Computers, both desktops and laptops, as a general rule are more difficult and costly to repair. In our tech-driven time, it is extremely important to have our computers at our disposal when we need them. This is especially true for laptops, which are designed and made to be portable and convenient for the owner. Taking your laptop into a computer repair shop for repairs is sometimes more expensive than getting a desktop repaired. This is for a very specific reason – laptop repairs are much more difficult than desktop repairs. There is several reasons why this is so.

Parts Replacement

When working with desktops, professionals know that as a general rule parts can be cannibalized from other computers, come from a different manufacturer or brand of desktop and be fairly easy to replace. For example, a fan from a Dell may fit your HP desktop, therefore saving the time and money it takes to hunt down an HP desktop fan if a Dell fan is right there. With laptop repairs, this is not nearly always the case. Because there are so many different styles, setups and designs of laptops, the parts for a specific laptop are usually exactly that – specific. Laptop repairs can’t proceed, therefore, until the original manufacturer part is found and bought. This makes it more frustrating to work on laptop repairs yourself and definitely makes it necessary for a computer expert to handle it.

Compact Space

Another way laptop repairs are more difficult than desktop repairs is that the average size of a desktop tower has enough room for a repairman to fit both hands inside it to wiggle out and replace parts, as well as use testing equipment to diagnose the problem before repairs begin. With laptop repairs this is not the case. Laptops are portable and mobile, making them by necessity very small and compact in size. This makes changing even the simplest of parts on your laptop difficult. Many other parts are very close to the damaged one and need to be removed before the faulty part can be replaced. Laptop repairs are for this reason very slow work and require an attention to detail and patience that only a professional computer repairman can properly give. Some less reputable computer repair “shops” will offer only to fix desktops because of this reason alone.

Structural Damage

Of course it’s happened to almost all of us. One of your children accidentally through a toy he wasn’t supposed to be playing with through your desktop monitor, or an overzealous dog knocked your desktop tower over on the floor. Structural damages on desktops can occur. However, compared to laptops, it’s not near as often. Laptop repairs are more difficult than desktop repairs because along with the usual (and sometimes more common) hardware damages and repairs, structural/aesthetic repairs are also usually a necessity more commonly than desktop. The hinge on the screen might break, a knock to the monitor might make it malfunction, or the busy on-the-go mom might’ve spilled her latte on it and the keyboard keys are sticking (if it didn’t fry the whole thing)! These repairs make it more difficult to fully complete laptop repairs than a desktop.