Dodgy Deals

If you buy a PC from one of the large multiples, like PC World or Curry's, or direct from Dell, you can be sure that the operating system software on the PC is the genuine Microsoft product and your PC will have a Microsoft certificate of authenticity (COA) attached to it, similar to one of the ones shown in the pictures. If you buy a non-branded PC built by a local neighbourhood PC shop, then you need to check at time of purchase that you have both the software discs and the COA, or you could find yourself in trouble at a later date.

This was brought home today when a customer brought in a no-brand machine that was purchased in 2004 from a local neighbourhood PC shop. The first thing I found surprising was that the PC was running Windows 2000 Professional, an operating system aimed squarely at the business community and not the home user. As Windows XP, the first choice operating system for home users, had been around since 2001, it seemed strange that our customer's machine had been loaded with 2000 Professional. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that 2000 Professional does not require product activation and can, therefore, be installed on multiple PCs - a tempting financial proposition for a less than scrupulous dealer! The absence of a Microsoft COA on the system box and the fact that the customer was not supplied with any OS installation discs was possibly just an oversight on the shop's part, or maybe not. As it happens, the customer also purchased Microsoft Office with the PC and again, no COA or product key was supplied nor any installation discs.

So what happens when such a customers PC requires a full reinstall due to either a hard disc failure or operating system corruption. Well, they need to buy a new operating system licence and a new copy of Microsoft Office as without the product keys supplied with the COAs for these products they cannot be reinstalled. And this could be quite an expensive proposition - several hundred euros when you include Microsoft Office.

So, if you are offered a PC for sale, make sure that there is Microsoft COA stuck on the system box, it is a requirement of Microsoft's licence agreement that this be done. Also, you should be supplied with original Microsoft discs for all Microsoft software that is supplied with your PC. If they refuse to supply you with COAs or discs, then take your custom elsewhere.

If you have already bought a PC and you did not get a COA or original discs, e.g. for Microsoft Office, then you should return to the vendor and point out that you are entitled by law to these and ask that they be supplied. If the vendor refuses to supply them to you then you should bring your complaint to Microsoft as the vendor is in breach of Microsoft's licence agreement. More information on the COA and what to do if you don't receive one can be found here on the Microsoft website.

Buying from Dell

We had a customer recently complain to us that they ordered a new PC from Dell and when they set it up they discovered that Microsoft Word wasn't installed. What the customer did not realize is that Dell do not supply Microsoft Word or, indeed, any components of Microsoft Office, as standard and if you require them you must pay extra for them. All PCs normally come with Microsoft Works, which includes a word processor but this word processor is not Microsoft Word.

If you need either Word or one of the other Microsoft Office components be sure to specify what you need at the time of purchase from Dell as to buy the software separately from the PC is much more expensive. For example, Microsoft Office Small Business Edition, which includes Word, Outlook, Powerpoint and Excel costs €314 when purchased with a new Dell PC but will cost you €550 (ouch!) if you wander over to PC World to buy it. If you only want Word, then you should order Works Suite, which is an extra €47 - buying Word from a retailer will cost you in the region of €299!

The Cost of Ink

Anyone using an inkjet printer these days can't help but notice how their price has fallen in recent times. As we speak, you can purchase an inkjet printer from PC World for €49.99 and a photo inkjet printer for €89.99. A few years ago these would have cost up to €200 or more so they appear pretty good value. That is until you start replacing the ink.

For example, one of the printers that we use here at PC Medic is an Epson R200 photo inkjet printer, which cost about €180 a couple of years ago. This printer has 6 separate ink cartridges (magenta, light magenta, cyan, light cyan, yellow and black) and produces superb colour prints on photo glossy paper. However, the recommended replacement ink cartridges cost in the region of €18.00 each when purchased locally. That's €108 for a complete set of cartridges, or 58% of the cost of the printer. Put another way, two sets of cartridges costs more than a new printer. We will use between 4 and 5 sets of cartridges per year i.e. we could spend up to €500 per year on ink - and we don't consider ourselves heavy users of the printer!

I say we could spend up to €500 per year, but we don't anymore. The reason for this is that we have switched from using branded Epson cartridges at €108 per set to generic cartridges supplied by Inkjet.ie at a cost of €35.00 per set, a massive saving of €73.00 per set. There are ongoing debates whether using generic ink cartridges leads to poorer quality prints, prints that fade quicker, or even to damage to your printer. At this point in time we can only confirm that we notice no significant difference in print quality when printing photo quality prints. Perhaps the pictures will fade in 20 years rather than in twenty five years, but I probably won't care that much by then. As for the generic cartridges damaging the printer, the savings to be gained are so great that I can afford to buy a new printer from the money saved after using just three sets of generic cartridges. As we have only switched to generic ink cartridges 6 months ago we can't give a long term assessment of the damage it might do to the printer, but we'll keep you posted in the future of any problems we encounter.

Note that the above experience relates only to the Epson R200 printer. Your own experience may be different depending on the make and model of printer that you use. For now, PC Medic is sticking with generic ink cartridges.