Albany Video Service

While I was in the middle of a project to digitize all of my dance performance videos, my old Sony VCR (which hadn’t been ejecting tapes dependably for some time) finally just refused to eject a tape… I am philosophically opposed to buying anything new I don’t really truly need (that’s exactly how we are trashing the planet!), so I called around and found Allen at Albany Video Service. He doesn’t have a storefront, but still does repairs out of his house. I brought the VCR to him on a Friday at noon, and it was done by the following Monday — he replaced the needed part and cleaned up /​tuned up the whole inside of the machine, all for a very low price. I have been told so many times, with so many electronic devices, that «it isn’t worth it to try to get it repaired, you could get a new one for less» — it was such a pleasure to find someone willing to repair my machine, quickly and professionally (and yes, it did end up being much less than a new one would have cost). Thank you Allen!

Excellent work and a reasonable price !
It’s been almost 3 months since Allen made a house call to repair my 32″ Sony XBR. The TV set is approx 20 years old but was still in excellent condition until it developed a «red screen» problem. The screen would sometime display a perfect picture but sometimes turn all red. I called around to a few repair shops. Most told me that the TV was too old and that parts were no longer available for making repairs.
I thought about buying a new flat screen HDTV. But this TV was mostly used for viewing the JADE Channel — which was not in HD. So, if the price was right, it would still be worthwhile to repair this set.
When I called Albany Video Service, Allen was able to come over the next day. He opened up the case and almost immediately recognized the problem to be a poor solder connection.
For a total of $ 95, Allen repaired the «red screen» problem and also fine-​tuned the screen focus. The TV screen is good-​as-​new.
An excellent job at a very reasonable price. Thanks Allen.

Excellent service by someone who really knows what he is doing. AVS doesn’t just send it back to the manufacturer and mark-​up the cost for every job like some places do, they do many repairs in-​house. And if something can’t be repaired, they’ll tell you, rather than string you along. Professional attitude, fair prices, and Allen (the owner) is an active contributor to the Albany community so supporting AVS helps support Albany.
AVS also does home theater installation, and Allen is a consummate pro with many years of experience — not some teenager who was given a few hours of training and sent off in a company van to do installs.
Note: The storefront has closed and all service is by appointment now: in-​home for many TV repairs, or pick-​up and delivery for small electronics.

Apparently, Albany Video Service has closed its storefront, but continues to do in-​home repair of CRT televisions. We just had Allen repair two 27-​inch Sony sets which had both developed power-​related problems. Both knowledgeable and efficient, he fixed both very quickly, and so far they’re working perfectly.
Given the transition to DTV, and the resultant price drop for used CRT TVs, repairing ones that don’t work may or may not be worthwhile, but if it is for you, we highly recommend Allen and Albany Video Service!

Yes, it may seem shady, as I have created a Unilocal account just to make this review. However, I am a frequent Unilocal visitor and was disappointed to see the lack of reviews for TV repair in the Berkeley area.
I did some searching elsewhere and came upon Albany Video Service through the Berkeley Parents Network. The latest reviews were very out of date, but AVS kept on popping up with positive reviews on other searches I completed, so I gave them a call.
All in all, a great experience. Granted, I had a very simple repair (I broke the F-​connector, ie the little piece of metal that the cable screws into, off of my TV), so there was less room for major headaches. Nevertheless, I was happy with the service.
I called on a Saturday when the repairman, Allen, was out, so I called again on Tuesday (they’re closed on Sundays and Mondays), then made an appointment on Friday. When Friday rolled around, Allen came by and took care of the job.
(Bit of an aside: I later found out that Allen called me back, though I missed the call, to tell me about a way to watch TV again without having to repair the F-​connector. It involves routing the picture from the tuner in a cable box or VCR through the composite inputs on the TV. I had actually tried that solution before, but decided to just go ahead and fix the TV. Good to know they’ve got honest people there, though.)
The cost was reasonable, at $ 55 for the trip out, including the first half-​hour of repair (which was more than enough for my TV). They do free estimates if you bring the TV in, but by virtue of my TV’s size and my own lack of a car, I opted for the in-​house repair.
Allen definitely knew his stuff (I asked him about Plasmas vs. LCDs and he gave me nice primer), and he was forthright about the scale of the job, so you won’t be getting any unnecessarily drawn-​out repairs. He even manually focused my picture and re-​soldered a part of the assembly for no extra cost.
In a sentence, if you need your TV repaired, give AVS a call.