Soho Computer Repair

There are times when you absolutely need a John!
The New Testament
Luke 7:28: «Truly I say to you, among them that are born of women there is no one greater than John: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.» Christianity absolutely needed a John!
February 9, 1964 — Ed Sullivan Show
Ed Sullivan: «Ladies and gentlemen! …The Beatles.» [1]
[1] The Beatles — The preeminent rock band of the British Invasion music era. The frenzy of their worldwide popularity gave birth to what is known as Beatlemania. There was Paul, George and Ringo; but there would be no Beatles, if there wasn’t a John! The Beatles absolutely needed a John!
Ever have a bad case of the stomach flu? A virus gets into your digestive system; you have a fever; you’re throwing up; and you have uncontrollable urges and you need to get to a toilet really fast… like «I can’t hold it any longer», fast! In this situation, you absolutely need a John!
For me John’s are very important! John’s entertain me in movies and sports. John’s have changed my world through politics and religion. A John is the most important fixture in my bathroom and when a virus froze my computer, I absolutely needed my John.
My John is John White and his SOHO Computer Repair. My John is the person that I trust and rely on to solve all my computer hardware problems.
My computer froze! I couldn’t login! I couldn’t access the internet or open any of my computer programs and worst of all; I couldn’t finish this important project I was working on. I absolutely need my John!
I grabbed my computer and drove down to John’s shop near the Ala Moana Shopping Center, or at least where his shop was about a year ago. To my dismay, I found out he closed that location and moved!
I was desperate because of my project’s deadline was like two days from today and the thought of using another computer repair guy did cross my mind. But then I remembered this quote from the Bible.
«There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.»
As I’m standing in the parking lot, I started thinking about what I should do… then I hear this whisper from up above. «Seek the one who is called John before I give you a virus that will make you do something; that starts with a „d“; and ends in „hea“; that will exit your ree-​a!»
It was a powerful message that I could not ignore. [2]
I quickly called my friend and asked him if he could search for my John and SOHO Computer Repair.
A few minutes later I got this text: «I found him! SOHO Computer Repair, 1259 South Beretania Street, Room 27, Honolulu, HI 96 814. Phone: (808) 626‑5383.»
Turns out John and SOHO Computer Repair are now on the second floor of a two story, aggregated faced building across the street from Times Beretania.
I found metered parking a half block before the building and parked my car. I walked in the door and there he was, cordially and reassuringly helping a customer with his Apple laptop problem. I felt so relieved!
After his customer left, I put my disabled computer on his service desk and explained my problem. I emphasized that I needed my computer back ASAP because I needed it to finish a project which was due in two days. John did a diagnostic test and gave me some options. He assured me that he would fix my computer by the end of the next day.
After hearing the options, I decided to get a new desktop computer. Office Depot’s was having a closing sale so I went down and a bought slim tower that suited my needs. I dropped off my new computer late that afternoon and got back my new computer the very next morning.
I finish my project and felt happy that I remembered that quote from the Bible.
«There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.»
My John saved the day and is someone that I trust, is very friendly, accommodating and gives exceptional service. All this for what I consider very reasonable pricing.
If you absolutely need a John; you should visit my John to resolve all your computer hardware problems.
P. S. Found out from John that there is free customer parking for this building. Drive up the ramp and park in stalls on the left. No parking validation required.
[2] I have to admit that that message from God did influence me as well. I mean I was standing in a middle of a parking lot wearing white Bermuda shorts.

Thanks for fixing my computer screen John. I really like your new location across from Safeway. I drove up the ramp and found easy free parking.

Last year my husband bought me an HP Desktop, but it suddenly stopped working in just a year’s time. I didn’t want to get rid of it, especially since there was a lot of needed data on the harddrive. I remember reading a lot of positive reviews about Soho Computer through Unilocal.Within 2 days, John was able to assess the problem (motherboard went bad), offer options as far as fixing it, and it was fixed. We saved money and it’s working great now!
John is knowledgeable, great at his craft, helpful and friendly! We will definitely recommend him to our family, friends and associates!

Friendly and quick service. I had a iMac issue with my key board and slow RAM. Johnny able to fix the all the problems with the computer in less than a day. The repair cost was very reasonable and I would highly recommend anyone needing Mac repairs to go to SOHO.

This review is way overdue but definitely deserving for the service I got. John was quick to respond to my email inquiry and his availability to troubleshoot and upgrade my imac in just 2 days was unbelievable. Friendly, professional and a down to earth guy that you feel like you can trust not to rip you off. I was totally satisfied with his service and the cost very reasonable. Highly recommend him. Thanks John!

I have a 27 inch iMac that’s about 5 years old and honestly it’s mostly used by my kids playing minecraft. But they alerted me that there’s a blue screen now and I couldn’t access a lot of my sites or update my pictures on iphoto.
After consulting Unilocal I drove down to Soho which is so convenient on beretania across the street from safeway. I parked on the street and lugged that heavy thing to the 2^nd floor.
He charges 75 $ to diagnose but that is applied to the repair charges. He is very smart and was able to let me know possible problems and gave me possible estimates up front. In a day he called me back and said it wasn’t a hardware problem but mostly a software problem. I told him to repair it, it’s ready in 2 days!
I paid 175 $ and it was totally worth it. I don’t need to buy a new desktop and it’s working like a charm again. He backed up my pictured for me and downloaded the newest software versions.
I would highly recommend this place because he’s professional, honest and works with integrity. He kept me informed the whole time and was a pleasure to work with! Thanks!!!

This place is legit. I had my MacBook so called repaired somewhere else and within 24hrs it’s dead. I only went to the other place because John was on vacation. I visit John and explain what was going on with my computer and he tells me I have a computer that was a notorious for failing. It was just a bad year. I go buy a new computer and it’s now at his shop having all my data transferred over. He was willing to bring it home to get it done. You don’t find this kind of service anywhere these days. I’m in sales and it’s rare. He will always get my business and I will recommend anyone with computer problems to John. Look forward to getting my new computer back. Mahalo for your Awesome Service.

My son got into my aunty’s computer and have no idea what he did but eh, you break it, you buy it. That was the cherry to top off the crappiest week ever and then thought I’d break my bank just to fix it. I was frantically searching for computer techs (super geeks, etc) when I came across SOHO on here with awesome reviews. I was not disappointed at all! John is so easy to communicate with and never made me feel like I was getting ripped off. He also informed me that since it was an old computer, he’d let me know if it was even worth fixing. Thankfully he was able to fix it in only three days! He also upgraded me from Vista to Windows 7 AND updated the ram from 1.5 to 3.5 for free! I only paid $ 195. How amazing. *I recommend paying cash so you don’t need to pay the surcharge fee* Was bummed he wasn’t there when I went to pick up the desk top bc I wanted to thank him a billion times. So, THANK YOU SO MUCH JOHN!!!

I had emailed john back in july asking for help with my laptop that wouldn’t turn on :(one of those things where its fine one day, then the next… nope! he responded promptly and told me to bring it in and he could look at it. his new location is great! super close to my house so its very convenient to run back and forth. when I brought in my laptop he confirmed what google had told me was wrong: dead motherboard. he gave me 2 options, 1. he could find new one and install, or 2. I could buy a brand new laptop for probably the same price it would cost him for a new motherboard plus labor. I told him I didn’t have the money at the moment but I would prob buy a new laptop! he said when I get it to bring it in and he can transfer the data from my old hard drive to my new one!
so now 3 months later I finally got around to emailing him back and told him I got my new laptop and if I could bring it in so he could transfer the data. again he responded promply, and told me to bring it by. I asked him what he needed so it was all ready to go when i dropped it off. this was on Saturday (¹⁰⁄₀₃) i dropped it off around 11:30 i believe. he gave a quote for the transfer (starts at $ 55, and most people are usually around $ 70-​$ 100) he said that it would most likely be ready on Monday since hes not open sunday. i get home and about a half hour to an hour later i get a call from him saying its all done! NICE! i called him back and said i was omw to pick it up. the total was about $ 75, and i got all my pictures, music, and documents! my life feels complete again. lol.
john is awesome and i would recommend him to anyone. his prices seem fair and he knows what hes talking about/​what hes doing.

If you have any computer issues anywhere on the island, make your way over to this guy.
I had an issue with my laptop so I went in to get it checked out. My man started troubleshooting it on the spot. He told me what the issue was with 99% certainty. He didn’t have the parts on hand but recommended places I could find them. I offered to pay simply for his advice but he refused. He just said next time I have an issue, come back to Soho. How many places today don’t charge «man hour» fees just to look at something of yours? And here’s this guy refusing a simple tip for his advice.
It’s so refreshing to see a business that still operates on basic personal interaction.
He was right, btw and my laptop is working again. :)

First of all, if you’re looking for a trustworthy and honest company to perform repairs on your computer, Soho Computer Repair is the place to go. John is upfront, honest and fair in how he deals with you and is an excellent communicator, as he keeps your up-​to-​date as to the status of the repairs. And the end results are phenomenal!
I live on a neighboring Island to Oahu and I needed to have two of my laptops repaired. One for hard drive failure and the other for a cracked touchscreen. I found John and his company through Unilocal and was simply blown away by the high reviews that Soho Computer Repair has received. I called John up and asked him if he serviced «send ins» from off Island and he said that he did. So, I sent out my laptops that afternoon via USPS and the next morning they were on his «doorstep», so to speak. John kept me updated as to the progress of both computers and within a two week window (literally a 10-​day turn around), my laptops were back home, up and running in pristine condition. The new hard drive works perfectly and the fix on the cracked screen actually looks better than it did when I bought it.
Basically, when you read all of the 5-​star reviews and notice the HIGH ratings that folks have given John and Soho Computer Repair, know that you’re going to be dealing with an outstanding individual and company that will make it well worth your business. THIS IS THE BEST!
Now, give John a call!

Went to Soho to get my Mac fixed. Mac was running really slow. John said needed to replace hard drive. John thought he had a 1T available. That would bump up disk space from the original 250G to 1T of space. John called me and said he only had a 2T hard drive and would 2T as replacement for the same price! How cool is that!
I would definitely recommend John and would use this company again!

Let me add my high praises to the many already given to Soho Computer Repair! Wow. Never better service ever. I’ve owned several laptops and many desktops, many of which I’ve taken in to various computer shops for upgrades and/​or repairs. This time, I had to take in my (barely one year old) Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga — motherboard had blown. After checking with a couple of different repair shops and even getting one to look at it, I was not confident that those shops could do a good job. So I kept searching and found John at Soho — I felt completely confident after just a short telephone conversation and I brought it down to his shop so he could do a physical check on it himself. In spite of being pretty busy (a steady stream of customers coming and going) he took the time right away to plug it in, give me a very reasonable estimate and when I mentioned that I was going out of town he offered to try and get it done before I left! I really didn’t expect all of that, but was so pleased, that I paid for the parts in advance (as per usual) and left with high hopes. I heard from him that very day (a Saturday) with some questions about the exact model, etc. (as Lenovo isn’t very good at putting that info on the back of their machines, so when you buy one, make a note for your files like I did). I was impressed that he took the time right away to confirm that (none of the other places I went to did that — they went solely by the serial number which doesn’t give the full information about the model for the mother board) — Then he must have ordered the part that day, because within a week, the part was in, he did the work, and checked everything out and then called me – his estimate was so accurate, that all I owed was the taxes! I’m keeping his contact info handy for whatever other computers/​tablets we may wish to upgrade or needs repairs!!! Seriously, I’ve owned computers since the 1980s and this guy is the best we’ve ever found in terms of knowledgeable, skilled, friendly, reasonably priced, and all around expert on repairs and other questions. He was very up to date on the latest technology, finding the right parts and everything in between. His shop is on S. Beretania, upstairs and down the hall — parking at meters out front, or perhaps at the Safeway across the street — worth the effort!

The reviews don’t lie — this place is excellent! John White is professional and courteous. I dropped off my computer and he called several times throughout the day to give me updates. He had everything rebuilt and repaired in less than a day. Very reasonable pricing.
Although I never want any of my computers to break, if they do, I’ll take them to SOHO without hesitation.

I agree with all the 5 star reviews on here. The service is fast and professional, at honest and affordable prices, and he will also provide options to you if more than one exists. I can’t believe I am saying this, but I actually TRUST a computer place that I don’t know from any other random guy. When you meet him and shake his hand you will understand. He actually seems to care, and he loves what he does. This is the only place I will go if I need computer help in the future.

Just herd back from the Wife who went to fix our Samsung laptop screen that cracked last night. John at Soho did an excellent job replacing the screen! He also was able to get it done within an hour. So my wife was able to grab lunch and come back in time.
AWESOME JOB! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Im considered the «techiest» family member and i’ve had to repair and maintain my grandparent’s computer, grandparent’s tablet, and the family computers. I know my way around software issues but I suck at hardware ones. These guys have been my go to for computer repairs since my friend recommended them back in 2009 when i couldnt repair my computer myself (dying battery? Dying charger? Dying motherboard?). Even when I was working at Office Max and would get a 50% employee discount on repair services, I’d still go to these guys. They’re faster, more affordable, concise, and overall better.
They’ve also looked at some of my laptops over the years and gave me the bad news, like an oncologist who has to break the terminal cancer news, that its not feasable or worth fixing. And that’s ok because they helped me also looked for a better laptop and how to prevent the same from happening to new ones.
Lately, people have been finding out that these guys are the best place to go to repair computers because he needed 2 days to clean my laptops due to being busy with other laptops as well. Its probably from all these awesome Unilocal reviews about the Johns.
Today, I picked up my two laptops (A Toshiba Qosmio gaming and an HP pavilion) from a good deep cleaning and found out that they now do a discount on multiple devices! Sweet! Their cleaning includes taking apart the device, getting the dust out of the hard-​to-​reach cpu vents, and putting it back together, which is very much needed in Hawaii. I don’t recommend trying to clean a laptop by yourself since I broke my keyboard’s ribbon cable the last time I tried to do it (and ended up at SOHO trying to make poor John repair it).
I’m another broken record; go to these guys.

Had a problem with my Lenovo, which I had thought would cost me $ 500 (according to their «customer service»), but decided to go here to get a second opinion due to the amazing reviews.
I was not disappointed. John was very friendly and helpful, and once he found out the problem, explained what was wrong (completely different from what Lenovo quoted me). He got it fixed for me within an hour for ALOT cheaper.
If you need to get your computer fixed, this is the place to go. With fair prices and friendly staff, you can’t go wrong here.

Came here shortly after discovering my laptop with physical damage that affected the screen of my laptop.
My laptop suffered from a crack somewhere between the open/​close hinge and the laptop housing. It affected the way my opened and closed, and I avoided using the computer while trying to prevent the crack from getting worse.
After a failed experience with Best Buy’s Geek Squad (more on that later) I came across John at Soho Computer Repair.
He was very professional in presenting to me all of the possible options:
1) Replace the housing of the laptop (the most expensive fix; upwards to a few hundred dollars)
2) Attempt to fix the crack (risky, less effective fix)
and at last,
3) Replace my laptop.
I was reluctant on spending a great of money for repairs on a laptop that cost me only $ 875, so I went with option #2. We chose the option that worked the best for me, rather than one that would have been the most profitable from him.
What surprised me about this business was the professionalism and helpfulness. With John, I was able to understand the issue in everyday terms, while weighing every available decision. Through his consultation, I knew exactly what to expect from his service from the moment I left that store.
Two days later, and I get a call from Soho computers asking to pick up my computer. The operation was successful, and I should expect to use my laptop regularly.
Overall, I am happy with the quick repairs, helpful service, and the friendly atmosphere of this business. John definitely went the extra mile to ensure that I would get the best possible outcome from this ordeal, and I’m glad that I wasn’t ripped off.
⁵⁄₅

During the recent busy holiday season, my laptop crashed. I thought it was the end of the world, as besides my smartphone, it was the only computer in my home. When it was working, I took it for granted that it would always be working. Looking at a black screen, I pondered what I should do, as I was not proficient in computer hardware.
I needed to find someone to fix my laptop & was worried that I would not be able to understand what needed to be fixed or if I would be overpaying for unnecessary repairs. I then turned to Unilocal.One business stood out, as it had 33 reviews w/​an overall 5-​star rating: SOHO Computer Repair. All the reviews mentioned this wonderful guy named John. As busy as I was, I showed up at its front door w/​my laptop when it opened the next day. Its owner, John White, was there.

John asked a lot of questions while going through my laptop looking for clues in trying to diagnose the problem. It appeared my hard drive was shot. He gave me an option to put in a new hard drive or buy a new laptop; I chose to put in a new hard drive, as I figured it would be faster to get it working instead of taking the time to figure out what & where I was going to buy a new one. I did not obtain repair quotes elsewhere, as a number of reviews stated that SOHO’s prices were reasonable. The cost was $ 70 for a new 500 GB hard drive + $ 150 labor. My laptop was ready for pick up at the end of the day that I brought it in. What an amazing turnaround time!
Everything was fine until two months later when my laptop went on the blink again. Back to SOHO again, & this time, according to John, was the failure of the motherboard. He recommended that I should purchase a new laptop instead. He patiently provided detailed information to me as to the computer specifications that I should be looking for based on my needs, as well where to purchase one. Knowing that he just installed a new hard drive two months before, he offered to buy it back from me. After I got my new Dell laptop, I told John that it was sort of a setback for me, as I would have to learn the factory-​installed Windows 8; he said it was not a problem for him to replace it w/​Windows 7, as well as install Office 2010 software & an anti-​virus program; format certain things; & back up all data from my non-​working laptop w/​out any charge! How sweet! John also recommended that I get a 2^nd computer as a back-​up for situations like this. As such, I hope to purchase a Mac sometime this year.
Based on the various times I’ve talked to him in person & on the phone, I have found John to be very knowledgeable & respect his ability to explain to me in plain English (not gobbledygook) what was wrong w/​my computer & how he was going to fix it. He did not talk down to me or use fancy computer terms beyond what I could understand, which I’ve experienced in other computer repair shops or electronic stores when you’re buying a computer. John is an extremely nice person who is very honest & has the heart to really want to help you; he has a lot of pride in his work. There is so much positive customer service found here! I can now understand why his business has a 5-​star rating!

Opened in April 2009, the business was named SOHO Computer & Café. The acronym «SOHO» stands for «Small Office Home Office,» which originated from the SOHO Department at the then-​opened electronics superstore Circuit City, where John had previously worked for a number of years before it closed nationwide. His new business in 2009 involved selling computer-​related accessories, such as toners, printer cartridges, batteries, etc.; the café portion included smoothies & coffee drinks. The company name has since changed to SOHO Computer Repair, to reflect the present niche of the increasing need for computer repair services, including hardware installation/​replacement, virus removal, upgrades, data backup/​recovery, software technical support, new computer setup, etc.; the café portion was dropped. He also presently sells refurbished computers.
SOHO Computer Repair is located in the same building as Ailana Shave Ice & near Sushi San. Free parking in its private lot; enter from Kapiolani Blvd. or Kona St.

What a gem of a business! Affordable prices, quick turnaround time, honest & excellent customer service! Thank you, John! Thank you, SOHO Computer Repair! Thank you, Unilocal!I know exactly where to go the next time I have a problem w/​my computer!