I had an administration issue with my Dell laptop that I wasn't able to fix myself. Went online to look for solutions and found others with the same problem and there we no fixes to be found. I took it into PC Fix-Ballard and was out in minutes with all issues resolved. Thanks George! You're awesome! read more

PC Fix - Ballard - I'm up and running! Thanks! - IT Services & Computer Repair Near Me - Seattle, Washington

My laptop was too far gone, and we couldn't salvage that. But I had that information quickly and at the reasonable cost of a diagnostic. He recycled my old hardware, and even gave me some recommendations for its replacement. Great service. read more

Stopped by, walked in with my computer and hubby. Person just not a customer service kind of person, nor first impression delighter. We waited out in the cold longer than he said we would, so left. Seattle Laptop was a further drive but worth it, hands down read more

Update: I recently found out that the person I was trying to help was filled in on how "aggressive" I was on the phone, and how other bad things were said about me, when they did to in to pick up their computer. They indicated how surprised they were to hear this given that I am one of the least aggressive people this person (who I have known since they were 7 years old!) has ever known. So not only was I called a name on the phone, but also bad-mouthed to my friend. I do note that the company owner left a generic comment on the review that they would be happy to talk, but I will pass on that. I'm sure they would just back up their employee anyway (which well they should, I guess!), but I don't care enough beyond filing this update, as I would never darken their door or recommend them. To say terrible things about me to a friend like that- childish and unprofessional. read more

I've worked with PcFix since 2006 when Elliott built my first handmade computer. 14 years later they continue to keep the same computer tuned up they've done a fantastic job really appreciate them even though I live in Port Townsend now I still using them. They're great read more

Exceeded my expectations!! With finals just around the corner and research papers do my high school senior sat on her laptop and broke the screen making the laptop unusable. Dave had the screen replaced within two hours of bringing it into him and charge me $100 less than the competitors that I called. That's exceeding expectations!!! read more

These guys are not great. They are not bad either. To tell you the truth I thought they did an OK job but they missed a simple thing which almost cost me $2000.00. I brought in my computer to be repaired and discussed with the guy that I needed it fast as I was going out of town. That I'd like it fixed and that I'd like some things in it upgraded. He said that was fine. The next day he had not started. Which is his prerogative, but it meant that there was now definitely no time to both fix the computer and do the upgrades. That surprised me since they would have made most of the money on the upgrades. After some rigmarole on my part with getting them the drive they needed they correctly determine that my drive was bad. They work on fixing it and get it back to me in more than enough time. But, they say that they can't fix the drive and send me to a hard drive recovery place. Still, they are not blowing me away, but they seem to me (at this point) that they are above average. So before I spend 2k on hard drive recovery I decide to call Progressive Tech. They offer to do the diagnostic for free since I had already paid A-1 Best Computer. I drop the drive off and they tell me within 5 minutes what is wrong with it. It turns out that the drive had a known issue with the internal ROM and they just had to flash the drive and it would work. Then they had to pull data off of the (now damaged) drive. Which was easy for them. In any case A-1 missing something that is a known issue is the very definition of 2 stars. I've experienced better. A-1 is not the worst place, most places are worse that A-1, but it is definitely not the best. read more

Excellent determination of my wife's problem with her laptop and prompt solution to it.

I spilled a cup of creamy, sugary coffee (yep, that's how I like it) on my laptop and, of course, it went black right away. I totally freaked out, finally figured out how to take the battery out (I'm a dunce when it comes to technology), looked around on Yelp, and only went to these guys because their reviews were decent and they lived close by. Long story short: IT WORKS AGAIN! They had it for a few days, which was painful, but I'm so thankful I didn't have to buy a new one. read more

The Ballard / Cronw Hill store: Excellent place to experience the opposite of good and friendly service. They strive to give the shittiest service possible. If you are looking for someone you cannot trust your computer, this is the perfect place. Also, if you do not know much about computers this clerk is fantastic to make you feel stupid, ignorant and completely lost. Contrary to those places where people try to make you spend money with them, these people make you want to flee pronto and pay again for a computer diagnostics somewhere else. read more

I've been using PC Fix for close to ten years. Not only are they absolute pros at getting computers to run in the most efficient way, they are also the coolest people to work with. They have a lot of professional integrity and fair fees. I love their very convenient option of working on your computer remotely from their office. I highly recommend PC Fix to resolve all your computer issues. read more

Having taken my laptop to these guys before and liking the service I went in fully expecting to have to have major repairs done. I was even ready to give up the old machine and buy a new one. After a couple of days of cleaning and diagnostics they called and said it was ready and I got out of there for much less then I thought I would have to pay. The laptop runs great. Helpful, honest and knowledgeable. . read more

I was a little concerned after reading a couple of reviews but I had a very positive experience with PC Fix Ballard. The price for the repair was fair and was completed a day sooner than was expected. read more

Fast, thorough and great price. Also, pleasant friendly service! So glad I found this place!

Totally recommend this place. Our computer was completely dead and not booting. We brought it in at the end of the day on Friday and it was as good as new on Tuesday morning. Communications were good. I thought the $150 price tag was reasonable. read more

ZAP! Right in the middle of a routine Google search, a bolt of lightening crashed into my personal cyberspace--not literally electricity from the sky, but a malady just as devastating to my Dell laptop computer. My screen was abruptly taken over by an alarming message informing me that my hard drive was infected by a harmful virus and that I needed to take immediate action. Assuming this was part of my McAfee virus protection software, I clicked on the "yes" box, mostly out of panic and confusion. Big mistake! I had opened Pandora's box from hell. "Antivirus 2009" is clearly the anti-Christ in disguise. Panic began to set in as new windows began popping up at every turn telling me that even legitimate, trusted web pages were now suspicious virus carriers, and that for only a $49.95 one-time charge this program would clean my machine and rid it of any problems--an offer which I did not accept, thank the gods. I was irritated as hell, but still had no clue how insidious this malicious entity would prove to be. It had installed itself into my programs file and refused to be uninstalled by normal methods. Like any good computer owner, I ran full diagonistic scans as well as Microsoft's "malicious software removal tool," but even that didn't recognize this piece of parasitic pond scum for what it is. So in desperation I headed for A-1 Best Computers, a tiny repair shop in Ballard which I had noticed many times while driving through the area. They advertise themselves as laptop specialists, although their services also include desktop computer repair, rentals, and computer training. I was greeted by Arash, a nice young man who explained that I was a new victim of one of the nastiest and most insidious scams out there, and that most computer protection software programs--including McAfee and Norton--simply look the other way when this thing rears its ugly head. Opting to make the on-line purchase of Antivirus 2009 only makes things worse since it is essentially a fake program which takes one's credit card number and gives you absolutely nothing in return. Furthermore, the longer this parasite stays in the computer the deeper it burrows. Arash said that eliminating it is a tedious process, like removing buckshot from a shotgun blast because it works its way into multiple sectors of the hard drive. He said they needed to determine how far the virus had wormed itself into the innards of my computer, and promised me an estimate within a few hours. I received the estimate later that afternoon just as promised. It wouldn't be a cheap fix since the shop charges $75 an hour, but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and let them have at it. A-1 Best Computers finished the job by the following day. Not only did they remove Antivirus 2009, but they also found some spyware and other viruses which had somehow crawled into my computer. With my permission, they deleted my old anti-virus program and installed Kaspersky 7.0, which they claim is a much better anti-virus program than either McAfee or Norton. They also installed Search and Destroy, a spybot elimination program, updated Windows XP, optimized my operating system, and thoroughly tested the computer. I'm impressed--and so far so good. I'm relieved. I'm happy to have my computer back and working again without waiting days or weeks for it. I have learned a difficult and costly lesson and will definitely be more vigilant in the future. A-1 computers has a 60 day warranty on their work, although the warranty does not include future virus and spyware infection. I suppose this is understandable since there seems to be an endless supply of evil people behind the creation of these malicious programs. Sometimes they obviously win despite the best efforts of computer programmers, innocent users, virus protection programs--and repair shops. Thank you, A-1 Computers for your great service, fast turn-around time, and excellent customer care. My desktop computer is also due for a tune-up, so I'll be back! read more

PC Fix was quick, helpful and professional. I brought my laptop in after I got scammed by a company claiming to be MSFT and installed a virus and malware. PC Fix communicated with me through text message and email while my laptop was being fixed, and let me know as soon as it was completed. If I ever need computer repair again, I will certainly be going back! read more

I own a small business in Seattle, and rely heavily on my computer. I recently found out that I needed to upgrade my memory so I went to Computer Stop who sold me two 1 gig "sticks" and told me how to put them in. Turns out that the slot on the back could only take one of the sticks so I went back to them After a solid 20 minutes the tech came out, told me that I'd have to get with Dell or someone who knew about the laptop because the 2nd slot was likely under the keyboard and he didn't know how to reach it. Uhhhh ... okay. I then go to A-1 Best and tell them the story. Jeremy opens the computer, slips off a cover unscrwed the keyboard flap, opens another cover exchanges the memory, goes back in reverse and I'm done in maybe ten minutes. Bam! As a small business owner this is what I come to expect and this is why I'll go back for any of my computer needs. read more

I visited this shop for assistance with a hardware issue with my laptop and couldn't have been more pleased. David, the technician who assisted me, was extremely cheery and knowledgeable, and got me moving in the right direction in no time at all. Don't dread getting your computer serviced - the folks at PC Fix remove anxiety from the equation! read more

Great service, quick turnaround. George ran virus scans on my PC and my backup. thanks. read more

Very very good quick service! George was great! My laptop runs better than when I got it new!

I just completed my second visit to A1, this time with my desktop that had completely died. (The first visit was with my laptop last year.) I equate computer repair to car repair in that I know next to nothing about the details and run the risk of getting screwed. This little business doesn't talk down to you, helps you keep the costs down and actually educates you on the issues if you are interested. Yes, they know what they are talking about - unlike BestBuy Geek Squad which outsources to India and doesn't have deep knowledge and charges you and arm and a log for nothing. As a small business owner, these guys are my outsourced help desk and I highly recommend them. read more

Went in to have the BIOS set for IDE to SATA drives and check out 2 adaptors. Jason looked at the adaptors and immediately said they were no good and I needed to buy a card from him. As I explained to a employee I had talked to earlier in the day ( a nice gentleman), I wanted the BIOS checked first. Jason repeated his first statement and I told him "never mind, I would take it to another store to have it checked." My wife and I took the parts to our car (30 feet away) and I looked back and Jason was standing outside the door giving us the finger! I returned to the store and confronted Jason and he said he didn't like my attitude. We are both in our late 60's and had never seen this type of customer attitude before. Everthing was fine with us until this parting gesture. Possibly a good store but one terrible employee !! Nortons! Follow-up! I was contacted by Eric, the new owner (8 months) of the company and we had a good conversation about what took place on our visit to the Ballard store. He wondered if I would consider removing my review of my visit and I declined because it was completely accurate as to what happened. he apologized for what we went through and I gladly accepted the apology. We discussed the ins and outs of providing customer service and agreed business is to tough to throw it away. I explained I hoped in 10 years Jason would look back and laugh and admit he did something really stupid! Again I would hope that the quality of the service work is not represented by this one employees attitude! All the best of luck to Eric and his company and crew. read more

If anything has changed it only got better since I had a warranty issue that they resolved very fairly. Will take all my computers here!

A-1 Best is a chain--one storefront in Ballard, one at 80th and Lake City Way, and I don't remember where the other one is. There are people who work the front desk doing intake and paperwork. These guys are not the technicians, so don't be alarmed if they don't seem to know much about computers. I had a bit if a scare after talking to the guy in Ballard--THIS guy is going to fix it? No, no he isn't. Someone who works on computers for a living is going to fix it. Phew. So go for it. Bring your computer in, they will take care of it. I'll bring mine in again if the need arises. read more

Tim was great! He came out quickly and ran tests on our newer laptops that were crashing when CAD was being used. He was unable to fix them but gave me the test results to use with Dell in resolving the issues. It was great having the information to share with Dell, so they wouldn't continue to try to rip us off with bad computers. Dell is replacing 2 bad mother boards. I highly recommend PC Fix! read more

For some reason my review is not showing up. I am a REAL customer who has dealt with PC fix in ballard. I am so disappointed in PC fix. In the past I've had a great experience at pc fix, but things have changed. I had a horrible experience this time. Here's what happened. I went to pc fix because my computer wouldn't display anything. I went to pc fix, and had to pay $55 for a diagnostic (to see what​ the issue is). The guy there was rude to me from the start. The guy told me he would call me back the next day in the evening. At 3 pm the next day I called to get an update. The guy working there told me I shouldn't of called, because he said he would call me in the evening, but it was the evening. I never got a call back. This isn't the issue though. So the next day I had enough and went to pick up the computer. The guy told me it was a video card issue. He said I would have to pay $170 for a new one. I had my doubts. I took the computer back home and called my friend who knows a lot about computers. He came to my house and within 1 minute found the issue. The inside power cord had been burned and melted through. That was the issue. That's a simple repair. The video card was NOT the issue. So I assume they didn't even look at my computer thoroughly. My friend fixed it for $10 dollars. I'm extremely disappointed because I had a GREAT experience with pc fix in the past when the other person worked there. There's a different guy working there now. When the other guy was working there he was super friendly, and fixed my computer right on the spot. This was two different times. Now there is a different guy working there, who I didn't have a good experience with. I wish pc fix was a good as before but sadly I was disappointed. Oh well. They will overcharge you, and they will deceive you. If this isn't bad business I don't know what is. read more

This guys are the closest things to computer magician/doctors! Service with a smile and willing to go the extra mile! Very fast and affordable! read more

these guys ripped me off for 50$ on a diagnosis told me it would cost all this money and total joke. Another place was in disbelief when i told them what happened and they did what i wanted for free and owe me a favor because all i wanted was my pictures and this pc fix tried to pull a fast one. other place was free and owes me a favor and didn't take me on a diagnosis! no idea where these reviews are coming from read more

I believe this Independent Observation of my experience from "Good People" says it all but feel free to read the entire post: Two days after I returned home with my Mac Air still not running properly from the Ballard PC Fix, I had One of the "Good People" at Geek Wire, a Geek God look at it... He stated: "If he (ballard PC fix) did not FIRST upgrade your system to the latest version of OS Software he failed in his job completely" NOTE TO BALLARD PC FIX: Once this was done things were way better. I had 7 thing to address: 1 was completed, the other ended up a wash. So they earned 1 out of 6. Seems more than fair. For example: If your Teacher asked you to write a 7 Paragraph Essay and you only truly write one do you think you deserve 5 Gold Stars? Obviously, I am not Tech Savvy, I came to Ballard PC Fix Store in good faith based on Yelp Reviews and the job I brought to Ballard PC Fix was not difficult nor was it completed. Let alone not addressing the other very basic requests. All of which was discussed in detail when I dropped it off. Was I wrong to assume that even though I was told 'yes' they can help with that, that they'd be Fixed? Is it not Fair and True to let the Good People of Seattle know what happened? Shortened Original Post: I took in my Laptop based on Ballard PC Fix's Yelp Rating with a list of items to address. They tied up my laptop for 9 days, made one adjustment and rid of a minor malware issue, then said it was ready and oh we're discounting the bill. They didn't say why but was it because they did not address the other items? Easy stuff like: Add Internet Explorer, show me how to change my home page, how to rearrange & delete icons on main page etc. Of course I can bring it back in. However that seems unlikely. Why? 1. They had to order in a Tool to work on my Mac Air, stating it had not been needed until now. Not experienced in this area at this Store? 2. Employee made me feel inferior for not owning a PC ... 'your just buying this' as he points to Apple Logo. Hello this is why your in business!!!! 3. Voluntarily adjusted bill, no reason really why. It WAS because he didn't address other super easy items on my written list that he photo copied and attached to repair bill. 4. Even though, after they read the review and called me, I express my dissatisfaction and ask about the amount charged, twice, no further offer of adjustment was made. This entire experience was a waste of my time, money and loss of Lap Top use. As I had to seek further help elsewhere seeing they did complete the job nor Warrant a return visit. read more

Overall, service was good and very well-priced. It took a bit long for them to get to my computer and get back to me with updates, so the full project took longer than I'd have liked from when I initially dropped the computer off, to when I could pick it up. read more

I have had several computers fixed here , including a desk top and two laptops. They always exceed my expectations. They go the extra mile, and are very knowledgeable. read more

I have used these folks twice now, the first time my request was just get my laptop working. They did but it still ran sluggish. The second time which is the sole purpose of this review, I turned in my wife's netbook, same request. Went to pick it up, heavy odor of pot from the back, when the guy gave the book back to me he said, all we could not fix was audio and the web cam. Just turned it in to my friend who disassembled the whole thing for half the price and said a few cables were left unconnected. Very weak biz guys, won't see my money again! read more

George rescued our computer. Changed out the hard drive, got all the data moved over to the new hard drive, replaced the fan and the computer is working like new again. Thanks!!!! read more

It is important to note that this location has recently changed management. I concur with the person who says they offer THE WORST customer service I have experienced in consumer electronics. I brought my PC in with internet related issues. They charge a lot for the diagnosis, and came back with a "solution" unrelated to the problem I presented them with. Everytime I suggested that perhaps I should just buy a new computer they asserted that I'd have to re-purchase my software (which I KNOW isn't true). In the end, they had installed a new hard drive but couldn't clone my old hard drive. Which means I was in it for $400 and still didn't have a working computer!! At that point I asked what it would take for them to wrap up my computer in the next 10 minutes - to which he said, "Well I leave in 5 minutes." Imagine that, a visibly unsatisfied customer and he's talking about pushing me out the door. At that point I said, "What needs to happen in order to walk out of here with my data and stop doing business with you?" There won't be many more of these reviews, cuz these people will be out of business soon!. read more

This place has helped me several times and did a wonderful job for a reasonable price. I will definitely continue to use their services!

George had my PC up and running in a few hours. I was thrilled! Good service and kind person. I had popped in with my computer that was DEAD to the world. Couldn't have asked for more. Thanks George! read more

For 150$ I was hoping to expect more than a wipe of the previous user of this laptop and to pay another 150$ plus for a new battery I feel appalled and taken advantage of. When given contact info they "could not reach me " while oddly enough all other contacts and random unknown numbers could leave voicemails and call. Originally saying I need to bring in the power cord that was deep in storage till they could work on it I returned little more than a week later with nothing fixed no change or advice to the speed of my laptop and a large loss of capital for no return. Can't recommend maybe if you .... make the employees more fond of you ? They won't rob you . But I was certainly screwed and will never return happy to pay for their lifestyles though and regret telling them my budget . read more

These guys are good. Never had any issues with the repairs or staff. 1000 times faster then any of the other local repair stores!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fair prices, Nice staff and great results. read more

We used the Lake City Way store. We went to A-1 to have a laptop repaired. We weren't sure what was wrong - we suspected a power problem somewhere as we could not get it to turn on. We did not need the laptop urgently, so after dropping it off I waited 2 or 3 weeks before calling them to get an update on progress. The person I spoke to was friendly, but vague. I called again after about a week. Once again the person I dealt with was friendly, but not really able to give me much useful information. After some probing I discovered that they needed to do some work to uncover the problem and they needed me to give them the go-ahead. I told them to go ahead. After another 2 or 3 weeks I asked my husband to call and get an update. They then told us that they had determined that the laptop was not salvageable. We were completely happy with their conclusion and their reasoning. What was frustrating is that they did not call us _once_to give us an update on their progress. As mentioned previously, at one point they needed a decision from us in order to proceed and still no one called. The whole process took over a month. It could have been resolved far more quickly if they had taken the initiative and called us - particularly when they needed our input. When I did call the responses were vague and confusing. I had to probe and ask lots of question in order to get some idea of what was going on. The weekend we dropped off our laptop A-1 had a special on - the diagnosis part of repairing a laptop would be free of charge. In addition to their poor communication I had to explain to A-1 staff every time I called that we would not be paying for diagnosis. When we went in to get our laptop we had to explain this again. The person we dealt with was friendly and we did get the discount. I was just surprised that no one seemed to have a proper record of the discount - particularly since the original invoice we got when we handed in the laptop stated very clearly that there was a discount. My overall impression is that the staff are probably able to do technical work competently - by that I mean diagnose and repair laptops. What lets them down is ineffective, poor communication and the way that the business is managed. I must just say that no one we dealt with was ever unpleasant or unfriendly. They seem to be a nice bunch of people who are poorly managed. I found this business frustrating to interact with and I would not recommend them. read more