How We Work
You the customer get to decide how you want to pay. We offer standard billing rates as well as rush service for those who wish to pay market rates or need to have the machine back quickly. For those who are in hard times we offer the option to donate or even pay no labor. We are a Christian business and we do not believe people should be refused service over money when it comes to software.
Hardware is of course another story, because parts cost us money. You can still donate on labor even if parts are required for your machine, you'll simply need to pay retail on the parts. With notebooks we unfortunately have to be tough when it comes to replacing power jacks, fans, or screens because it is very intense labor that often takes upwards of 2 hours with no interruptions. We have a separate contract for this kind of work.
Antivirus
For many years we were believers in free antivirus software, but the scammers of today have proven very tough to keep out. After preaching against Norton for 6 years we have started selling their products for two reasons:1. They got their act together regarding resource usage. There used to be issues with bogging computers down, but the new versions are much more system-friendly.
2. They are blocking almost every new virus and most of the boot sector viruses (which are widespread now), something that we have not seen any other antivirus do.
Current Pricelist:
Norton Antivirus 1 computer 1 year: $30 (Ideal for older computers)
Norton Antivirus 3 computers 1 year: $40 (Great value for multi-computer households)
Norton Internet Security 1 computer 1 year: $35 (Best all around value for a single computer)
We do sometimes get special deals and can order other versions or for more computers at your request.
Comcast internet users take note: Your internet service includes a free copy of Norton Security Suite (and other programs) so there is no need to pay more. You'll need your Comcast e-mail address and password to download, it may require giving their support a call to get them.
Please note that if you purchased Avast Antivirus from us between August and December 2010 and get a virus during the license period we will exchange it for a new copy of Norton at our own expense. It was, frankly, a big mistake on our part to sell for them during that time.
New Computers
New computers are sold at wholesale plus $100 to cover our labor and potential losses from warranty. We cannot match the prices of the large manufacturers who are selling computers as low as $300, but we are very good for businesses and gamers who wish to customize a system. And as we love to joke, our tech support is in English!Unfortunately for us Vermont has made new recycling laws in regard to electronics. While it is good for the consumers (free recycling), as a manufacturer we will be forced to pay fees to cover recycling costs if we sell 20 or more computers in a year. For this reason we focus on business users and gamers with the new computers, and if we have extra slots we can build for home users as well. Thankfully we can do as many rebuilds and used computers as we like.
Used Computers
Used computers are "catch as catch can" with us. If you're looking for one our recommendation is to check in periodically to see what we have available. At our busiest times we simply can't take the extra time to get them ready, so the availability can change rapidly. Our policy is that every used tower or lapop comes with a new hard drive for everyone's safety. Towers generally run from $100-200 depending on how fast they are and how many parts they need. Laptops (we only get a few a year) generally run from $120-275 for the same reasons.Parts
Computers By Ken, LLC has several thousand dollars worth of parts available at reasonable prices. We believe in shopping around for the best prices possible without sacrificing quality, and passing along the good prices to anyone who wants to buy parts. Our markup is much lower than many retail stores, especially on cables where most places will often make 10 times the wholesale price just because they can do it. We'll make our money on the service, so there's no point in reaming you out for a part. Plus it adds incentive for you to come to us rather than one of the larger retail stores in the area.Our two major exceptions are in hard drives and memory, where we charge closer to normal retail prices. With hard drives, should your drive fail while in warranty, we replace the drive without sending it back to the manufacturer. This is because the manufacturers will not provide new drives, but instead will send refurbished ones when we return them. We do not believe that refurbished drives are safe to use so we add a bit to our margin for the inevitable return of a few drives. Memory is for a different reason: Many stores charge up to $30 for a job that typically takes under 2 minutes, plus charge the full retail for the memory, which we think is totally unfair. We do not charge an installation fee for memory, and last we checked still beat the retail prices of a major box store.
Some Sample Prices
- 10 Foot Ethernet Cable $6.99
- 100 Foot Ethernet Cable $28.99
- 400 Watt Power Supply $29.99
- USB Optical Mouse $14.99
- 10 Foot USB 2.0 Cable $9.99
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