Happy 2008!

Just one short year ago Visionary Computer moved into our new space on Bissell Street. That change has opened many doors. In addition to providing a much more professional space to operate, we have lots of room for repairs. Our "Repair Room" has five electrostatic safe work areas. We have a wall of stock for sale with all the commonly used items such as USB cables, Backup Hard Drives and surge suppressors. We also have room to accommodate more staff. This year I'm happy to announce the addition of a new Visionary, Allen Berrien. With Allen's skill set in place 2008 will be a banner year for Visionary Computer. We will sell, service and support more Macs than any time in our 14 year history. Above all else, we will help more people to achieve their computer goals than ever before.

Visionary Computer Web Site

There is a saying that the best way to further your business is to hire people who are smarter than you are. So when a man came into my office with the official title of "Mac Genius" I just had to take notice. You see at those attractive Apple Retail Stores found in Malls and other urban areas, the title for the guys who answer the unanswerable and fix the unfixable is Mac Genius. In order to become a Mac Genius Allen had to visit Apple in Cupertino and take a crash course in Macintosh repair and support complete with exams. But that wasn't Allen's first time at Apple HQ. Sometime in the early 80's he visited Apple in Cupertino for factory training on the Apple II. He worked for an Apple Dealer in Westport CT at the time. When the first Mac came out in 1984 Allen purchased one and has been a loyal Mac user ever since. Allen became a freelance writer and has had three books published as well as hundreds of monthly columns for BOATING Magazine and others. He became Apple Certified on his own before deciding to pursue a job with Apple at their Holyoke, MA retail store.

When he first came to see me I was astonished that he already knew all that there is to know about repairing modern era Macs. Matter of fact, with Allen's factory training, he has shown us a thing or two about the way Apple wants it done. Having him has been a real asset and anyone who had a Mac repaired this holiday season can thank Allen for the speedy turnaround. The care and attention that he puts into each and every repair is like no one I've ever worked with. His work ethic exemplifies the saying that if it's going to get done, it may as well be done right. His kind of skill takes decades to come by and I'm very happy that he is part of the team here at Visionary Computer.

For more Information about Allen's story, please read his Biographical Sketch.

Allen has written a brief article filled with tips and advice to help you save time, money and Kleenex. It's a very entertaining read and I'd encourage you to follow his excellent advice. You can find Allen's "Reflections from the other side of the Genius Bar" right here.

Many customers may ask how the addition of Allen will affect Visionary's "Wunderkind" Robert Schaufelberger. Robert has been working at Visionary in some capacity or another for over 12 years. While he is still brilliant, I don't think the child part of Wunderkind still applies. For the last decade or so Robert has been operating a full time business of his own in New York City, Deko Design, a web design and hosting firm. Deko Design has seen an explosion of success and Robert has decided to give it the attention it deserves. He hired Elizabeth Lord to help him grow Deko Design. Elizabeth has an extensive technology background. On the Mac front, she learned the ins and outs of support while working at the Cornell University Macintosh Help Desk. Post college she spent several years in the financial sector providing Technology training to corporate clients.

Like many New Yorkers, Robert and Elizabeth still need an occasional break from the madness of the big city. And so every few weeks they will be finding their way into our neck of the woods and could show up at a local appointment at any time. Additionally Visionary Computer will continue to service select New York City customers through Robert and Elizabeth. The irony of this new working relationship is that often Robert and Elizabeth log more hours seeing Visionary customers in NYC than they did while seeing customers up here! How often Robert and Elizabeth come up to the country will be a variable based on the workload in NYC and needs here in CT but if the last few months are any indication, it will be regular enough that we can schedule requests to see either Robert or Elizabeth.

Robert and I have forged a bond over the last 12 years which can't be broken. We speak daily about the goings on at our two businesses. I wish him all the success in the world with Deko Design and I'm very happy that he will continue to work with us, albeit on a modified schedule. The addition of Elizabeth Lord adds new skills and resources to better serve Visionary Computer customers. Together all four of us, Allen, Robert, Elizabeth and myself make a great team with a broad and extensive skill set. Having a team four people strong means that if any one of us can't answer your question, together we will find the right resource. It only adds value to our offerings for our customers.

Deko Design web site

Four years is an eternity in computer-time. Yet it has been more than 4 years since the current version of Microsoft Office has seen a major revision. Office 2004 was created in another time, a time before Apple's move to Intel Processors, a time before Leopard or even Tiger. As a result the components of Office 2004 (Word, Excel, Entourage and PowerPoint) run quite poorly on modern computers. Many customers have upgraded to Intel based Macs only to find that the performance from Office components was actually worse than on their old computers. The main reason for this is that on all Intel machines, Office 2004 runs in an emulated mode called Rosetta. It's slow and for many folks, quite buggy. Well all that is about to change. Office 2008 will be released on January 15th. In a largely Microsoft Windows dominated world, having Microsoft Office for Mac has become an essential item.

Office 2008 will come in three versions:

Office 2008 for Mac is the core suite and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage. With enhanced Microsoft Exchange Server support and Automator Actions for Microsoft Office, this is the product for those who depend on powerful tools, Exchange connectivity and reliable compatibility to get the job done. This is the version for Business customers using Office in a work environment. New licenses cost $399, upgrades from previous versions of Office are $239.

Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition is a specially priced version which includes all of the applications in the core suite for easily building great-looking documents, spreadsheets and presentations, but does not include Exchange Server support, Automator Actions, or Microsoft Expression Media. This version is for use in a noncommercial capacity only. Cost on it is $149 and it includes three noncommercial licenses.

Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition combines everything in Office 2008 for Mac with the new Microsoft Expression Media digital asset management system. Perfect for those in a business setting, creative professionals, and anyone needing to manage many files across multiple media sources like hard drives, servers, and removable storage devices. This is a new version. I don't yet know much about MS Expression but I'm sure I will once it starts shipping. New licenses cost $499, upgrades from previous versions of Office are $299.

Please note there is a very special offer if you purchased Office 2004 between November 1st 2007 and January 14th 2007. Basically you are entitled to a free upgrade to 2008 direct from Microsoft (shipping charges do apply.) To claim your free upgrade, follow this link:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/go/promotions/

Office 2008 does up the requirements a bit as well, you must have a G4/500MHz or better processor, OS X 10.4.9 or later, 512MB or more RAM. A DVD drive is required for install and it consumes about 1.5GB of disk space.

We are taking pre-orders for Microsoft Office 2008 so please let us know if you would like us to reserve a copy for you.

Click here for the Microsoft Office 2008 Web site...

In a word - YES! Time Machine is the built in backup function of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. It is the single feature we were most excited about with Leopard's release and it alone is reason enough for anyone to justify the upgrade cost to Leopard. In short, you simply connect a backup hard drive and let Time Machine work it's magic. The first time they are introduced, Time Machine copies everything on your hard drive to the backup. After that's done, every hour it copies the files which have changed. It does it in the background with minimal if any interruption to the user. Time Machine has a cool spacey interface for pulling individual files or folders from the backup. While it is cool looking, I don't think many users will need to make use of this wild interface, rather Time Machine is about knowing that ALL your stuff is safe should the dark day come when your hard drive fails. Apple has built in Recovery software on the Leopard install DVDs so recovering from a catastrophe is easy to do.

I can not stress enough that every single customer should have backup in place. We try to keep loads of backup drives in stock at all times so when you are ready, let us know and we can provide the drive. Right now the 320GB drives are just $199. Isn't ALL your data, photos, music, documents, settings, email, etc worth $199 to you? Time Machine makes backup SO easy that there is no excuse anymore. Recovery keeps getting more expensive, spending a little now will save you time, money and heartache later.

Just a reminder that all carry-in services incur a $40 bench fee. If the repair is completely covered by Warranty or an AppleCare Protection Plan you will incur no charges. If the repair is not covered under warranty, we will give you a cost estimate including parts and labor. If you decline the repair, the $40 bench fee will still apply. If you approve the repair you pay for parts, labor and the bench fee is waived. This bench fee applies to ALL carry in services, including quick services such as RAM installs, software updates or any time we touch a computer. The actual service performed may be quick however acquiring the skills to know what to do has taken us a lifetime.

Our sale rack of used computer is overfilled. As a result prices have been slashed. We have nearly new MacBook Computers, loads of G4 eMacs, Power Macs, iBooks, even a printer. All our used computers are carefully inspected and come with at least a 30 day warranty. Many times, the computers for sale are still under the original 1 year warranty or may be covered by AppleCare. Most of the computers can be upgraded to match your needs. Need more RAM? Airport? A bigger Hard Drive? No problem, we can upgrade the computer before you take possession. Please be sure to check out our Sale Rack web site for photos, specs and prices.