How much do it cost to uppgrade my computer?

[Technoid]

How much do it cost to uppgrade my computer? a customer asked...
More than you can imagine is what I wish I could have answered

intel vx
cyrix cpu
16mb sim
2gb hdd
4x cdrom
win98
S3 pci grafix
ess 1868 sound

what a speed-demon!!

[Dr Mordrid]

UPgrade? How about REplace??

Dr. Mordrid

[Technoid]

Thats always to expensive!

[Tempest]

Yeah... So you say some large sum, and then he/she says "but I could buy a new computer for that money!" and then you say "yeah, well, that's basically what we need to do here" and then he/she says/thinks you're an arrogant mother***ker and/or that you are fooling him/her and leaves...

I bet they don't believe when you say that even the old case can not be used anymore...

[The PIT]

I always answer whats your budget? Most of them don't know and I then send them away to find out how much money they can spend.
After that it's a case finding what they're using it for.

[Technoid]

I did actualy make one customer with a crappy computer buy a newer one...

That was a mistake.....

It was HE who was the "crap"....

Tomorrow I'm of trying to find out why its it won't boot correctly......

It's always so funny when the "error" never exhibits while you are there

The latest is that the computer frezzes during w98 bootup...

And ofcourse he says he have to pull the cord... (Damn it!, theres a button labled "Reset" but that don't seem to register in the customers brain)

And then he claims that it caused his internal modem to not get any tone anymore

[Gurm]

This woman kept buying modems from us.

She'd bring one in and lo and behold it wouldn't work any more.

Time after time.

Finally after about a half dozen modems, I asked her how she was plugging it in.

"Well, I have it running from the wall to the surge strip to the modem."

So I asked her to show me the surge strip. She brings it in from the car... with the cheater still attached.

Guess what? Modems don't like power surges.

- Gurm

[Technoid]

I went to the customer and tried to fix it on the spot....

I couldent....

Brought it back to the shop, uped the bios to the latest, uped the virdefs to the latest, removed 2 gauzillions of viruses, changed Vidcard(the fan had failed)......

Last time I was there I asked him if he regularly updated his definitions and sweeped his hdd...

He said that he did it every week....

The definitions had never been updated, they were from '98!!

On question he said:

I only download the quick update, the otherone takes to loong.

In Nav2000 you have to check a couple of boxes to actualy get the updates, if you only press next etc, etc you won't get uppgraded

I still don't know what was the culpritt;
1. The ages old bios ('98)
2. The ages old Antivir definitions and all the funny viruses
2. The Vidcard with slagged grafixcore... (molten fan )

Care fore a guess

(and to satisfie the curiosity: the os was cloned from his old computer on his direct order )

At least, now it works stable!
In my workshop, but you never know how it will behave onsite

[Gurm]

When customers tell me to "clone the OS" from their old computers... I tell them I "won't support their old OS".

Changes their minds in a hurry.

- Gurm

[Technoid]

Sorry to say;

But the option to clone their old "system" to the new computer is one of the few things that makes a customer buy one of our computers instead of a "brandname" computer at the nearest "home electronics store" aka "we should only sell TV's because we don't realy understand the differens betwen a computer and a tv...

I'ts strange that people buys computers with only the price as a guidance and then is astounded when the quality is absent, the support lost in never never land and the shop says "we only sell it, talk with the "makers" support"

[Dr Mordrid]

Just for the helluvit;

how much would you builders charge for installing a new OS (exclusive of its cost) and rebuilding a customers software setup, email files, address book etc?

Dr. Mordrid

[DirtFarmer]

Bare Install of OS with drivers configured, windows updates, internet setup runs $70-$200 Canadian at our shop depending on availability of drivers and patience/attitude of customer. Also depends whether the computer was purchased in our store, we often work for 1/2 rate or less for our clients.

I'm sure Technoid could concur that there is nothing worse than trying to find Windows drivers for a 5yr old computer with that integrated modem/sound card/coffee grinder with some combination of rockwell, ess, aztech chips hidden under multilayer daughterboards. ICK. And said customer didn't recieve any diskettes with the computer.

Our shop will also copy old hard drive to a c:\oldhd directory (if it is an old small hd), move documents around,move addresses, e-mail, set up internet, for free with a new system. Then the customer can sort through it and delete it in 6months. For good clients we will install accounting software, etc, and move the data around. Usually end up doing a pile of work for squat. Once things get inconvenient its $70.00/hour Can.

Technoid, I feel your pain.

[Technoid]

Our prices are:

Service : 50$ ( 1$ = 10Swedish krowns)
Software problems that don't require HW replacemnts..
This is what we take if we backupp, reinstall, rebuild a OS...

Repairs: 75$ (excluding the price for new parts)
Everuthing when Hardware needs to be replaced...

And If the customer want's it done emidiatly the price is:

125$ regardles if it's just a loose conector...

normal time to get it done with th normal price is up to a week and usualy 1 to 2 days...

And If you buy a grafixcard we will install it for free if you bring in your computer

[Taz]

We once had a call from an IT manager complaining that the three PC's we had just supplied all had dead modems. We sent an engineer to visit them who unplugged the phone cable from the NIC and plugged it into the modem, they worked fine after that He was replaced shortly afterwards

[Dr Mordrid]

Gawwwdddd.....I sure hope he doesn't breed

Dr. Mordrid