This is perhaps the second most asked question that my customers ask. I use to recommend Toshiba’s based on personal experience and quality. After spending a week fixing nothing but Toshiba’s, I now think that you really need to stay away from the low-end Toshiba’s, just like all the other manufacturers. Notice the hyphenated keywords: LOW-END.

But, so customers and others can do their own research, I present one of the papers that I regularly talk about in those one on one “What should I buy” situations.

eBay’ers will recognize SquareTrade. If you don’t know who they are, they’re a “middle man” company that settles a lot of high end transactions so no one gets the short end of the stick. They also provide warranties to some customers, which is where the data comes from.

Now, you will see a brand called ASUS listed in the study, which you’ll also see listed on our homepage (we’re a partner). I love this brand, they make decent electronics, servers, and they even started the NetBook craze. Historically, I wouldn’t recommend them since most people don’t know the brand name, which typically causes the “WHO?!” conversation, but that’s changed.

So, an introduction is due, in case you’ve never heard about them: ASUS has been around since 1990, but hasn’t really branched out until the last 3 to 4 years. As of now though, they handle about 29% of all motherboards in machines for Dell, Apple, Toshiba and others… Food for thought.

Again, this is a LAPTOP study, not a desktop study. There are certain laptops that I cringe at hearing about (HP DV series laptops are the top cringe-causing laptops), but I’ll recommend certain desktops on occasion as well. I need to find more comprehensive desktop study to publish before openly talking about them.
Justin

Part of any business owner’s job is to “shop” around. While we’re not like a lot of other companies that will call a list every month with some crazy story and request pricing, we will check websites and a few other odds and ends. On top of this, our customers report back all the time about what our competitors say, do and what they charge. That’s right, our own customers, through shopping for the right price, will tell us exactly what the competition is doing and charging.

I have two words that describe us: “WE’RE CHEAP!“. Several close competitors are charging nearly double what we would for simplistic jobs. On top of this, I have personally diagnosed customer problems right in front of them and sent them on their way, with no bill.

This happened most recently with a couple that had brought a desktop in that wasn’t connecting to the internet. I’ve worked around the internet since..lord knows when. I’ve supported it, worked on networks, etc. Unless something is really bad, those types of things can be fixed with just a few settings. Well, I plugged the computer in, fired it up and instantly got online with no problems. It turns out that the network cable they were using at home was bad. They said they had another and left quickly and happily knowing that they didn’t get charged for me to plug in a machine and do nothing. Other places may have taken this machine and charged money to “fix” it…

We charge $70 an hour for home users (including home based businesses) and $90 an hour for businesses (2 or more people). On top of that, we have several discount programs. Are you a Bethany Village Business Tenant? DISCOUNT! Repeat customer? DISCOUNT! We don’t play around… We gave over $1,000 in discounts during the first quarter of 2010… We’re serious when we say we want to save you money!
Justin

Once again, those pesky malware creators are trying to cause problems. Here’s the original message:

Dear Microsoft Customer,

Starting 17/06/2010 the ‘Conficker’ worm began infecting Microsoft customers unusually rapidly. Microsoft has been advised by your Internet provider that your network is infected.

To counteract further spread we advise removing the infection using an antispyware program. We are supplying all effected Windows Users with a free system scan in order to clean any files infected by the virus.

Please install attached file to start the scan. The process takes under a minute and will prevent your files from being compromised. We appreciate your prompt cooperation.

Regards,
Microsoft Windows Agent #2 (Hollis)
Microsoft Windows Computer Safety Division

This message also comes with an attachment. Delete it. The attachment has a few nasty things in it, to include the Fake Antivirus software that’s been going around.

Again, just delete the message and move on.
Justin

I make no bones about it when I say that I talk with a lot of people in the industry. Many times, we see patterns before the media does. If we each notice 5 computers that come in at the same time, we can quickly work together on how to fix it.

Well, one of those technicians that we talk with on a normal basis was interviewed in his hometown. The message is so strong that I figured it would be best just to repost the story from the News Website (watch the video).

The screen shots, the messages and the advice in the video is spot-on.
Justin

Unless you were living under a rock last night, you noticed the wind, rain and, for some of us, the power outages & brownouts. If you were under a rock, in a hill or were in a valley, I hope you missed all the “fun”…

Unfortunately, not everything survived the ordeal. We’ve fixed 2 dead computers this morning (as of 8:30AM) due to power surges when the electricity kicked back on after a quick brownout.

We always recommend surge protectors UPS’ for servers and important machines, and this is why. Fortunately, the fixes for these machines are VERY quick and we managed to get our customers running again with no major damage other than bad power supplies.

Please note: Power Strips are not surge protectors. They typically maintain a very small fuse that doesn’t help in these situations.

Computers that are left plugged in during storms can have various problems without a surge protector or UPS. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Justin

Shopping local these days is a mantra many are repeating over and over. While Protocol16 competes with larger named companies, one of which mere blocks away from the home office (and it’s got a lot of horrid reviews…), there are several national companies that are franchised locally. You may not know it, but several of the other computer repair companies are franchised national companies (read: behind the scenes, there are Corporate bean counters, full marketing departments supporting a few people, etc).

Unfortunately, this mess is about to get just a little larger. It seems that Wal-Mart has decided to dive into the computer repair market to compete with the Geek Squad and other local businesses like Protocol16.

While there a few Wal-Mart’s in Oregon, there are several other competitors that I consistently hear complaints about. With Wal-Mart jumping into the fray, it shows a trend that I have been noticing as well – people are much more thrifty now. Many of my customers are opting to fix older computers rather than buy a new one – and I have no problem with that. Spending a little less money to limp a computer along another year is worth it for a lot of people in Portland, especially those still job hunting.

My main problem with the national competitors is that I’m seeing a huge trend of misinformation or a lot of installs lacking quality. While I don’t want to be specific on the things I’m seeing or who did it, there is a huge difference in quality depending on who works on your computer. It seems that the quality is directly related to two things:

1. Quality of employees. This is actually directly related to the amount of pay someone is getting. Myself, as well as other business owners, have noticed that the quality of applicants takes a nose dive at a specific dollar amount. Any company operating under that dollar amount is opening themselves up to a huge amount of applicants that are under-qualified to work on computers. Oddly, many of the companies operating under that dollar amount charge MORE than Protocol16 does.
2. The size of the company. The amount of employees causes a few problems. The environment is not cohesive to new and brilliant ideas – they get lost in the general chatter of the company. The other issue is that the more employees you have, the more likely you are to get someone that has no clue what happened last time you called or brought in your computer. So, that weird issue you get randomly when you open Office, you have to repeat the whole story to the next guy you talk to. If that next guy wants to get more money in commission off of selling you a computer, he just might ignore what you’re saying and tell you that the flux capacitor at checkpoint charlie is broken (note: neither of those exist in computers) and you need a new computer…

While we’d love for you to become a customer and use Protocol16 as your desktop or computer repair company, do your research and decide if one company in Portland or Beaverton or Hillsboro is the right company for you. I’ve been shopping local more and more, sometimes it’s more expensive, but in the end, it’s our community that I’m helping, not one a thousand miles away.
Justin

This is something that Protocol16 sees a lot around the Portland Metro and we have a very specific answer:

“No”

The reasons:

• The free versions of most software packages, including AVG, are for home use only. The licensing requirements for most software packages require a license to be purchased for commercial use. While this doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, there are stipulations to most software, including Windows, that you need to know about: Microsoft and other software manufacturers reserve the right, in their licenses, to come into YOUR business and audit your software licenses. If Microsoft or another company audits your software and finds problems, they will alert other manufacturers of those problems, causing a legal nightmare for you and your business. If you’re currently in a situation that could cost you money from the above situation, click here for a news story about how bad it can get… Not to continue pounding on this horrifying situation, but the Business Software Alliance makes it easy for current and past employees to report licensing fraud, to the tune of a $1 Million reward (and as of this writing, AVG is a “Spotlight” member)… If you’ve paid attention to past stories, you know a little bit about Page Rank (popularity, according to Google on a 0-10 sliding ranking system – 10 being the most popular) – BSA has a Page Rank of 7, higher than the Yahoo homepage at 5.
• AVG, while popular, is not as thorough as it should be. With the latest tests from AV-Comparatives, AVG didn’t place well. This may sound odd, but despite all the “good” reviews of AVG, it doesn’t work as well as it should – Free is Free, and you typically get what you pay for. While there are other free antivirus programs out there, they are not for commercial use.

What Antivirus Program Should I Use?
Protocol16 works closely with many companies to test software and hardware. We’ve worked with Symantec (aka: Norton), McAfee, and others. The best Antivirus solutions we’ve found are:

Home Use: (Free)

Avira Antivirus – MANY computer repair shops use Avira to help correct virus issues. While a lot of us use the the registered version, as well as other software, Avira is one of the best antivirus packages.

Business Use: (Commercial)

G Data: Considered the best antivirus package in the AV-Comparatives review showcase. It had low false positives, let very few actual infections past it and shined on all the tests earning it a 3 out of 3 review.

VIPRE: This is a new-comer to the market. They’ve hit advertising hard and fast with full page ads in all the Microsoft publications and more. While they have not been tested on AV-Comparatives, for now Protocol16 will recommend using it. We’ve had it installed on our internal network for testing and it has not slowed down anything or caused any tpe of crazy problems. We’ll revisit our review once AV-Comparatives reviews them as well.

The reason we listed three different software packages is because every situation is unique, requirements are different and we’re not going to tell you what you should install.

Lastly, the licensing situation above can be nasty, any good PC Repair company can help assist with licensing issues and assist in self-auditing your computers and networks to ensure that crazy things don’t happen. Coming from a large-network environment, I’ve been through several audits and as such, Protoco1l6 is more than capable in assisting in setting up an internal program to help you protect yourself.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them below or give Protocol16 a call.
Justin

While roaming the internet, I found that there are a lot of sites listing the ins and outs of nearly everything, but I couldn’t find anything locally that reviewed software specifically from the business aspect. So I thought to myself “Would I suggest a business use something like a free anti-virus program like XXXXX?” The answer was “no”, but how would your typical business owner know about that? Why would they go out looking over the internet at 6,000 sites when they can just look at a local computer repair company to get some basic answers and perhaps talk to more to see about their specific situation?

Well, now you can look to a local computer repair company for those answers. So, Protocol16 now offers a Software Review Category as well as a Hardware Review Category.

With the Software Review category, I’ll start with a review a popular “free” antivirus program and explain why your business should shy away from it. I’ll also go on to suggest a product Protocol16 has been testing recently and am very happy with.

For the Hardware Review category, I’ll discuss the pricing difference between building a custom server or buying a named-brand server. I’m actually in this exact situation right now with a client. Believe it or not, the difference between a name-brand vs a custom built server can be a huge amount of money – but there are downfalls as well.

The Review categories will probably be a once-a-month post, but depending on time, I may post more. If you’re a business, or consumer and you would like something specific reviewed, please let me know and Protocol16 will do it’s best to review it.
Justin

PS: First post is tomorrow, and I’ll discuss that free antivirus software…

One of the questions people usually ask me, especially when they find out I can put on 500 or more miles a week (on our REALLY busy week), is what types of things I see throughout the day.

Well, for non-computer stuff, I see a heck of a lot of traffic violations. There is a reason I hesitate when lights turn green – I check both ways before crossing. I also see traffic accidents. I’ve seen rolled over cars, cars scrunched like an accordion on both ends, cars in ditches and I missed the big motorcycle pileup on I5 by about 3 minutes (it happened behind me by about a mile or so). It’s gotten to the point where I now carry a camera and two first aid kits. I’ve also considered some safety/emergency lighting for the Protocol16 truck.

The absolute worst area I’ve seen is the on-ramp at the Westbound Highway 26 tunnel (aka: Vista Ridge Tunnels) in Portland. That specific spot is particularly nasty, especially when it rains. My advice – stay in the left hand lane around that spot and don’t rubberneck when their is an accident as I’ve seen several accidents further up the road from people not paying attention or trying to watch behind them as they drive away.

For computer and repair related things, there’s all kinds of things that I see, and contrary to what people think of my industry – Protocol16 don’t make fun of customers. That being said, we’ve seen all kinds of nasty things inside cases that cause heat problems for customers.

Note: If you have any pets, you can have problems. As much as I love my girls (I have 2 dogs at home), they can cause all kinds of issues with my computers if I don’t watch out. If you feel comfortable enough, a helpful hint is to open your computer case when it’s off and use some of the canned air you can buy from Protocol16 or other stores (We’re cheaper…) Just as long as you don’t turn the canned air upside down, you’ll be fine. If you’re not comfortable doing this, Protocol16 can do it during any normal visit.

We’ve seen all sorts of things jammed into CD and DVD drives as well. Good people of Portland, please inform your children that Legos are not supposed to go into the CD/DVD drives… As much as I loved to play with Legos as a child, computers just don’t like them as much.

Lastly, if you smoke, it effects your computer as well. The tar from the smoke gets sucked into the computer case by the fans. That tar ends up sticking to the internal components of your computer and can cause all sorts of issues. Through the year, all that adds up. I’ve even had a personal friend that quit smoking after seeing the goo inside his computer – it literally scared him to think that could be inside him as well. One good thing here is, I don’t see this as much anymore…

Yes, there are crazy and wacky things that happen while we’re on calls, but those stories are ours. We really do not make fun of customers and we try to turn every call into an educational experience for the customer. I haven’t laughed at a customer yet.
Justin

I’m pretty excited about this. While most business owners would probably say “What’s PageRank”? and wonder if I’ve lost a marble or three, it’s actually something that’s required for a decent website. It also helps a businesses Google search results and a few other things.

Google ranks each website it finds based on a 0-10 number, called PageRank. 0 means that your website is “un-important” and hardly visited. 10 means it’s one of the most popular sites on the internet (Twitter is a 9, Google.com is a 10). In two months, Protocol16 has gained a rank of 2, and the blog is now at 3…

Not bad for less than 2 months of the new website being up… It also shows that we’re staying busy!
Justin