Akron PC Pro

Hello again,

I just thought I would let everyone know that upgrading your PC doesn’t have to be expensive when you are on a tight budget. It is possible to upgrade your home computer for a fraction of the price that it would cost you to buy a brand new one from Dell or HP. I have done a couple of successful builds for customers lately that have been in the $200-$400 price range, and the computers are blazing fast. You don’t necessarily need to go out and buy a brand new PC to get the top of the line parts.

You’re probably wondering how I could manage to put a PC together for you for so cheap. The secret is that you can actually use a lot of the same parts from your current, out of date computer, and still have a fast PC. You can actually reuse the same hard drive, floppy drive, CD/DVD drives, and in some cases you can even reuse the same case depending on how your current computer is set up. This significantly cuts down the cost of a brand new computer. This is a perfect solution for anyone on a tight budget.

Here is a nice build that I was able to piece together for $400 all together. If you already have a windows license, it would be $300.

Windows Vista Home Premium w/ Coupon for free upgrade to Windows 7

Chiefmax Hero 9611 Computer Case

550w Power Supply

Biostar P4M900-M7 Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Duo E5200 @ 2.5GHz (Dual Core Processor)

WINTEC AMPO 2GB DDR2 667MHz Memory

ASUS EN8400GS Silent Nvidia Geforce 512MB 8400GS Video Card

This computer will handle just about everything you can throw at it, other than the newest games on the market. You’ll notice a major increase in performance while using your day-to-day applications. Programs will open faster, perform faster, and you won’t be pulling your hair out anymore because of your current PC hanging up on the simplest of applications.

If you’re a gamer, you would be looking at getting a higher end video card such as the Radeon HD 3870. This would cost you about another $50 or so, along with a new power supply which would cost about $40.

If you’re looking into getting a build like this for yourself, feel free to contact via email at Troy@AkronPCPro.com or you can contact me via the contact link on the Akron PC Pro front page.

Hello everyone,

I don’t know if anyone has heard about this yet, as it just recently attracted attention from the media, but basically the governor of Ohio has proposed to cut library funding by 50%…or a little over $200 million dollars. The main reason I’m upset about this is because libraries are not just a place to check out books anymore. They have become a place where people can have access to technology that patrons might not have at their homes. During these times of economic downturn, I see more and more people coming into the library for the public computers to look for jobs. There are also many more people than there were just a year ago that interested in taking the basic computer classes the library provides because they are finding that they need to know how to use a computer to get just about any kind of job today that isn’t minimum wage or labor intensive job. Statistics have shown that more people use these free services the library provides when the economy is down. Basically, the libraries provide a vital service to the community that could be severely damaged if this proposal is passed this week. Many libraries will be forced to close, while others will have to limit the hours of operation and put most projects on hold. Many will not have the funds available to replace broken equipment, and in my line of work I have noticed that public computers are very short lived. It could be a matter of 6 months before a bank of 25 computers would be limited to 5 or 10 PCs. This means that even if a library can manage to even stay open with such a severe budget cut, they will be very limited with what they can offer for a long time. If this is passed it will not only affect the libraries, but the entire community.

If you are willing to help out with this situation, it would be greatly appreciated by the libraries and the entire community. Just send a short e-mail to your local reps explaining why you oppose the budget cut and/or call the governor’s office directly and voice your opinion.

You can find all of the information you need at http://saveohiolibraries.com

Thanks,
Troy

Hello everyone,

My name is Troy and I have recently decided to start my PC repair business, Akron PC Pro. I am a 20 year old A+ certified computer technician with a few years of experience in the field. I have fixed many computers for friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and even businesses so I decided to go ahead and start a business of my own. I will be using this blog to post technology news that affects our area, recent hardware advances, and new software packages that you might want to check out. I hope to relay useful information that could help the community use their technology to its fullest potential. I will try to post to this blog as frequently as I can to keep you informed If anyone has a suggestion please feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks,
Troy