We just launched Hardware Hustle Coaching — a hands-on program for complete beginners who want to learn how to diagnose and fix laptops & PCs.

You'll learn screen replacements, battery swaps, virus removal, slow PC fixes, and basic hardware upgrades, with ongoing support and new lessons every month. Most beginners land their first paying repair client within 30 days.

To celebrate launch, use code FIRSTFIX20 for 20% off your first month. Only 25 codes available.

Join here

Most 'my laptop is dead' calls I get aren't dead hardware — they're a $10 problem dressed up as a $300 one.

Here's the exact order I check before ever opening a laptop:

1. Won't power on — 90% of the time it's the charger or a swollen battery, not the motherboard. A $15 multimeter tells you in 30 seconds which one it is.

2. "It's so slow" — almost never a hardware problem. Check startup apps and disk usage before you tell someone they need a new PC.

3. Cracked screen — people assume the whole display needs replacing. Half the time it's just the digitizer (glass), which is a fraction of the cost.

The repair shop markup exists because most people never learn to run this checklist themselves. That's the whole reason I started teaching this — a laptop repair isn't magic, it's a process you can learn in a weekend.

If you've ever paid for a repair that felt like it should've been cheaper, you were probably right.