Laptop won't turn on: repair or replace?
A laptop that does nothing when you press the button is rarely dead. It is usually one failed part playing dead. Five checks at home narrow it down, then a free bench diagnosis puts a name and a fixed price on it, so you decide repair or replace with real numbers.
Run these five checks first
Ten minutes at the kitchen table, no tools. Whatever happens, note what the machine does at each step: it makes the diagnosis faster.
1. Swap the socket, then the charger
Try a different wall socket, then a known-good charger and cable if you can borrow one. Chargers and cables fail far more often than the laptops they feed.
2 MINUTEScheapest fix there is
2. Hold the power button
Unplug everything, hold the power button for 20 to 30 seconds, plug the charger straight in and try again. This clears a locked power state on a surprising number of machines.
30 SECONDSworks more than you'd think
3. Look and listen for signs of life
Charging light, fan noise, keyboard backlight, a chime. A machine doing something has a different fault to a machine doing nothing, and it changes the diagnosis.
CLUESnote everything you see
4. Plug in an external screen
If it sounds like it is running but shows nothing, connect a monitor or TV. Picture on the external screen means a display or backlight fault, not a dead laptop.
SCREEN VS BOARDvery different repairs
5. If liquid was involved, stop here
Spill anywhere in its history? Do not press the power button again and do not charge it. Corrosion is eating the board while it waits, so bring it straight in.
LIQUIDhours matter, see below
Spills are their own emergency with their own page: MacBook and laptop liquid damage repair.
The repair or replace maths
Nobody should pay for a repair a replacement would beat, and nobody should buy a new laptop over one failed part. Three questions settle it.
What actually failed
A charger, port or battery fault is cheap to put right. A failed charge circuit is a board repair from $175. The free diagnosis names the fault and prices it, so you are deciding with real numbers instead of a guess.
What the machine owes you
Under four or five years old, repair wins almost every time: the same money buys a much worse new laptop than the one you already own. Past that, it depends on the fault and the machine, and we tell you straight when a repair does not stack up.
Your data rides along either way
The storage usually survives whatever killed the machine. Repair it and everything is where you left it; replace it and we can still copy your files off the dead machine onto the new one.
What we do on the bench
No-power faults get diagnosed at board level, not guessed at. The machine comes apart and the power path gets traced until the fault shows itself.
Free diagnosis
Charger, port, battery, board and screen each get ruled in or out, and you get the fault named with a fixed quote. Nothing happens to the machine without your yes.
The right repair, not the biggest one
If it is the port or the battery, that is all you pay for. If the fault is on the board, a failed charge IC or a dead power rail, that is micro-soldering we do in house rather than a whole-board swap.
Test and warranty
Charge, boot, stress and thermal checks before pickup. The part and the workmanship are covered by our warranty.
Our prices
Finding out what is wrong costs nothing. You only ever pay for a repair you have approved.
Fitted prices: parts, labour and our workmanship warranty included. Free diagnosis first, your fixed quote before any work, and no fix means no fee.
Dead laptop questions
Why won't my laptop turn on?
The usual suspects, in rough order: a dead charger or cable, a battery that has given up, a worn charging port, a failed charge circuit on the motherboard, or a screen fault that looks like no power because the machine is actually running. A free bench diagnosis names which one yours is before you spend anything.
Is it worth repairing a laptop that won't turn on?
Usually, yes. Most no-power faults come down to one failed part, not a dead machine, and the repair costs a fraction of a comparable new laptop. On machines older than about five or six years, or budget models carrying other problems, we tell you straight at the free diagnosis if the money is better spent on a replacement.
How much does it cost to fix a laptop that won't turn on?
Diagnosis is free. Simple fixes like a charging port or battery sit at the low end, laptop screens run from $185, board-level work such as a failed charge circuit runs from $175, and MacBook board repair runs from $289. You get a fixed quote before any work starts, and no fix means no fee.
Can you recover my files even if the laptop is dead?
In almost every case, yes. The storage usually survives whatever killed the rest of the machine, so your files can be copied off onto new media whether or not you go ahead with the repair. If the data matters more than the laptop, say so when you book and we treat it as a recovery job first.
How long does laptop repair take?
Most laptop repairs run 1 to 3 days on the bench depending on the fault and the parts. We confirm the timeframe with your fixed quote, and if a part has to be ordered in you hear about it before you commit.
Dead laptop on the desk? Get the real answer free.
Tell us the model and what it does when you press the button, and we will come back with the likely fault, the price and the turnaround.
Book a repair