Archive for October, 2010
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
Hey Everybody in Portland Computer Repair Land,
Facebook is one of the most popular website in the universe, and one of its big problems is data security. You don’t know where your information is, who is using it, or what they are using it for. There is a lot of good information, and inaccurate information, floating around the internet, but I found the following article which is 100% correct so I wanted to share. If you want the low down on facebook privacy, check this out -
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20020450-36.html?tag=topStories2
Thanks everybody,
-Zac
President
Happy Hamster Portland Computer Repair
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
Hey Everybody,
Just an FYI if you’re coming North, SUPER bad traffic because Obama is at the convention center. Go around MLK if at all possible, take the freeways, etc!
Thanks everybody,
-Zac Cramer
Happy Hamster Portland Computer Repair
Sunday, October 17th, 2010
Hey Everybody in Portland Computer Repair Land,
Just like airlines claim “low prices” by making the price of the ticket $100, but then charging an extra $25 for the bag, and an extra $50 to get a seatbelt, and an extra $15 for peanuts, computer manufacturers are also now going for the nickle and dime bug.
Check out this story -
http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/09/19/intel-selling-scratch-off-upgrade-cars-to-unlock-processor-power/
In short, on low end computers intel is now selling an “unlock” card, where, if you pay Intel an extra $50, they will give you a code to unlock the full power of your processor. So you’re effectively buying a gimped computer at, I’m sure, a “super low price!” that requires extra spending to actually work.
It’s just pathetic the things they try sometimes. I promise, every computer you buy at Happy Hamster goes faster than it did when we got it, because we optimize them before we give them to you, and you’ll never be asked to pay more to get the power you paid for in the first place.
Thanks everybody,
-Zac
President
Happy Hamster Portland Computers & Repair
Saturday, October 16th, 2010
Hey Everybody in Portland Computer Repair Land,
Tragic news to start our week this week. Thieves broke into another local, family run computer repair shop. The folks at MacPac have had robberies before, but the scope of the damage on this is really breathtaking. As small businesses that carry high value items like computers, we all understand the intense security challenges we have to face every day. Here we have multiple audible and silent alarms, different keys for different steel framed doors, cameras and all sorts of other security measures. However as we saw with MacPac, which had similar measures in place, somebody willing to run a truck into your building can be difficult to stop. Our hearts go out to MacPac and its staff. Insurance can replace the damaged items, but it never helps you get over that heebie-jeebie feeling that somebody out there thought it was okay to damage something you’ve worked so long and hard to build up.
Thanks everybody.
-Zac
President
Happy Hamster Portland Computers & Repair
Thursday, October 14th, 2010
Hey Everybody in Portland Computer Repair Land,
So big news on the security front this week. As always, viruses are the biggest enemy of most PC users (you Mac people stop snickering, you have issues too!). This week three of the world’s largest companies took big steps towards making your computers much more secure. Microsoft released 16 patches this week which fix over 49 critical flaws in Windows security. Further, Adobe, the maker of flash (a program you don’t know you use every single day to display content on almost every website you visit) released an enormous patch for all flash users. This update corrects a flaw that can allow a malicious person to access your computer remotely without your knowledge. Finally, Java released a very substantial patch this week as well to address similar vulnerabilities.
If you feel comfortable, please run all of these updates yourself as soon as possible. If you’re not confident in your ability to do so, they take us about 30 minutes to run on each computer, so we are offering the service remotely or in our shop for $30. You can either bring in your computer, or call in, and we will take care of it remotely for you.
Please note – if you are an existing monitored client this blog does not apply to you. Those customer signed up for our $14.99/month automatic anti-virus, patch and monitoring service have already had all of these patches applied and your computers are fully secure.
And, of course, anybody who brings in their computer for service will have this issue taken care of as a part of that service.
Thank you everybody.
-Zac
President
Happy Hamster Portland Computers and Repair
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010
Hey Everybody in Portland Computer Repair Land,
So once in awhile HP will discontinue a model. This is great news for you, because they sell the rest of their stock at huge discounts. We recently received a bunch of 5310m laptops from this program. The 5310m is what a tiny laptop should be.
Unlike a netbook, with its flimsy plastic, poor build quality and slow operating system, the 5310m is a tiny beast.
1) Fast -Dual core Intel processor makes it fast enough for all of your day to day needs. E-mail, word documents, video watching, all at the same time, no problem!
2) Aluminum frame – its a fully rigid laptop, and despite weighing only 3.5 pounds, it feels solid in your hand.
3) Great LCD – instead of that high gloss crap on most new laptops, its a specially coated anti-glare matte screen.
4) Great price – 6 months ago I was selling these laptops for $700. Now I can sell them for just $549! They’re only$100 or so more than a netbook, but with a full size keyboard, full size speed, and they will probably last 2 or 3 times as long.
I’ve got 4 left as of this post, so come in today and take a look. If you need a thin, light travel notebook, but want some real quality, this is a deal that can’t be missed.
Thanks everybody!
-Zac
Friday, October 8th, 2010
Reviews like this are why I love my job -
“I honestly don’t know why it’s taken years for me to get around to writing this review. Happy Hamster is absolutely the greatest little business in all of human history. Far from what the name would suggest, the stature of their expertise and service is unrivaled. Close your eyes for a moment with me and imagine this scene: Viral foes march upon your lands, natural disasters beseige your precious hardware… and then… under the banners of honored warranties and guarantees they march out, mouses raised like javelins to heaven, they crush the bones of hardware failure beneath their mighty hamster feet and dominate all software failure with their mighty jaws, tearing viruses and bugs asunder with the fearless vengeance of digital warriors and the wisdom of electronic prophets, ushering in your new golden age of digital bliss. When your computer suddenly won’t turn on or gets a bug, you’ll find yourself smiling in anticipation of your visit to their castle (shop) in the land of MLK. “NONSENSE” you say, “NOTHING COULD CALM MY ENDLESS RAGE WHEN MY MACHINE CRASHES.” Really, I know how you feel, I once felt the same way. But now whenever I have a problem which necessitates taking the old beast in, I find myself smiling and asking, “What will they do this time that would impress me even more than last time?” They always deliver. Yes, I said “electronic prophets.” For some context, I grew up on computers, took a couple programming classes in college, and can weave my way with ease around most things that any tech-savvy person could. So when I go in it’s usually for blown hardware. That said, I’ve never paid for a diagnosis because it’s never taken their team more than 5 minutes to identify a problem. Their business has more than doubled in size each year since I started taking my computer to them. The only explanation for this, the only POSSIBLE explanation must be that they are treating other people as insanely amazingly awesome as they are treating me: it HAS to be volume. Because the amount of money they charge is disturbingly low. I think every time I go there I spend less and less and they do more and more. I affirm the glowing things everyone else has already written, they’ll explain to you everything they do and often take care of other problems as well. On one occasion, I had them build me a new computer with the 3 year HAMSTER warranty (The only true warranty, death to all false warranties!). When my video card from my old machine wouldn’t fit into the new motherboard, Zach went to the back and gave me a better video card for free. More recently, a hardware component of my PC (not a hamster component) blew up and took out half the computer with it. They replaced the parts, recovered all my data for free (even though they weren’t obligated) saving me at least 30 hours of work reinstalling things, and mailed in the hardware component at fault… for free. When the other company refused to honor their warranty (death to false warranties!), Heather fought for my warranty to be honored for two months. When I had trouble with the device later, I called the tech support line and was informed the company had gone out of business and that actually the hamsters had dipped into their own pockets to replace the device without even taking credit for it!! Now, it takes a pretty special business to do something nice for you, but a business that does something nice for you and doesn’t even take credit for it? Have you even ever HEARD of ANYTHING like that before? When the hamsters found out the new hardware wasn’t working, they replaced it with better hardware that day rather than waiting for shipping. I am speechless. If you are a computer virus or a parts manufacturers bent on poor service and general dishonor, be warned. Your days of debauchery are numbered! There is no mercy. When it comes to computers, the eyes of the hamsters are all-seeing, their minds all-knowing, and their paws all-fixing. It is to google’s shame that I can only give them 5 stars and not more. And now it’s time to play some Civilization 5.”
http://maps.google.com/maps/place?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=portland+computer+repair&fb=1&gl=us&hq=computer+repair&hnear=Portland,+OR&cid=4372661533569178021&ei=heKvTOjaIYK8sQOdi925DA&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDMQnQIwAw
Sunday, October 3rd, 2010
Hey Everybody in Portland Computer Repair Land,
Just a quick reminder – don’t use a vacuum inside your computer! If you need to clean out your computer tower, use compressed air only. Vacuum’s create electrical charges that will damage the internal components in your computer.
Thanks!
-Zac
