Should I just go to a box store and buy a computer?

Daily we get asked this question.  So much so that I’m going to use this blog post to address the question.  Cheap quality and/or old computers can sometimes not be worth investing any money in repairs.  When a client finds out the cost of repairs is too high and unlikely to give them a good return on their investment, they ask if they should just go to a box store and buy a computer.

The answer is “probably not”.  Big box stores are money driven.  They focus on sales.  Once they sell you a computer, they hope they never see you again until the next time you buy one.  They all participate in price wars, and unfortunately the unlikely victim is, in fact, you as a consumer.  Why?

A consideration when making new purchases should always be “return on investment” or ROI.  What will give you the best return on your investment?  A cheap computer built with cheap parts or a more expensive computer built out of quality parts?  Typically, when built right, the custom built quality computer will last a lot longer before any repairs or upgrades are required.

• When prices are cut, quality and/or service (usually both) suffer.  They have to in order to meet the price point.
• Cheap computers use cheap components.  The end result is horrible performance, unreliability, being underpowered and premature failure.
• One example of cheap components is the “capacitors” on the motherboard, the main component in your computer that everything plugs into.  Capacitors are a key part of the power supply that provides clean, reliable power to your board.  Manufacturers such as Asrock and ECS use very poor quality capacitors that fail prematurely or are subject to electrical interference.  The result is an unstable motherboard.
• Cheap computers, such as Acer, use very poor quality system memory (Random Access Memory, or RAM).  First, they often don’t use enough, and second, they use very poor, low grade yields, such as Hynix.  There is memory, and then there’s memory.  In a future blog post I’ll explain the difference.  For now, suffice it to say that garbage memory produces garbage results, such as instability, unreliability or generally poor performance.  They can fail prematurely, resulting in memory errors which present themselves in “blue screens”, also known as the infamous “blue screen of death” or “BSOD”.
• OEMs and many vendors use Western Digital hard drives, notorious for premature failure, as they are two dollars cheaper than more reliable drives, such as the latest Seagate Perpendicular Recording Drives.
• Lenovo has been known to solder wires onto their motherboards when they forget to put the “trace” on the board during manufacturing.
• Many vendors actively promote products that make them the most money, despite their poor track record.  Acer, Lenovo, Norton, McAfee, Asrock, PCChips, Speed, are just some examples.

The warranty on our products is second to none.  The components that we use have three year, five year and even lifetime warranties.  The entire system has a one year, in house warranty against parts and labour defects.  They are hand picked to provide the ultimate in reliability, stability and durability.

We will not sell anything we won’t use ourselves.  We believe in our products, they’ve proven themselves, and we’re always there after the sale to support our clients, whether by phone or in person, with no hassle support.  If a product fails our stringent criteria, we will not sell it.

As a smaller shop, our entire business is built on our reputation for quality, exceptional computer repairs and often same day turnaround time.  We rely on referrals from our clients, and to get referrals we have to earn them.  We can’t do that with poor quality products and services.

The next time you are looking for a reliable, great performing computer, when down time is not an option, contact us for your computer sales needs.  There is no comparison when your computer store, retailer, reseller, etc is driven by passion rather than money.

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Kudos

I realize that a computer repair blog should be about…well… computer repairs.  However, for this post I’d like to make an exception and comment on some experiences we’ve had with local businesses.

First, Hovey’s Gourmet Meats.  If you haven’t had a chance to check out this shop, I can’t recommend it enough.  Their steaks are far superior to anything else I’ve had locally, and they are authorized Angus Beef retaillers.  If you haven’t tried them, you should.  Say hi to Michael and his wife.  They’re both excellent people, as is their entire staff.

Second, Automax Connection.  They provided us with our latest car.  The sale was one thing.  Mike is exceptional, going out of his way to ensure we got exactly what we needed at the right price.  After the sale, their service has also been exceptional.  When you’re looking for your next car, Automax on Hart Drive is a must stop on your itinerary.

Third, Scottland Tire and Auto.  They’ve been maintaining our vehicles for a year now.  Always the entire staff has been courteous, friendly, prompt, reliable and efficient.  They make sure we get back on the road quickly and that our vehicles are well maintained.  They also give us sound advice over the phone and readily/expertly answer any questions we may have.

Fourth, Douglas Ford.  Recently a little dirt bike careened out of a side street and made quite a mess to the front of one of our vehicles.  Douglas responded quickly, got us set up with a rental and performed an outstanding repair to the vehicle.  The staff there were very professional, friendly and courteous.  They made the entire process absolutely hassle free… and at the end said that key phrase “if there’s anything else we can do for you, don’t hesitate to call us” while they shook my hand.

Fifth, Sarjeant Insurance.  Laura handles our vehicle insurance.  She handled the claim promptly and efficiently, keeping us informed every step of the way and facilitated the claim process.  Always friendly and courteous, she is a prime example of what good customer service is all about.

Finally, Chaopaya Restaurant on Dunlop St E, just past the main strip.  It’s a rather old house with a large patio.  It’s not a very fancy place, rather unassuming, but the food is sensational, as is their authentic Thai atmosphere and service.  Prices are very reasonable as well.  The staff are very courteous and polite, always smiling, obviously passionate about what they do as we are.

All of these local Barrie businesses embody and share our vision of superior quality and customer service.  We’re very fussy who we put our names behind, and these local businesses have truly stood out to us.  I highly recommend each and every one of them.

When you go, tell them we sent you and tell them we said “Hi”.

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Beware when buying a used computer or computer repair scams

We’ve been receiving reports on and off of unscrupulous vendors selling very low quality computers for rather large sums of money.

Our latest report was of a vendor selling a very old Pentium 4 (about 8 years old) with a 20 GB hard drive for $500 to an unsuspecting customer.  His friend stepped in and built him a far superior computer, with a legal copy of Windows, for less money. 

Unfortunately the customer wasn’t able to get a refund, but it does warrant passing the word around that vendors are selling “antique” computers for big money.

Another unfortunate situation was a client that came in, having bought a computer from a Kijiji classified ad.  The kid was selling “new” computers with “warranty”, but when the client had problems within a month the kid disappeared.  He never answered his phone, returned phone calls or came to the door.

Leaving our client out in the cold, the client came to us to have it fixed properly.

Another vendor was reported to us having sold a client a new screen for their laptop.  When it wouldn’t work, they claimed the problem was the inverter, billed the client $350 and sent them on their way.  When the client found out that the screen was in fact defective, they refused to refund her money.

We would like to encourage you to be very wary when buying used computers.  Avoid Pentium III computers, free ads claiming “new computers”, “cheap prices”, etc.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

We also suggest that you consider not paying for parts that don’t resolve your computer’s issues.  It is ok to tell a vendor that you’re not paying for a part that is clearly not solving the problem.  Ask them to remove it and replace your old parts, then take it to a more reliable computer repair depot.

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Success! (data recovery)

Recently we obtained some new, cutting edge data recovery tools.  In my last post I mentioned that we had received a hard drive that was completely blank, yet had been filled with memories of years gone by.  It was a perfect candidate for one of our new tools.

The tool was so effective that it successfully recovered every one of their files from each of their login accounts.  Not only are we very pleased with the results, our client is as well.  The best part of all is that the recovery cost them significantly less than a recovery service would.

After the success we had with their hard drive, I used it on one of my camera memory cards (flash card).  Again I was successful retrieving data I had deleted in June.

It always brings me a great deal of satisfaction to be able to help a client in ways such as that.  If you have a drive, memory card, thumb drive, etc. that has suffered a similar fate, bring it in to us.  We’ll get your data back or there will be no charge.

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