A couple of weeks ago, I happened to get a bit of water on my MacBook Air. I thought I could just mop it up with a paper towel... and then it simply died. I sometimes will play fix-it, but that was right out! I took it in to Circular Systems, where I have purchased adapter cords and new batteries from time to time. They were backed up, but a week later it was not only fixed, but it was good as new! They took the time to clean it, soaking the parts in chemical solutions and wiping the screen as well as removing the moisture. When I picked it up, it was in wonderful shape, and CLEAN! The people here are courteous and professional, and I'm happy there's still a mom-and-pop electronics store in Midtown that specializes in Apple products. Centrally located, and near the light rail... this is the place! read more

Extremely timely service and always professional. Reasonably priced for computer repair. High recommended.

I was referred to this place by Yoga Bear...Douglas was very courteous, knowledgeable and thorough. He examined my laptop for described issue, explained the complexity of it, provided a work around recommendation. He wasn't a pusher, he was extremely honest and very helpful in diagnosing and confirming issues. I would definitely recommend checking in with him to see if your product can be fixed or what the meanwhile could be for you. Solid performance which is very impressive these days. read more

I have been going here for years and have always been happy with his work & prices. Highly recommend this place!

I snapped my usb in half and brought it in to recover the data. I was able to get everything back! So glad I went here.

I love CIRCULAR SYSTEMS - I will never doubt you again Douglas! He said "no problem" and I said, "give it a try but I don't think so". I had just watched my computer seize to the point it wouldn't power on, no safe mode, no nothing. It was far beyond my abilities to salvage. But Douglas can do anything possible with a PC. I'm not joking. I just got my computer back in one piece - virus defeated and zero loss of anything!!! The best part is that his rates are very competitive. *$200* for 100% restoration from the dead, a new high-end power supply and a new RW DVR. Great service. Great prices. read more

I always go here when I have laptop issues. I feel bad because the husband and wife are really accommodating, but I've yet to ask them their names. Either way, I highly recommend this place if you have laptop issues read more

Great customer service, extremely knowledgeable and friendly. Highly recommend Circular Systems for any computer needs.

I came here after see the good reviews but unfortunately it was a bad experience. I came in with gaming PC it was constantly black screening but the PC remained on. I turned to Doug to diagnostic it. He reported it as it was overheating and need more air flow. Asked him to fix and paid a little over 150$. After I picked it up the EXACT SAME black screen came out and wouldn't POST. I returned it back to Doug and after a few more days. He reported the CPU cooler was in adequate and I need a better one. So I paid 40$ and took it home. Once again for the third time the EXACT SAME problem of black screen happened. After taking it back for a third time and showing proof of the black screen, he said he didn't know was wrong. So I paid 200 bucks for no reason and didn't get my problem solved I am hoping for a partial refund, at least for the service side of the payment. Please take your High end PC somewhere else. read more

The short of it is that Douglas is pretty amazing. He came highly recommend by one of my close friends who's used him for years. He's fixed several computers for our office in the past. But, I've never had a direct, personal experience with him, myself, until recently. I had a few laptops that have been laying around the house, non operational. One of them, I fixed a while ago myself, but, had an issue with the keyboard and the mousepad. My other laptop used to be for work, before switching to a desktop. Well, after spending countless hours, replacing hard drive, resetting the operating system, I couldn't figure out how to get it to work again. It was still extremely slow, kept crashing and just didn't cut it. Well, Douglas was able to fix both of them, without any issues. Now, they're both back to normal, working like a charm, with no issues. Thanks Doug!!! You're a total life saver! If you ever need any help with your complex computer issues, don't let their floppy drives and floppies throw you off. They're the very reasonably priced computer professionals you need in your life. Go see them and they'll get whatever you need fixed!!! read more

I have been going to Circular Systems for years. They have always been thorough, reasonably priced, well-informed, and eager to please. The owner, Douglas, provides great insight to IT challenged customers (like me). Explanations are clear. If you have more questions -- fire away. No frills. But great customer service. Talk about local! This is the neighborhood IT location. Get there. read more

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If you have any I.T. issues this is the place for you. The people are professional, courteous, & very knowledgeable, not to mention very reasonable. read more

I live down the street from this place and thought I'd give it a try for my computer, boy was I glad I did: The background: Alienware gaming desktop decided to not output sound, would only sometimes output to my monitor (would have to turn it on/off multiple times) and high res games could no longer play. Windows would not allow me to restore to factory settings. I spoke with Alienware and since it was outside the 1 year warranty they wanted $189 for an extended warranty before they even looked at it. I was scared the issue was my graphics card broke, which would not be good since that was two thirds the cost of the computer. My experience: I instead brought it to circular systems after seeing them on yelp and they're a few blocks from my house. Diagnostics were $55 and there could be additional costs depending on what the problem was. Took about 10 days to get everything fixed (they were particularly back logged with other sick computers that were dropped off) but wow. They did a great job. Full hardware diagnostics came back normal (yay! ) and they found it was a software issue. Full system restore of windows was recommended and they were able to do it even though it wouldn't allow me to at home. They were able to save ALL files on my computer so I didn't loose anything. Even better, since I installed an after market solid state drive on the computer they recommended having windows installed on it as the primary drive and MAN is this thing fast now. If its completely turned off and I power it on, I get to the windows screed faster than it takes for me to look at my iPhone. They also installed a free version of word/excel so I no longer need to get nagged by Microsoft to buy office 365 every time I want to look at a word document. Overall cost was $100. I pretty sure I could have gotten the system to restore on my own but that likely would have taken 2 afternoons googling how to do it and get it done. The money was worth it to me just to spare myself the aggravation, and the improved performance and not having to deal with Microsoft nagging me every time I open a word document was icing on the cake. Would highly recommend and give more than 5 stars if I could read more

While Douglas is very nice and respectful, this a review of my experience & the results that came of it. Customer service is excellent. I called asking what the diagnosis fee for my iMac 27" is and he said $55 if I don't get it fixed with them and the fee is waived if I do. I ask "What if you cannot fix it?" And he replied "That's impossible. It just depends on how much you're willing to spend on the repair." I went with him to fix it because of this statement. Long story short, he could not fix it and the diagnosis fee was not waived. Having said this, I was going to go to Apple but I support small business first, however, I was not impressed by the lengthy time for such diagnosis (~3 weeks). Instead, I went to Apple instead and they're handling it. This review does not affect my willingness to go back for other repairs, however, if you have an iMac issue, take it to Apple. read more

20yrs ago my neighbor who builds and maintenances computer servers for the State recommended Douglas, this was the best decision our family has every made when it comes to computers etc. ,they have built towers for us, repaired motherboards, fixed all of our Mac Pro's, fixed old and new I phones for us, and never have we had issues. However the things we disagreed on , we found out later Douglas was right, and was very honest in giving us all the info we needed even if we disagreed. We have built a solid trust in his work, don't know what we would do computer wise without him, he should be a National Treasure and protected at all costs from the help he's given to our family and many others,our family "HIGHLY RECOMMENDS" Circular Systems !! read more

Douglas is the best. I've learned a lot from him over the years. I've purchased a lot of computers here over the years for friends, family and my own clients. Always stands by his work. read more

I put off getting the battery in my MacBook Air replaced. I thought it would be inconvenient and I would be without for a day or two if not longer. Not to worry, I called Circular Systems and the friendly staff ordered me a battery and then a couple days later called and let me know it was in. I took my MacBook Air over midmorning and Douglas had it ready for me at 2pm. Pretty amazing service considering the limited store hours due to the Coronavirus. If I have any issues in the future Circular Systems will be my go to repair place. Thank you Douglas and kind staff! UPDATE! I forgot to mention Circular Systems was about $30 cheaper than the next competitor who responded via Yelp inquiry. read more

I have used Circular Systems on several occasions and have been pleased with the service. Most recently, I took my laptop in as I could not open Windows 10, and it was performing poorly. I've had the computer for a long time and was worried that it may need to be replaced. Much to my amazement, it's running better than ever! I highly recommend this business. read more

I have to give the biggest shout out to Douglas and his wife. I've built 2 machines now using parts from his shop, and from his level of knowledge to his demeanor, he has left a LASTING impression on me. I recommend his business to ANYONE looking to have a custom pc built, or if you're just looking for parts. He offers great sales, and always has lots of information to share. THANKS DOUG!!! Justin-from forensiclean read more

After Metro Electronics closed, I had begrudgingly resigned to the fact that I would be taking my chances online when it came to my obscure computer parts needs. You see, no matter how convenient it is to order parts with a few keyboard strokes, it's still a hassle to wait a few days for them to arrive from God-knows-where only to find they aren't what you were looking for. Then I discovered Circular Systems and immediately bookmarked it as the home for many future geeky questions and tinkery. At first I was let down. Metro Electronics was a vast store with aisles and aisles of goodies, while this is a small little corner shop. But this is a computer specialty shop, so they don't have all the superfluous crap Metro did like old phone chords and old cable TV connectors. On my first visit I was looking for a Firewire to USB cable and found out nothing of the sort really exists because it's two different types of technology. They didn't have what I needed, but they didn't try to sell me on something else either and even suggested I go to the Apple Store. This is the kind of mom and pop store and service that is sorely lacking these days. It's a modest business that knows its specialty well. Check them out for yourself and you'll see what I mean. read more

After one of my attempts at upgrading my computer failed, I brought it here for trouble shooting. They figured out what I did wrong [wrong part], I ordered a new part [went to Newegg because it was cheaper] and had them replace it [for a nominal fee]. Now, anytime I do a major upgrade I bring my computers here because I know they'll the job right AND they're competitively priced. Also, they cable manage your computer's innards and dust it off, which is a nice perk. read more

First and foremost I really did my research before writing this review, because I do believe in supporting small businesses. However, what happened to my repair was not acceptable and if I had known what had really happened and if I could I would file legal charges. BEFORE YOU GO HERE READ MY STORY, If you don't want to read the whole story read the summary: Here is my experience with my computer macbook computer repair. 2 years ago I had a water spill on my macbook pro 15in retina display. I took it into this place for repair. A quote came back a couple of days later range from 600-900 ( I do not know the exact cost because it was 2 years ago) to replace a logic board. He stated that it was beyond repair and needed new parts. I reluctantly accepted and paid for the repair. Everything went ok for about 8 months, then the computer started having freezing and over heating issues. I got so frustrated at the issues I switched to surface pro, but a few months later the surface pro was not strong enough to handle the graphics I was putting on the computer. I switched back to the macbook. I bought a small cheap clip fan and a bottom cooling pad. It was still giving me trouble. I then had 2 IT people look at it and even reformatted everything on the computer. They were convinced it was a hardware issue. I then took it to the apple store in Feb 2016, they cleaned it up and got the software up to date. They stated that the fans had a lot of dust and debris. I took it home and everything was fine for 4 days, then the over heating issue started back up. I then took it to the apple store in Roseville and I told him everything. He stated that it sounds like a logic board issue and perhaps the glue isn't holding in. They cannot work on it because I took it to a 3rd party not certified repair place. I called circular systems and told them that Apple won't re-glue the logic board and my computer is having problems. The person on the phone got extremely defensive and said that Artic is the best glue and it's even better than what apple uses. Most importantly didn't offer any solutions on how to repair my problem. SUMMARY: I finally took it to another place. They called me back after a few days and told me the prognosis. The original logic board was never replaced, it was simply cleaned and put back on there. How did they know..... The original serial number of the logic board was connected to the original manufacture macbook. The logic board still had water stain damage. On top of that, they stated whom ever was last working on the logic board did a horrible job gluing things back together. When gluing back the heat paste you cannot put to much or to little. They did both! The person who was working on the logic board last, failed to remove the original glue and put a lot of artic glue (almost the whole tube). When this happens it acts as incubator of debris and heat. I wanted to give circular systems the benefit of the doubt, so I called them and asked for an old receipt. They told me the only way they can find the receipt was invoice number or the exact day you picked it up 2 years ago. (no clue why they can't find my invoice through a name search) I tried to narrow it down to a day of the week and month and year. They still couldn't find my invoice or my name anywhere. How can you charge a customer for a replacement when it was simply a clean up fix. There's no way they can counter provide that they replaced the item since the proof was in the serial number and water damaged logic board. I will never go back to this place for any repair. On the last note, my repair this time around is cheaper than than circular systems, ALMOST $400 cheaper! read more

I dropped my phone and cracked the screen (d'oh!) after only owning it for three months (double d'oh!). I was ALMOST thrown into freak-out-this-is-going-to-cost-a-million-dollars-to-fix mode but my husband suggested I call Circular Systems and see how much it costs to fix a screen. He goes there semi-regularly for computer parts and had noticed their sign stating they fix phone screens. I called and found out it would only be $95 for parts and labor. I dropped off the phone a couple hours later, went and got drunk at Revolution Wine, and by the time they were about to kick me out, Circular Systems called to let me know my phone was good as new and ready to accumulate my greasy fingerprints once more. Great communication, reasonable price, and prompt service. I totally recommend this place and will definitely be back next time I break something expensive. read more

A great local shop. I've taken several of our computers there for upgrades & even an iPhone repair. Polite & knowledgeable & a pretty decent turn around on their services. read more

A vendor came to our office on Tuesday at noon to demonstrate a software product, and his computer had been damaged in transit (SATA0 connector sheared from motherboard, PCI-E video card and slot bent...) I referred him to Circular, and crossed my fingers. In one afternoon, Circular diagnosed all issues, found a replacement video card, had the card overnight-shipped, and worked out payment on our vendor's funky UK-based credit card. The vendor was able to run the successful demo on Wednesday morning. Circular really came through in a tight spot, and I strongly recommend them to anyone. read more

I have been going here for years and even though I live in Citrus Heights, I won't take my computer anywhere else. Douglas is a very knowledgeable person and will help you with any type of situation. You won't go wrong here. read more

Astounding service but one of the MOST important things is that Douglas, and people that work there, are HONEST! I have, through the years, had him build computers to my specs, with his suggestions, and they all turn out to be killer machines! One can not go wrong with Circular Systems. read more

Circular Systems is a first-rate computer repair shop. My computer which is a Windows XP HP Pavilion desktop has been having restart issues on and off since September 2011. We took it to Circular Systems on January 28th to see what the problem was. Turns out, the computer was very old and the motherboard was failing and had bad capacitors. They were able to fix the system with a new motherboard and it is running like new again. I haven't been having any problems with my computer since. No restart issues! They don't come cheap. The cost for repairs, parts, labor was $238.00 and the troubleshooting fee was $55.00. But as prior reviews have mentioned, Circular Systems are no-nonsense computer repair professionals. They were able to tell us exactly what was wrong with the computer in easy to understand language and were able to answer any and all questions we had about our computer. read more

Good prices, honest service. I think computer repair is a lot like car repair. If you don't know what they're talking about, they can scam you. My hard drive went bad, but they told me that it'd cost more to retrieve the data than just replace the drive. Luckily there was nothing important on it... read more

Service: 4.5/5 Price: 4.5/5 (Okay, it's hard to give a 5 when I know the replacement part is only like $5 and it comes out to $100 overall. Though they were still the cheapest place I found.) The plug port (I forgot the technical term) broke. 2 weeks without a computer was complete insanity. After finding out what was up with my computer, I called a few places and this was the cheapest by $10-20 on a $100 repair. Not to mention the manufacturer (HP) said they can fix it for $400 which costs about as much as the computer (it was $800, but for it for less than half on a promo). Anyway, after reading some reviews of other places, like Geek Squad, I thought I would go with a smaller place like this. Good thing I did! Good: They were friendly and the repairs were made as promised. Honest people. They also lost my adapter, but gave me a better one (I think it's better at least) and $10 off my bill. But I also heard from my friend who works at a computer repair place, adapters are almost always mismatched or lost. Maybe this is bad, but I think it's good. Bad: They took a few days longer than the other people's competitors (2 days vs 5 days). read more

I took my computer in for repair and Doug was able to assess the damage within a couple days. He was incredibly informative, professional and kind. He took the time to explain all my options and explained what i should consider if I chose to purchase a new laptop. I would go there again with any computer or iPhone problem. read more

I had two letter keys missing from my laptop for over a year! Throughout that year, I attempted to resolve it by ordering them online, but found that there were so many types that people often order the wrong types multiple times thereby wasting time and money. I searched Yelp for "laptop kep replacement" and found this company with great reviews. I phoned them, paid them a visit, and they delivered upon their Yelp reputation. I was in and out at minimal time and cost. VERY EFFICIENT read more

If I could give him more stars I would! His shop is a little hole in the wall but that I am certain keeps the cost down because I expected to pay way more for the personal service I got than I did. I hadn't Used my laptop in a year and a 1/2 and I had never used it with work programs. I brought it to him because it was disgustingly slow and unable to find Internet Explorer after the windows 10 update. Long story short he cleaned it up and found out what the problem was which kept me from loading what I needed. The only thing I can say is it was done about 6 Hours later than promised but it was still done in the same day. I am happy for that. I would certainly recommend this place as it was well worth the price you would pay 2 to 3 times more in a strip mall somewhere. He doesn't carry many parts here So there may be additional pick up or send out time. I had a broken door on my disk drive and he was going to pull one off an old disk drive in the back. I appreciate that kind of thoughtfullness. Instead I told him I don't use it just pull the whole thing out so it quits falling out. read more

I had no hope for my brand-new Macbook Air after I spilled an entire cup of tea with milk and sugar into the keyboard and it shorted out. The crew at Circular Systems are magic-workers, they fixed it 100% and now it works without any issues. I was shocked, and so grateful. Thank you Circular Systems! read more

These folks are the best! If you want fancy display cases, waiters in tuxedos and complimentary gourmet coffee, they might not be for you, but if you want extremely capable folks who are awesome at solving problems, they can't be beat. In 2004, they helped me build an unusual server PC (which has never had so much as a single glitch), and have been great ever since. Last spring, the dog knocked the laptop off of the table, and a key broke off. I live in Berkeley now, and the best estimate was $60 and two days, but I held off until I was in Sacramento and am sure glad that I did because Circular came through: the job was done in five minutes for just five bucks! It could only be better if they had an outpost in my neighborhood. :-) read more

Have been in business for over 25 years with about 15 computers and Doug's by far the best repair guy in town. He is awesome and quickly fixes both hardware and software type glitches. You could pay a lot more, but you probably end up with a lot of headaches. read more

I have used Circular Systems several times. Each job was completed on time, fair price and quality work. Last time Douglas even suggested that I spend less money and just upgrade to drive to SSD. My old desktop now works dramatically faster. I would recommend them for work. I expect to return as well. Thank you read more

I live a couple buildings down from this store and I always wanted to check it out. Well, I lost my iPhone charger and decided to pop in to grab one. The service was excellent! The guy that helped me was quick and diligent in his duties and I got what I wanted at a very good price. I'd recommend this place to anyone near by. Keep local business alive! read more

My laptop was not charging and I didn't know if it was the charging jack in the computer or the power supply that was bad. I have walked past Circular Systems many times but usually after business hours. I made a point of stopping by to see if they could help me and within 5 minutes Douglas had diagnosed the problem and offered a solution that was within my budget. Problem solved and back up and running within an hour. Thanks Douglas! You have a new customer. Well, the new power supply that I purchased form this place began to fail about 4 months hafter I bought it. When I took it back a woman working there didn't check the charger she just said it was probably a loose jack and it would be $90 to repair. I didn't have any work done I just left. When the charger hit the 6 months mark it was failing regularly and I would have to do a Vulcan mind meld almost to get it to charge. I took the charger back to them and told them that it was failing regularly and that I had put a meter on it and I was getting intermittant output levels. The woman, again, told me they had a 90 day warranty on the items they sold. I left and bought a new power supply at Frys. It has been working perfectly. I don't think I will be going back to Circular Systems. read more

my laptop was having a lot of troubles due to me being an idiot and never cleaning it... apparently there were dust bunnies breading inside... this caused my gpu to go out. also, i pretty much broke the keyboard connector trying to fix it... so i took my laptop here to see if they could save it, it didn't look good when they first inspected it and initially told me it would cost me about 600 bucks to get a new laptop graphics card (gaming laptop) ackkkk!!!! then he told me he could TRY to fix it but there was a very low chance he would be successful. but lo and behold! a day later and my laptop is completely fixed and running better than it has in years. these guys saved my bacon! and for a very very reasonable price! highly recommended. read more