BIG Changes to Improve Prices AND Customer Service
A New Business Relationship
We have made a number of changes at
Quidnunc that will improve our efficiency and
service levels for our customers. We are well
aware that we have struggled recently with
our service levels and our well-known quick
repair turnarounds. One significant event in
our improvement process is our recent merger
with HomeTown Computer Centers, a
computer company created to serve the
computing needs of communities across the
United States.
This partnering with Hometown Computer Centers allows us to be more competitive on a whole host of software, hardware, and service product offerings. This also allows Quidnunc to be stronger in our delivery of technical onsite services to our local business customers. Our increased buying power will mean great prices for all of our Seattle customers. With these enhanced relationships with computer technology vendors, you will see more and more product specials and a deeper knowledge base of what the best product is for a particular need. We invite you to visit the store in the coming weeks to see some of these new vendor specials.
Other than stronger manufacturer ties and better prices, there are a number of other changes to the ways that Quidnunc is conducting business and relating to our loyal customers. We hope you come down to Quidnunc, a Hometown Computer Center, to see how we can help you.
Increased Technical
Expertise For Our
Business Customers
We have exciting news. Quidnunc has
been certified as a Microsoft Small
Business Specialist. The certification will
allow us to provide additional services to
our small-business customers. As a small
business, Quidnunc recognizes the needs
of similar organizations, and the
importance of making the most from off the-
shelf computer hardware and
software. This certification required at
least two people on our staff to take and
pass a series of tests about the technical
capabilities, installation, and support
requirements of the Microsoft line of Small
Business software. In addition, our Director of
Technical Services, Danen Romine, is a
Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). This
means that Quidnunc is now qualified to setup,
install, and maintain Small Business
Networks using Microsoft server products.
Academic Software The process of gaining these certifications places Quidnunc as an authorized Microsoft Education Reseller. We can sell academic versions of products like Microsoft Office to students, faculty, and educational institutions. Give Quidnunc a call for current pricing.
More Space And Additional
Resources For Better
Technical Services
Another exciting change is the recent
expansion of our technical services
department. As we continue to grow our
business service offerings, we have been
getting busier and busier. To help us deliver a
timely turnaround for our customers repair
needs, we have increased the floor space of
our service department.
We have moved the back wall of our retail store and created a new service department that is over three times larger than the old one. Not only does this give our technicians additional room to work on more computers, it also gives us room to bring on additional technicians to our staff. We are confident that these changes will go a long way to improving our customer service ratings and provide the technical expertise our customers need in a timely fashion.
Personnel Changes:
Improving Customer
Service
No sooner did we tell you all about
Cicely and Matthew than each of them
decided to move on. Cicely had wanted
to work in the furniture business since she
was young. The opportunity to join a
store at its inception came along and she
jumped at it. We wish her all the best in
her new adventure.
Matthew graduated from high school this summer and is on his way to the next step of his career at college.
Meanwhile, we are extremely fortunate to have as our new store manager, Rob Bruce. Rob brings over 21 years of experience in retail with Tower Records where he was also responsible for opening new stores. Rob has already been instrumental in improving our customer service and our repair work timeliness. Rob is going to be a very valuable asset to the HomeTown Computer Centers organization as we grow the number of stores. Rob is married to Mary and has a beautiful little daughter Emma. They also have a yellow Labrador Retriever, although the dog prefers to be thought of as "furry human."
Rob's computer interests are that of staying ahead of his 6-year-old daughter's computer expertise and is also interested in being the best dad he can be, volunteering at Emma's school, music, and sports. Rob also is a big fan of the old "Andy Griffith Show" and likes to relax watching the black and white reruns. Rob's down-home friend attitude makes him a valuable asset to Quidnunc and someone the customers can rely on to take care of them.
Chuck Zuber, formerly a shift manager from Hollywood Video, has been around computers a long time and enjoys helping people get the most out of their computers. Chuck started with us part-time and decided he likes us and the customers so well that he has come on full-time.
As we continue to improve our customer service levels we have also hired another energetic person. Ellis Johnson enjoys working with hardware, networking, and gaming. He also has numerous outside interests such as racing sailboats, teaching sailing to others, playing his clarinet professionally, skiing, collecting and restoring woodwind instruments, cooking, collecting records, and working as an amature photographer.
Ellis is a music major, majoring in clarinet performance with a jazz emphasis. After that, he plans on getting his masters in music education. He eventually wants to get his doctorate in music and teach at a university.
We have also added additional technical staff and want to introduce you to TJ Kilborn. The year is 1984. The very same year that Apple introduces the user-friendly Macintosh personal computer, TJ Kilborn joins the human race. Coincidence, or dare I say destiny!
Now, some 22-years later, still living in Seattle, TJ joins the ranks of Quidnunc's elite PC technicians. As a fire is fueled by wood, TJ draws his strength and power from an unlimited, untapped resource: Discarded old computers. Yes, 8-inch floppies, 5MB hard drives, ISA modems, Socket2 dual-core SLI CPU cards, and even 72 pin SIMMs. All gathered and piled around his work bench waiting to be consumed. Quidnunc, HomeTown Computer's flagship store, now becomes an unstoppable Juggernaut in computer repair service.
To remain humble and disguise his awesome technical prowess, our Buddhistic friend TJ finds repose in several activities such as, but not limited to; DJ'ing, production work, or anything music related, enjoying a crisp Stella Artois, amassing an absurd amount of MySpace friends (Friend farming) with the scent of energy drink(s) fresh on his breath, or just making and enjoying the most recent Internet chainletter. Quidnunc and all of our friends and customers are fortunate to have these individuals as well as our long-time team mates (Danen, Dan, Nils, Dave, and of course Bill) available to serve our community's computer needs.
| Custom-built Computers! Games! Productivity! Utilities! Modems! CD-ROM |
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BILL'S TECH TIPS
We are often amazed to see all of the various software gizmos that people have downloaded and installed on their computers. There are two programs, however, I would not be without – and they are both FREE. The first is Atomtime. This small utility monitors your Internet connection, and when you are online it will connect to a world time server and keep your computer clock up to date and on time. The Windows operating system can check the time as well, but if the date is wrong, it will not correct that. Atomtime will.
The other utility that is a must is a graphic
image viewer called Irfan Viewer. This
delightful little program can read any graphic
image type (JPEG, GIF, TIFF, etc) and convert
it to another type, rotate, invert, change the
color depth, allow you to crop, and other
editing functions for photos and best of all it
really is easy to use.
Click here to download Atomtime
Click here to download Irfan Viewer
| Holiday Gift Ideas Galore |
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Internet Website Design and Development
Being a part of HomeTown Computer Centers allows Quidnunc to offer our customers website design and development services. We can now provide you with custom business websites that feature professional design, intuitive navigation and advanced functionality. Keeping the information on your website current and accurate is the most fundamental example of good customer service we can have in today's new economy. We are here to help you use the Internet and maintain the best level of customer service possible. We focus on keeping your site current and accurate. In addition to our maintenance services, Quidnunc offers full service website design and development. We hand code all of our designs or new development projects so they are optimized for usability as well as the best possible rankings by the search engines. We aren't looking for an excuse to play with the newest technology or design technique. Our goal is to help you build your business by providing the best customer experience possible.
Maintenance:
Website maintenance services may include:
- Essential HTML and image management
- Database and content management for dynamic websites
- Web server administration and hosting services
- Distribution of email marketing campaigns
- Website development updates using a wide variety of web technologies
Development:
Whether contracting for a new site or major
overhaul, you can receive any or all of the
following:
- Complete proposal with brief project plan, timeline and all costs listed up front - No Surprises!
- A detailed project specification that will map out the exact steps necessary to build your site.
- Well documented, standards-based code so your employees or other developers can easily access and build on your site in the future, if necessary.
- Search Engine Optimized page construction to enhance cataloging and list ranking.
- Complete access to our knowledgeable staff to answer questions throughout the development process.
- Ongoing support through our maintenance program, so you're never left out in the cold.
Building a website is a continuous process. Like any other part of your business, your website needs to grow and change to remain useful and pertinent to your clients.
Design:
The Internet is primarily a visual medium
and your website is often the way in which
your company makes its first impression on
potential customers. It is important that the
site is appropriate for your industry,
professional and consistent with your
branding and marketing. A good website
design can actually improve your business
by conveying professionalism, trust, and
reliability.
Featured in this newsletter:
· BIG Changes to Improve Prices
AND Customer Service
· Enter To Win Samsung
Laser Printer
· Quidnunc Turns 12
· Clearwire Wireless Broadband
· BILL'S TECH TIPs
· Quidnunc Partners With
Samsung
· Laptop Prices Are Dropping!
· Microsoft Windows Vista
· Website Design and
Development
Also:
Coupons
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ENTER TO WIN
Quidnunc is having a Holiday Give-Away where one of our lucky visitors will win one FREE Samsung SCX-4200 Laser Multi- Function Laser Printer.
The SCX-4200 is a flatbed laser printer that
also copies and scans. At home or at the
office, it lets you print, copy and color
scan. Print and copy at up to 600 dpi and at
speeds up to 19 ppm. Scan at an enhanced
4800 dpi. And do it all with laser and
digital perfection.
No purchase required. The Winner will be drawn on Saturday, December 23. Make sure you stop by the store to drop your name into the bowl for your chance to win this season's Holiday Giveaway.
12-Year Anniversary Event
Did you know that the word dozen originates from the Latin duodecim?
Twelve was once
considered a very
important grouping,
probably because
there are approximately 12 phases of the
moon in a cycle of the sun.
For us here at Quidnunc, it is important because on October 29th we will be 12- years-old. Imagine, 12 years of growing from a small software store on a side street to one of the most complete computer sales and service businesses in Seattle —12 years of building relationships with people and businesses —12 years of keeping pace with some of the fastest changing technologies in the world —12 years of becoming a trusted member of the community and, most important, 12 years of making some great friends.
Please join us on Saturday, November 11th, for a small celebration. We'll have some treats and prizes and, best of all, some great sale prices. We will have some stunning deals on computers and LCD monitors. Remember, this is Saturday, November 11th, only. The road construction on California Avenue in the Junction is complete so driving and parking are easy again. Stop by and wish us a "Happy Birthday" and you'll be the one getting the treats.
Many thanks for all these years of support!
Change Is In The Air
Change Is In The Air
Clearwire® is a wireless broadband
service provider, that has tapped Quidnunc
to represent its services in the West Seattle
market and we are very excited about this
new opportunity for our customers.
Why be tied to your internet when it can be tied to you? Ideal for small business owners, like real estate agents and contractors — anyone who needs internet access on the move. With Clearwire wireless high-speed internet, now you can go online anywhere in our coverage area. Clearwire is internet for a person, not a place.
Setup is so simple, you'll want to take your internet everywhere you go. And you've got all the speed you need to download music and video. Internet access that is always on, always secure for whenever and wherever you need it. and it's Affordable — Only the internet speed is high, not the price.
More and more people are switching to Clearwire, and for good reasons. Clearwire lets you connect at broadband speeds of up to 1.5Mbps. That's up to 25 times faster than typical dial-up! You can set up Clearwire yourself in just minutes. There's no software to download and no technician to wait for. The Clearwire modem works with standard router and wireless access point equipment to create a local area network.
Stop by Quidnunc to check out the live
connection speed demo and the Clearwire
coverage map to determine if your home
or office can take advantage of Clearwire.
Laptop Prices Are Dropping
Just in time for the Holidays! With more and more individuals and business people needing more and more power in a mobile computer, Quidnunc is now carrying two brands of laptop computers. Our ever-popular Chembook is now under $1,000 – and we have recently added a line of Acer notebooks that start at $779.00.
Acer's TravelMate laptop computers delivers
superb performance and reliable on-the-road
convenience. The TravelMate 2480 delivers
strong productivity features for exceptional
value. Its Intel® Celeron® M processor multitasks
business-critical applications smoothly, and
Acer GridVista™ organizes up to eight
windows at once on a large 14.1" WXGA
LCD. Additional tools for high-output
business professionals include the Acer
Video Conference for face-to-face,
worldwide communication and generous I/O
connectivity for easy expandability on-the move.
Check out the TravelMate 8200. Boasting
the latest Intel® Centrino® Duo mobile
technology, a strong and stylish carbon-fiber
cover, cutting-edge graphics, a high brightness
wide-aspect display, and an array
of communication and security solutions.
And it was awarded the 2006 PC Magazine-
--Editor's Choice winner.
We also carry the complete line of ChemBook notebook/laptop computers. Check out the Chembook 1715 model with 17" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) active matrix color TFT display, Intel® Core Duo Processor w/ 2 MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB, 256MB nVIDIA GeForce 7600 PCI-E Video Card, 6-cell lithium ion battery (2.5 hour battery life), integrated 56k modem & 10/100/1000-Base T ethernet LAN, S-video out, 3 USB (2.0), 1 Express Card 54, IR, 4- in1 Card Reader, IEEE Firewire all in an 8.5 pound package.
Come by the store and see which one of these powerful computers best suits your needs. Ask Nils or Chuck –or any of our team members– to show you the ins and outs of these laptops.
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Microsoft Windows Vista Update
The latest info on the Vista operating system is that Microsoft is shooting for a delivery to volume licensees in November, and to retail customers via upgrades and new PCs in January 2007.
Microsoft is planning six versions of the next incarnation of its Windows operating system. Three versions of the software, called Vista, will be for home users, two will be for businesses and one will be for emerging markets.
Here's how the Vista packages stack up:
- Windows Vista Business includes similar features to today's Windows XP Professional edition, including backup, networking, and group policy support. It includes Microsoft's new Aero user interface, a new search engine, and smallbusiness features such as fax and scanning software and easier-to-understand help menus.
- Windows Vista Enterprise, available to Microsoft's largest corporate customers and the ability to run som Unix apps.
- Windows Vista Home Premium is designed for the majority of home PC users and includes the ability to show photos on a large-screen TV, play music on a home stereo, write and copy DVDs, and edit highdefinition video. It also includes the ability to sync files between two computers.
- Windows Vista Ultimate combines all the features of the Vista Business and Home Premium editions-- it's designed for corporate employees who often work on company projects from home. Where PC Means Personal Care® November 2006 • Number 56
- Windows Vista Home Basic is aimed at users who mainly read and send E-mail and surf the Web. It doesn't include the Tablet PC, Media Center, photography, or music software in Vista Home Premium.
- Windows Vista Starter will retail only in
emerging foreign markets and will not be
available in the United States or Europe.
| Quidnunc: the friendliest computer, software & Internet store in Seattle |
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Quidnunc Partners With Samsung
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1. Samsung SPP-2040 Photo Printer In just 60 seconds, our photo printers let you print a lab-quality 4" x 6" photograph from your PC or Macintosh computer. Or directly from any PictBridge-enabled digital camera. Or even wirelessly, with a convenient Bluetooth option. The SPP-2040 also includes a 7-in-1 memory card slot and a 2-inch color LCD. Prints in Just 60 Seconds Your first print comes out in just 75 seconds, then it keeps churning out beautiful photo after beautiful photo every 60 seconds after that. Professional Quality Thermal dye transfer technology produces vivid colors and sharp, crisp /images every time. You won't get streaks and poor color like inkjet printers produce when they run low on ink. And dye transfer pictures won't fade. Waterproof and Fingerprint-Proof Photos printed from the Samsung SPP-2040 photo printer are waterproof and fingerprint-proof, so you can share them over and over again without worrying about ruining them. Portable It's about the size of a 5" x 7" photo, and at just 2.4 lbs., it's light enough to go wherever you do. |
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2. Samsung SyncMaster 940BX This 19-inch TFT-LCD monitor delivering crisp, clean text and bright, vivid colors. This display offers a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 300cd/m2 brightness, 1280 x 1024 resolution, 160/160 (H/V) degree viewing angle, scanning frequency of 30-81kHz horizontal and 56-75Hz vertical and .264mm pixel pitch. The SyncMaster 940BX display offers the option of using either a digital or analog interface for viewing images and text. The Digital Video Interface (DVI) ensures a shaper, cleaner image and a more accurate representation of the original video source. Since video starts out digital in a PC graphics card, the digital output is directly interfaced to the digital input of the LCD panel and always provides the optimum quality image. |
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3. Samsung SyncMaster 940BX Imagine color at the speed of black and white. Imagine last minute colour reports printed in a snap, with time for tweaks. A laser printer that prints colour as fast as black & white : 20ppm colour / 20ppm black & white. With the Samsung CLP-600 / 650 series, it's not that hard to imagine. Color output of 20 pages per minute will make quick work of all your printing tasks. Now there is no compromise between efficiency and getting all the color you need. The CLP-600 / 650 series is the right choice for premium black printouts also at 20 ppm. Generate quality production at professional speeds.
Printing Posters |
Create eye-catching posters with the Poster feature. Configure a one-page
document to print on up to 16 pages and paste them to create a poster-size
document. Use the Print Menu to select the final poster size of 2 sheets x 2
sheets, 3x3 or 4x4. A 2x2 poster will create a finished poster size of 4 sheets.
The Print Menu also displays a preview of the selected layout and allows you to
specify portrait or landscape. In addition, you can control the amount of overlap
from sheet to sheet.
| Custom-built Computers! Games! Productivity! Utilities! Modems! CD-ROM |
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Save Quidnunc postage and trees!
Get this newsletter by email and prevent at least one postal worker (and maybe Bill) from developing a bad back. To subscribe, send us an email — we currently distribute nearly 2,000 of these newsletters electronically.
We will recycle old computers, printers and monitors for a nominal fee of $15/computer or monitor, and $5/printer.
Remember to bring in empty ink jet and laser toner cartridges. Keep them out of the landfills!
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