Minneapolis Laptop Repair

April 18, 2005 12:51 PM

Does anyone know of a reputable computer repair shop in Minneapolis? On a related note: What are the odds that a laptop that had a quart of water spilled on it (that was running on its AC adapter) is salvageable? I envision fried chips and fused boards.
posted by rtimmel to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Pure water, I hope. It might be all right, once you get all the water out of it and let it dry, but I can't say I'm sure. The closest I got to that was spilling a coffee cup full of water directly onto my mouse, which, after about five minutes of slinging and an hour or so of hanging upside down, has continued to work without a hitch for the last year.
posted by Tuwa at 12:57 PM on April 18, 2005

I have had good luck with The Geek Squad. It may be more than you want to spend, but they saved my computer.
posted by Mrs. Green at 12:58 PM on April 18, 2005

If it's a Mac, you cannot go wrong with FirstTech.
posted by nathan_teske at 2:01 PM on April 18, 2005

If it was water, I've had a desktop survive a flood (no, really) and a laptop survive a 2-year old (turned out to be much worse than the flood). The laptop had flavored, sparkling water on it, so the left-shift key is now a little sticky and sometimes doesn't register.

In both instances, I let the units air dry unplugged in a static-free area until I was relatively convinced that they didn't have any standing water in them.

Now, if we were talking about printers, I'd say trash them. You get water on a print-head, and it's a goner. Lost a Xerox Phazer that way (luckily, it was insured).
posted by thanotopsis at 3:00 PM on April 18, 2005

IMO your laptop should be fine. Me, I'd open it up and let it dry out. If you're not quite that adventurous, grab some silica gel and let it suck the water out over a few days.
posted by five fresh fish at 5:06 PM on April 18, 2005

I think you need to open it up. You might even try very gently applying some paper towel. Chances are the water has not done any damage yet. If you don't get it dry soon things will start corroding, and water might start getting into parts which are relatively - but not completely - sealed (electrolytic caps, hard drive...).
posted by Chuckles at 6:46 PM on April 18, 2005