had a fret issue with my baritone ukulele. had problems finding a possible time for Chris to fix it…read moreas I work with it 3 days a week. It would have meant having to cancel a couple of gigs. He took it in and fixed it for me on the same day despite him being booked to the gunnels with other just as vital jobs. It sounds brilliant and I'm very grateful to him for doing this for me so quickly . He's a wizard. I have used him in the past and his work is first class. Cannot recommend him highly enough.

I'm incredibly picky when it comes to my guitars, how they play, how they are stored etc. Wouldn't…read moremess around when trusting them to someone else - particularly someone who is going to be using power tools on them! I would not hesitate to recommend Chris McIntyre - he has done lots of work for me over the last few years, all of which has been done to an exceptional standard. The instruments he makes are beautiful too. Good guy, excellent work, fair prices. I'll be sticking with Chris!

If I have to describe Laings in one word then that would be awesome. I have been their customer for…read moreyears and they have consistently delivered excellent customer service. The boutique is wonderful and their customer service is excellent. I cannot recommend them enough. My latest experience with them was today and needless to say it was another amazing experience. They really made our 10th anniversary extra special!

Laing Boutique is the quirkier, more costume jewellery edged little sister to the bigger, more…read moreexpensive Laing the Jeweller a few doors up. The boutique may be wee, but it's full of glass cabinets of jewellery joy, with many trendsome brand names, such as Juicy Couture, Lulu Guinness, Mont Blanc and Cruz. The jewels in here definitely have a fun edge to them, and are certainly fashionable, so this is a good option for browsing when you want something that's less high street trinket, and more quality fashion jewellery that you can wear over and over without worrying about it falling to pieces. There are still more expensive, special occasion items to be found here, like the Gucci watches, and as watches go, I'm quite a fan of the Juicy Couture cream numbers that Laing also stock. They've recently brought in a range of Mancini rings, which are excellent, because you just buy whichever band you want from the range, and they're all really reasonably priced, then you can keep coming back and buying different colours of stones to team with the band, as they're detachable. Great for fickle minded people like me, who get bored of the same colour after a few days.

I managed to dump a mug of coffee on my laptop keyboard Monday morning, and had to start trying to…read morescramble to find an emergency laptop repair place here in Edinburgh. Darius at Hex was the first person I spoke to that gave me any confidence that the laptop could be repaired. I took the laptop to him on Monday afternoon, and he was compassionate, transparent, and very professional in th communicating to me what the timeline and options would be. Hex fixed the computer well enough for me to use an external keyboard the next day and expedited ordering of a replacement laptop keyboard so that I had it back working this afternoon. Very reasonably priced and wonderful service. I could not be more pleased and I highly recommend Hex for your computer repair needs.

This shop is very good both for buying computers and related accessories, and getting any repairs…read moredone - they even repair mobile phones which is handy if you have a phone that is damaged, but you don't want to replace. The prices here are generally pretty competitive and you will be likely to struggle to find somewhere else that can match both its range of products and prices - I certainly haven't come across such a place. In addition you get very good customer service and the staff know what they are talking about. It's well worth a visit especially if you have any repairs that need doing. I'm no expert on computers, but this does seem to be a good shop.

Really helpful and friendly and fixed my laptop screen very quickly for a reasonable priceread more

I have used Graeme for many years now and his help is invaluable. No problem appears to be…read moreinsurmountable to him within any aspect of our business requirements. He has supplied us with new computers and a laptop over the years, advising which would be best for our requirements, all at a very reasonable cost. He is also a delight to have in the house when we have a home visit, in a nut shell I don't know what I would do without him. I cannot recommend him highly enough.

I said last time that I'd have no hesitation in going back to Stitch Express and you know what? I…read morehaven't! Since my first review (when I had only been a couple of times) I've had the need to go back to Stitch Express loads. Trousers adjusted, buttons replaced, dry cleaning, button holes made, shirts fixed; you name it, I've had it done. Every time I've been the service, quality and price has been impeccable with all alterations made well within the time promised. Often for smaller fixes and patch jobs they'll do them whilst you wait - who can complain about paying £1 to have a button replaced?! Good job this place exists or I'd look like a regular modern day ragamuffin. If you're on the Haymarket side of town and need some clothes adjust then make a bee line for Stitch Express. Or I'll punch you.

Most people have left good reviews about these guys but I actually didn't have a great experience…read more They are really friendly but I took my wedding dress into them to get altered and when i got it back there was a bleached stain under the arm pit. Luckily nobody will see it because of where it is but still, it wasn't there before. Also the first time I went to pick it up it was as if they didn't do anything to it. They said that there was a problem with the lining and fixed that (I hadn't noticed a problem with it) but I needed it taken in and it was still really big on me. I've ended up taking it in myself. Honestly don't go there. There's far better tailors in Edinburgh more expensive but worth it, especially of it's your wedding dress.

I went to User 2 Computers to have my laptop cured of whatever ailment was causing it to be so…read moretemperamental. Initially they found 30 viruses on it, and a further 40 by the time they were done with it. Thankfully, it worked perfectly when i got it back, and although I would have had to pay extra to have my files backed up, I had so little on there the staff kindly did it for free. In the end, and thanks to my student discount, I ended up paying around £80 for the whole job. Which did hurt a bit. One thing I would appreciate would have been an upfront price, because they charged me for the amount of time and workmanship needed for the job, rather than giving me a proper quote. My laptop is doing much better, and they did reinstall a new operating system for me, although they were a bit stingy and wanted me to pay for the anti virus as well. Or maybe I'm the stingy one, I dunno.

User 2 Computers is situated in a prime location on South Clerk Street, a busy thoroughfare that…read moremeans it is well on the radar of students and residents alike. Like many independent computer shops, they offer a range of services - from sales of new and refurbished PCs, accessories and peripherals; to repairs and upgrades. I was almost forced into using this shop when my old laptop became overrun with viruses and spyware due to a poor choice of antivirus software on my part. A quick search online revealed this to be the closest to where I lived, and so I paid them a visit. Their repair team were able to successfully restore my computer back to full health in a few days, and were also able to recommend a better antivirus product. I found the staff to be helpful and attentive, taking time to explain the repairs in detail, as well as providing useful advice about how to avoid a similar situation in the future. Although the shop may appear small from the outside, the website belies the fact that this is shop that can do a lot for you. I don't regret using them at all - after their work, the laptop ran for another 3 years. I have recommended them to my friends, and I would commend them to you! A great alternative if you want to avoid the massive national chain stores.

This branch of Barnardos is so good that I always pop in when I am walking past. Located on the…read morebusy Gorgie Road, it sells your usual charity shop stock as well as furniture. The furniture here sells like hot cakes as the stock always seems to be displaying "Sold" tickets. The furniture can be a bit pricey for second hand, but some of it is in really great condition. I have no idea where it comes from. I like to think that rich people around Edinburgh get bored of their furniture very easily so donate it here. The non-furniture part of the store has a great book selection which is usually my reason for going in. There is a "classics" section which stocks authors such as Dickens, Jane Austin etc. They also sell textbooks which came in quite handy when I happened to pop by and they had my course text book for a fiver as opposed to £45 on Amazon. I don't really do charity shop clothes as I always find it is generally middle aged, plump women who donate and being neither of these things I don't find anything I like. This shop hasn't jumped on the vintage bandwagon yet, but I am sure this will come. I panicked the day before New Years Eve because I realised I didn't have champagne glasses for our party. Instead of paying £10 in Sainsburys I picked some up in here for 29p each. Bargain!

I don't think I've seen a charity shop with as much as Barnardo's on Gorgie Road. There are three…read moreparts to this shop - the normal store, the furniture section and a wedding section as well. I went in to the normal part of the store this morning, primarily to have a browse of their DVD section. I'm so often guilty of bypassing charity shops to find my bargains elsewhere. There's always the worry that you never quite know what you're buying in terms of quality. While this may be the case, you can't knock this shop for its range of stock. You may find that you have to hunt the DVD section for a while to find what you're after, as they didn't seem to be in any sort of order, but there was a good selection of older films right up to more recent ones as well. The shop has much else besides DVDs. There's a healthy collection of books that fill a large number of shelves, as well as clothes. I didn't have time to investigate the other two sections of the shop, but they too seem to be well-stocked. This shop probably does great business, and you can shop here with the knowledge that you're helping out a worthy cause.

Like Stephanie, I expected the watches in Swatch to be an absolute fortune so it was a nice…read moresurprise when I noticed that many of them are really very affordable indeed. Being an absolute girl who likes cutesy things I was instantly drawn to the glass cabinet with the Hello Kitty watches inside. They were around £30 and are really aimed at children but I really am such a kid at heart and have my very own Hello Kitty watch, even though it isn't a Swatch one. I have to say I found some of the watches quite garish and naff, but fine if you're just looking for a watch for a bit of fun and to add some colour to an outfit.

Initially I snubbed Swatch as a rather novelty brand of watches, the tacky multicoloured watch…read morestraps you see immediately on entrance originally deterred me. On a closer inspection I found some great designs that completely reversed my opinion. Refreshed to see a more modestly sized watch face and a less blingy design that plague so many crap watch brands, I was pleasantly surprised by Watch's offerings. I'm currently watch-less at the minute and plan to make have a decent rummage through Swatch's designs. Top stuff.