Computer Renaissance — Local services in Beaverton

I'd give them 7 stars if I could. I have a 3-4 year old HP Pavilion laptop. It was getting slow and I thought reinstalling the OS (Vista) would help. I tried doing so using the recovery disks I'd gotten from Best Buy when I originally purchased the computer. But the reinstall failed after getting 85% through, and gave me an error code. I went to Best Buy and talked with the Geek Squad. They said the problem was the hard drive. So I bought a new one, went home and installed it, and then tried the recovery disks. This time the reinstall stopped as soon as I got to the point of pressing "Next" to begin. I looked on community chats for the error code. There were different answers, but I didn't get useful help from them. From one suggestion, I restarted and went into the BIOS for diagnostics. The memory test passed but the hard disk test wouldn't execute. It said there was no IDE device installed. I didn't understand that, so I phoned Best Buy. They said it could be several problems, including motherboard, etc, and they would need $200 for them to diagnose and fix the problem (more if new hardware were needed). So $%^&)$#)-bleep! Or I could return the hard drive and get my money back. Of course, this would not solve the problem and leave me in the ditch with my laptop. So I tried calling HP support. But this was not much help and they suggested I call local repair shops. So I did. I got some weird suggestions, and some high costs to look at the problem. Then I called Computer Renaissance and talked with Josh. I began describing the problems. When I mentioned the no IDE device installed message to Josh, he asked me if I had connected the adapter. Adapter? - I didn't know there was one and wasn't able to see one. He said that the HP Pavilions had adapters for the hard disks. When he described it, I immediately saw it. I connected it to the new hard drive and presto, the recovery disks worked this time. They formatted the new hard disk and reinstalled the OS. Josh really knows his stuff!! And now I’m using my laptop again, without having paid Best Buy $200 or local repair shops $100 or more, and I genuinely have the correct fix to what was wrong. I will keep this shop’s phone number and call them first when I next have a...

Based on many earlier reviews of this place, I decided to give them a call. So very glad I did! I (like most people) really dig that they do a free basic exam of your computer, and then a very reasonable diagnostic fee if it takes more than a few minutes to troubleshoot. (I can't drop $150 just for someone to simply power up my computer!) In my case, Josh recognized my damaged HDD was FUBAR within minutes. I've replaced these in the past, and so I initially thought about saving a few bucks and doing it myself. Then again, what brought me in here was that I needed it to get fixed asap! I decided to have him replace/upgrade the drive and add some RAM. That was yesterday, and today I was delighted when Josh called to tell me that my computer was ready! Hardware fixed, internal bits cleaned and lubed, OS and drivers loaded, and a screaming fast, 'brand new' laptop...yeah, I'm glad I went to Renaissance!

Check these guys out. They will let you know if it's time to put your old 'puter out of it's misery if that's the case. But they can also save you a thousand bucks or so by repairing a perfectly good piece of hardware (as in my case).

Big...

Do not bring your electronics here to sell, I beg of you! This man only knows technology and can only be helpful to you if you need something FIXED and even then, make sure you do full research on your own product to make sure he does actually know what he’s talking about and doesn’t just try to tell you anything to take advantage of you. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a woman and claimed I didn’t care much for the electronic I had, but he absolutely took FULL advantage of that fact that I was very honest about it. Do not go here if you have somewhere to be and want to have a conducive conversation with someone about business because you will not find that here, this guy will insist you sit down so he can talk your ear off while he darts his eyes all around because he’s just a lonely, computer store business owner who doesn’t get out enough and when he sees a young woman he can’t himself. All for $60 written on a check like this is 2003….but I was extremely desperate unfortunately it’s sad the things some of us will do when we’re desperate. Do NOT go to this guy, he doesn’t understand business he just read that book computers...