Computer Advantage — Local services in South Bradenton

I've been a customer at Computer Advantage since I moved back to Sarasota in the early 90s. Since first living in New York City, then Ft. Lauderdale, and now back in Sarasota, Computer Advance is, without a doubt, the most reliable, trustworthy, friendly and fair Apple dealer & service team that I've ever dealt with. On the rare occasion that my hard drive has crashed or that I've had a major problem (which, with Murphy's Law, always happens in the middle of a major deadline), the service department has always jumped through hoops to get my problem resolved in an incredibly speedy manor. The Computer Advantage team always treats their customers with respect, compassion, and never talk down to you as often happens in the big box stores. Believe me, they have seen me in some of the most stress-outed moments of my life, and they always leave me with a sense that I can relax now because they've got my back. I literally live six minutes away from the new Apple store at UTC, and if I had to, I would rather strap my 70lb. monster-size G5 tower to my back and walk barefoot to Computer Advantage if I had to! Don't even think about it—if you want an Apple product and you want the best price, the best service, and the best overall experience, go see Computer Advantage. My salesman, Spencer, and Mike in service are like having a friends in...

The hard drive on my Mac Mini was failing, based on the conversation I had with a tech. I had about a month left on Applecare. I took it to Computer Advantage. They kept it for more than a week, said it was a software problem, charged me $75, and sent me home with almost all the identical issues I brought the machine to them to fix. I called Apple to complain.

Two months later, the hard drive had died completely. The Mac was a brick. My Applecare had expired but because I'd documented that Computer Advantage had failed to fix a problem I'd correctly identified while it was still warrantied, Apple agreed to extend the warranty a few weeks to cover the repair.

Computer Advantage took another 9 days to replace the hard drive and had the gall to write on its invoice when it returned the computer that "the hard drive was failing."

No.

When I originally brought it in, the hard drive was failing. When I brought it the second time, it had failed.

Wouldn't boot, no matter what (the tech at Apple I spoke to on the phone had had me try everything.)

As a computer, it made a decent boat anchor.)

Don't use these guys if you can help it. Bad service, and I gather there's some issue with employee morale, too, as a tech snapped at me when I called after a week to say I needed my computer back and he replied, "You and...

The technical support from Computer Advantage is stellar. This store is up-to-date on everything Mac - and for our business that is a must. Larry Edison literally took a large project with several compatibility issues, hardware difficulties (working on an older Mac laptop) and enabled the project to meet the deadline. Professional, patient, knowledgeable he dedicated creative thought not only to the best layouts (using Keynote and PowerPoint) but also with presentation experience that guided slide creation (use of google images - choosing proper resolutions, font size, etc.). Dedicated personalized attention to the project at hand, skill and practical know how (teaching shortcuts and educating about Mac use all along the way) make this tech experience stand out above others. As an authorized Apple store with trained technicians, there is great confidence that the job will be done correctly. The ability to solve issues (PowerPoint for Mac continually crashing) was easily accomplished where others were stymied. The fact that the store has one-on-one teaching, allowing working at one’s own pace with the flexibility of client choice of the subject makes Computer Advantage have a major advantage over one-on-one single subject training in other environments. This store deserves a 5 star from this...