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Brian Cometa's Mac Repair & Data Recovery
Category: Local Services IT Services & Computer Repair IT Services & Computer Repair [Edit]
11390 Ventura BlvdSte 5
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 358-8541
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 10 am - 7 pm
Sat 10 am - 2 pm
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
69 reviews for Brian Cometa's Mac Repair & Data Recovery
69 reviews in English
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Review from Craig S.
North Hollywood, CA
5/4/2012
Just found this place. Professional, knowledgeable, courteous staff. Expert technician's. Work was done in 1 day. MacBook now works perfectly. What else is there to say? I'm now a loyal customer. This is the place to go for Mac repair. And if its not worth repairing they'll tell you. Love it!!
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Review from Kathleen B.
Encino, CA
2/23/2012
Fast service-- they replaced my hard drive for a good price and did it within 24 hours. I'm super impressed by their service, they were also very friendly. Highly recommended.
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Review from jaker s.
Valley Glen, CA
2/6/2012
Brian has a weird attitude after you pay him. I had a problem with my Mac after he fixed it, and I emailed him about the problem. Check out the other 2 star review within all these 5 star reviews that reminds me of my experience, where Brian could not care less if you payed him for his expertise--once he's done, he's done, and you're on your own. Just be careful to ask Brian exactly what he stands behind. Ask him how long he guarantees any work or product he sells. He's a cold guy when you have a problem after service, and I would not recommend him.
Comment from Brian C. of Brian Cometa's Mac Repair & Data Recovery 2/24/2012
Hi Jaker, First let me apologize for not taking the time to… More » -
Review from Patrick D.
Los Angeles, CA
2/1/2012
These guys are wizards. My hard drive had serious problems, and they just kept at it, in the end recovering 100% of the data. I know for a fact that you can spend thousands on this kind of service, so you definitely can't beat them at this price.
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Review from Patrick K.
Venice, CA
12/19/2011
Fantastic experience...
Dropping off the drive at Brian's business/apt. - felt a bit like walking into Neo's room from the Matrix... minus the clutter though... ;-)
The reason why Brian is reasonable is because he doesn't take advantage of people who made a mistake and didn't back up... it's a sensitive matter and many companies know how valuable the data is to people, hence the astronomical prices...
I dropped off my drive on a Saturday and picked it up Monday morning... Where else do you find that in town ???
Quick, easy and professional! -
Review from Alain-Virak K.
North Hollywood, CA
11/10/2011
Found Brian on Yelp. I needed to fix my dinosaur of a Powerbook PC. Instead of fixing it, I bought his well-priced MacBook for only half more than fixing the Powerbook. It came fully loaded and had Lion installed. Also fixed my Iomega drive when it crapped out. Brian is professional and fast, good prices.
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Review from Lisa M.
La Crescenta-Montrose, CA
10/12/2011
Brian rocks! My computer fan noise was getting ridiculously loud and I knew I needed to have it checked out. But when you are a graphic designer and your livelihood depends on your computer, it's pretty scary taking it somewhere. My experience with the apple store has not been the best so I didn't want to take it there. Finding Brian on the internet was the answer to my prayers. He fixed it within an hour! Yes, an hour! Plus he's super friendly, very professional and was only a 30 minute drive away. Not to mention his prices are very reasonable. I couldn't be more pleased. I hardly had any down time at all. Thanks Brian. You've earned my business! :-)
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Review from Miranda T.
Northridge, CA
9/28/2011
Brian Cometa is the BEST! Not only brilliant, but incredibly nice, fast, and his prices beat everyone else's. I refer everyone to Brian - why be condescended to at Melrose Mac or stand in line waiting for a so-called Genius at the Apple store? Try him for your next computer issue - you'll never go to anyone else.
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Review from adriel a.
Oahu, HI
9/22/2011
As far as I'm concerned, Brian is a miracle worker. He has such a seamless, fast process that you barely even notice you lost your data in the first place! He's the guy to go to no matter what part of the country you're from. I'm in Hawaii and I was up and running within a week. Major props, Brian is THE man!
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Review from Scott B.
8/27/2011
If your hard drive goes bad, this is THE place to turn to. I had an unfortunate situation where 3 hard drives failed on me in a row, but this last time around was the only time that I didn't back up! Ughh! Anyway, I searched and searched online for data recovery places near me and even visited a local data recovery shop in person. All the quotes from these places were ridiculous, with one being nearly $1400. Ouch! I then decided to search online again... but this time I expanded my search beyond NYC and stumbled upon Brian's service. I immediately emailed him, told him what was happening to my drive, and he said he could recover my data for $300. So, I sent in my hard drive, he recovered my data to a 2nd hard drive I sent to him, and now I'm back in business! What a lifesaver... and a cost saver!
Note that Brian's customer service was awesome, too! He emailed me along the way to let me know how things were going, and he send my recovered data back to me within days! -
Review from Mel D.
Los Angeles, CA
Updated - 8/9/2011
Brian is my neighbor and I knew for a while he fixed Macs but hesitated to get mine fixed because I was worried I wouldn't be able to afford it. Plus I didn't want to be without my laptop for a long time because I use it constantly.
The hinge next to my screen was broken, and it kept breaking more and more every time I opened it. So I told myself enough is enough! Just go to Brian, see what he says...
Not only was he very accommodating and quick to respond, but he was super affordable and FAST! I got my laptop back within a few hours. It looks like new again and I'm DEFINITELY going back to him every time I have a problem. I trust him 100% to take good care of my MacBook.
I'll also be telling friends and family about him so they don't have to waste their time at the Apple Store (which would probably charge double and take at least 2 weeks to fix)!
Thanks Brian!! :)1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/12/2010
Brian is my neighbor and I knew for a while he fixed Macs but hesitated to get mine fixed because I… Read more »
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Review from Candace B.
Thousand Oaks, CA
Updated - 8/2/2011
Brian is quick and very efficient. He can install , tune , repair, or just about do anything you may need done to your computer. His turn around repair time is quick, maybe a day or two, when you have to wait up to 10 days at Apple store or other repair stores. I have used Melrose Mac and Apple,and others. I was given quotes of $500-1000 dollars, Brian repaired my computer for about $150....for the same problem. He is that good, because he really listens to what you said happened to computer. Many computer repair companies assume you are rather ignorant, Brian does not. He is honest and very professional. You can use other companies, but you will be wasting your time and money. I drive from Thousand Oaks and he still is worth the drive.
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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11/29/2010
I have used Brian since he first started his business. I use him whenever I have a problem , I also… Read more »
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Review from Geoff S.
North Hollywood, CA
7/30/2011
Easily the most pleasant experience I have ever had while getting my computer worked on. Brian is all business, and knows what he is doing, without spending any time trying to up-sell any products or get extra money out of you. I dropped off my computer to have my dead HD cloned, and got an email 2 hours later letting me know that all of the data had been salvaged and he was busy copying it to an external drive I had provided. I showed up the next day, paid, and was on my way within 5 minutes.
Extremely fast and pleasant service, I would definitely recommend Brian to anybody who needs anything done on their computer! -
Review from Hann M.
Los Angeles, CA
7/7/2011
I have to say it was a little weird at first, being that he works out of his apartment. But truth be told he is legit, and has a very professional setup. My computer died and Brian cloned my hard drive and told me my logic board had died and it would cost more than it's worth ($800-900) to replace on my 5 year old MBP. This was all done and ready to pickup within the time of my lunch. I was very happy with the work, price, and speed. Five stars for all categories. I couldn't recommend anyone more!
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Review from Martin S.
Valley Glen, CA
6/7/2011
As promised, Brian recovered the drive in a day. 1TB of data on an external Simple drive saved. Best Buy wanted $500 and 2 weeks to ship it to Kentucky...
Thanks, Brian! -
Review from Tikku S.
Los Angeles, CA
6/2/2011 1 Check-in Here
Really great guy, saw the hard drive model number, and before even looking at it, told me what the problem was and that he wouldn't be able to fix it. He didn't waste my time, and even pointed me to a competitor that would be able to do it that's the cheapest in town.
He'll be the first guy I go to if I have any other issues. -
Review from Benay K.
WOODLAND HLS, CA
5/16/2011
Great experience. After being told by another repair service that my crashed PC data was not retrievable, I found Brian on Yelp, and saw his great reviews. Gave him a try. Yup, $300, and I got my data back. Awesome! Thank you so much Brian!
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Review from Shareen G.
Simi Valley, CA
5/13/2011
Retrieved my data from a crashed hard drive! I was impressed with the quick, affordable and very efficient service. Great location right off the freeway too made it very quick and easy to drop off and pick up.
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Review from Mike D.
TOLUCA TER, CA
5/12/2011
Brian is the MAN!! My hard drive crashed, thought I lost ALL my important biz/personal files...EVERYTHING...but Brian saved the day! He gave me piece of mind throughout the process, was accomodating & understanding...and he came through with the goods. If you have any computer issues, go see this guy!
Thanks Brian!
Mikey D -
Review from Harry M.
Canyon Country, CA
5/12/2011
Very easy to make an appointment, repair was odd (a missing key) but he had the part and cleaned up my computer very nicely. Dropped off late in the day and it was ready to pick up first thing the next morning. Will go back to Brian if I have any other Mac issues.
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Review from J.J. G.
Burbank, CA
3/22/2011
Last week, I tried to turn my computer on and with my surprise the blue screen of death flashed on my Mac. The worst thing was I had just replaced the drive three weeks prior and I was in the process of doing a full backup. The reason I turned the computer on. I did what any normal person would do and I took it over to Melrose Mac. They know Mac's right? They were only half right.
They told me that my hard drive was a failure. That was all they said. It was going to cost me the minimum of $150 and that wouldn't fix my problem. That was just to look at it.
I decided to find someone else to get my information back, so I found Brian on Yelp. Brian did an amazing job. He answered all my questions and boy did I have a lot. I think I asked 20-30 questions within one day of emails back and forth. What can I say, that hard drive was valuable.
At the end of the day, Brian was able to clone my crashed drive AND find that I had 2 bad chips of RAM, which Melrose Mac did NOT tell me. When and if I have a problem with my machine, I am definitely going to Brian again. He was also very friendly, which was nice to have in a stressful situation. :) -
Review from Charlie A.
Los Angeles, CA
3/20/2011
Had 2 drives start malfunctioning due to a power surge. One smoked and one stop reading with some clicking. Checked Yelp and was surprised to find a deal like Brian's. Set up an appointment through his easy to use website and got a quick response from him. Went to his address, quick run down of the situation and he maintained email communication as to his progress. In 24 hrs I had all my data from both drives saved! All for the price of half of one saved HD at any other place. Plus he has a no save no pay policy that can't be beat. Definetely on my go to list from now on. Don't hesitate to use his service.
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Review from Jeff H.
Culver City, CA
3/19/2011
Brian's expertise saved me from an expensive data loss. I know a bit about data recovery and tried everything I know to do to recover the video files I had lost due to a crappy my book external hard drive failure. After going to Mac Enthusiasts and being told that my data was unrecoverable and would have to go to a higher echelon of service, i.e. clean room recovery, which could cost as much as 1500 or more, I looked up Mac Data Recovery on the web and found Brian. Yelp reviews were what made me convinced that I had tried the wrong people. I took my drive to Brian and within a day or two he said he could recover my data. I had it back within a couple days and will be forever grateful and will recommend him to anyone with data problems who uses a mac. Thanks, Brian.
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Review from Rina L.
West Covina, CA
3/15/2011
Brian is the shit! Hands down! He was done fixing my Macbook Pro in 2 hrs and it was $100 bucks less than we initially discussed. He could've charged me that extra $100 bucks, and I would've paid and never had know the difference... but he's honest....and i love that
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Review from Robert P.
Studio City, CA
Updated - 3/14/2011
This is the second time I've used Brian's services. This time I knocked over a glass of very good beer all over my macbook pro's keyboard. After crapping my pants, I wiped down the computer and went to the Apple Store for a diagnosis. They said they'd charge a flat fee of $1200 to fix it, but they also recommended using a third party provider--so I called Brian. He found no damage to the mother board. Looks like the keyboard took the hit. And the charge? A cool $50. The only thing is now my computer smells like an unfinished beer.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/25/2010
The mother board on my Power Mac G5 died, and I needed to get all the data off of both the internal… Read more »
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Review from Nance S.
Los Angeles, CA
2/22/2011
It's a official.. I'm a fan of Brians!! My Mac wouldn't boot up last week. I got the white screen of death with a flashing ?. Since it's less than a year old I thought it was no big deal. I meant to back up everything but didn't, even though we have 3 external hard drives..sheer stupidity. I brought it to the Apple Store thinking it was just a minor repair, bad news, the hard drive was gone and there was no way they could recover it. The hard drive was under warranty but I would lose all of my pictures including my sister's wedding in New Orleans.
I was told by Apple to take it to a data recovery company. I was still thinking no big deal. I took it to MelroseMac in Burbank. They said it was indeed crashed and that it would take 3 days to let me know if it could be recovered. It was then that I began to panic. Those were the longest 3 days ever. My kids are 9 and 10 and all the pictures for the year were on that computer. They called with the bad news 3 days later.. they could, however , do a data recovery to get the data back. The catch... it would be $150 to even look at it, the average cost was $700 to $2000 and it would take 2 weeks! What? Are you kidding me? I made the mistake of telling them my sister's wedding pictures were on the computer.. I was in tears, completely filled with anxiety.
Ok.. the happy ending.. I quickly picked up my computer from MelroseMac refusing to be held over a barrel, I remembered Yelp.. I searched data recovery Mac and Brian Cometa came up almost at the top of the list .. I read the reviews and was quite impressed. I went to his website and read it several times.. could it be? Flat rate recovery with no up front fees and a no risk guarantee? I made the appt, dropped off my Mac and waited... it took only hours before he was emailing me with the good news that he could in fact recover some data. The next day I received another email saying that he was able to clone 98% of my HD! He was off Wednesday but said I could pick it up Thursday!
Wow!! 3 day turn around and ALL (8,000) photos recovered with the file names intact! $300!! I'm so happy. He was professional.. even emailed me the receipt as soon as I paid. I mentioned our other MacBook Pro was running slow and he told me he could do a tune up for $100.. nicel. So I'm telling everyone I know about him, even posted it on FaceBook. Brian Cometa is worth every penny. If your stuff is important to you then you need him. -
Review from Sugar F.
Los Angeles, CA
2/20/2011
Brian was fast and courteous. His website is well-designed and gave me confidence. His online appointment setting system is a breeze. And he costs less than anyone in town!
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Review from hildy j.
Los Angeles, CA
2/16/2011
Brian rescued me from abject misery after my external hard drive crashed with 27,000 pictures & videos on it. At first, he thought he couldn't retrieve everything, but he worked at it for a few days & did manage to MIRACULOUSLY extract all the files. He was honest, direct, easy to reach, speedy & most importantly, 100% SUCCESSFUL!!! I am beyond thrilled with his services & would definitely recommend him to ANYONE having a similar problem.
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Review from Christopher F.
Oakland, CA
2/9/2011
"As good as it gets" is accurate. I had a hard disk crash in a mysterious way, and wasted $50 on a local drive recovery outfit. They referred me to a clean-room facility that 1) without seeing or clarifying what happened to the drive, quoted me $900; and 2) drove a hard sale by trying to scare me into only using them since I would "definitely" need a clean-room facility.
Luckily, this b.s. stank enough even for me to detect it. Some friends in LA recommended Brian to me, and once I contacted him via email, the rest was incredibly easy. After I described my situation, he expressed tentative optimism (in other words, he was honest!) and told me to send it in for him to have a look. He'd let me know if he had any doubts. Once he had his hands on it, he said it was a pretty straightforward firmware problem and sent me several updates on the recovery progress, even though it only took about 24 hrs. (No clean-room required, btw.)
In the end, he recovered 99% of my files, with 90% of the file structure intact. After asking my shipping preferences, he sent the drive back. The entire process -- from mailing off the drives to getting them back -- took 4 days. Really amazing. I can't recommend this guy more highly. Brian makes you feel like his only client. -
Review from Kenneth R.
West Hollywood, CA
2/6/2011
Brian is everything that you could want in a Mac repair guy: he's prompt, knowledgeable, courteous, conscientious and very reasonably priced. If you are in LA and in need of Mac repairs, do yourself a favor and call Brian. I brought an old workhorse iMac to Brian twice and both times he well exceeded my expectations. Mac owners in LA are lucky to have Brian Cometa.
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Review from Sean B.
Glendale, CA
Updated - 1/24/2011
Another wonderful experience.
If you have a repair need and are out of warranty, I have no idea why you would not give him a call. Nice, cool guy - good work - honest.
Thanks, Brian.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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8/9/2010
This is the kind of "company" that you wish existed in every field of service. You want to find a… Read more »
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Review from Edmond B.
Brentwood, CA
1/22/2011
Brian was able to recover my data after some guy on Craigslist couldn't. The first guy was able to recover some files, but not the ones that I needed. Brian was able to recover my files with their file names and folder structure in tact.
He was really organized and professional, highly recommended! -
Review from Philip C.
Los Angeles, CA
1/18/2011
Can I give more than 5 stars?
Without question Brian is by far the best technical service person I have ever come across. We have used his services three times so I know it is the way he always does business and not just some fluke.
Brian is friendly, professional, and unbelievably fast. The first time I went to him he told me it would take 3 or 4 days to fix my problem - which I thought was unusually quick - but then he called me the very next day to say that the job was completed. While I am sure that there are times when he is swamped, even his projected times are always better than average.
I would - and do - recommended him to ANYONE who needs Mac service. This guy is worth going a 150 miles out of your way to get to. And to top it all off my wife even thinks he's cute! -
Review from mikey t.
Los Angeles, CA
1/16/2011
Wow... I'm surprised I haven't written a review for Brian yet.
I had an external HD that died on me... Brian hooked it up and saved all of information to a new external. Definitely recommend him to anyone! -
Review from Simone L.
Santa Monica, CA
1/13/2011
I thought I heard a slight odd noise coming from my hard drive (or at least the tower) of my computer. Also noticed it starting to slow down a bit. Being paranoid from previous drive crashes, I took it to Brian. I had found him on Yelp and was impressed by all the good ratings he had. I dropped it off, he spent a full day diagnosing it and couldn't find anything wrong with it. I only paid a $45 diagnosis fee and picked it up. No problems so far. If it had needed a new hard drive, he would have installed a new and bigger one and cloned my old drive to it for something like $160. I think that's pretty reasonable and cheaper than the major tech support places around town. Turnaround time was great too!
He's super efficient and I liked that he was really honest about the fact that he couldn't find anything wrong with it. I think there's a lot of places out there that would have still sold me something I didn't really need after all. When I do have a real problem next time, I'm going back to Brian. (Hopefully, that won't be too soon though!) -
Review from Michael F.
Pasadena, CA
1/11/2011
I thought I was totally screwed when the harddrive crashed on my PC. All our Quickbooks files were on there from my business. The place I originally took the computer to could not get anything off the hard drive. I found Brian on Yelp and figured it was worth the $300 gamble. He was able to recover everthing we needed and saved me thousands of dollars and hours of paying someone to re-enter everything. He even talked my bookkeeper through getting the files to work again on the new computer.
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Review from J L.
Northridge, CA
1/9/2011
I have worked with Brian over the past two years on my home and business Mac hardware. He has done an excellent job and provided outstanding customer service.
In a world full of flakes, slackers, and weasels, vendors like Brian are hard to find: mad skills, totally dependable and reliable, and a very good human. I have very high standards for techs working on my gear, and Brian is the real deal who will always be my first call. -
Review from Alejandro P.
Los Angeles, CA
12/19/2010
God bless America! And God bless Brian Cometa! This business will undoubtably become a well known gem of Los Angeles! I read too many horror stories about other mac repair shops like Mac Enthusiast and Melrose Mac. As cheesy of a cliché opening as that sounds, its true.
The last thing you want when you're about to lose half of your life to a broken hard drive is to get screwed over by an untrustworthy mini corporate machine that just wants your money. I fear those places are like broken vending machines that eat your first dollar, forcing you to pay extra for something that isn't even that good or good for you.
All you need is ONE GUY that knows how to fix the problem, efficiently for a fair price. And Brian is no tenth grader working out of his mother's basement playing pretend. This is an APPLE CERTIFIED BUSINESS, folks - you just have to get past the fact its in an apartment, if that's a worry. I was impressed to sign my contract on a touch screen!
He absolutely saved me in a day without any stress. He had a variety of hard drive replacements for me to choose from and he was able to transfer everything. My computer is back exactly the way it was and now I've got over 200GB of more space! In one day, for $260! Don't bother with the headache from those other places - not knowing when you'll computer will be fixed and how much you'll have to shell out for it, and the genius people are useless, just make an appointment for Brian's service. Soon as you meet him, you'll know your computer will be alright. Holy crap am I grateful he was around! You won't find one bad review about him!
(first thing I did when I got my computer back was sign up and post this) -
Review from chris s.
San Francisco, CA
11/7/2010
QUICKEST LED MACBOOK SCREEN REPLACEMENT EVER!!!!
Finished in 2 hours. I barely drove back home when Brian already called me and told me that my computer has been fixed. Not only that, he gave me the best deal when I compared three other sources. Even when I called the Apple store then told me that they have heard of Brian Cometa and said he was the best option for me if I needed a quick turn around time.
Thanks Brian!!! -
Review from Karla R.
Los Angeles, CA
11/4/2010
Was referred by my office manager, who found him on Yelp. She highly recommended Brian, so I thought I would try him out. He's extremely organized and professional, which made a great first impression. Showed up early, and got right down to business with the Macs in our office.
I ended up giving him another computer to take with him and work on at his facility. Very pleased, and will definitely use his services again and again.
