CrunchGear

Got a broken gadget? Don’t do like I do and throw it out and swear off using technology ever again—pay a man to fix it.

The Times has a small piece on the growing high-tech repair business. Not that the business itself is high-tech—companies like Partsearch Technologies compile a database of spare parts and orders your parts as needed—but they’re fixing more sophisticated devices than ever before. Things like iPods (which Hickey showed us how to fix) and cellphones, hardly your grandma’s washing machine, can be a pain to repair. Apparently, these companies fill a void.

The only item I’ve ever sent in for repair is my Xbox 360, which was stricken by the red ring of death over the summer. One quick call to Microsoft and it was fixed in just a few days. Other items I let stay broken, like my PowerBook. Its hard drive failed and I ordered a replacement. When the new hard drive didn’t work, I took a pair of pliers to the motherboard and destroyed it further. That happened in May and I’ve been without a laptop since. Come on, MacBook Air!

Who else has any repair/replacement horror stories? My Ultimate Ears headphones broke over Christmas break and they’re still broken. I can’t be bothered.

When Gadget Parts Break or Get Lost [New York Times]