The Service is amazing. Fast turnaround, realistic cost, value and knowledgeable. Good selection of parts. They always seem to have that exotic part and can get it if they don't. They have tuned up my PCs for years w/out any BS or upselling - which always appreciate. Guitar pedal repair and basic fixes. They have always met and exceeded my expectations. Thanks guys. read more

My external hard drive stopped talking to my computer. Sadly, I hadn't backed up the files saved there. I called serval computer repair places. Click a way quoted $400 and said it could be thousands if they had to transfer it to a "clean room". Santa Cruz Electronics was able to repair the external hard drive. The repairs included replacing the internal connector (where the USB 3.0 micro B slots in) and the drive's external casing. Total cost, including tax, under $75. Also, free advice on backing up files. These guys are great. Special accolades to the young technician. read more

Brought the ECU from my 1993 Supra. Mike replaced 7 bad capacitors and it worked!!! Thank you Mike! read more

Love this place! Stopped by recently to grab a power supply for an Arcade1up machine. Paul and Steve were both super helpful and knowledgeable. Very pleasant experience, highly recommended! read more

Paul at Santa Cruz Electronics saved the day when my 3D scanner ran into an issue with an internal battery. I was pretty stressed about the situation and didn't want to attempt fixing it myself, but Paul was familiar with the internal battery and comfortable with the process. He was able to fix my unit in a matter of days and I was relieved when the unit powered on. They earned my repeat business. Thank you!!! read more

If you need diagnosis do not go there, they'll inspect give you a price to repair, then call you a day later and tell you they can't fix but will still charge you. Took to another local provider and they inspected and fixed for less than the Santa Cruz Electronics and didn't waste my time read more

Great store for the special electronics you can't find elsewhere. They are a gem in our area.

I brought in an accordion that needed a new stereo jack....Mike spent time, paying close attention to what I was needing....how many times do they get accordions in there? I'm the first!!! Ordered it, installed it, it didn't work, they spent time repairing it and all is fine...respectful, which goes a long way with me....5 stars read more

Product knowledge and quick to be helped. Assortment of cool electronic gadgets and some do it yourself projects

Amazing service - Professional, quick, awesome price and very friendly! I brought a 20 year old computer in to get the photos and other data off of the hard drive and Mike did it with no issues in just two hours and the service was only $50.00! I had previously taken it to Pleasure Point Computers for this same service and was charged $50.00 just for them to look at it and then quoted $250.00 (!) as they said the hard drive kept failing. Possibly Pleasure Point Computers doesn't have the same type of equipment or expertises as Santa Cruz Electronics to do this type of job? I'm not sure what happened with them, but thankfully Mike saved the day! read more

I brought my dji mavic pro into the shop to have Mike see if he could replace a gimbal ribbon. I had all necessary parts. Being that we both knew this wasn't something Mike had tried before we decided that he would look over a tutorial video on YouTube, get back to me and let me know if the job was worth his time to do. Fair enough. He got back to me within an hour or so and said he would be able to do the job. The charge would be $50 for an hours labor. Again totally fair. Mike called me just before 5pm and said the repair had gone successfully and I could pick up my drone. He left for the day but I was still able to come in after five and pick up the drone. I paid for it and asked if I could sit in the parking lot to assemble the gimbal on to my Mavic again to test the new ribbon. The grey haired man (didn't get his name) agreed. I assembled the gimbal to the Mavic and tested the drone in the parking lot. It didn't work. The same issue was present. Gimbal obstruction. The ribbon had not been properly installed. This was the only part of the repair that I asked mike for assistance on. No good. Ok, no problem. I can forgive that easily, but being that the repair failed I asked the grey haired man for a refund of my $50. Nothing was fixed. It didn't seem unreasonable to ask. Apparently this was too much for the grey haired man. I stated my case civilly, or so I thought. The grey haired man became mildly irate that I wouldn't accept the no refund policy. I wasn't making a scene or berating him (as is often the case in these types of confrontations) I was however insistent that I couldn't simply come back tomorrow when Mike came in. I do not live here in Santa Cruz. I drove from Austin, TX and had already extended my trip by 1 day to deal with the drone issue. (I really wanted it operational for the drive home.) no dice. I can deal, but the way I was treated by the grey haired man was just absurdly childish. At no point was this man listening to the point I was making about not being able to stay until morning. I finally decided to just leave the situation and just eat the loss. I asked for Mike's contact info so I could discuss it with him. (Mike was actually a pretty pleasant guy) I hold no grudge against him. He tried something new and it didn't work. No biggie. This review is strictly concerning the treatment by the grey haired man. I was honestly blown away by his rudeness and immaturity. This could have been handled effortlessly with just a little decency. If customer service is important to you I suggest you avoid this business. Aside from the lack of repair I cannot shake the bad taste of the interaction with the grey haired man out of my head. It's only an assumption but it seems like this attitude towards non locals that is widespread around Santa Cruz has been brought on the the influx of "bad apples" who come here and show no respect toward local culture. Homelessness has been brought up quite a bit when talking with locals. Regardless of the reason it is quite unpleasant for the rest of us who only come here to appreciate the coast and leave no trace. This place has come to embody the unfriendliness of my Santa Cruz experience. Avoid like the plague if this matters to you as well. Also, I don't recommend you bring in your drone for a gimbal ribbon replacement. read more

Very professional and personal customer service. When I was building a PC for the first time, Paul and his team gave expert advice and went above and beyond to make sure I would get taken care of. Even when a part turned out faulty, they quickly took care of everything and contacted the manufacturer to take care of the warranty process for me. I will definitely return here for any other computer projects or questions. read more

This is a business worth keeping, Santa Cruz. Don't go to big chains when you need good advice. I needed a new power source for my TV. When I went to a chain store, they tried to sell me stuff I didn't need. When I came to this store, the guy who was helping me out, got me exactly what I needed, and the price for the part was similar to a chain store. (Not to mention, I would have bought some things I had no need for at the chain...) The store doesn't look nice from the outside, but seriously, it's what's on the inside that counts. Support this small business. It's a good one. read more

My work computer just stopped working the other day- Mike helped me get it up and running fast! He put everything on a hard drive so I could submit taxes and do payroll immediately- then he ordered the parts necessary to get my computer up and running and then put the hard drive back- he was very professional and helpful and nice. I highly recommend this place. read more

Very helpful people! We were out of town and forgot a charger for an old laptop. Best Buy had it for an inflated price, so we decided to try this place. They knew exactly what I needed and I was in and out in ten minutes. They really know their stuff. read more

Not only are they a well stocked brick & mortar electronics store, both in terms of product and knowledgeable staff but my experience was with their role as the only Tormach distributor in northern California. Slightly frustrated with dealing directly with Tormach to purchase a machine, I gave Santa Cruz Electronics a call. John invited me down to take a look at the machine, get a feel for my needs and put together an order. Once there, I was able take a look at the machine and related accessories. A pretty important step for such an involved purchase like this. I was then invited back for an afternoon tutorial, discussing everything from tooling to the CAM to CAD workflow, as well as a hands on PathPilot tutorial. The value added here was way beyond anything Tormach could offer through an online only purchase. If you are even remotely considering any Tormach purchase, do it through Santa Cruz Electronics. read more

It's a good selection of cables and adapters for the size of the shop (including some more obscure stuff) for a good price, but service was lacking. I had an odd cable I needed slightly longer - I had to repeatedly talk the person helping me into giving me less cable than their minimum (I needed a few feet at 25c/ft) he said he couldn't give me less than that and measured it out for a cut before I re-iterated my request. Total materials ~$4 and I won't need to do this again so I don't mind paying the extra dollar and not having stuff go to waste. I was shown a $45 crimp tool when asked if there was one there I could use, and told there's a minimum $25 labor charge. I passed. A good selection of stuff for reasonable prices, but meh. I'll look around for someone with a crimp tool (it takes a minute or two). Keeping it 3 stars since they're local and the selection is good. read more

A cornerstone of the Electronics Community in Santa Cruz; The pioneers of DIY, and the only source of hard-to-find adapters, cables, and electronic components in the county; Santa Cruz Electronics solves eclectic problems that other places dare not touch. Their adapters are cheaper than Frys even! They're home to the Tormach CNC machines, affordable 3D Printers, and they're the only establishment I know of which performs soldering repairs! Their soldering expert can fix just about anything! It's worth noting that they don't touch Apple products, although they do have the Various Apple Accessories. If you need a repair, they'll probably point you to Computer Center Santa Cruz (an equally good Mac facility.) read more

These guys were great. When my laptop's hard drive fried out and I was about to make a trek over the hill to Fry's, I did a sweep of the area and made some calls. SCE told me their price and I gave them my quote from FRY's. They matched it and saved me a haul. Thanks! I'm also happy to report that my computer is running great since that fateful day. If only I'd shelled out for the larger drive... read more

When I was an engineering students in UCSC, I used to come here to buy electrical parts. This is the place to be if you need cables, connectors, components, or computer stuff. The downside is, the stuff here are relatively expensive comparing to Ebay, Amazon, Digikey..etc. The staff members are knowledgeable and will provide you help whenever you need it. If you are uncertain whether they have the parts you need, always call in and ask. My 2 cents: Only come here if you need the stuff right away. Else buy them on online. You will realize there is roughly a 70% price differences. read more

I've been to SC Electronics twice thinking I was going to be charged an arm or leg, and both times, I didn't pay a dime and walked out happy! Steve advised me on what to do the first time to fix my broken computer fan, I went home, followed his simple instructions and boom, easily fixed! Second time, I went in with a bad mp3 file on my laptop that I couldn't access the properties on, windows couldn't delete, and would basically lock my computer up everytime I tried to do anything with it. I had the same problem five years before, and was told by a independent PC repair guy that I had to re-install windows, which was terribly inconvenient. I was worried that I'd have to do a full re-install again, but thankfully, SC Electronics are Jedi Masters of the PC Force! While other local repair stores were hesitant to even have me bring in my laptop without money in hand, Paul the Manager of SCE took his time to take a look at the laptop, allowed me to recreate the issue so that he could see it happen, then basically fixed it right then and there on the spot, without charging me at all. After several attempts at other solutions, both in windows and in safe mode, basically narrowing down the fix options, it finally took him going into a DOS command prompt and "tricking" Windows into deleting the file. I watched him do everything and I was blown away by his efficiency! File got deleted, computer was running great, and I was happy. He said "looks like you're set,", and didn't charge me a thing! But that's not all... When I got home, I realized I had also copied the bad mp3 onto my external hard drive, causing the same problem again, just on an external rather than internal drive. I tried to remember everything he did, to no avail, and finally had to give him a call, expecting him to require me to bring it in and this time charge me for the repair, but not Paul. He immediately and patiently walked me through the whole process over the phone. I learned the process, deleted the file myself with his guidance, and once again, wasn't made to feel like I "owed" SCE anything. In all, I'd say I took at LEAST a half-hour of Paul's time and I know for a fact that the any other repair shop would charge at LEAST $40 for that alone. For me not even being a "paying customer", their customer service is absolutely impeccable, and I HIGHLY recommend Santa Cruz Electronics for all your PC repair needs! Thank You Steve and Thank You Paul!! read more

Thank you Mike! You guys go way above and beyond. My CAT scan x-ray machine stopped working due to the computer that processes the data(image). The machine costs 250k and is totally useless without that computer! Mike understood my problem and made it his problem. This is knowledgeable customer service that has no match! I sign all my reviews. Ben F Tarsitano, DDS, MD. read more

When my older desktop computer would not wake up from sleep mode I took it to them. The mother board had died but the hard disk seemed ok. They removed the disk, put it in a box with a power supply and I now had an external drive. The cost was way below what I thought it would be! Later I went back in with a new computer and they helped me get thing working with the external disk. These guys are the very best! They don't try to impress you with their knowledge or sell you things you don't need. I can not recommend them enough! Santa Cruz is very luck to have a resource like this!! read more

One of Santa Cruz's truly indispensable institutions, it'd be hard to get by without these guys with their always helpful crew. Today I needed a 9 V battery connector and they were out -- but the gentleman on duty knew where he could find one and removed it from another package, to be replaced later when their shipment comes in in a few days! Try that at a big box. read more

This place was the only store in the area that had everything I needed. That was great. What was joy so great was the service I had on the phone. The clerk was not patient with me at all when I'm trying to describe my needs to my best ability. His tone implied that I had no idea about what I was talking about and he was rude at some points. After getting off the phone, I drove to the store to pick up the items and was thrilled to know that I was working with another rep other than the one on the phone. I'm giving them a 3 for having the equipment but the customer service was absolutely appalling via telephone. read more

They were able to help me with the item I needed. They could use better customer service skills. Employee continued to answer my question or walk away from me to show me an item before he even knew what I actually needed. When I explained that a product that I previously bought here was not working properly and had been that way since it was purchased, he told me that I need to buy a replacement. Not that impressed. read more

I lost a part to my computer charger and I went to Best Buy to find a new one. When I asked the employee if they the piece I need he said I'd need to buy a whole new charger or contact the manufacturer. The new charger was 70$ so I call Santa Cruz electronics and they had the wire I needed for 8$. They were also very nice and helpful. They saved me a lot of money too. read more

Problem solved! I came in with a very small auxiliary jack that didn't seem to be working on my car stereo. The nice guy at the store first ran a few tests to make sure that the jack was the problem. Then he took and not only re-soldered the piece but added some glue to help keep the problem from happening again. All done for their minimum charge. Great service, good work, and fair prices. read more

This place is great. They have every wired, hard to find cord, plug or adapter you'd ever want!!!

Such helpful and friendly staff. And, very efficient. Brought in my laptop, they had it ready in a timely manner and as promised. They are down to earth and very knowledgeable. I'm thrilled with the results, my laptop is working 10 times faster and they are very affordable. Highly recommended! read more

Best place to get cables for your electronics in Santa Cruz. They have a huge selection and the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. Parking out front is plentiful. read more

My internet went down this morning. Spent over 4 hours (going crazy) trying to figure out why. Have a Comcast router, Asus wireless router and use Macs. Did everything I could think of, then called Santa Cruz Electronics as that was where the Asus came from. THEY ARE SO NICE!!!!! He walked me through a bunch of steps and when that didn't work, suggest that the problem might lie with Comcast. Called them and the wait was over 20 minutes during which time they hold the listener hostage with their awful commercial which one cannot opt out of. Then they hung up on me...we were cut off before I reached a human. But, I did remember at one time, someone at Comcast told me to stick a paper clip in a little hole on the back of the router/modem to reset it so did this. I am back on line to give KUDOS to the voice at SANTA CRUZ ELECTRONICS who was so very helpful. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU read more

So I've been going to SC Electronics for a few years now and prior to this I'd give them three to four stars due to their specific selection of retail goods and decent service. After having them build a custom computer for me I have upgraded them to five stars! They were honest with me about what I needed, they built it within a few days, and so far the computer is the best I've ever owned! All of that value and I only spent about $100 more than my Best Buy boxed computer and the one SC Electronics built for me has much better components and is so much faster! A big thanks to everyone at SCE :) read more

They know what they are doing. Their prices are steep. Watch out for their return policy. read more

Really love Santa Cruz electronics! Nice friendly people. Prices are great. Can't say enough nice things about Mike. We brought in a panel from our tv which had quit working and he found the issue quickly and fixed it for $25! Amazing. I really didn't think it was going to work, but the tv works perfectly now. Brought in another appliance, which Mike worked on for me. Took it all apart, tested a number of parts for a diagnosis and didn't charge a thing. Ultimately, the issue with my machine was beyond his expertise, but Mike was able to tell me what was NOT the issue. I have a good gauge now what it might take to repair vs buying a new one. Very grateful for Mike! Thank you! Santa Cruz electronics is where we will bring all of our electronics. Customers for life! read more

I was sent here from radio shack for a wire they didn't carry. I wasn't sure the right connection but explained my machine and they told me what it was. I got home to find it was wrong so rushed back across town arriving two minutes after they closed. They mouthed "Nope" through the window. As I was typing this they came out to get to their cars and said " sorry for your difficulty". It seems to me if they truly cared about my difficulties at all they would've been willing to help me with this even exchange. Terrible customer service read more

When going here you have to keep in mind that this is not Fry's. Its a mom and pop store for people who needs "parts". I have gone to thins store for years when I need resistors, converters, diodes, or any other electronic part. I only gave a 4 because their selection could be a little better, but the help are great people who are very knowledgeable. read more

They've got an OK selection but everything here is pretty overpriced. It's cool that they matched the price for the guy who wrote the first review, it looks like it happened a while back though, don't know if they still do that. Their electronic components (capacitors, transistors, etc.) are in the RadioShack (ridiculous) price range. If you're looking for electronics components, order them online from digikey or something. read more

Amazing service, quick and easy. The wiring of my specialized work equipment broke, it no longer turns on and they don't sell replacement part. I was panicking a bit as it will cost $2000-3000 to replace ... My husband recommended bringing it here. Lo and behold, Mike worked his magic and fixed it for $35 !!! Even more, it was ready 1 hr later ! What else can I ask for?! Thank you so much for an amazing job, it looks professional and seamless :) read more

AWESOME!! Went here a while back because my laptop computer had gotten dropped by a child and needed screws to fix the Screen attachment. They did it for free found me screws, put it back together the whole thing! I tipped them what I had wish I had more because I never carry cash. They were VERY nice and understanding! read more