily had just at this time. Dropped it off Saturday afternoon and was told it could take a 3 – 4 days just to run the scans on a drive like this. Didn’t have a problem with that but I was skeptical the couldn’t recover the file names and original folder organization.
I called back on the following Friday morning for an update on the drive and let me know to leave me a voice mail with an update. They did just that in the afternoon and said they were able to recover most everything. I called back Friday night and confirmed that they recovered all the data with the names, folders, etc. I was so ecstatic that made my night! I told them I’d pick it up on Saturday afternoon. The data recovery results were better than expected. I forgot to bring my original invoice, so he just checked my ID. The owner wasn’t there, but the guy who works here with him is great! I also negotiated the labor to a 10% discount. A+ place. They truly saved me and I learned my lesson. I’m going to backup my photos onto my NAS backup very soon.

This place is the best! Came two years ago with a broken vaio screen, they fixed it for $ 100 parts and labor, while other places were trying to charge me more than $ 150 just to diagnose that it was the screen with the problem.
I’m so sad I’ve moved away since then, but I dropped my external hard drive (clearly, I’m not meant to handle electronics), and was calling around New York to see how much it would cost to fix– everyone was telling me over $ 100 dollars again to fix it, even though the external itself was only around $ 50. I called Bay Area Computerman panicky, worried that all my pictures over the last 6 years would be gone, and thankfully they quoted a REASONABLE $ 40 to fix my external. I’m so dependent on them im sending my external BACK to California just so they can fix it. And I doubt they’ll let me down :) Highly recommend for the technologically challenged (like me).

This is a review from quite a while ago I thought I had posted, but guess I never did haha.
I accidentally spilled water on my laptop (NEVER, EVER keep an open water bottle near your computer haha) and thought it was fried. I let it dry for a while and it wasn’t coming back up… I decided to bring it down to BACM as I have used their services before and have been pleased. I thought it was gonna cost an arm and a leg to fix the motherboard, but they quoted me 150 (Which is pretty darn reasonable) to repair the board, and then like 40 bucks for a new keyboard.
In a few days I was up and running and my lappy runs like a champ!
Fast service, and decent prices, I would highly recommend to all.

Kevin and his staff have been phenomenal.
I own a small business and Bay Area Computerman keeps me running.
Recommend HIGHLY to all.

I just got my husband’s computer fixed here today! I am very pleased with coming here to get his new keyboard installed. The place is comfortable and the owner was extremely nice and hospitable. He was also very knowledgeable and confident in his work. He was also very quick with his work. I would highly recommend anyone needing computer service to come here!

I was in need of technical help for my computer equipment… and I found Bay Area Computerman …
I am completely satisfied with their work. Great customer service, and they took the time to clearly explain the nature and source of the problems. I was given an accurate quote and the work was completed on time
I highly recommend these guys for any of your computer repair or service needs!
Thank you Bay Area Computerman

I got up one morning and my computer was off and wouldn’t power up. I was pretty sure my power supply had died. I saw Bay Area Computerman on Unilocal and thought I would give it a try. I called and talked to Forester and he said he could do the work while I waited which is good since I don’t like leaving my computer in the hands of strangers.
I told Forester I thought it was the power supply and he made that a priority and check it first (I’m tech savvy like that.)
Yep, it was the power supply. Forester replaced the power supply and blew out all the dust for a mere $ 96 total. $ 39 for the labor, and $ 46 for the power supply.
Had i taken it to fry’s I imagine it would have taken a week and cost twice as much.
I’m quite happy with the prompt service. I’ll be back.

My bf borrowed my computer and when he returned it to me the next morning I turned on the screen the «white screen of death» came up (with a folder woth question mark in the middle. note this is the second time this has happened to me). I was like did u drop my computer, did it over heat, etc etc… He said he just used it this morning. I was so sad because two years ago I had the same issue (white screen, see my old review). Anyhow, my bf is like why don’t you try other places, but I insisted to go to bay area computerman because they were so awesome the last time.
So we get to bay area computer man and I told them my problem and they told me to start my computer. Before they did anything they took a quick look at it. Then they flipped over the computer and checked out the hard drive and pushed it in a little. And they said that I may have just lucked out … And so we re– started the computer and wah-​la! It restarted! So basically, my hard drive was loose and wasnt in place. My problem was fixed in less than five minutes, free of charge! Honest people, great customer service! Thank u bay area computer man… U guys are the best!!!

2 stars for poor customer service. I brought in my laptop and Al was kind and patient enough with me to answer my questions. Then the larger Caucasian gentleman walked through the door and decided to put in his two cents, talking down to me like a child without ever introducing himself.
I’ve noticed this with tech types who feel they’re gods gift to those of us who don’t spend the majority of our days inside of a computer’s guts. I’m sorry sir, but I spent a lot of money on my machine and I feel justified in asking as many questions as I need to to feel like I’m not being ripped off. You may repair 60 laptops a week and I don’t doubt your expertise, but getting snippy with me and talking to me like an idiot has sent me right into the arms of one of your competitors.
Al is patient and generally pleasant. The other gentleman has a thing or two to learn about people skills. I’m never coming here again.

My T400 laptop sailed and backpacked around Greece with me last summer. It survived the entire trip like a champ! Love this computer. Sadly it finally died after I moved to the Bay Area in the fall. Wouldn’t boot past the BIOS. Hopefully it’s tragic, sudden death wasn’t depression related to the move north.
Brought my laptop in to get repaired on Thursday last week. Showed the dude behind the counter the problem. He agreed that it was probably a motherboard issue but then also said the OS could be corrupted. Yes. But what?! Sorry dude, it’s a solid state hard drive and Ubuntu doesn’t mess up that easily. It’s clear he wasn’t the one who was going to be doing the repair and that’s probably what they tell everyone. Whatever, see what you can do.
Not more than three days later, on the WEEKEND I might add, I got a call that it was ready to be picked up. Wow, these guys actually work 7 days a week! Picked it up this morning from a more knowledgeable staff member. He said they had to replace the power IC. Exactly what I was hoping for (ie: didn’t have to replace the entire motherboard). $ 160 later and I’ve got my baby back! Thanks a lot guys.

Along with the brokenness of my previous relationship, the laptop that my ex-​boyfriend generously allowed me to keep crapped out shortly after the break up. It was almost like the laptop’s emotion was negatively affected by the separation, the screen was dim but I could still vaguely see some graphics… sort of like a playful little elf turned off the light inside of my computer. What an evil elf.
Normally, it would be the boyfriend’s job to fix it, or figure out who to go to to get any electronic items repaired. Pathetic, desperate and alone, I turned to Unilocal and found Bay Area Computerman.
They said it’d take 3 – 5 business days to get it fixed. On the fourth day, I got a call back and a man with the voice of an angel told me that the laptop was ready for pick up. I figuratively broke down and cried my tears of joy.
They replaced the video cable and the inverter card (blah blah blah) and charged $ 149.95. I don’t have a lot of experience with hardware repair, but I would say this price appears to be reasonable. I thought I would have to spend $ 500 to get a new screen or something!
The past four days without my laptop, I was like a druggie without my fix… I sat in my closet and shivered and was very sensitive to light. So thank you, BAC, for repairing my laptop which allows me to write this review about how awesome you are.

This place is so awesome!
My 250 gb external hard drive was not popping up on my computers. I was freaking out because there were over 1000 mp3s and seven years of irreplaceable pictures. I was very close to breaking down and crying my eyes out. My boyfriend goes online to see the prices for data recovery. Everything ranged from 250 and up and that was at the minimum. That is without diagnosing fees and the bigger the drive or the bigger the problem, the higher the price.
I read the review for this place and one of the people had the same problem I had so I was preying they could help me out. My boyfriend dropped it off and then I received a phone call the next day saying that they had fixed the problem!!! I am so grateful. They recovered everything and for only 250 bucks! Thank you!