ABOUT THE BUSINESS
Dr IT Services, Birmingham’s founder-run computer repair workshop since April 2000
Know who will actually work on your machine before you hand it over. Dr IT Services is a computer repair and data recovery business at 415 Court Oak Road, Harborne, Birmingham. Founded by Vlad Tabaranu in April 2000, it has stayed deliberately small for more than 25 years: one expert engineer, one workshop, every repair done personally. That model (no sales staff, no outsourced bench) is why the workshop holds a 4.9★ rating across 350+ Google reviews and has been named among Birmingham’s top 3 computer repair services every year since 2018.
What Dr IT Services does
The workshop repairs the devices Birmingham homes and businesses run on, and recovers the data they hold:
Laptop repair
Screens, hinges, keyboards, batteries, charging ports and liquid damage, all major Windows brands.
Desktop PC repair
Hardware faults, power supplies, gaming builds and upgrades.
Apple Mac repair
MacBook, iMac and Mac Mini, including component-level logic-board work.
Data recovery
Failed hard drives, SSDs, RAID arrays, phones and memory cards.
Motherboard repair
Micro-soldering and board-level diagnostics most shops send away.
Upgrades
SSD conversions, NVMe installs and RAM expansion.
The workshop model: why drop-off beats callouts
Dr IT Services works from a fixed workshop rather than driving to customers, and that choice shapes everything about the service:
- Lower prices. No travel time billed into your repair, diagnosis is £20, and published prices start at £30–£40 for common jobs.
- Better tooling. Board-level repair and data recovery need bench equipment, soldering stations, drive imagers, diagnostic rigs, that never fits in a van.
- Faster turnaround. Devices queue at one bench with every part and tool at hand; most repairs finish the same day parts are available.
Drop your device at the workshop during opening hours, Tuesday to Friday 8am–8pm, Saturday 10am–5pm, and remote support sessions cover software issues UK-wide.
The Clinical Diagnostic Method
Every repair at Dr IT Services follows a named diagnostic process: The Clinical Diagnostic Method. Vlad examines the symptoms, isolates the failing component, treats the cause rather than the symptom, and verifies the repair under load before the device leaves the bench.
The method exists because most recurring faults come from symptom-only fixes. A laptop that overheats after a fan swap usually had degraded thermal paste or a blocked heatsink as the real cause. Root-cause diagnosis is why the workshop backs hardware work with a 90-day warranty.
Awards and recognition
Independent award bodies and review platforms have recognised the workshop consistently:
- Computer Repair Service of the Year, Central England Prestige Awards: won 2025/26, 2024/25 and 2021/22
- Best Computer Repair in Birmingham 2025, Quality Business Awards
- Top 3 computer repair in Birmingham, ThreeBestRated, every year since 2018
- Best Independent Computer Repair Services, Birmingham Prestige Awards 2019
- Vetted member of No Rogue Traders Here, the West Midlands trader safety scheme
The commitments every customer gets
£20 diagnosis
Named fault, itemised cost and timeframe within one working day, or 2–4 hours with SOS Express (£50).
No Fix, No Fee
Basic software checks cost nothing if the problem can’t be fixed.
Approval first
No work starts until you approve the quote. No surprise bills, ever.
90-day warranty
Parts and labour covered on every repair.
Zero file browsing
Your files and settings stay private and preserved during hardware repairs.
Plain-English answers
Every fault explained clearly, in English or Romanian.
The person behind the workshop
Dr IT Services is Vlad Tabaranu: founder, lead technician, and the only person who touches your device. His Medical Bioengineering background and 25+ years at the bench are the reason the workshop takes on component-level repairs and data recoveries that other Birmingham shops decline. Read the full story on the About Vlad page.