By Joshua Feinberg
Computer repair prices are ruled by both the competition and the owner's specific needs. But in reality, consumers should not have very much control over prices. If you present the customer with choices about computer repair prices, he will feel like his needs are being better met. And a satisfied customer will bring more future business.
Choosing The Service
Most customers will enjoy being able to choose whether or not to have repair services done. But many times a simple visit you as a repair expert will end with advice to fix something, which means the consumer will need to spend more money. If you review the computer repair prices with the client and let him choose whether or not to move forward, he will feel he has control over the situation and be more likely to both accept and be happy with the service.
Choosing The Package
To give customers even more control, you should be prepared to offer them various packages. Computer repair prices might be based on an hourly rate, so you could offer your customer this option. Then offer a second deal that includes a package that covers four service visits within the year. The second might seem like a better deal to the customer, and he might take it. If neither sounds appealing to the client, try offering a parts or repairs discount to him as part of the second option.
The Key Is An Informed Decision
Honesty is the key element in computer repair prices. As a responsible professional, you must inform the client of every billing policy. Most consultants will charge forr one hour of work, minimum, even if the job is only a 10-minute one. If you are out-in-the-open with your clients they know they are making informed decisions.
Your prices should be designated based on your customers' needs. Keep in mind what they will see as a good value and base your price on this idea. The complete satisfaction of your clients is what is most important, and if they think they have received a good deal, you have done your job.
Copyright MMI-MMVII, Computer Consultants Secrets. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}
About the Author
Joshua Feinberg helps computer consultants get more steady, high-paying clients. Learn how you can too. Sign-up now for Joshua's free Computer Consultants Secrets audio training at
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Computer Printers Offer Infinite Variety, But Toner Can Put a Strain on Your Budget
By. Chris Robertson
If you're old enough to remember daisy wheel printers, you know just how far technology has advanced when it comes to computer printers. We've come a long way from the days when a daisy wheel would strike an ink ribbon and produce a letter on a page, and even from the days when a dot matrix printer would use its 24 pins to, line by line, produce a sheet of text.
Types of Printers
These days, of course, there are many different options when it comes to printers. For home use, many people continue to rely on inkjet printers, which are a relatively cost-effective way to print in both color and black and white. Other people opt for laser printers, which offer better speed and quality than inkjet printers. While they have dropped in price, color laser printers are often cost-prohibitive for home use, which is why many people choose inkjet printers for color.
Toner-based laser printers are the printers of choice for most office applications. With the increase in in-house graphic design and desktop publishing, small printing jobs can be performed more cost-effectively with a color laser printer than sending them out to be printed on an offset press.
Some offices - particularly those that wish to produce high-quality printed material - have turned to solid ink printers that use wax-based four color thermal transfer printing. Using solid ink CMYK colors mimics the effect of color separation on a printing press, which produces richer, deeper colors. Likewise, dye sublimation printers are often used for photo-quality reproductions, and are often marketed as photo printers.
Printer Manufacturers and Pricing
There are a number of first-rate printer manufacturers. Hewlett-Packard (HP), Epson, Canon, Brother, Apple, and Xerox all manufacture laser and/or inkjet printer. It's been interesting to watch the pricing strategy of printer manufacturers, which is generally to charge a minimum for computer printers, while charging an exorbitant amount for Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or brand name toner. This phenomenon is similar to the strategy employed by video game console manufacturers, where they barely recover the cost of manufacturing the console in the purchase price, but then charge dearly for the actual video games.
Avoiding Getting Gouged with OEM Toner
Although printer manufacturers would lead you to believe that brand name toner is the only toner that works in their printers, the truth is that high quality remanufactured toner or Reflexion toner works just as well. You can buy toner that is compatible with Hewlett-Packard (HP), Epson, Canon, Brother, Apple, and Xerox printers at a fraction of the price.
So, enjoy the low prices and high quality of brand name printers, but don't get gouged by the high price of toner. Always remember that there are alternatives that work just as well!
If you're old enough to remember daisy wheel printers, you know just how far technology has advanced when it comes to computer printers. We've come a long way from the days when a daisy wheel would strike an ink ribbon and produce a letter on a page, and even from the days when a dot matrix printer would use its 24 pins to, line by line, produce a sheet of text.
Types of Printers
These days, of course, there are many different options when it comes to printers. For home use, many people continue to rely on inkjet printers, which are a relatively cost-effective way to print in both color and black and white. Other people opt for laser printers, which offer better speed and quality than inkjet printers. While they have dropped in price, color laser printers are often cost-prohibitive for home use, which is why many people choose inkjet printers for color.
Toner-based laser printers are the printers of choice for most office applications. With the increase in in-house graphic design and desktop publishing, small printing jobs can be performed more cost-effectively with a color laser printer than sending them out to be printed on an offset press.
Some offices - particularly those that wish to produce high-quality printed material - have turned to solid ink printers that use wax-based four color thermal transfer printing. Using solid ink CMYK colors mimics the effect of color separation on a printing press, which produces richer, deeper colors. Likewise, dye sublimation printers are often used for photo-quality reproductions, and are often marketed as photo printers.
Printer Manufacturers and Pricing
There are a number of first-rate printer manufacturers. Hewlett-Packard (HP), Epson, Canon, Brother, Apple, and Xerox all manufacture laser and/or inkjet printer. It's been interesting to watch the pricing strategy of printer manufacturers, which is generally to charge a minimum for computer printers, while charging an exorbitant amount for Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or brand name toner. This phenomenon is similar to the strategy employed by video game console manufacturers, where they barely recover the cost of manufacturing the console in the purchase price, but then charge dearly for the actual video games.
Avoiding Getting Gouged with OEM Toner
Although printer manufacturers would lead you to believe that brand name toner is the only toner that works in their printers, the truth is that high quality remanufactured toner or Reflexion toner works just as well. You can buy toner that is compatible with Hewlett-Packard (HP), Epson, Canon, Brother, Apple, and Xerox printers at a fraction of the price.
So, enjoy the low prices and high quality of brand name printers, but don't get gouged by the high price of toner. Always remember that there are alternatives that work just as well!
An IT Audits Checklist
by. Joshua Feinberg
IT audits need to be absolutely thorough. The following checklist will help you get through every area you need to check during your IT audits:
1. You need to check PHYSICAL SECURITY during your IT audits and make sure controls are in place physically that keep servers, networking and telecommunications hardware safe and prevent unauthorized access.
2. A LOGICAL SECURITY investigation will check software security to make sure viruses and unauthorized access to important data is prevented.
3. Your IT audit should involve looking at LOGISTICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS to ensure that all the hardware is kept in facilities that will offer the best environmental conditions. The temperature, dust level, furniture, racks and physical structures used to support this equipment should be the best it can be.
4. During an audit you should check CONFIGURATION. Systems should be installed and configured in a way that aligns with all the necessary requirements and standards.
5. A check of SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES will help guarantee that security and systems administrative procedures are clearly outlined for staff and assigned to specific individuals.
6. You should look into HARDWARE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT of the client's company. Hardware should all be inventoried, and all appropriate documentation including warranties and maintenance records should be organized and available.
7. SOFTWARE LICENSING should be in place for the company. During the IT audit you should make sure the client is in compliance will all agreements and has access to them.
8. DATA BACKUP AND DISASTER RECOVERY procedures should be in place for the company under optimal conditions. The client should be maintaining and testing data backup systems on a regular basis to ensure nothing is lost in an emergency.
9. Part of your IT audit should be devoted to checking DOCUMENTATION to ensure that all systems, procedures and policies are being regularly documented and updated. Logs of these systems should be kept by the client.
10. PERFORMANCE AND CAPACITY PLANNING will make sure that all systems are performing at their optimal and required levels in regards specifically to the following factors: uptime; systems availability; data storage availability; bandwidth; and archives of older data files.
11. Part of your job during an IT audit is to check how the client CHANGES MANAGEMENT. All changes to systems hardware or software should be logged, tested and verified before they are implemented and plans should be in place in case they have to be reversed.
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Small Biz Tech Talk. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}
IT audits need to be absolutely thorough. The following checklist will help you get through every area you need to check during your IT audits:
1. You need to check PHYSICAL SECURITY during your IT audits and make sure controls are in place physically that keep servers, networking and telecommunications hardware safe and prevent unauthorized access.
2. A LOGICAL SECURITY investigation will check software security to make sure viruses and unauthorized access to important data is prevented.
3. Your IT audit should involve looking at LOGISTICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS to ensure that all the hardware is kept in facilities that will offer the best environmental conditions. The temperature, dust level, furniture, racks and physical structures used to support this equipment should be the best it can be.
4. During an audit you should check CONFIGURATION. Systems should be installed and configured in a way that aligns with all the necessary requirements and standards.
5. A check of SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES will help guarantee that security and systems administrative procedures are clearly outlined for staff and assigned to specific individuals.
6. You should look into HARDWARE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT of the client's company. Hardware should all be inventoried, and all appropriate documentation including warranties and maintenance records should be organized and available.
7. SOFTWARE LICENSING should be in place for the company. During the IT audit you should make sure the client is in compliance will all agreements and has access to them.
8. DATA BACKUP AND DISASTER RECOVERY procedures should be in place for the company under optimal conditions. The client should be maintaining and testing data backup systems on a regular basis to ensure nothing is lost in an emergency.
9. Part of your IT audit should be devoted to checking DOCUMENTATION to ensure that all systems, procedures and policies are being regularly documented and updated. Logs of these systems should be kept by the client.
10. PERFORMANCE AND CAPACITY PLANNING will make sure that all systems are performing at their optimal and required levels in regards specifically to the following factors: uptime; systems availability; data storage availability; bandwidth; and archives of older data files.
11. Part of your job during an IT audit is to check how the client CHANGES MANAGEMENT. All changes to systems hardware or software should be logged, tested and verified before they are implemented and plans should be in place in case they have to be reversed.
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Small Biz Tech Talk. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}
Monday, June 9, 2008
Caring For Your LCD Monitor
By. Geoffrey Vaughan
With all the hot new LCD monitors on the market out there most people are not aware of some of the disadvantages and extra care they require to keep them lasting as long as the old CRT monitors could last.
Liquid Crystal Displays are a lot more sensitive then the old Cathode Ray Tubes were. CRT screens are made of a thick glass that can take more abuse then the plastic LCD's.
Cleaning a Crt Monitor was really easy just use Windex or Pledge with a paper towel and it was cleaned. LCD monitors however have an anti-reflecting film coating on the outside of the screen that can be eaten away by ammonia based cleaners. This will make your LCD look cloudy and have blurry regions of your computer. The paper towel and other wood based products can also scratch the plastic as it is less durable then the old glass ones.
To clean an LCD monitor turn it off, simply wet a lint free cloth with water, (ONLY USE WATER) then wipe the monitor. Do not apply the water directly to the monitor as more water could soak/drip into other crevices in your monitor.
Use a screen saver! It might actually save your screen. Imagine that! An LCD monitor is made up of an array (or grid) of tiny pixels that display the colors on your screen. When an LCD monitor is left on for extended periods of time the images of your desktop background or whatever is left open will actually burn into the plastic on the monitor. Now when you change your background to say a solid colour (grey, yellow, pink, work well) it will actually show you an outline of the previous background image ghosted into it. The good news is that this type of damage is reversible. You can reverse the damage by turning your monitor off as much as possible and by running a screen saver that cycles colors and varies the output to the screen. This will eventually go away.
Keep your hands off it! Never ever ever touch a LCD monitor. When you apply any sort of pressure to an LCD monitor you risk damaging one of the pixels. When this happens the pixel will turn permanently black (off) and it will never work again. I've heard before of people trying to massage out the pixel to get it to work but I don't recommend this as you risk damaging more pixels. If your pixel is burnt into a specific colour I've also heard of programs that cycle through all colours and try to fix the problem. If this is the case then its definitely worth the try.
Remember Hands off!
With all the hot new LCD monitors on the market out there most people are not aware of some of the disadvantages and extra care they require to keep them lasting as long as the old CRT monitors could last.
Liquid Crystal Displays are a lot more sensitive then the old Cathode Ray Tubes were. CRT screens are made of a thick glass that can take more abuse then the plastic LCD's.
Cleaning a Crt Monitor was really easy just use Windex or Pledge with a paper towel and it was cleaned. LCD monitors however have an anti-reflecting film coating on the outside of the screen that can be eaten away by ammonia based cleaners. This will make your LCD look cloudy and have blurry regions of your computer. The paper towel and other wood based products can also scratch the plastic as it is less durable then the old glass ones.
To clean an LCD monitor turn it off, simply wet a lint free cloth with water, (ONLY USE WATER) then wipe the monitor. Do not apply the water directly to the monitor as more water could soak/drip into other crevices in your monitor.
Use a screen saver! It might actually save your screen. Imagine that! An LCD monitor is made up of an array (or grid) of tiny pixels that display the colors on your screen. When an LCD monitor is left on for extended periods of time the images of your desktop background or whatever is left open will actually burn into the plastic on the monitor. Now when you change your background to say a solid colour (grey, yellow, pink, work well) it will actually show you an outline of the previous background image ghosted into it. The good news is that this type of damage is reversible. You can reverse the damage by turning your monitor off as much as possible and by running a screen saver that cycles colors and varies the output to the screen. This will eventually go away.
Keep your hands off it! Never ever ever touch a LCD monitor. When you apply any sort of pressure to an LCD monitor you risk damaging one of the pixels. When this happens the pixel will turn permanently black (off) and it will never work again. I've heard before of people trying to massage out the pixel to get it to work but I don't recommend this as you risk damaging more pixels. If your pixel is burnt into a specific colour I've also heard of programs that cycle through all colours and try to fix the problem. If this is the case then its definitely worth the try.
Remember Hands off!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Tablet PC - Know More About It
By. Henery Cruz
With the introduction of Tablet PC to the computing world, Tablet PC is quite famous among different section of the society. Students, journalists, professionals and todays consumers who want to get portable PC are very satisfied with the development of Tablet PC.
Some of the well known brand who manufacturers Tablet PC are the Gateway Tablet PC, the Motion Computing Tablet PC, the Fujitsu Tablet PC, the Toshiba Tablet PC.
There are two types of Tablet PCs configurations:
1. The slate model PC tablet: - This model doesn't have attached keyboard. Like a piece of paper you can use a tiny pen-stylus device to write on the surface of these tablet pcs, where your handwriting is digitally converted and showing up on the screen.
2. The convertible model PC tablet: - This tablet PC look like traditional notebooks, with displays that turns around and folds flat covering the keyboard facing outwards, but when flipped upright, the screen works just like a laptop computer or notebook computer.
Generally the features of Tablet PCs are
- Weight less than 2kg (some slates weight less than 1kg)
- Very compact
- Digitized displays (12-inch)
- No internal CD, CD-RW, or DVD drives
- Slower mobile processors, less memory and smaller hard drives
- Ports are few
- Microsoft Windows XP Home or Professional
As per your requirement you can upgrade the Tablet PC. For instance you can get larger hard drive 60GB or your Tablet PC screen can be upgrade for indoor and outdoor viewing.
With the introduction of Tablet PC to the computing world, Tablet PC is quite famous among different section of the society. Students, journalists, professionals and todays consumers who want to get portable PC are very satisfied with the development of Tablet PC.
Some of the well known brand who manufacturers Tablet PC are the Gateway Tablet PC, the Motion Computing Tablet PC, the Fujitsu Tablet PC, the Toshiba Tablet PC.
There are two types of Tablet PCs configurations:
1. The slate model PC tablet: - This model doesn't have attached keyboard. Like a piece of paper you can use a tiny pen-stylus device to write on the surface of these tablet pcs, where your handwriting is digitally converted and showing up on the screen.
2. The convertible model PC tablet: - This tablet PC look like traditional notebooks, with displays that turns around and folds flat covering the keyboard facing outwards, but when flipped upright, the screen works just like a laptop computer or notebook computer.
Generally the features of Tablet PCs are
- Weight less than 2kg (some slates weight less than 1kg)
- Very compact
- Digitized displays (12-inch)
- No internal CD, CD-RW, or DVD drives
- Slower mobile processors, less memory and smaller hard drives
- Ports are few
- Microsoft Windows XP Home or Professional
As per your requirement you can upgrade the Tablet PC. For instance you can get larger hard drive 60GB or your Tablet PC screen can be upgrade for indoor and outdoor viewing.
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