Repair or Replace? When to Call it Quits on Your Tablet

You use your tablet for a lot of things, from FaceTime with your family to watching your favorite shows, shopping online, and answering emails. So when it suffers some damage you have an important decision to make: should you repair the damage, or replace the tablet entirely? The answer to this question often depends on the extent of the damage, and your budget for replacing a device right now.

1: Assess the damage

Knowing whether it’s something you can repair or not requires an assessment of exactly what is wrong. If the damage is cosmetic, like a cracked screen, that is often something you can easily repair and in most cases the costs to do so will be much lower than if you had to buy a completely new tablet. If the damage appears to be a problem with the software or other technical components, that might be harder to repair.

2: Check warranties

If it’s a technical failure or software issue, you can check the warranty that you have on the device (either from the manufacturer or from the place you purchased it, as both can offer some warranty protection). In most cases the warranty only extends for a certain period of time, so if you find that you’re outside of that timeframe, you may have no choice but to replace it.

3: Get a quote

Take your tablet in to a local tablet repair shop and get a quote on the cost to fix whatever is wrong. These local retailers can often give you a quote on the spot so you can decide if it’s worth the cost to repair. In some cases if you decide that you don’t want to pay to have it repaired, these repair shops will give you a trade-in offer that gives you credit for the value of your old device toward the cost of your new one. If your tablet was nearing the end of its useful life anyway, that credit can be just what you need to upgrade to the latest and greatest model.

4: Check your budget

In many cases the choice to repair is much more cost-effective, and if your current budget doesn’t support the purchase of a completely new device, the decision is pretty simple. The average cost of replacing a tablet is well over $400 (and some models are over $1,000), so repairing it means you get a device that’s just like new to continue using for all your daily activities and don’t break the bank.

Find out more about tablet repair and whether it can save your damaged device by bringing your table to the nearest Bad Apple store today.