After years of highly pleasurable gaming on your Xbox 360 it finally happens, the awful red rings of death. Those three blinking lights that spell doom for your gaming addiction. Rather than throwing the expensive brick through a wall, what are your options?

Your first option that you might think about would be to buy a brand new xbox. Now that the prices have dropped, and the console is only $299 it’s a viable option. Definitely cheaper than the first console you bought on Ebay for $600. One of the benefits of the newer versions of 360s is the addition of HDMI output. Definitely more compatible with the newer Plasma and LCD screens out there, plus it allows multiple HD inputs with the HDMI cables. Versus usually only one HD Component cable connection per tv.

Another bit of good news with buying a new 360 is that the hard drives are larger as well. Gone are the miniscule 20gb hard drives, now you can get 60gb with the Xbox basic, and 120gb with the elite. Not a bad upgrade at all.

Microsoft also claims that with the new Xbox 360s they’ve made some of the chips smaller which should reduce overheating. And it does appear that the first models that came out almost all failed while the newer versions have gotten quite good. We’ll see if they really have licked the problem.

Second, for those with electronic experience, the repair itself is pretty straight forward. However, I must reiterate that you should have extensive electronic experience to undertake this, a small slip and you’ll end up killing your entire system. There are ebooks, message boards, and video tutorials on how to fix xbox 360’s so there is definitely some help out there if you’re feeling adventurous.

A viable third option would be to send the console back to Microsoft. Microsoft will fix the console anytime within 3 years of purchase, so chances are you still are under warranty. If however you’ve cracked the case yourself, or had other work done on the console then you’ll have no choice but to pay the price Microsoft demands. Currently they charge $140 if you send them an xbox 360 out of warranty.

Fourth, there are numerous independent repair firms, some may even be local, that can handle the repairs for you. The quality of repairs can vary widely as well as the prices. I’ve seen prices as low as $49 and some as high as $200. Also some offer 90-120 day warranties, while others offer no guarantees at all.

Hopefully these tips will give you an idea on how to repair your Xbox 360, after all, all is not lost, and you have plenty of company as there have been massive hardware failures associated with the Xbox 360. And owning a 360 will be even better when they pair with Netflix to stream over 10,000 movies. Should be a great time to be a 360 owner.

If you’ve ever had a laptop screen crack or stop working, that’s one of your greatest fears. At that point, you’ll have a decision to make. Is it worth it to repair the laptop or simply replace it.

In the past it was very, very expensive to replace the LCD screen. So much so that it was more cost effective to just go ahead and replace the entire laptop. With the right resources however you can replace a LCD screen cheaply and effectively.

The first thing you’ll have to consider is the cost of the LCD screen replacement. Most laptop LCD screens replacements are priced between $150 and $300, with only the very high end screens costing $400 or more.

Your first stop in buying your LCD screen would be to look in places like Ebay or Craigslist. They often have very reasonably priced used screens or parts computers for sale. Next, using google shopping you can search the many stores who offer replacement LCD’s.

The LCD itself is only one factor in the overall cost of replacing the screen. You’ll have to consider what it takes to replace that screen. I highly recommend NOT doing it yourself. One inadvertent thumb in the wrong place can effectively ruin your laptop.

If you’ve picked the right computer repair technician and they have experience in laptop repairs, and LCD’s in particular. You’ll find that a competent tech can replace the LCD screen in most circumstances in under an hour. However, because of the complexity and the immense variety of designs and builds of laptops it could be slightly longer.

If you do decide to replace the screen yourself, there are numerous sites that list detailed schematics of how to take apart the screen for each manufacturer and model. A simple google search of laptop repair guides should help.

The replacement costs of the laptop should be considered against the cost of completely replacing the laptop. After all if your computer is more than two years old, most likely you can replace the entire laptop with a newer, faster machine for just a few hundred dollars more than the cost of the repair. If you have any questions about your laptop LCD replacement, feel free to email us.

Over the past month, the number of virus infections in the United States has skyrocketed. I manage a computer repair shop in Atlanta Georgia and I’ve seen tons of virus infections over the last month, more than I’ve seen in twenty years of business.

Many of our clients were already using virus protection software, however some of the new strains of computer viruses are completely bypassing their software and installing themselves. Why not follow the following practical hints on exactly how to avoid getting your computer infected in the first place?

First off, email is the biggest culprit with virus infections. If you get an email from someone you know, and it has a file in it, you should verify with them what the file is before you click on it. Be careful of very tricky emails, many of them are very compelling in making your open up your emails.

Secondly, be careful with the websites that you visit. What we’ve found is that even innocent looking websites might have malicious code right on the website that could cause issues with your computer.

Third, you might want to consider using a different web browser. Many users have been making the transition from Microsoft Internet Explorer, and moving to Mozilla Firefox. It’s a great program that gets awesome reviews. It’s fast, secure and very, very customizable. You can do things with Firefox that Internet Explorer users only dream about. But, even better than that is that many viruses are specifically built to work only with Internet Explorer so that Firefox blocks the Virus.

Fourth, be careful what you download. Many sites that allow you to download illegal copies of software could infect you with viruses. Obviously if they are promoting the illegal downloading of software, they are much more likely to cause you problems with nasty viruses.

I personally have gone years without using a virus protection software program. I’m very paranoid about where I go, what I look at and what I click on. And I’ve only rarely been infected, and the last time was over five years ago.

Use a little common sense, and I’m sure you’ll be able to avoid computer virus infection as well. Good luck, and happy surfing.