Somerville Computers — Attraction in Somerville

The guy who runs the place, Mario, is an absolute gem of a human and really knows his stuff when it comes to computers. I was in the middle of a semi-messy do-it-by-my-dumb-self CPU upgrade and got really stuck - I took it to Mario and he sorted it all out. The problem was something I never would have figured out myself* and Mario kept me updated throughout the process and didn't gouge me for late nights he spent working on it. I've been back twice with two other issues on other computers and every time the price was reasonable and Mario got me straightened out. If you've got a computer problem, see Mario.

*I'd installed 128mb of ram into my Asus motherboard along with a new CPU. I was getting errors that the video card wasn't connected even though it was and was spooling. Mario got past that pretty quickly but when he went to install windows, it wouldn't actually take. It turned out that in some cases, on some motherboards, Windows will not install with more than 64mb of ram installed. Mario had to take out two of the memory sticks, install windows, and then plugged the sticks back in. This was absolutely not something I was going to figure out on my own and I'm blessed that mario didn't throw his hands up and tell me to find another computer...

I was skeptical about Somerville Computers especially since it's a small shop with no website in Somerville. However, the owner, Mario is very courteous and quick to explain in a polite way the work that he is going to do on your computer.

My case today was a minor one - I'd stripped the screw of my new samsung laptop as I tried to upgrade the memory and couldn't get the damn thing out. Even though the laptop is in warranty, sending it back to Samsung was going to be more of a hassle and time I didn't want to go through (warranty does not cover shipping laptop to Samsung in Texas)

So I decided to give Somerville computers a chance. Mario tried to remove it immediately but couldn't. He had a lot of customers waiting in line so he asked me to leave it behind and he'd try later on. I was skeptical that he was going to make it seem like it took forever to fix. However, 2hrs later he called me back and let me know my laptop was ready. On getting there, he only charged me $5 and as a courtesy replaced my screw with a new one. Note: that he usually charges a $35 diagnostic fee.

It's nice to know that there are still some honest small businesses out there in Somerville and that's why I'm writing this review. Hope it helps...

This review is for those considering service plans offered by some of the big names like Best Buy. My wife and I went with Best Buy about four years ago. Used them a few times since then. The last time was a few weeks ago with my HP ENVY laptop. It was booting up and operating slowly. A Best Buy service person took control of the laptop via cyberspace, did a few things and it worked fine for a short period of time until recently when it became unusable. I took it to Somerville computers and left it with Mario overnight. We communicated two times by phone. In the end, he backed up files, replaced the Windows operating system (which had damaged files) and replaced it with the most recent version. He also uploaded Microsoft Outlook. I had email back along with my high speed laptop for a very reasonable price.

The bottom line is this; the big guys can have talented folks but in general you luck out when you actually get one. Why not go to a local guy who by all reviews is highly experienced and reasonable? Like most good things nowadays, stay...