Putney’s Local Computer Repair Workshop
Lower Richmond Road has changed considerably since 2014 — but the need for a reliable local repair shop hasn’t. PC Macgicians has been here long enough to have repaired laptops for Putney residents whose children were at school when they first came in and are now at university.
We’re a walk-in workshop with a full diagnostic bay, ultrasonic cleaning equipment for liquid damage, component-level soldering capability, and over a decade of experience with both Apple and Windows hardware. If your laptop is broken, bring it in.
Repairs Available Same-Day in Putney
Screen Replacement
We carry panel stock for the most common laptop and MacBook models. For a popular device — MacBook Air M1/M2, Dell XPS, HP Spectre, Lenovo ThinkPad, ASUS ZenBook — the screen is often replaceable the same day you bring it in. Rarer models or older machines may require a one to two day wait for parts.
What screen damage looks like that we repair:
- Physical cracks from drops or compression damage
- Backlight failure (very dark screen, visible only in a dark room)
- Vertical or horizontal lines running down the display
- Dead zones or black patches spreading from a corner
- Flickering under certain conditions (often a cable fault, confirmed during diagnosis)
Screen replacement costs: Windows laptops £80–£140, MacBooks £180–£350 depending on model and panel specification.
Battery Replacement
A battery that’s giving you less than two hours, shutting the machine down unexpectedly, or has swollen (visible as a bulge in the trackpad or back case — a safety issue) needs replacing. We carry batteries for common models and can usually complete the swap the same day.
For Putney customers with MacBooks: macOS shows your battery health under Apple menu → System Information → Power. A cycle count above 800 with noticeably reduced capacity means the battery is due. For Windows laptops, the Battery Report (run powercfg /batteryreport in Command Prompt) gives the same information.
Costs: Windows £65–£120, MacBook £95–£150.
SSD Upgrade
Replacing an old spinning hard drive with a solid-state drive is the single highest-impact upgrade available for an older laptop. The difference in startup time and general responsiveness is significant — machines that took five minutes to get to the desktop are typically up in under 30 seconds after an SSD upgrade.
We carry out the drive swap, clone your existing data across, and verify everything is working before you leave. You keep all your files. Cost: £80–£180 including the SSD, depending on the capacity you need.
Virus and Malware Removal
We’re based near Putney High Street, and we see a lot of home users who’ve accumulated malware gradually without realising — it often arrives via a seemingly legitimate download, a browser extension that changed hands, or a phishing email that got through. Signs: unexpected browser behaviour, slow performance, popups for antivirus products you didn’t install, or a machine that’s working but feels wrong.
We remove infections thoroughly — checking startup items, scheduled tasks, browser extensions, and system services, not just running a quick scan. Cost: £65–£95.
Sound like your problem?
In Putney? Walk in to 66 Lower Richmond Road — no appointment needed. We'll look at your laptop the same day and give you a fixed quote before starting any work.
MacBook Repair in Putney
A significant portion of our Putney repairs are MacBooks. The area’s mix of freelancers working from home, professionals, and students generates a steady stream of Apple hardware — and MacBook repairs require specific experience that generic repair shops often lack.
What we repair:
Liquid damage. One of the most time-sensitive repairs. If a drink has gone into your MacBook, the outcome is meaningfully affected by how quickly you act. Power it off immediately — do not attempt to charge it, do not use the MagSafe or USB-C port. Bring it to us as soon as possible. We disassemble, ultrasonically clean the logic board, and assess the damage. Not every liquid-damaged MacBook is repairable, but outcomes are significantly better the sooner we see it.
Logic board faults. Component-level repair on the board — replacing a charging IC, repairing GPU shunt resistors, addressing power delivery failures — is something most repair shops don’t offer. We do. It keeps repair costs substantially lower than replacing the whole board, and it’s often the only viable option for out-of-warranty machines where Apple charges a flat-rate tier.
Screen replacement. MacBook Retina screens are expensive to replace but unavoidable when the panel is physically damaged or has failed. We use quality replacement panels and the repair comes with a 90-day warranty.
Keyboard. 2016–2019 MacBook Pro owners in Putney still bring these in regularly — butterfly mechanism key failures remain common. We replace individual keys, full keyboards, and top cases depending on the fault.
Running slow. Particularly common on Intel MacBooks from 2018–2021 that have been through multiple macOS versions. Thermal paste degrades, the machine throttles, performance drops noticeably. A thermal paste refresh, combined with a clean and sometimes a storage upgrade, can significantly extend the useful life of a machine that otherwise works fine.
For Putney Small Businesses
Lower Richmond Road has a mix of small businesses — as does the High Street, Putney Bridge Road, and the streets off them. We support local businesses with:
IT support — remote and on-site, covering connectivity, email, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, hardware faults, and general technical issues.
Data recovery — from failed drives, crashed machines, and accidentally deleted files. We’ve recovered data from machines that other shops have given up on.
Regular maintenance — health checks on a schedule, catching problems before they become emergencies.
We’re your local shop. We’re not trying to sign you into a contract — we work on a per-job basis and give you a fixed quote before starting anything.
Where We Are and When We’re Open
Address: 66 Lower Richmond Road, Putney, SW15 1LL
Opening hours: Monday–Friday 10am–6pm, Saturday 10am–5pm, Sunday closed
Phone: 020 7610 0500
Email: info@pcmacgicians.co.uk
No appointment needed. Walk in with your device and we’ll assess it the same day. If you’re coming from further afield in SW15 and want to ensure immediate attention from a technician, a quick call ahead means you won’t wait.
What Repairs Cost
| Repair | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Laptop screen replacement | £80–£350 |
| MacBook battery | £95–£150 |
| Windows laptop battery | £65–£120 |
| SSD upgrade | £80–£180 inc. parts |
| Virus removal | £65–£95 |
| Water damage assessment | Free |
| Data recovery | From £120 |
| Thermal paste replacement | £65–£95 |
| PC health check | £45 (free if repair follows) |
Diagnosis is free. You get a fixed quote before anything is touched. If we can’t fix it, you pay nothing. Get in touch or walk in.