[OT] Where to get stuff fixed?

[Christopher Browne]

2010/3/7 James Knott <james.knott-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org>:
> With the cost of equipment these days, repairs often don't make sense.  It will cost a significant amount (possibly exceeding purchase price) for a repair shop to just open the box.

I saw a report indicating  increased mugging rates in Britain for a
highly related reason...

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/812505-burglaries-fall-as-muggings-rise

Things like TV sets and DVD players, which used to be "staple items"
for burglary, have gotten so cheap that these items aren't worth
stealing, which has evidently already reduced burglaries in the UK.

After all, DVD players have shifted from costing hundreds of dollars
to the point where most cost less than $100, and you can get something
quite serviceable for under $50.

If the original cost is $50, then consider:
- It depreciates upon taking it out of the box;
- A thief will only get a fraction of that.

Furthermore, for those of us not interested in theft, it's likely that
the $50 DVD player is about as serviceable as the $300 one from 2005,
and may even be more useful.

This is not helpful to the "fix it" position :-(.

More useful to take out the laser from the dead DVD player, and
program it it to kill mosquitoes :-).  (There was a pretty cool video
of this!)
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