Do you trust PC World with your computer repair?

I was gobsmacked to read this month's (March 2011) article in Which? magazine: "Would your PC survive high street surgery?" Which? took 24 computers (both laptops and desktops) with very basic faults to PC World, Comet, Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse and found the chances of getting them fixed was no better than 50:50!

But what shocked me more were the prices they quoted or charged for the repairs. For a laptop with a fairly basic software boot-up fault, Comet quoted for a new motherboard for £275! Best Buy came in at £160 charging for a new version of Windows plus a diagnostic fee of £40.

The most we would charge for these repairs would be £50. On top of that I was staggered by how long they took to repair these machines, typically 5-15 days with some repairs taking as long as 28 days! If we had a tricky repair with components needing sourcing, it's very rare for a repair to take longer than 3 or 4 days and typically it's 1-2 days. So why do these large retailers with plentiful staff need up to 4 weeks to fix the most basic repair not even requiring parts?

The desktops had an even more basic fault than the laptops - a cable had become detached from the motherboard. PC World charged £69.99 to repair this and took 4 days! Typical charges were £49.99 and I was pleased to see some offered the repair free of charge.

We offer free diagnosis on all our repairs and we wouldn't dream of charging you for the five seconds it took to plug a cable back in you'll be pleased to hear!

Near miss ...

Some of you may have spotted me on my daily cycle to our shop in Tavistock. I'm the one with the really bright front light! Well last week (on the 4th of February) I was trudging up the A386 to Grenofen on my way back from work, when I felt a sudden sharp blow to my right elbow. I looked up to see a Ford Escort white van speeding off with its wing mirror flipped in. Luckily I didn't come off and I only came away with a slight bruise. But the road is wide here and I am clearly visible with a super bright rear light too! The driver of course didn't stop and unfortunately I didn't get his number plate.

After many near misses I've often thought of recording my journey to work with a helmet camera. But after this incident and further prompted by the recent BBC news article on helmet cameras I decided to look into this further. Of course the opportunity to try out a new gadget also came into the equation!

I wanted something that would easily attach to my cycle helmet, would record in high quality and was weatherproof. There were three contenders: the Contour HD 1080 (RRP £230), the Drift HD170 (RRP £280) and the GoPro Hero HD (RRP £300).

They all have their own merits but for me the Drift HD170 came out on top. It's also the only one to have its own LCD screen which makes setting up and playing back your recording far easier / possible! Looking at endless video clips on Youtube and Vimeo, I preferred the quality too. Plus it's made by Drift Innovation who are based in the UK which is a nice change.

I should be receiving one soon and will be giving it a thorough test. If it does the job we'll be stocking it in our shop and online! With the amount of outdoor activities here on Dartmoor - walking, cycling, mountaineering, horse riding, kayaking etc, I'm sure it'll be popular! Look out for a review coming soon.