I started TechICU because I have a passion for fixing and upgrading computers, laptops, and more. All my life and throughout school, I've helped my friends, peers, and even teachers fix common computer problems. These teachers would come to me even pulling me out of another class to fix them, and I did every time. My very first certification I received in 6th grade by my amazing computer teacher at Osceola Middle School, Ms. Costi who pushed me to pass the tests, and I got one of the best scores in the State of Florida! During high school, I was a teacher's assistant for the technology department, helping diagnose and fix many of the school's laptops. The media tech herself said learned many things from me, and within my first week there, I got 10 laptops to be ready to use that were previously deemed unusable, even one that a certified technician who worked for the company suspected had a bad motherboard. As my business grows, I want to help teach others about technology, this field is going to stay for years to come. Even though robots may replace our jobs, someone still has to make, install, and repair them. Even Artificial Intelligence is trained by us to work like us, images from AI are created based on images we showed it. We create them and train them how to communicate, detect objects, and even drive. This is what makes them so great at many of these tasks!

Good computers are getting more and more expensive, and cheaper computers tend to fail very easily. Companies are making it harder and harder to fix and upgrade your devices. They Intentionally solder all the components to the motherboard to make it costly to fix and leave no room to upgrade your device, forcing you to buy a shiny new computer, when sometimes there is no need.

A big goal of my company is to keep computers from simply being thrown in the trash because they are slow. They may be slow, and seem like a lost cause… This is not the case with many reliable computers from the last decade. One or two cost-effective parts and an updated operating system with specialized optimization bring your “slow” device that was frustrating you, to a computer that is surprisingly fast and responsive, allowing effortless work on your computer that will last years to come. This is what I strive for; I regularly use an older Dell business laptop; do I need anything else? NO! It runs the newest software, plays all my games, and even this website was originally made on that very laptop. With the right care, many devices can and will last longer than many tech companies say. In reality, most older computers are much more robust and expandable, but as time has progressed, companies have found ways to make components cheaper for them. This presents a problem: this cheaper hardware is more prone to failure and, in some computers, is hard or even impossible to replace. Many of these devices need some low-cost, high-quality upgrades and be updated with optimizations to work responsively in today's world for years to come, just like a brand-new computer!

Many repair shops charge upwards of 60 dollars an hour, plus the repairs you need, which I find ridiculous in most cases. I experienced this firsthand when building a new PC that used an older AMD motherboard that was capable of using a newer processor. When I received all the parts I needed and set it up, it wasn’t working. After some diagnostics, I discovered the motherboard had outdated firmware, which could not run the newer processor until it was updated. I needed an older processor compatible with this older version to update the firmware. I Called several repair shops in the area, and a few had the older processor for this exact type of problem. To my utter disbelief, they wanted 60+ dollars for a task that would take less than 10 minutes! It was better to buy that older processor myself for ~$30 more and keep it. Their explanation is they charge by the hour, so even if it is a simple fix that takes a few minutes, you’ll be out 60 dollars for “labor” alone. 

This is the very experience that lead to TechICU!

This is not how I run my business, and I charge based on the type of repair and what it took to do it. 

Fair pricing and 5 star service is more important to me than making the most I can.

-Electro (Shawn)