In a business environment, the PC as a tool of trade may be used for income generating activity, for ordering and communication with customers and suppliers, or for managing the business financial health, accounts and record keeping. Certainly, the majority of businesses cannot afford to be without essential tools any more than an airline without a booking system, banks without ATMs or a shop without a cash drawer.

Business operators typically require equipment investments to last more than 12 months. Unlike a retail consumer, who may be happy enough to replace a faulty home PC, games console or mobile phone and buy the latest model after 12 months, the business operator is more concerned with business continuity. Any loss of business continuity increases risk of lost productivity and dissatisfied customers, not to mention the extra unwanted effort to continuously research, purchase, migrate and set up replacement equipment.

Firstly, from a tax deduction viewpoint it is normally advantageous, in certain situations, to operate small office equipment over a three year depreciation schedule. Secondly, whilst a Consumer warranty service level may be acceptable to a home buyer without PC entertainment or social networking for a period of one or more weeks, this is normally a serious disruption to business continuity.

Every day and every hour without PC functionality is a lost opportunity or lost customer you may never get back.Acer therefore offers not only different warranty periods, but also three different warranty service levels to suit your risk management profile.

Mail-In

The lowest cost option with the PC needing repair returned to a central workshop, undergoing repair within five business days of receipt before return to the owner. This lowest cost option is suitable for home use where the PC is primarily for entertainment, personal shopping, hobbies or keeping in touch with friends and family.

Being without a PC during repair time is an inconvenience, but may under certain circumstances lead to no real harm or damage. Mail-in may also be considered for businesses with a large enough fleet of PCs that a spare unit can be called upon or reallocated.

On-Site

The mid-level option with a service technician attending to PC repair at the business premises within five business days. This medium option is suitable for time poor businesses who prefer not having to pack, send away and unpack PCs, but in meantime are able to work on other tasks or have a large enough fleet of PCs that a spare unit can be called upon or reallocated. On-site may also be considered for businesses that prefer not to send away commercially confidential or personally sensitive information contained in the PC needing repair.

Next Business Day On-Site

The top priority option with a service technician attending to PC repair within 1-2 business days. This priority option is suitable for businesses dependent on the PC to perform key tasks without which business productivity is impacted. Maximum uptime and minimum downtime is the mantra for these high velocity businesses.

Warranty duration and quality of service level can be likened to insurance or roadside assistance. Well-designed, built and cared for Acer Commercial grade PCs greatly reduce the likelihood of needing service or warranty attention, but cannot eliminate all probability any more than cyclone-proof building codes or premium prestige motor cars mean you'll never need help.

You do not need assistance until something goes wrong, but when it does, you will either be thankful you had the foresight to be prepared or despondent that you did not. From a risk management perspective, if the probability of PC failure is low because Acer equipment is well-designed and well-built, but the impact is high if something goes wrong because the PC is your electronic business partner, then wisdom points towards outsourcing the risk. This is what good warranty and service capability is all about.

Ever wondered why the coffee tastes better from a commercial espresso machine at your local café than from your home machine? Or why a professional power drill costs hundreds of dollars when you can buy a similar looking cheapie for less than $50 at the local discount hardware store? The difference lies in the equipment.

Commercial grade machines are built to withstand more pressure, more work and more bumps and bruises handling whilst retaining the ability to deliver constant work precisely with minimal variation. Cafés need to produce coffee that tastes good from the first cup in the morning to the last cup in the afternoon many hundreds of customers later. Tradesmen on a construction site need to drill hundreds of holes for a tidy joint day after day without the power drill becoming wobbly, smoky or grinding to a halt.

These professional tools of business cost hundreds or thousands of dollars more than their domestic cousins because their owners rely upon them to earn an honest wage. Professional tools must therefore be dependable and continuously keep working even if the operator finishes a long shift and passes the tool on the next person.

Domestic tools and appliances by comparison live a much easier life. They do not get moved around or handled as much and are not expected to bounce around in back of a ute. They also are not pummelled constantly under pressure with a queue of impatient customers waiting to be served before they leave your business and go to the next competitor. Domestic tools make one or two coffees, drill one or two holes and are switched off and put away until required again which may be hours, days or weeks later.

The duty cycle of professional, commercial and trade tools are therefore many times higher than for their domestic cousins. Whilst failure of a domestic tool is inconvenient, any failure on professional tools can stop your business and income in its tracks.

PCs are no different if they are made for domestic use then they are referred to as Consumer devices. Consumer-grade PCs are designed to look pretty to catch the buyer's eye on a retail display. They feature attractive specifications same as their more expensive Commercial cousins, but the hundreds of discrete components are graded for affordable low cost over durability.

The average Consumer PC rarely leaves the home and is typically used a few hours a day in the morning before the family leaves for work or school and at end of day before bed time. With limited transportation and only a few hours use per day, the Consumer PC will comfortably last the expected number of years, as it is only experiencing a light duty cycle and no one wants to pay a higher price for more ruggedness than they need.

At Acer, our Commercial-grade PCs start with stronger casework. For laptops, tablets and Ultrabooks, this comes from either 20 per cent thicker mouldings or from high tech materials such as metal alloys, carbon fibre or specially toughened Gorilla glass to withstand daily transportation, handling and the occasional bumps and knocks. You can’t really tell from looking at the outside, as the materials technology and internal reinforcements are hidden under a conservative matte finish for better grip and fingerprint resistance. But it is there and proven by prototype destruction testing and low failure rates measured monthly.

Other Acer durability design features built into selected Commercial grade PCs but hidden from view include:
 

• Metal alloy screen hinges to withstand over 25,000 open and close cycles.

• Long life keyboards to withstand over 10 million keystrokes. 

• Toughened touchpads to withstand over 1 million mouse strokes.

• Scratch resistant Gorilla glass for Touch screens and handwriting pen devices.

• Thermal designs to withstand extremes of temperature and humidity that would make tough tradesmen down tools and call it a day.

• Spill resistance, since many of us compulsive workers sneak in breakfast, lunch or dinner over the keyboard.

• Acer Dust Defender to routinely give a little “cough” and clear air borne dust from cooling fans.

• Drop tested from height of the average table or desk.

• Built in motion sensors to automatically protect sensitive storage drives from sudden drop or movement.

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These hidden Acer reliability and robustness technologies help our Commercial grade PCs to be at least 20 per cent stronger and last on average three times longer than a comparable Consumer device under the same high demand working conditions.

Acer builds a range of Commercial and ProSumer grade PCs to suit different work styles and budgets but they all have the same common goal to support your business and earning continuity. Speak to your preferred Acer Business Partner for which technologies and feature sets best suit your work style.

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