Repair or replace a broken smartphone, PC or tablet?

Technology can reserve us bad surprises when we least expect it: the day before everything works perfectly, the next day it doesn't start or it falls and breaks, quickly leading to frustration and anger. When we break a cellphone, tablet or computer we can replace the broken part or buy a new one .
In this guide we will show you for each technological device, whether it is convenient to repair or replace, also based on the type of damage that the device has suffered: there are low-cost elements that we can replace on our own (on PC and notebook), while others require labor costs and spare parts that often exceed the value of the device (as in the case of inexpensive smartphones), forcing us to buy a new one directly.

Repair or replace ">
The replacement of broken elements in a smartphone is feasible, but it all depends on the residual value of the device: if we have broken a recent iPhone (8 Plus and above) or any Samsung / Huawei released in the last 2 years, their residual value exceeds still the cost of the repair (which, for glass, is around 100-150 €).
If, on the other hand, we have broken a less expensive smartphone (up to € 300-400), repairing it can only be convenient if we find a spare part online that is quite cheap: in this case eBay can be of great help, but we will still have to find a technician who can help us. change the piece (at least € 50 of labor).
Did we break a $ 200 or lower smartphone? Its residual value has already halved after one year: it is worth changing it under warranty or replacing it with a new, equally cheap model, taking care to also buy a tempered protective glass and a cover.
READ ALSO: Do-it-yourself repairs for smartphones and iPhones with cell phone repair guides

PC fixed

On a PC, the simplest elements to change are the internal drive (hard disk or SSD) and the RAM memory modules, which we can replace personally without the help of a technician.

If we notice slowdowns or problems with these two elements, we can change them as seen in our guides How to add or replace the PC RAM and How to replace the hard disk to upgrade your PC in an hour.
If instead the problems concern more delicate components such as CPU, motherboard and video card, the change will often require having to update all the elements together, to avoid incompatibility: the technology goes on and what was compatible 4 years ago may no longer be, forcing us to "redo" the entire PC from the beginning (only the case, the monitor, the power supply if appropriate and the optical readers are saved). So we saw the guides on how to change the motherboard and how to replace the CPU.
In this regard, we invite you to read our guide on How to choose the parts of the new computer to be assembled .

Notebook

For the broken or slowing down notebook, the same arguments of the desktop PC apply: if RAM and internal drive break, we can replace them personally without problems.

If we still use a mechanical disc on the laptop, we recommend that you change it immediately before it breaks, replacing it with an SSD as seen in our SSD guide on the Laptop, instead of the hard disk or DVD player .
The battery can also be replaced, but on the new models it is internal and we will have to get help from a technician (labor costs at least € 30 in addition to the cost of the piece to be replaced).
Our laptop shows symptoms of CPU, screen or motherboard rupture "> What to throw, store or recycle of the broken laptop.

Tablet

A broken tablet is a great misfortune, since the parts to be changed can be very expensive and nowhere to be found: most of the damage obviously concerns the display, which given its size breaks very easily.

In the case of screen breakage on iPads, the residual value is still worth the cost for the repair, but not more than 2 years: on Apple products it is advisable to always add, at the time of purchase, the additional warranty offered by the house (AppleCare), so you can change the glass for free (the top offers two interventions for accidental damage).
Android tablets are often inexpensive and this makes it practically inexpensive to attempt repair even after 2-3 months from purchase: the cost is likely to be equal to the purchase of the same tablet as new .
If we find ourselves having to throw away a tablet to buy a new one, we invite you to read our Android guides with broken screen, how to use it or recover data and Purchase guide for a new tablet .

Conclusions

Pulling the sums often repair is convenient, but only if our device has a really high residual value (as in the case of Apple products) or changing the internal components is so easy that you can do it almost with your eyes closed (disk and RAM on desktop computers and notebook). In all other cases it is almost always advisable to replace the broken device with another functional one, perhaps taking greater care of the new device with additional protections such as covers, tempered glass and padded carrying case (for notebooks).
To recover personal files from a broken disk or SSD, please read our guide on Recovering important files from locked or broken Windows .
If, on the other hand, we notice some broken or burnt pixels on our monitor, we can attempt the repair using our guide on how to repair the broken or frozen pixels of an LCD screen / monitor .
If instead we want to become good at repairing a computer by ourselves without any external help, we can continue reading on our article How to Repair the Computer by yourself without going to the technician and how to repair the Mac, solve MacOS problems and errors