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If you’re not fond of replacing your hardware or you don’t want to pay the high cost of having an item repaired or replaced, you may want to take matters into your own hands—these sites help you do exactly that.
iFixit is the most well-known site of its type. The US-based company started in 2003 after co-founder Kyle Wiens couldn’t find a repair manual for his Apple iBook. iFixit has since grown into a global community.
The site offers video teardowns so you can see what goes into a product and how to put it back together. Users from all over submit their own guides to fix consumer electronics of all types. You can also buy the parts you need to finish the job.
Many of us find it easier to follow along with a video than with text or photos. Fortunately, YouTube is packed with tutorials and clips of people fixing their own PCs. Most of the sites above even upload videos to YouTube.
Lots of the tutorials come from channels that don’t specialize in computer repair. These are often from individuals who at some point need to fix their own devices and decide to share their experience with the internet. Their instructions may be the best you can find when working with less common hardware.
Anyone can upload content to YouTube, so keep that in mind when considering whether to take a video’s advice. You may come across instructions that aren’t reliable, increasing the chance you will break your machine.
wikiHow provides step-by-step instructions on how to do seemingly anything. One task it doesn’t do is tell you how to fix exactly the component that’s broken on your computer or mobile device. Still, that doesn’t mean it’s useless for addressing your electronic woes.
Here, you can find general guides that may work regardless of your model, such as how to revive a cell phone battery or how to fix an iPod jack. This general know-how may serve you well not only with your current tech headache but also with future ones.
As the name suggests, PowerbookMedic has been around since before Apple called its laptops MacBooks or even iBooks. That doesn’t mean the site is filled with stagnant, outdated information. It remains a valuable tool for fixing Apple hardware, including iPhones and iPads.
Don’t have an Apple product? PowerbookMedic isn’t entirely irrelevant to you. The site also has guides for Amazon Kindle devices. So, if your Fire tablet or Kindle e-reader has fallen on hard times, this resource could help you out.
PowerbookMedic doesn’t only sell parts—it offers to buy your current PC. The company will repair your machine and then sell it refurbished. If the folks at PowerbookMedic can’t use a part, they try to recycle what they can.
Rather Have Someone Else Do the Work?
Fixing a device takes time. You also risk damaging the hardware further, and if anything goes wrong, you’re out of luck. So, it makes sense not to take that task on yourself.
Many shops exist for precisely this kind of work. One of the sites listed above will take your gadget and fix it if you’re willing to mail it in. PowerbookMedic will repair your Apple device, claiming an average turnaround time of four business days (though Amazon hardware is not supported).
Other shops offer brick-and-mortar locations in the US. CPR (Cell Phone Repair) stores, despite the name, will also fix computers and game consoles at its hundreds of locations. uBreakiFix is another large chain, and so is iFixandRepair, which both have stores nationwide. A smaller, local option is also bound to be found in your nearest metropolitan area.
If you live in the US and consider fixing your own hardware a right, check out the Repair Association. You may also want to check out iFixit’s page on Right to Repair, which provides plenty of relevant links and other resources.