So I started my own pc repair business..

[STLKINGV]

Congrats Bro!!!! I started my own furniture repair business last month... I'm making gains, even tho slow, gains.....

Start small, grow slow, take care of your customers..... If you don't, someone else will.....

I did reply to your PM the other day.....

Give me a shout!

A~

[Deneb]

Is that becuase all those parts died ??

Just kidding.

Matt

Nah, just needed upgraded. The only thing that ever "died" on a Dell I've owned has been a mouse (just a relabled Microshaft 2 button with wheel mouse) which they replaced (this was back when you could talk to an American about your problems).

First thing to go was the ram, for gaming, I needed at least a gig. Next was the video card. The Gainward 5900XT I put in needed it's own link from the PS. I had to up it, or else it wouldn't turn on. I actually lied, my fans are all stock, I forgot about that, and my cd burner and my other Dvd drive (in both computers) are stock. I essentially forgot about that too.

So I guess the only things that aren't stock are the NIC, Vid, Sound, power supply, and ram.

I've just been lucky with mine I guess, unlike I am with everything else.

[skorb]

Damn Tim for a long haired fella you give good advise.
Good stuff.

I was just going to say the same thing!

damn, I'm impressed, hippietim with the Start Your Own Business in the PC Networking field seminar.

[hippietim]

Yep. I can't tell you how often someone will ask me, "should I buy a Dell or a Gateway or (insert proprietary name brand here)?"

I always tell them......none of the above. I explain to them that they should find a reputable local mom-n-pop shop and let them spec it out. At the very least, they have someone local to yell at if they have a problem, as opposed to dealing with the phone menu of a corporation that's way too big.

In my last job, we were an authorized Compaq service center. I left there back in 2000 and I still hate Compaq to this day.

When people ask me what to buy I tell them to get a Dell. We have thousands of them at work. I have 3 Dell's on my desk. I've owned several personally. In all my years of developing software on them, I've only had two hard dives go and those are just OEM drives from Maxtor, WD, or whoever they strike a deal with. Very simple replacement.

I've had mixed luck with Compaq's. I have a Compaq laptop at home that is very nice.

Gateway's have been pretty mediocre performers for me in terms of reliability.

It's been my experience that going to a mom and pop shop is *real* hit or miss. 90% of them are horrible. They don't know shit. They don't test their systems. They don't stand behind their systems. If you don't know what you are talking about or know someone that does who will go shopping with you then you are rolling the dice. Of course, Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA and that ilk are a complete joke as well. I'm sure you guys all know of exceptions, I do to. But I've lived in DC, Seattle, and Raleigh and it's all the same - they all suck. Here a fucktard, there a fucktard, everywhere a fucktard.

[hippietim]

Damn Tim for a long haired fella you give good advise.
Good stuff.

I was just going to say the same thing!

damn, I'm impressed, hippietim with the Start Your Own Business in the PC Networking field seminar.

Thanks guys. But don't be impressed. Ask me how to invest money and you won't be so impressed. I've been writing software for a living for a longtime so the stuff I mentioned is pretty obvious (not insightful). You guys should be scared rather than impressed because in addition to being the Ultimate Metal Guitarist I have worked on cruise missiles, Navy radar systems, and logistics systems for the Marines.

...and you guys all thought I was a tree hugger...

[hippietim]

One positive point for Compaq. Back in Desert Storm the Marines had these so-called ruggedized laptops that weighed like 50lbs (not kidding), were Tempest (for security), and they cost more money than you could imagine. I think they were all dead in a couple days. Fortunately, we had brought a couple Compaq laptops with us and they surived 3-4 months we were there in the desert. I just took the keyboards apart once every couple weeks or so to clean out the sand because they weren't sealed. And one floppy drive went bad.

[jgcable]

We have around 50 Dells where I work. We have been using Dell exclusively for around 10 years+. Nobody here turns their PC's off. They are on 24-7. We have had virtually no issues in 10+ years. This is the reason the computer repair business is down. With virtually everything being PNP now, even software issues are not as common as the old days.

[kmanick]

I'm with Tim on this, I've been developing software for over 12 years now ,and I always use Dells. I've never had any real problems with them and when I have ,their corporate support has been right there.

You are young , if this is the field that you want to stay in, go find a systems job in a company, become an MCSE go to college and get a CS degree etc.
On your own you have to deal with health insurance etc, which is really expensive if you don't belong to a corporate group.

I think it's great you want to do your gig, but I would definitely pursue an IT job with a company if for nothing else , just health benefits.
Plus the other guys have made some good points, new systems are so cheap that most people just buy new ones if their old ones shit the bed.
The start up boom is well over , so the demand for something like you want to pursue has diminished considerably over the last 4 years
Good luck on whatever you decide to do, it takes balls to go it on your own.

[OnlineStageGear]

Well, If all you are ever going to do is surf the net, then a Dell is "OK". If you want to do anything else with them like play games, you might want to upgrade the video card. You go to Best Buy, get yourself a nice Radeon or GeForce whatever and take it home, open it up, read the manual, get your act together and get pretty confident you can do this.... You grab your favorite screw driver, unplug everything from the pc, pull the box out in the open, pop off the case, if you are lucky enough to figure out how, and there it is staring you suare in the face. NO AGP SLOT. They save $1.25 per machine not putting and expansion slot for AGP.

Ok, so you were one of the luck ones who did get an AGP or PCIxPress expansion slot. You see your new video card needs more power and figure you better get a better power supply. If you are lucky, you have the model that a standard supply will physically fit in the case. You you unplug your old one, plug in the new one and push the button.... HMMMMMMM, nothing, it won't turn on. Guess what ? Dell swaps 4 wires on their power plug to make it not compatible with other boards/power supplies.

So you say the hell with it, return everything and exchange it for a nice large 250 gig hard drive. If I can't play games on it, I will just load it up with MP3's. So you put your new hard drive in after checking the jumpers are correct and low and behold, nothing. It won't see the drive.... That's because if you change the drive on a lot of Dell's, you have to run the built in drive diag to get it to run....

Now you take the machine and put it in the kids room and go get a real PC.

Welcome to DELL.

Matt

[hippietim]

I haven't gotten a Dell in years that didn't have at least an AGP slot. Maybe their $300 bargain PCs don't have them - I don't know.

If you are buying a high end gaming card I would hope you aren't dumb enough to shop at Best Buy - their prices are horrible and they don't have shit for a selection.

I have installed tons of drives in Dell boxes over the last 10+ years. Not once have I had to run a special Dell tool to get it to work.

Dell sells excellent gaming computers. I know some seriously hardcore gamers that swear by them.

BTW, with a Dell you do not need ANY tools to replace the video card. Not even a screwdriver.

Here's another scenario Matt. You go to one of those mom and pop stores. As a normal person you really have no idea what half the shit the salesman is talking about (and neither does he/she most of the time). They sell you a PC with random components that they have in stock. They don't test it worth a damn - it boots - good enough. When it fails you bring it to them and they say you have to contact the manufacturer for help. Or they start feeding you crap about restocking fees for stuff that never worked in the first place.

All of these companies have their positives and negatives. There are no absolutes. My experiences with Dells here at work have been stellar. The same goes for thousands of my coworkers. Same goes for my father, my friends, several of my personal machines, and so on.

[mm2002]

About 10 years ago I decided I was burned out on building cars, and went back to school studying computer science, programming, and networking. I went to work for Occidental Petroleum, and found myself doing a lot of computer repairs on the side for extra dough. I eventually got tired of the corporate politics so I quit them, and continued doing PC repair. I opened up a computer repair shop here about 5 years ago, and it was great at first, made lots of money! My last year in business was so stressful it was just about the death of me. I was working what seemed to be 24/7 and never had a "day off". From the first thing in the morning until late at night, my phone rang constantly. If I went home early, I would come in the next morning to 50 phone messages that would take 2 hours to weed through, so most of the time I just stayed late and got it over with. A lot of people were just looking for free advise / tech support, and had no intention of paying for anything, but I had to treat them all like a potential customer. I tried hiring a couple of techs to work on-site. Well, that didn't work out because I found myself on the phone trying to fix their problems or closing up shop while I ran to the location for some kind of "emergency", so I never got anything done in the shop. I had a hard time finding any competent help, and the few times I did, they just used me for a stepping stone to a big corporate job.
Hey, if this is what you want to do, go for it.....but I promise you that it's going to become extremely stressful and you may hate it. You may hate it bad! (that is, if you build a huge clientelle such as I did, and try to handle it on your own). Bottom line is, I just wasn't cut out for it I guess.
I sold out my business about two years ago, and started building cars again. I may not be making quite the income I did back then, and the overhead is tons more, but I'm happy now! That's priceless!
If you do go for it, I wish you the best!

[GWARGHOUL]

Hay guys-
I want to make one thign clear.
The IT/ CS feild in America sucks.
I will not persue a education in either.
I'm just doing this as a side job right now, supplementing the income from the stable job I'm losing in a week. Trying to get caught up on bills, and buy enough time to job hunt and get a paycheck going before rent is due.

If the business picks up enough, I will keep it a managable level, and also try to keep a stable taxed job as well.

Mark, I hear ya about competent help. I don't think I will be able to let my customer service in the hands of even my best friend. I just don't know anyone that can uphold my standards. This is why I'm goign to try to keep this at a managble level that I can personally handle.

As for my long term education/career goal-
Aviation science.
I'm going to to go a local community college for a associates of science in microcircutry/telecommunications.. then try to get into SLU's aviation science/professional pilot program.

[Soap]

I worked for a local IP for some while and learned a great deal from it.

I too thought I was gonna go into a type PC repair/build business once before.

The very fact that places like best buy, staples and etc can beat out the indivdual owner every time without losing money, is the very reason I decided not too. Bigger buisness (best buys, staples) have got it down to an art and its well oiled money machine.
Buy a PC from them and the contract agreement gives the buyer safe guards and maintenance offers that the indivdually owner can't compete with. Bottomline.

Most that don't really know, still nonetheless, they sell large amounts of them. Its these e machines at Walmarts and other departmewnt stores sell these things very dirt cheap. A very quick and very affordable way to get a PC. A need is getting met.

Since PC technology (hardware and software and the oem market) is improving, as already stated. The need for repairs are getting less. Most repairs are being handled through the IP's these days and the oem's. Most come with a repair disk and its as simple as throwing it in and letting it do its job. When finished, restored like the day you bought it.

Most of the time, not all, the people that have problems with their PC's that need a repair techician to look at it. Are the ones that just don't understand basic PC care. They don't scan their PC's for virus's, adware, spyware and don't defrag and just download anything and everything. Then call and say, "my PC isn't working right". I wonder why! You idiot!

RANT:
I think they should for everyone that buys a PC, should take a test
Basic entry level knowledge and skills.
1. know how to turn on and off the PC.
I kid you not, I've had calls about this on several occassions.
2. Be able to enter your username and password correctly.
Turn the "cap lock" button off, idiot! Yes, there are many still using dialup, believe it or not.
3. Basic understanding and use of they keybaord(shortcuts and hot keys) and mouse. If none, can't sign up for an online account online untill you do.
4. Know your hardware by name this includes the basic PC acrynoms.
why? One will be able to better communicate his or her issue. I have no idea what a "do mahicky thinga machig" is. Wouldn't know where to start.
5. Very Basic internet topology and problem scenarios should be explained.
Ex. Understand, if you are already on the internet and sending and reciving email, BUT, you can't log on yahoo to play chess. It has nothing to do with your IP provider. Contact yahoo's support!
6. This one is for the Curious George's out there.
Same man every week would call in over and over, it was it predictable patterrn and behavior problem. It got so bad, I got his call and an IP went down that day and we were swamped with calls. I helped him correct his problem then politely proceded to tell him, stop fidlling with your PC settings, espeicallu your internet and e-mail settings and you won't be having this particualr problem. He still is with the IP, but doesn't have those problems much anymore. Leave well enough alone, especially if you don't know what your doing. Its apparent your not learning from it!
7. Issues fines. Like for the curious georges and other stupid stuff that stupid people do to their PC's.

I think if this sort of class or test was implemented it would help solve alot of concerns globally with IP's and repair techs. May in fact put alot people out of work, but the real concerns would be the ones treated.

End of rant:

Back to the matter at hand:
Let me tell you some the stuff I've know.
People have brought their PC's in have a bad hard drive, or it least thats what they think anyways. They think they are paying for a new hard drive, but they aren't. The hard drive with the use of a handy floppy disk that has the software to zero out the hard drive. No removing and putting a new hard drive in has taken place. Reinstall the OS and all is good again.
This happens more than most realize or care too. This is just ONE example of many that go on alot.

Its eaiser to get scammed or screwed over buy an indivdual owner than at places like besy buys or staples. Even at local Ip's, if they are a small outfit, you can be screwed there too. Overall you can't beat the oems service, good local IP services(if you wanting to talk with someone that speaks good english that is), and the well oiled money making machines like best buys and staples. I'm A+, network+ and Microsoft certified, with IP and field experience and I have no problems buying PC hardware abd software from best buys and newegg. They're providing a decent service.

[GWARGHOUL]

I have virtually no local competition.

The only store here that sells computers/components is Wal-Mart.
They aren't competing for the same thing I am.

Theres a local repair shop or two with a bad reputation, and poor customer service.

If I play the feild right, I can swing a lot of people my way.

[HuntinDoug]

I first went into business in 1988 (ish) doing pinstriping, airbrushing, cusom paint, flamejobs on racecars ect. In 1990 I bought a IBM 80-286 with a 20MB HD, and a vinyl cutter that cut with a heat tip. Only 5 fonts, no scanning... I was still in heaven. A year later I quit my job and went full time. It was the scariest thing I have ever done.

Since then I have gone back to work for two other companies...3 years at one, 4 years at another. But, I always seem to come back to self employment. You just cant beat the schedule flexability. Your work ethic, and accountability changes as well. The most important thing I have found is the need to diversify. Matt has the right idea.... Have more than one thing to offer a potential customer. I am on my 3rd vinyl cutter, I have a laser engraver, and next week I finally get my vert. milling machine. All while working in my home shop, and office. Some of my customers know me for my logo design & signage only, while others are only interested in the custom guitar work I do.

So many people pay someone else to raise thier kids. I have been able to be present in my home to see my daughter grow up. That alone is worth it.

Best of luck....