Thinkpad repairs in Canada?

[austerlitz]

So, I've got this ageing t43p which needs a backlight replaced and probably a new motherboard too (it's become slower than my desktop which is older by 3 years!). My question is what does someone do to get their thinkpad repaired in Canada? It's no longer under warranty. I've taken it to a couple of places here in vancouver but they all seem sketchy and lazy. One person even told me that they couldn't replace the tube in the backlight and that they'd have to replace the whole screen and that it would cost me upwards of $600 which seems insane.

It seems to me that I've read on this forum about a couple of very decent repair people in the US that do good work and for very reasonable prices. My issue is that what happens with the duty when you ship a computer over the border *twice*! I don't think there is a "just sending it for repairs" box on the customs form.

So I guess my issue is this: Do I just give up and get a new laptop or does someone out there know someone in Canada who's great at fixing thinkpads? Or else, someone who knows about getting around the cross-border duties?

[RealBlackStuff]

If you have friends in Blaine or further down, you could cross the border, ship it from there and have it returned to your friends in the USA.
The name to look for is Jamiphar in the Marketplace Forum.
He does CCFL replacements for ca. $150.-