In my opinion, though, the next best thing to knowing how to do a thing is knowing where to find out how to do it. From now on, whenever someone writes in to ask me how to replace a cracked screen or how to resuscitate a Palm handheld that has apparently suffered the equivalent of a major coronary, I'll refer him to the extremely knowledgeable and friendly folks at Gethightech.com (at http://www.gethightech.com).

Do-it-yourself savings
Gethightech.com is an online business that sells quality new and used Palm OS parts and accessories. They also provide quality repair service for Palm OS units. However, that's not all they do. I recently had an opportunity to speak with Gethightech's founder, Robby Stanley, who told me, "We're not just after the almighty dollar. Our goal is to help people." They do just that by providing free technical assistance via email. If you write to the Gethightech staff with a repair issue that has you stumped, they'll reply with an answer, usually within one business day.

It doesn't stop there, though. On March 11, Gethightech began providing downloadable "Do-It-Yourself" PDA repair videos on its Web site. And, once again, this service is completely and totally free. Video titles include "Palm III Take-Apart" and "Upgrading Memory in Older Units." All of these videos are between 800KB to 3.5M, so they aren't an unreasonable download, even on a 56K modem. They arrive as zipped AVI files and can be viewed using either QuickTime or Windows Media Player. You can get an idea of the video quality from the screen capture in Figure A.

FIGURE A


Gethightech offers free "Do-It-Yourself" PDA repair videos. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Being in the business of helping people makes good financial sense. Providing this kind of fast, efficient, and friendly customer service has resulted in an ever-growing loyal customer base that returns to Gethightech for replacement parts.

Does fixing your PDA yourself make good financial sense for you? I believe it does. Say you've got a perfectly good Palm IIIxe you've been using for awhile and really bonded with. Then one day you accidentally drop it and crack the screen. You could just replace it with a newer model, but that's going to run you anywhere from $250 to $450. You could send it back to Palm, Inc. to repair for a $100 flat fee. Palm sends you a shipping package, you pack up the handheld, and they fix it and send it back to you. In the meantime, you're without your handheld for a couple of weeks. The other alternative is to do it yourself. Gethightech will sell you the glass for just $50, and you can follow the installation steps in their free Do-It-Yourself video. Plus, the feeling of self-sufficiency you get is pretty priceless.