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Art of Mac
Category: Local Services IT Services & Computer Repair IT Services & Computer Repair [Edit]
2261 Market St(between Sanchez St & Noe St)
San Francisco, CA 94114
Neighborhood: Castro
(415) 341-1103
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11 am - 7 pm
About This Business:
Specializing in Computer Services for small businesses with PC's and Mac Computers. Offering same-day onsite computer repair & upgrades, virus & spyware… read more »
8 reviews for Art of Mac
8 reviews in English
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Review from Wes T.
3/19/2007
When my HD died I found these guys through CL and began an email correspondence with Ruth, a tech there, about the options available to me. She was super helpful and assisted me in picking a great new drive that was twice the size of the stock one I had in there. What's even better: They were able to provide me with 2 day service, the upgraded HD and the labor all at a cheaper rate than the Apple Store. Hells yeah!
It's a small operation run out of the back of a Potrero Hill home, but don't let that get to you. They are really professional and do a great job here. -
Review from Henry B.
San Francisco, CA
9/16/2010
I brought my Mac portable in this week to Art of Mac to have a new, larger hard drive installed. Other than the fact that the drive is now physically installed, it was a ghastly experience.
My expectation was that I'd get my computer back, set up identically to the way it was before - applications, data files, settings - but with a new drive. The Mac OS installer has a built-in option to do this type of drive-to-drive cloning, and it seemed like such an obvious approach that if Art of Mac wasn't planning to do that, I would have expected them to ask me before proceeding.
My situation was admittedly a bit more complicated, because my old drive had two partitions, one for Mac OS, one for Windows (I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking for transcribing). But I told them this upfront and they didn't indicate that it was a problem.
As for the Mac OS partition, when I got my computer back, there was a host of problems: the hard-drive icon didn't show up on the desktop; many of my applications didn't work (and one of them, Aperture, which I rely on for my business, still didn't work after I re-installed it); my email settings hadn't been copied over so the mail program behaved as if I had never used it before, no email account info, no folders, no rules, no spam filter; and my computer no longer automatically recognized any of the wireless networks I commonly use, including the one in my own home. It was as though they had given me back someone else's computer.
In addition to the above-mentioned cloning feature of the Mac OS installer, I can think of at least two other straightforward ways to make an identical clone from one Mac drive to another (one of which, the backup application TimeMachine, comes free with Mac OS). Instead, Art of Mac used the Finder to drag files from the old drive to the new one.
That doesn't work under Mac OS X, and anyone who's ever tried knows it. A Mac repair shop certainly should know it. When they gave me back my computer, they said, "You may need to re-install some applications." When I expressed surprise, they said, "Don't you have the installation disks?"
The Windows partition, however, was worse. They did create a second partition on the new drive, as requested. But they didn't even bother to move any files to it. It was completely blank. No Windows OS, no applications, no data files. And before you go excusing them - They're a Mac shop, you can't expect them to know about Windows - the ability to run Windows on a Mac (through a feature called BootCamp) comes for free with the Mac OS and has for years. It's admittedly a bit tricky, but any Mac repair shop worth its salt should have the tools to deal with it.
After spending a couple of hours trying to clean up the mess, I realized it was hopeless. To get my computer in functional order in time to use it on a work-related trip, I had to bring it to a different shop and spring for a $300 rush job. Extremely aggravating. Extremely time-consuming. Extremely expensive.
I don't plan to give my business to Art of Mac ever again.Comment from Ruth G. of Art of Mac 3/22/2011
As soon as I saw this review, I immediately contacted the… More » -
Review from Michael K.
Brooklyn, NY
8/10/2009
I called Art of Mac to inquire about a simple service to change the hard drive in my MacBook. I was unconvinced that the person who helped me knew anything about Macintosh computers, let alone servicing them, other than to get very annoyed that I mistakenly referred to my machine as a Powerbook rather than a MacBook.
Based on that experience, I would not trust this business, and instead used the Powerbook Guy who was much more knowledgeable and professional.Comment from Ruth G. of Art of Mac 8/11/2009
Dear Michael K, I am extremely sorry we were not able to… More » -
Review from Yankee S.
South San Francisco, CA
8/13/2008
"Extraordinary service from Ruth Gumnit of Art of Mac. What a find. Ruth is congenial, knowledgeable and efficient. I was able to schedule an appointment within a few days, and Ruth upgraded and 'cleaned up' my Mac in no time. She was also very helpful in explaining what she was doing and why. What a pleasure to work with someone who not only knows what they're doing, but also is able to explain it to those of us who are less well-versed in computer language. Thanks, Ruth!
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Review from KELVIN A.
San Francisco, CA
9/7/2010
This past week I've been dealing with the death of my beloved macbook pro. What I quickly realized was that most repair folks are trying to screw you like a thieving mechanic or are clueless to the mac world. Especially the Rich at central computers on Howard street! But my experience with Ruth was refreshing and honest. Instead if convincing me to bring it in she was honest and gave options. Sadly the truth was to let her go in peace and purchase another one. Ruth also gave me options for that as well. Thank you! I will always refer or go to Art of Mac.
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Review from Sven E.
San Francisco, CA
7/22/2011
My 2006 iMac was getting painfully slow but I don't like the idea of having to buy a new computer every few years so I checked in with the Art of Mac. The next day Helga came by and immediately figured out that it wasn't old age or just an overloaded drive, but that I had a broken hard drive. Since I had to get a new hard drive (500 gigs, yay!) it would take a while to install and reboot everything she took the computer to do it on her own time and brought it back two days later. This was almost a year ago and my iMac has been running absolutely beautifully. I feel like I got a brandnew computer that will last me another 5 years for just a few bucks. Total life saver, Helga is an awesome person too, highly recommended!
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Review from eszter r.
San Francisco, CA
2/15/2011
Once again, Yelp to the rescue! I found these gals on Yelp and I'm so glad I did. I just sold my business and needed to get all the computers ready for the new buyers. Helga came to my office, she was knowledgeable, very friendly and professional. She cleaned up all my Macs, did all the updates, fixed all the little bugs, re-linked all the printers, scanners, etc. The one thing she couldn't figure out, she did her research and found the answer within a day. So at the end of the day, money was well spent, I couldn't have been happier.
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Review from Kathy W.
Berkeley, CA
5/30/2007
This service is great! Ruth is very helpful and knows macs. I work for a small non-profit organization and we all have mac laptops and Ruth/All Things Macintosh is who we call when we have any problems or questions with our laptops. She is great at troubleshooting, fixing the problem and making recommendations that suit your needs. Ruth is patient, dependable and available to help with all your mac needs!
