AUTOMAGIC COMPUTER SYSTEMS

In this particular case, I was out of town and couldn't get the computer to log on. I had recently had a lot of work done on the computer so I assumed that was the fault. I phoned Mel and in about five minutes he located the cause of the problem, which turned out to be the Verizon Hotspot I had. It seemed hard to believe, but I tested it, went to Verizon and lo and behold, from 3000 miles away, Mel was right. As usual. He's terrific. And I trust his honesty and sense of fair play. Very important when you're relying on somebody doing things you don't understand.

AutoMagic is a Toshiba warranty repair shop that has provided excellent service for my Toshibas since the early '90s. This shop does only Toshiba projectors and notebooks, so they know what they're doing. Upon occasion they will do data recover for other brands. AutoMagic's prices are fair and their turnaround time is terrific. Best of all, their patience in explaining the details of what might be the problem -- over the phone -- is very comforting when you're in a panic. Fernando has been especially generous with his time, including in 2003 when my Toshiba -- twice -- sustained water damage (hey -- it was Seattle, it rains up there). He calmed my panic and now I know the first step: shut the thing down and don't touch it again until an expert looks at it. That one, incl. a free BIOS upgrade, cost me a new keyboard ($35) plus labor ($150) and tax. Got it back the next day. Last week, the black screen that barely showed the desktop beneath presented three options: LCD ($375), LCD cables ($38) or FL inverter ($30). Fernando understood that the LCD would be over my budget but the other two items were doable. The FL inverter plus labor ($75) and tax totaled $107.78. I got this thing back the next day.