My Computer Guy

This place has been «temporarily closed» since 2008, so I’m inclined to believe it’s gone for good. It’s a shame, because I had a great experience when I brought my HP laptop in to be repaired. The hinge broke, and it was a tablet laptop, so the setup was a little complicated, but James was able to deal with it promptly and for a reasonable cost.

Not closed. He doesn’t have an office, so he will meet you in Emeryville. nothing to worry about.
James instanlty got my confidence. My computer was overheating, and shutting down. He gave me a quote, options, then looked it over. When I got it back it was clean, cool running, and all the software was in order, and «tuned up». Runs like new again. and he taught me how to maintain and treat my laptop.
He talks a lot though, so you might have let him know if you are in a hurry.

He’s moved!
Or rather, the Alameda Co Computer Recycling Center has moved and he hasn’t moved with them.
Don’t waste your time stopping by to get your computer looked at by James. Just call him and wait for a call back.

If you need any sort of computer help — My Computer Guy is a good place to start. I needed some help with software (Microsoft Exchange Server), and while James told me he doesn’t do software he pretty much solved all of my problems.
Good value too — he charged me much less than his hourly rate.
But do be sure to call first to make an appointment!

James at My Computer Guy was incredibly helpful when my IBM Thinkpad crashed. He worked on it for many hours trying out a variety of approaches before deciding that the only possible solution was to wipe the hard drive clean. He backed up all of my data and also instructed me on the best ways to keep the newly-​clean system running at its optimum level. My two-​year old laptop is now running three times faster than before! Even better, he only charged me for 2 ½ hours of work, even though he worked on it for several days.
I highly recommend him for any kind of computer repair (though he doesn’t work on Macs). Make sure to make an appointment, though! Also, he’s moving to a new location soon so he’ll be closed for the entire month of December.

Take my review with a grain of salt because I didn’t bring my computer in to him. However, he was kind enough to diagnose the problem over the phone and patiently explain to me what to do to fix my own computer. (Uh, it was relatively simple, but I’m a dork and not the techno-​savvy kind.) It worked!

Found My Computer Guy thanks to all the glowing Unilocal reviews. Stopped in this morning and was sad to learn he couldn’t help me– had 9 computers in line ahead of me and wouldn’t be able to turn mine around in the (probably unreasonable) time I was looking for. But here’s why I’m giving him 5 stars– even though he kept telling me he couldn’t help me, he turned my computer on, gave it a thorough tune-​up, diagnosed its problem, went to a few different websites and printed me options for resolving the problem… over an hour after telling me he couldn’t help me, he’d totally helped me. And then he tried to refuse any money. I ended up forcing $ 40 on him (his hourly rate is $ 75), and joking that as an additional thank you I wouldn’t Unilocal him (he appreciates all the rave reviews but says he’s busier than he intended). He said it was okay to Unilocal him, but to please mention that people should make appointments rather than drop in (oops).
So, to sum up: very honest, very helpful, very knowledgable– I’ll go back next time without hesitation. With an appointment.

I agree with everyone else. He fit me in right away, saved me lots of money and helped me with a huge headache. See him!

My laptop died and I found James on Unilocal.He diagnosed the problem rapidly (I fried the video chip when the system overheated due to being placed on a thick place mat), explained very clearly the options, and ended up writing a letter to my extended warranty company (thank you American Express). Hopefully with my new laptop, the wetware part of the system (me), won’t repeat the same kind of mistake. But now, I’ve got a great resource for broken computers.

James is My Computer Guy, too! He just built me a beautiful computer from scratch, with a full parts list and schematic on the inside, along with his signature.
It’s perfectly quiet… it has a terabyte of storage… it runs my two weird monitors flawlessly… and it cost less than I’ve ever spent for a home office computer. And if it ever needs service, it’s a local phone call!

I’m going to go with everyone else here. James is worth a big, shining five stars.
My laptop seemed to acting up adapter-​wise (ie., it didn’t show as charging, even though it was plugged in). I called James and not only was he quick to call me back, but he spent at least 10 minutes on the phone with me walking me through possible causes and even pointing me to helpful web links to show me how much a new adapter might cost.
That was yesterday. Today I went over there and James was extremely thorough about looking over my computer — and extremely honest about the cause. Seems I have a bum adapter. When I asked him how much I owed him for his time, he said: «Whatever you think is fair.» Adam and I had about $ 15 between us. James was very gracious in accepting that. He also sold me a used Dell adapter for $ 5 to replace mine.
Not only that, but he was very kind and thorough in explaining to me potential problems — and tightening the screws of my computer, and pointing out the missing screws. I walked out feeling happy, as did my Dell.
This is a guy who cares about his work. I will certainly return if (or, rather, when!) the need arises. Highly recommended!

Really, a great guy, excellent at what he does. My parents’ computer was THE DIRTIEST HE’S EVER SEEN, but he meticulously cleaned it out and found the problem with it (dead motherboard). He removed the hard drive from it, and will help my parents transfer the data from it to their new computer. Reasonable prices, flexible hours.
AND, you can recycle your old or dead computer right next door!

Like the rest of these reviewers, I highly, highly recommend taking your sad, broken computer to James Cariota, a/​k/​a My Computer Guy.
My bottom-​of-​the-​barrel, entry-​level laptop was sad and broken, and James went out of his way to make sure I’d get a fair deal as well as a working computer. He even found a really good price on a perfectly functional, used motherboard to replace mine – but it turned out that my motherboard wasn’t broken as we’d suspected, hooray! James just charged me for the labor to do the tests (he tested it for, like, three days to make sure it wasn’t a weird glitch), and told me what kinds of things I could do to prevent the computer from dying for real next time.
He’s ethical, totally knowledgeable, communicative, not snobby about his customers having low-​end computers, and wants to make sure you get back to your computer as soon functionally possible.
Maybe call ahead to confirm when he can take your computer.
And, for my bikey friends transporting their busted laptops, getting to his place is possible but mildly out of the way. I’d recommend traveling west (towards the Bay) on the Virginia bike boulevard until you can’t go any further, then hang a right and he’s only two blocks north on Eastshore Highway.

I found My Computer Guy /​James Cariota on Unilocal when my old Sony Vaio Laptop was bumped, and failed to boot up. I had been traveling with it when it broke, and had already taken it to one computer repair guy in Mentor Ohio who failed to fix it. James got it going in just a few minutes and since has advised me on purchasing a new, faster machine, and helped me set it up.
I highly recommend My Computer Guy. He’s knowledgeable, honest, a good communicator and charges reasonable fees.

He can fix ANYTHING, though he may try to claim otherwise!

If you have a computer problem, this is the place for you (to go).
My 6 GB mini-​hard drive decided to crap out on me the other day and to me, with my limited computer circuitry knowledge, it seemed like I just needed a little soldering of one wire and it would be as good as new.
James told me that we could solder that wire but showed me that there were other issues with the drive and there were cheaper and easier ways for us to see if the data was retrievable and I could continue to use the drive.
I sat with James while he took apart my drive, explained the different pieces to me and talked me through exactly how it worked. In the end, we were able to discern that the hard-​drive is broken and that even soldering the wire back to circuit board wouldn’t have fixed that.
Then James advised me about which companies made strong drives and who had good prices currently. He looked up a bunch of information for me and gave me options so that I could replace my drive with a quality affordable one by a more reputable company.
If I had gone somewhere else, they likely would have charged me an arm and a leg to just find out my drive is trash. Instead, James taught me about the drive, helped me learn about becoming an educated buyer and didn’t even charge me money. I learned more than I ever needed to know but I left wanting to know more.
I would say if you have any problems with your hard-​drive, laptop, computer tower, or small computer-​associated appliance he is not only My Computer Guy but he is The Go To Guy.

There are a few things in this world that a girl needs to feel secure: an honest mechanic, a dentist with no qualms about drugging you into submission, an great hairdresser, and a good computer guy. Until recently I had everything except the last one. But, now I do.
James Cariota, My Computer Guy, went above and beyond with repairing my PC. I would have been completely happy with just the work we agreed upon, but while he was in my system he did so much more — even threw in a new CD burner when he discovered that one of my CD drives didn’t work. It’s obvious the guy loves what he does. The price was completely reasonable. I’ve had less work done for more cost.
James is a very talkative guy — he wants to make sure you understand everything that he’s done and more, so don’t plan on picking up your PC when you’re in a big hurry. He strikes me as a very thoughtful, honest nice guy.
Ah, my life is complete. I have found My Computer Guy.