Mercury Computers

When my seemingly bullet-​proof external hard drive came to its demise one rainy summer’s day, I frantically searched for someone who could revive it.
Although the guys at Mercury were unsuccessful at retrieving my data, that is a reflection on the poor manufacturing at Seagate (b**tards!) rather than the guys here. The slick and friendly gentleman who attempted to do a number on my drive treated the situation like he was a doctor, but did not charge me for the hassle of examining the case. He gave me a concise diagnosis without deluding my expectations and was extremely apologetic when nothing could be done.
That being said, he shed some light on the matter — my hard drive had slipped disks inside the magnetism, which is in computing terms a terminal illness. An operation on my item would have to be carried out in sterile conditions (I’m not kidding!) in a lab that you ususally have to send your item away to as these places are normally secluded in the country. But I appreciate the effort Mercury’s team made and the fact they spent some time mulling over the situation without charging me for it.
For repairs that can be carried out in their workshop they seem to be skilled, with prices at the expected rate for repairs such as these. I sincerely hope I won’t have to mourn losing years worth of data again, but if such problems should arise I would return to this laptop surgery.

Having felt the pain of losing a laptop suddenly, I tried my best to console my friend when he shared his woes over the fact that his laptop was on its last legs and then, one sad gloomy day, how it would not turn on. I sympathised over a strong cup of tea — I had lost my laptop in the same way.
A few days later he walked me back to my flat hugging the dead laptop insisting that he was taking it to Mercury Computers to get it fixed. In denial, I thought. I told him he had to move on and cut his losses — that getting it repaired would cost too much.
But miraculously Mercury Computers brought it back to life and it is still going strong! Amazing. I don’t think it was exactly cheap (definitely quite a bit under £100 though) and a small price to pay in comparison to a new laptop.
I wonder now if I let my last wee beloved laptop down by not getting it the help it needed. Sniffle sniffle.
Upstairs from Catani’s this great wee place does everything you could dream of doing to your computer and sells all the bits and pieces for those with their own technical minds.