pcr issue 70, july 2009

COMPUTER & IT RESELLERS • RETAILERS • SYSTEM BUILDERS • DISTRIBUTORS • VENDORS

This Month

JULY 2009 ISSUE 70

� PCR takes a look at DSGi’snew stores, new ads, and newfocus on user experience p17

Acer recommends Windows Vista® Home Premium.

Visit acer.co.ukAcer and the Acer logo are registered trademarks of Acer Incorporated. Copyright 2009 Acer. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, the Windows logo and Windows Vista are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Intel, the Intel logo, Centrino, Centrino Inside, Intel Core, and Core Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other trademarks, registered trademarks and/or service marks, indicated or otherwise, are the properties of their respective owners. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. Specifi cations subject to change without notice. Pictures are intended simply to illustrate the product. *SDP relates to Suggested Dealer Price. **Mobile Mark 2007 with default setting of “Energy Star”. Can vary depending on product confi guration.

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COMMENT

July PCR 3

WE BROADBAND OF BROTHERS

THE JADED British public has always moved swiftly to pour

scorn on any high profile Government initiatives, from the

spluttering reforms of the NHS, to the joke-from-day-one

Millennium Dome, to the current debacle over the Olympic

Village, (the farcically large price tag of which seem to

imply a sports complex populated exclusively by solid gold hurdles

and swimming pools filled with diamond necklaces). Perhaps partially

for this reason, the Digital Britain report received a kicking from some

quarters almost before it was published.

In what read like a pre-emptive move to curb this cynicism, the

language of Gordon Brown's commentary within the report is full of

unusually uplifting rhetoric, calling on Britain to “lead the world” and of

the “vision and dynamism that we have to shape the future”. It was like

the St Crispin's Day speech from Henry V, if Shakespeare had written a

play about internet speeds. You expected him to start vigorously

roaring 'we few, we happy few. We broadband of brothers".

Eyebrow-raising enthusiasm aside, the report actually offers up some

fairly modest suggestions. It was quickly pointed out that a 2Mb

minimum broadband connection by 2012 is actually a pretty low bar

to set, and is dwarfed by goals set out by other countries.

The other aspect that has been leapt upon is the fact that the

proposed revamp of the country's internet infrastructure will be largely

funded by a tax on landlines. Any new tax is always met with rigorous

opposition. However the £6 a year figure hardly puts it into line with

Thatcher's introduction of the Poll Tax during the eighties.

However from an industry perspective, a state-sponsored revamp of

the country's internet habits should logically provide a boost to

hardware and software sales. Most believe this will be a long-term

upshot, however, and not a miracle pill to pull the industry out of the

effects of the recession.

Should it therefore be dismissed? No. Ultimately, it’s a positive move

for the trade. Even if some claim it doesn't go far enough, it’s a step in

the right direction. As an industry we should welcome anything that

might boost sales, to any extent. Let's just hope the proposals aren’t

scrapped if the Labour Government is ousted at the next election… Intent Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Associations

PCR is published 12 times a year by Intent Media - SaxonHouse, 6a St.Andrew Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire SG141JA Fax: +44 (0)1992 535648. © Intent Media 2007 Nopart of this publication may be reproduced in any form orby any means without prior permission of the copyrightowners. Printed by Pensord.

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PCR CONTACTS

PCR - Total average monthly net circulation for January 1st to December 31st 2008: 12,766.

“Even if Digital Britain doesn’t go farenough, it’s a step in the right direction”

EditorAndrew [email protected]

Deputy EditorBen Furfie [email protected]

Staff WriterMatt Grainger [email protected]

Editorial Production ManagerHelen [email protected]

Managing EditorLisa [email protected]

Executive Advertising ManagerKatie [email protected]

Advertising ExecutiveCarly [email protected]

Production ExecutiveAbigail [email protected]

Designer Kelly [email protected]

PublisherStuart Dinsey [email protected]

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Issue 70July 2009

Incorporating

bookmark us in your phone:

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LATEST NEWSSTRAIGHT TO YOUR MOBILE

Facts and Figures

Hardware Charts 44

GfK Analysis 46

PCRContents

News 7-12

Appointments 12

Brigantia 74Head of the Brigantia trade organisation,Iain Shaw, talks about the success of therecent Channel Expo event and looksforward to next year’s Retail Vision Europe

PCA 76Keith Warburton, CEO of the ProfessionalComputer Association talks about theimportance of communication andcooperation for building business

Mac Association 77Robert Peckham, executive director of theMac Technology Association discussesdual booting and running Mac OS on a PC

ITACS/NASCR 78The two trade bodies highlight rules andregulations and first impressions

PCR talks to DSGi’s category directorJeremy Fennel, marketing director NiallO’Keefe and DSGi spokesman MarkWebb about PC World’s new direction

PC WORLD

17

ISSUE 70JULY 2009

Games 60Our regular look at the most anticipated games coming outover the next month, like Batman: Arkham Asylum, Call ofJuarez and Need for Speed: Shift

“We believe thatwe are numberone across EMEA,and over therecent monthswe’ve extendedthat leadership”

Bobby Watkins,Acer

ACER

21

PCR talks to UK countrymanager Bobby Watkinsabout Acer’s new drive

www.pcr-online.bizincorporating

4 PCR July www.pcr-online.biz

PRODUCT FOCUSA outline of some of theproducts availablefrom Enta’s broadportfolio

15

Mystery ShopperThis month, our intrepid shoppervisits Lakeside to find out whatrecommendations could be foundin the Netbook market

Adult EducationA rundown of the some of theproducts available for the adulteducation sector, a market that isgrowing more prominent

Symantec InterviewWith the recent release of itsAnnual Security Report, the vicepresident of consumer sales, LeeSharrocks outlines the threat

37

52

55

Interactive IdeasAfter experiencing a record periodof growth despite the recession,Interactive Ideas’ managingdirector Michael Trup talks to PCRabout his successful strategy

65

30

After the European launch of its DesignStudio, PCR talks to Dell’s vice presidentfor EMEA Phil Bryant and the director ofEMEA consumer marketing David Clifton

DELL INTERVIEW

24

LAPTOPS DIRECTCompany Profile 80A look at the years steady growth from LaptopsDirect, with some help from the company’smarketing executive Nick Glynne

MARKETPLACE 71

Mac PeripheralsWith the Mac enjoying greaterpopularity PCR takes a look atsome of the latest peripheralscurrently on sale

www.pcr-online.biz July PCR 5

THE GOVERNMENT’S DigitalBritain report has split opinion in theUK trade, with some hailing it as apositive step which will provide aboost to the industry, but othersdismissing it as insufficient and ‘short sighted’.

The report, put together by Labour’sCommunication Minister Lord Carter,lays out plans to dramatically overhaulthe internet infrastructure of thecountry, and connect every singleperson to the internet.

Apart from creating a more tech-savvy population and increasingsecurity, many believe such anoverhaul will stimulate growth inmultiple aspects of the market,boosting sales of the hardwarerequired to realise such goals.

“It will have a tangible, positiveeffect on the market over the long

term,” said Leila Martine, ConsumerWindows Business Group UK lead atMicrosoft. “For example, programmesto improve digital inclusion andbroadband access over the next fewyears should encourage more people

to use PCs, and therefore lift sales.Initiatives to improve online privacyand security, aimed at making peoplemore comfortable with going online,will further help boost the market.”

Duncan McAuley, VIP purchasingdirector, added: “Technologicaladvancements for IT products won’tbe held back by constraints from the

IT infrastructure if the developmentsdo go ahead as planned.”

Some also predict a resultant boostto the software market. “Hearing thatthe Government is committed toincreasing our communications

infrastructure is good news for boththe IT and software industry,” saidJoanna Kemp, head of software salesat Koch Media. “With the increase ofour communications structurealongside the lower pricing onhardware that we currently have, weshould see more and more homesusing multiple internet connections

and using computers for more areas oftheir lives, thus increasing the needfor all areas of software.”

Other see the report lesssympathetically. Many have focused onthe proposed taxation on landlinesthat will be put in place to fund thenew measures, while some think theplans simply don’t go far enough.

“It seems very short sighted, anddoesn’t give any indication as to thelong term benefits on how businesscan utilise it fully,” said Adam Harris,managing director of VAR Bear IT.

Keith Warburton, the founder ofthe PCA, added: “Such talk is cheapand apparently just about all that wecan afford. There seems to be verylittle Government funding available for this ‘digital investment’, with a levyon existing fixed phone lines beingused to provide just a small amount of funding.”


Labour proposals to make UK the ‘digital capital of the world’ met with mixed responses from the trade

“It will have a tangible, positive effect on themarket over the long term. Programmes to

improve digital inclusion and broadband accessover the next few years should encourage more

people to use PCs, and therefore lift sales”Leila Martine, Microsoft

Industry figures torn onDigital Britain report

By Andrew Wooden

SIGN UP FOR THE PC RETAIL NEWSFLASH SERVICE AT WWW.PCR-ONLINE.BIZ NEWS

THE UK’S largestentertainment retailer HMVhas now expanded into thelaptop market, with a trialarea already launched inOxford Circus and more setto follow in Leeds, BristolCribbs, the Merry Hill Centreand Dudley over the next few weeks.

The trial areas are part ofthe retailer’s new focus ontechnology products, and ifsuccessful will be rolled outacross the wider portfolio. Aswell as laptops, a full range ofaccessories and peripheralswill be available.

“This is really part of theongoing evolution in theHMV offer – giving peopleaccess not just to music, filmand games, but also totechnology and other relatedproducts via a range ofchannels,” said RickyGordon, technology managerat HMV. “We’ve also enjoyedconsiderable success in theiPod and iPod accessoriesmarket, so we see netbooksand laptops as being a naturalfurther step in this direction.”

When asked what woulddifferentiate HMV’s offeringfrom the growing number ofother retailers moving intothe market, Gordon told us:

“We’ll be specialising andconcentrating on the portableend of the market, which ourmarket research suggests iswhat customers want andexpect to find in HMV. It’s increasingly clear that they see our stores not just asthe place to buy music, filmand games, but also thehardware and technology toenjoy them on.”

He concluded by saying:“Ultimately, however, it willcome down to how well weengage with these customersthrough the retail experienceand the quality of service wegive them, but I’m veryconfident we can do that.”

HMV moves into laptop market

Dell looks to increase Euro growth

PC VENDOR Dell haslaunched its new DesignStudio project in Europe,which is part of its strategy tobring its regional market shareback up from its current fiveper cent figure.

The scheme enablesconsumers to customise theappearance of laptops prior topurchase, and has beeninitially rolled out in the UK,France and Germany, withfurther availability acrossEurope to follow.

The move is part of a freshretail push across Europe,using the UK as a launch pad.Over the last two years, thecompany has created a retailpresence in 30,000 partnerstores worldwide, and hasrecently inked a deal withItaly’s largest IT retailer, Media World.

“We’re really moving fromthe UK out,” said Phil Bryant,Dell’s vice president and

general manager for EMEA,speaking to PCR. “Ourstrongest

relationship a few months agowas with the Dixons group inthe UK, but even that wasn’t

as deep as it could be, so whatwe’ve done over the last threeor four months is build a

closer partnership with them.Our relationship is nowheavily integrated – Dell is a

featured brand in Dixons andPC World. Some of the

products that we’ve been

displaying were developedwith them in mind.”

The firm is particularlyconfident of growth in theUK, where it tends to bestronger than other Europeanregions. “If you look at the lastIDC data, we were up aroundthe 18 per cent in the UK.Since then I think ourpartnerships have deepened.We’re very optimistic aboutour growth goals and ourshare goals in the UK becauseof the partnerships we have,”added Bryant.

“This is part of the ongoing evolutionin the HMV offer – giving peopleaccess not just to music, film and

games, but also technology”Ricky Gordon, HMV

Entertainment retailer joins the ranks of IT dealers with new PC areas � Trial areas to be rolled outacross the country if successful � Natural evolution of product choice offers more to customers

New design-led initiatives are launched to support European expansion and new product drive

By Andrew Wooden

NEWS


“What we’ve done over the last threeor four months is build a closer

partnership with Dixons. Ourrelationship is now heavily integrated –

Dell is a featured brand in Dixons”Phil Bryant, Dell

DISTRIBUTOR Interactive Ideas isexpanding its UK offices and boostingits stake in Indian associate firmInterfinet Technologies after astorming year which saw sales shootup 42 per cent.

The firm is currently looking tomake new hires in the productmanagement and software divisions,and expects to continue therecruitment drive throughout the year.A new larger UK head office is alsoexpected this year.

“In two years we have doubled thesize of the company and are already

running up another 40 per cent so farthis year, although it’s early days.More importantly, our profitshave also risen, as has ourliquidity, so all in all weare entering this year ingreat shape,” said MDMichael Trup.

Firm looking to expand workforce over the next year with move to newHQ � Recession cited as one of the main factors in recent success

Microsoft dismisses ITACS accusations SOFTWARE giant Microsoft hasdismissed attacks by the UK trade bodyITACS, which claims that retailers arebeing forced to turn away PC repairsbecause many copies of Windowscannot be verified.

The trade body asserts that agrowing number of its members areunable to repair laptops because theCertificate of Authenticity stickers havebeen rubbed away, meaning resellerscannot obtain the licence number,costing them valuable business.

When contacted by PCR, Microsoftrefuted the claims by ITACS that thisis a widespread problem, and that thestickers are the only way ofauthenticating a copy of Windows.

“This is a new issue to us,”commented Microsoft’s senior directorfor OEM, Alison Dodd. “We have acall centre that takes around 50,000calls per month and we’ve had around20 to 25 calls regarding this. I wouldalso like to add that ITACS has not

made contact with either myself or thepress office here.

“If a device is sold today with a pre-installed copy of Windows, it includesrecovery media and a warranty, which

should be kept safe. If there’s norecovery media then the device shouldbe sent back to the OEM; it’s arelatively simple process for them toobtain a replacement COA if needed.”

However, ITACS chairman MatthewWoolley maintains that the process is

more complicated, and ultimatelymakes retailers suffer: “The issuefor us is that for somebody makingrepairs, there is no way to recoverthe licence key. In addition, there’sno legal obligation for the OEM toprovide a warranty coveringsoftware, so they refer the customeror repair shop to Microsoft and soit goes on.

“The fact is that Microsoft isrequired to sell goods that are fitfor purpose and these stickersdon’t do that, and Microsoft alsosays that if the sticker is illegiblethen it’s counterfeit. It’s really not helpful.”

Microsoft has said that partnersshould contact 0870 607 0700 ifthey have these issues, whilecustomers can activate – orreactivate – their products on 0800018 8364, although they will haveto answer some qualifyingquestions.

“This is a new issue tous. We’ve got a call

centre that takes50,000 calls a monthand have had around

25 calls about this.ITACS has not made

contact with myself orthe press office”

Alison Dodd, Microsoft

NEWS


By Andrew Wooden “In two years we have doubled the size ofthe company and are already running upanother 40 per cent this year, although it’s

early days. More importantly, our profits havealso risen, as has our liquidity, so all in all we

are entering this year in great shape”Michael Trup, Interactive Ideas

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Interactive Ideassales up 42 per cent

The economic climate is cited asone of the contributing factors to thefirm’s recent successes, since ITdepartments have been forced to lookat more affordable options.

“The recession is certainly helpingus by making it easier to hire andacquire assets to grow with,” continued

Trup. “From a market point ofview, many of our key

vendors such asRedhat,

Acronis, Sunbelt and Solarwindsrepresent cost reduction performanceenhancing solutions. The recession hasforced corporate IT departments to tryand get more for less from theirbudgets, whereas perhaps 12 monthsago they didn’t see that there was anyneed to do this. On the retail side ofthe business, e-tail has picked upmarket share and most of the items wesell are ‘small ticket’ so still withineveryone’s budget.”

NEWS


PANDA BUY UK OPThe Spanish parent company ofPanda Security has purchased therights to the UK business for £1.4mfrom licensee Formjet. The deal willsee Panda Security SL take over therunning of the UK business – whichincludes consumer and businesssecurity products – with Formjetretained for a short period tohandle the transition.

WINDOWS 7DOWNGRADEMicrosoft hasrevealed it will shipcertain editions ofWindows 7 with upto 18 monthsdowngrade rights.The vendor will offerusers of Windows 7Professional and Ultimate theoption to switch to Windows Vistaor Windows XP until April 1st,2011. Volume licensees will also beable to downgrade to any previousversion of the OS.

INTEL REBRANDS SKUSIntel has announced an overhaul ofits processor families that will see itconsolidate most of its SKUs underthe Intel Core brand, after itrecognised that it ‘had too many’ inthe marketplace. The move is

aimed at simplifying the categoryto make it easier for consumers andbusinesses to work out which is theright product for them.

3 SIGNS MICRO-P DEAL3 will further expand its reach inthe IT market, after Micro-P wonthe network operator’s tender tosupply laptops. The dealencompasses both 3’s 295 stores

and its direct operation. Itwill see the distributor

handle retail logistics,as well as rangeselection and stockholding for its directsales department.

DELL TO UP RETAILPARTNERS

Dell is consideringdrastically upping the

number of retailers it works with. Itreported a drop of 63 per cent innet income at the end of lastmonth, mainly due to a decline inbusiness sales. The fall promptedchief executive Michael Dell intoconfirming that the company wasconsidering expanding its retailpartnerships by “three to four timesthe number we have today”.

RETAIL CONCERN OVERBROADBAND DONGLESRetailers have expressed concernsover the viability of laptop andmobile broadband packages. Manycite the length of time it takes toget a return on the initialinvestment as the main issue.Distributors have said that they areworking on solutions to give theirpartners more commission upfront,but often discussions betweenthemselves and operators are failingbecause of the substantial costs ofthe laptops.

BLUEPOINT LAUNCHES ‘MYBRANDING’Bluepoint has rolled out a newonline tool, intended to help itsresellers produce professionallooking marketing materials andquotes. Called ‘My Branding’, thetools are split into several modulesand have been designed to be assimple as possible to use. “It allowsresellers to present a clear andprofessional email or documentdirector to their own customers,”explained Bluepoint’s Hassan Manji.

IPHONE 3GS SALES STRONGApple has confirmed that salesof its latest iPhone, the 3GS,have hit the one million markglobally – after just three dayson the market. On top of thesales triumph, Apple has alsoconfirmed that its 3.0 OS,available to both iPhone 3Gand iPod Touch owners, hasalready been downloaded oversix million times.

NewsBytes

SPECIALIST distributor TargetComponents has recorded its best eversix months this financial year, afterintroducing a number of new productlines and service initiatives to itscustomer base.

Sales are up 38 per cent for 2009 sofar, compared to the same period lastyear, and the firm says it has a numberof new schemes in the pipeline.

“Q1 was obviously our best everquarter, although Q2 is only slightlybehind and still has a chance ofovertaking (again exceptional for atraditionally poor quarter),” said MD

Paul Cubbage. “Q1 was 38 per cent upon Q1 08, and Q2 is 60 per cent upon Q2 08 so far. In absolute terms weare already well over 30 per cent up onQ2 08 with ten days remaining.

“Incidentally, turnover is also up byover 40 per cent. Where otherdistributors have cut services to reducecosts, we are continually investing inand developing our customer service,and I think this plays a big part – notjust in strengthening our relationshipwith existing customers, but also inenhancing our reputation in thechannel and winning new business.”

Target celebrates bestever six months

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The Interactive Ideas team

APPOINTMENTS

THERMALTAKE is planning on a

significant expansion of its activity in the

UK over the next year, bolstering its

regional office and launching a larger

range of products.

The move marks the firm’s tenth year

in the market, and it claims that it is

undergoing a ‘revolution.’ An active

recruitment campaign for retailers and

resellers across Europe is also being

finalised, supported by an increased

marketing push.

This drive is being headed up by

Chantal Lo who will relocate from the

firm’s Taiwan head quarters.

“Now that the global crisis of 2008 is

behind us and UK vendors are starting to

see the green shoots of recovery,

Thermaltake believes that the time is

right to implement and deploy a series of

brand new, well-funded marketing

initiatives – designed to help our

customers build their businesses ready for

the busy Q4 09/Q1 2010 period,” said J J

Jan, global sales operations vice president.

“Thermaltake has already engaged new

specialist PR and Marketing support in

the UK and we will be announcing an

expansion of our sales for over the

summer. The next 12 months will see a

significant ramp-up in Thermaltake

activity across the UK.”

NEWS


Tennison takes up the

purchasing reins at GemFormer sales boss to lead department followingdeparture of Simon Lee � Nick Graves leavesApple Europe after 22 years � Asus brings informer Cisco and Sony sales member

GEM has promoted TRACEYTENNISON to head of purchasingfollowing the departure of SIMON LEElast month.

Tennison joins the purchasingdepartment after running the salesteam, with Gem describing herappointment as the ideal opportunity tobring in changes.

“I would like to thank Simon Lee forhis contribution to the amazing successthat Gem has enjoyed in the last threeyears,” said Gem MD Chris Peacock.

“I am confident that Tracey Tennisonwill prove to be a more than capablereplacement as we continue to developthe business in a more professional andstructured manner.”

ASUS has brought in RICHARD LEA to bolster its sales team,after successful spells at Cisco and Sony.

Lea joins the company as its new components product managerfor networking and wireless. Asus is hoping he will be able to helprepeat the success of its Eee PC product line.

“I am delighted to have joined Asus during such an excitingtime,” said Lea. “The opportunity to bring our award winningnetworking products from Asia into the UK market is fantastic.”

APPLE stalwart Nick Graves has announced that hewill be leaving the vendor after a 22-year career at thecompany, spanning roles in sales, marketing andbusiness development.

Speaking to PCR, Graves said that his biggestachievement had been helping to build Apple'ssuccessful range of third party products and that hewas now looking for change.

“The success of this now established business isassured, and it is time for me to seek new challenges.”

ASUS

STONE GROUP has appointed ROGER BURDETT as its non-executive chairman. The group, which is the UK’s largest privatelyowned computer manufacturer and past PCR awards winner,specialises in supplying the public sector with hardware.

Founder and chief executive of Stone, James Bird said thatBurdett's experience in management buyouts and runningsuccessfully growing companies after, were welcomed by the vendor.

STONE GROUP

“Thermaltakebelieves that thetime is right toimplement and

deploy a series ofbrand new, well-funded marketing

initiatives”JJ Jan,

Thermaltake

Thermaltakesteps up UK plansPC chassis, cooling and power supply specialist toexpand UK operation during the summer

By Andrew Wooden

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© 2008 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce, the GeForce logo, SLI, and 3D Vision are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and other coutries. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated. Game images courtesy of: Need for Speed™ ProStreet © 2007 Electronic Arts, Assassin’s Creed © 2008 Ubisoft Entertainment, Supreme Commander © 2008 THQ Inc, GRID™ © 2007 The Codemasters Software Company Limited, Call of Duty®: World at War™ © 2008 Activision Publishing, Inc., Mirror’s Edge™ © 2008 Electronic Arts

www.vip-computers.com/ukSales: 0871 622 7500

© Copyright VIP Computer Centre Limited. 2009. Information correct at time of publication E&OE

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Product Reviews and Features

The Press OfficeYour guide to what the consumer press is telling the general public to buy...

Price: £4.50 Pages: 130

Graphics CardsEditor's Choice: Zotac GeForce GTX275 AMP EditionBest Buy: His Radeon HD4770Recommended: His Radeon HD4890TurboRecommended: XFX Geforce GTX 295GX-295N-HHFFHigh End Choice: Sapphire RadeonHD 4870 X2 2G

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KeyboardsRecommended: Keysonic Intuition-XL(ACH-5600 AL+)



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Cloud Storage ServicesLabs Winner: SugarSyncRecommended: Microsoft Live Mesh

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NetbooksBest Buy: MSI Wind U100Best Buy: Samsung N120Recommended: Samsung N110Budget Buy: Advent 4211c

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Streaming Media PlayersBest Buy: Philips Streamium NP2900Budget Buy: D-Link DSM-510Ultimate: Netgear EVA9150 DigitalEntertainer Elite

VoIP ServicesBest Buy: Connexin InternationalUnlimitedBudget Buy: Sipgate



CONSUMER PRESS


“Despite its age and thelarge number of new

competitors, the Dark PowerPro 650W remains the best

mid-range PSU on themarket”

BeQuiet! Dark Power Pro 650W

“At higher resolutions, theGTX 275 is still a great

performer, being within awhisker of the GTX 285, and

not far from the 4870 X2either”

Zotac GeForce GTX 275 AMP Ed

“It has more power, betterdesign and superior batterylife. The VGN-Z31VN/X is amachine almost without

compromise and,consequently, it wins the

title of ultimate laptop thismonth”

Sony Vaio VGN-Z31VN/X

“MSI’s Wind is a greatnetbook thanks to its

comfortable keyboard andlong battery life, making it an

excellent choice for mostpeople”

MSI Wind U100

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SOFTWARE PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

INTERVIEW PC WORLD


With huge numbers of nationwide store reformats, the openingof new unprecedented large megastores and the launch of itslargest ever ad campaign, you have to agree DSGi is tacklingwhatever problems it has with brute force. Andrew Wooden talksto category director for DSGi Jeremy Fennal, marketing directorfor PC World Niall O’Keeffe and DSGi spokesperson Mark Webbabout the firm's recent activity and the future of the market….

AT THE time of going to press,DSGi’s financial results hadn’t yetbeen issued. However taking intoaccount the information over its recentRight Issue and other announcements,many analysts were predicting a lessthan favourable set of figures.

However this shouldn’t overshadowthe positive moves the firm has madein recent times. Over 60 stores acrossthe country have been reformatted inthe new improved style and more areto follow, bolstered by the largestsingle advertising campaign the firmhas ever put out. New Currys

megastores will also send a clearmessage to the yet-to-emerge Best Buy –DSGi is the as-yet unchallengedincumbent and it can do big box storesjust as well as any American contender.Whatever the wider financial landscape,the firm has put two fingers up to thosewho dismissed its Renewal andTransformation drive as pure rhetoric.

The new Currys opened in NewMalden is the biggest store in yoursouth east portfolio. What are thebenefits of larger megastores overnumerous smaller sites?

Mark Webb: It is not just the largeststore in our portfolio, this is the biggeststore of its kind in the south east.

The megastore concept underpinsall the elements of our Renewal andTransformation in offering anunbeatable combination of value,choice and service for customers. Butthe scale of all our megastores goingforward means that we can representthe entire electrical market in onelocation, with all the convenience, notto mention the wow factor, that comeswith it. You’ll therefore see rangeextensions in all our major categories,

“The scale of ourmegastores going

forward means that wecan represent theentire electrical

marketplace in onelocation”

Mark Webb,DSGi

Saving the

World

Turn the page formore

>>>

INTERVIEW PC WORLD


you’ll see us including new ranges suchas premium branded coffee machines,CDs and DVDs, plus an extremelyimpressive hi-fi area to appeal to abroad range of customers and budgets.

The impact of the store is profound,with our megastore near Birmingham,for example (which opened last year),very much established as a ‘destinationstore’ with customers happy to driveup to 90 minutes to get there.

And is this the way forward forelectronics retail?MW: It forms a key part of our multichannel approach, but as market-leading retailers we have developed anumber of formats, all of which haveseen impressive returns and all ofwhich will see further rollouts in thecoming year.

How many more store openings canwe expect over the next year or so,across all your brands? MW: We recently announced anaccelerated rollout of our new storeformats. 63 stores were reformattedlast year, and some 140-150 will becompleted this year in the UK and theNordics (and a further 210-215 forFY2010/11).

It is important to note thatalongside our store reformattingprocess, our focus on training staff inFIVES, the new customers service salesmodel, continues with over 20,000colleagues already trained with anongoing focus on product knowledgeand expertise.

You’ve recently spoken of theimportance of differentiatingnetbooks and notebooks. Do youthink there is a problem with thepublic perception of sub-£300machines and what they can do? Jeremy Fennel: Yes. When netbookswere introduced last year, many peoplethought they were going to be a cheapand cheerful replacement for thelaptop, but we have always positionedthem as an additional mobile device –compatible with laptops and PCs.

Netbooks are mainly used for websurfing, email and viewing on themove. It’s essentially ‘netbooks are forviewing, notebooks are for doing’

More than ever, customers areinterested in getting value for money,but simply buying the cheapest modelaround does not provide them with all

that they want from their netbook.Customers want a decent, usablescreen size and keyboard, and asoftware system they are familiar with.Our biggest selling models retail ataround £300.

PCs, and especially netbooks, arenow sold by a much wider variety ofretailers, such as mobile phoneoperators and supermarkets. Sincethese firms and their staff are rarelyexperts in the technology, how doyou think this affects the publicperception of netbooks, and thewider technology sector? JF: We pride ourselves on offeringcustomers good advice and excellentservices to enable them to buy theright product to suit their individualneeds and level of technicalunderstanding, with confidence. Theydo not get this if they buy from non-specialist retailers and can often bedisappointed with their choices.

Poor service and advice in non-specialists leads to high levels ofdisappointment and customer returnsas they find they have not bought theright product for them. Also, as amarket-leading specialist we offer anend-to-end service – from help andadvice with original purchases torepairs and maintenance services.

You’ve sold off the Electro Worldoperations in Hungary; will anyother stores/regions be closed? MW: At the same time as weannounced the sale of our Hungarianoperation, we confirmed that theCzech Republic and Slovakiaoperations (which had been understrategic review), were to be retainedwithin the group. Only Polandremains under Strategic Review.

How would you say the Renewaland Transformation plan is goingand how much is left to do? MW: This has been an intense periodof activity and the Renewal andTransformation Plan is progressingextremely well, with customersatisfaction rising, impressive returnsfrom reformatted stores and a numberof new innovations for the customersuch as next-day delivery and timeddelivery slots. There is a still lot moreto do and plenty more potential wehave identified in what is essentially athree-year plan.Laurence Painell

The new format PC World megastoresare intended to represent the entiretechnology market under one roof

INTERVIEW PC WORLD


Would you say PC and technologyretail has fared better than someother sectors during the economicdownturn? MW: It has been a challenging time tosell discretionary, big ticket items. Aswe went into the downturn with astrategy in place though, we have beenable to focus our efforts on deliveringfor the customer and developing ourRenewal and Transformation plan. Weare well placed to emerge strongerfrom the downturn with a compellingoffering for customers that ourcompetitors can’t match.

Will 2010 be better or worse? MW: As a business we remaincautious, with management currentlyassuming negative like-for-like growthuntil second half of 2010/11.Customers, however, will continue tosee the benefits of our Renewal andTransformation Plan and our focus onoffering an unbeatable combination ofValue, Choice and Service.

The ‘Whatever your world, PCWorld’ ad is your biggest singlecampaign to date. What are the keyideas it attempts to get across, whatdo you hope to achieve with it andhow significant is this for PCWorld?Niall O’Keeffe: The campaign is abouttaking people’s individual passions,and explaining how we can help themindulge them. So we moved on fromtelling about speeds and feeds totalking about passions.

The campaign itself has got fourmain objectives. One is to forcecustomers to reappraise PC World.Two is to communicate our brandvalues of being enthusiastic, honest,dynamic and friendly. The other is tosay that the computer is at the heart ofmost of our lives now, they arecrucially important to us living ourlives. The backbone of the campaignwas to humanise this technology andmake it appeal to everyone.

Before the campaign came thoughwe wanted to get our house in order.We’ve relaunched about 60 stores nowout of our whole portfolio. There’s acompletely new store layout. There’s amuch deeper range as well, and thedemonstration zones give you anexperience of the technology. Whenyou go into a PC World it’s a differentexperience than going into a multiplegrocer and picking a box off the shelf– and ultimately that’s our USP.

How will this evolve over the rest ofthe year?NO’K: We expect to have anotherburst this year, and then to runanother two to three of these a yeargoing forward. What we’re reallyconfident about is that because thiscampaign is rooted in people passions,we can continue to evolve this. Theinitial pitch had nine executions, so wefeel its something that has a lot oflongevity.

How much have the transformationplans and the ad campaigns got todo with Best Buy turning up nextyear?NO’K: Nothing. I was brought intothe company in the middle of 2007 tobuild the PC World brand. Thiscampaign was presented in February2008, and Best Buy wasn’t really beingtalked about back then. This is aboutPC World building its brand, notabout anybody else.

How much of a threat are they? NO’K: We shall wait and see.Obviously as a business we arepreparing plans for whenever theyenter the market, and our plans are setto relaunch 60-100 PC World storesand all of the work we’re doing withCurrys and the launch of megastores,etc. So we’re continuing our plan andI think we’re going to make it a veryhard market place for anybody tocompete with us, be it Comet, be itBest Buy. We’ll see what happens.

“What we’re really confident aboutis that because this campaign isrooted in people’s passions, we

can continue to evolve this”Niall O’Keeffe,

DSGi

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MEDIAROOTS CORE VIDEO TRAINING

INTERVIEW ACER


After announcing the relaunch of the Packard Bell brand, Acer is in a process of differentiating itsthree brand portfolios to tackle different demographics separately, as it looks to increase its UK leadposition across the globe. Andrew Wooden talks to UK country manager Bobby Watkins…

You recently announced theintroduction of your ‘multi-brandstrategy’. What essentially is thisand how much of a departure is itfrom your previous way of working?We did a lot of work with consumerfocus groups to try to work out howpeople make a decision in terms ofwhat to buy. We found that clearlyconsumers make decisions in differentways. Some consumers make decisionson brand, design and the fashion of aproduct. There are those who makedecisions based on technology, whileothers make their decisions based on abudget. There’s also a group in the

middle that have to makecompromises, and morph betweenbudget, technology and brand. That’swhere the multi brand strategy camefrom, and why we made the call to usedifferent brands to serve differentconsumer segments.

In a practical sense, oureMachines brand is targetedat the group that purelymakes decisions based onaffordability. For thecustomer that ratesdesign and brandappeal highly, but isnot as concerned with

high-spec technology, that’s where we’dposition the Packard Bell brand. Forthose customers who make theirdecision based on technology anddesign, that’s where we’d target theAcer brand. Everything in the middleof those categories is where we’d

position the Acer brand as well.

How are you looking tomarket to different

consumer segments?We will communicatethe brands in verydifferent ways. Wehave major campaigns

“For those customerswho make their

decision based ontechnology and

design, that’s wherewe’d target the Acer

brand”Bobby Watkins,

Acer

A war on three fronts

Turn the page for more

>>>

Acer’s Bobby Watkins believes thata multi-brand approach is the bestway to utlise the buying habits ofconsumers

INTERVIEW ACER


Laurence Painell

planned across all the brands. I wouldsay it’s weighted towards the Acertechnology and the Packard Bellfashion messages, and it’s an enormousinvestment. I can’t be specific, butyou’ll see it everyday through thesecond half of the year. We will bedramatically upping the amount ofcampaigns over the next year.

How significant will the newlyrelaunched Packard Bell brand be toAcer’s overall business, and how isthis different from its core productportfolio?Packard Bell is a fundamental part ofthe Acer group multi-brand strategy.We think certain consumers will makea decision based on what a productlooks like, and they will be sensitive todesign and brand perception. To touchthose consumers isn’t the purpose ofthe Acer brand, which is more aroundtechnology leadership, being first tomarket and giving long battery life –generally being the biggest and thefastest. To get to these customers whomake their decision based on designand brand, Packard Bell isfundamental. In terms of whatproportion of the market we can attractwith the Packard Bell brand, it’simportant to work out whatproportion of the consumers buy inthat way. We estimate it’s around 15 to20 per cent of shoppers out there thatprimarily buy based on design andbrand appeal, and who don’t considertechnology at all. That should give youan idea of how much of the market wethink it’s possible to address with thePackard Bell brand.

Now that the Acer Point and AcerAffinity business separations havecome into play, what will be themain noticeable changes around thisrestructure of these support services?The big changes will be the resourceswe’re putting behind bothcommunities. For the Acer Point – theshopfront – there are experiencedpeople investing in marketing the‘shop-in-shop’ concepts. On theAffinity front the biggest investment isin lead generation activities. This is tosupport the customers of thatprogramme in making it a serious partof their business-to-business sales. Thesimplest way to put it is that we’reoffering them more support inattracting more sales.

You’re currently listed as numberone for notebooks in the UK, arethese changes and this branddifferentiation designed to extendthis lead globally?We think we can strongly extend ourlead here in the UK, especially in theconsumer arena. We believe we are alsonumber one across EMEA, and overthe recent months we’ve extended thatleadership. We’ve also had growth inthe USA and Asia, which isgiving us theopportunity

to challenge for the number one spotglobally. I think it would be prematurefor us to say now we’re going to benumber one in the global computingmarket, but the last market data saidwe were very close to Dell globally interms of total PC, and really we’resetting our sites on getting to thenumber one position by 2011.

“We think we canstrongly extend ourlead here in the UK,

especially in theconsumer arena”

Bobby Watkins,Acer

Acer has its sights set on being the numberone mobile PC vendor in the world

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DELL RECENTLY used the luxurioussurroundings of Versailles to highlightits strategy for the future and to unveilits forthcoming range of consumerlaptops, which – for now – mustremain under wraps.

One thing that was obviousthroughout the event was that Dell hasa very clear idea of what its customerswant and a strong business model forthe future. It has spent a great deal oftime interacting with its customers,developing its products and buildingits retail presence to 30,000 footprints

in various regions across the globe.A robust consumer portfolio will

support this retail expansion and oneof the key features for the future isDell’s Design Studio, allowingcustomers to personalise theappearance of their device beforepurchase.

“This is part of our heritage,” saysDell’s vice president and generalmanager for EMEA, Phil Bryant. “Ifyou think back to the early nineties, wecalled it customisation, but it was allabout the inside of the box. Frankly,

what helped catalyse it for me was thetime I spent in Japan, talking toJapanese customers and seeing whatwas around me in terms of design –and the Japanese were known for theircutting edge designs.

“As mobility became more and moreimportant, the design became areflection of your personal style, yourpersonal expression, and this movecame out of our heritage of givingcustomers exactly what they want.”

“It really is personalisation becauseit’s the outside of the box – what

“This has comeout of our

heritage of givingcustomers

exactly whatthey want.”Phil Bryant,

Dell

INTERVIEW DELL


Having recently unveiled its design studio inEurope, Dell is on a drive to make its computersmore personal. Matt Grainger spoke to the firm'svice president and general manager for EMEA,Phil Bryant and the director for EMEA consumermarketing David Clifton about design, the cloudand European expansion…

Designs on the

future

Dell’s Design Studio allows users topersonalise their devices withcustomisable designs from a widevariety of artists

Phil Bryant

people see you with – and it’s theinside of the box,” says Dell’s EMEAconsumer marketing director DavidClifton. “It’s not just feeds and speeds,it’s needs and deeds – meaning it’swhat people are using it for. So it’sreally an outgrowing of our DNA andour heritage, something that we canbring uniquely to the market.”

EMBRACING THE CLOUDAnother key move for Dell is itscommitment to ‘embrace the cloud;’ itscurrent portfolio includes RemoteAccess software that allows users toaccess their personal data fromanywhere with an internet connection.Dell clearly thinks that there is a brightfuture in the cloud.

“Think about the impactit’s having now,” offersBryant. “Customers gotthere before the industry.Look at Facebook, that’syour pictures andinformation out in thecloud, email is just youremail client out in thecloud, music can bedownloaded out of thecloud, so I think customersfigured it out all on theirown. There’s value to thisand the people who do itwell are going to win in themarketplace.

“For some of the corestuff though, people aren’t

quite ready to give it up to the cloudand that’s where something like DellRemote Access stands out, because itallows people to keep their stuff athome but they can still access it fromanywhere on a Dell client.”

The retail expansion to 30,000footprints is a huge achievement for acompany that had virtually no retailpresence five years ago, and is designedto help convey the message aboutDell’s products directly to theconsumer marketplace.

“I guess that’s a continuation ofwhat we started two years ago,” claimsBryant. “When we set down in theAmericas we had several choices but wesettled on a segmentation strategy thathad us working with a few very largepartners that addressed specificsegments of the market.

“Since we came to Europe, we’vebeen researching the market, talking to

partners and really moving from theUK out. As we’ve moved acrossEurope, we’ve been working in Francewith Carrefour and now Media Worldin Italy, so we’ve been moving east andtrying to go bigger with the bestpartners. That’s what we’re doing andwhere we are now – we’ve tripled ourretail footprint in the last four monthsand we should triple it again this year,that’s where we want to be.”

“The decision to do this starts withour customers who wanted to touchand feel the products before purchase,”interjects Clifton.

“It’s been a very methodic plan butquite rapid and, I would say, a reallywell implemented approach. It startedas customers saying they wanted totouch the product, to see it and it’s ledto us broadening our footprint andbroadening our reach to the customerbase.”

EUROPEAN EXPANSIONOne of the aims of the showcase inVersailles had been to entice some ofthe potential partners for Dell’scontinued expansion, so what areDell’s aims for the next year or so?

“You know, we’re just scratching thesurface in Europe,” believes Bryant.“We have five per cent share accordingto IDC, in some markets lower. Sogetting established in places likeGermany, or Italy where we’ve reallynever had a presence at all, that’s prettyimportant right now.

“From just a pure route to marketstandpoint, over the next eight or ninemonths you’ll see a steady adding ofpartnerships all across the region – thatincludes Russia, the Middle East,Africa, all of those.”

“For me the one word would bepresence,” adds Clifton. “The next yearand on the horizon… it’s all aboutpresence. We’re here, we’re a greatbrand but we’re not present in manyplaces that you would think we are.”

“We’re the number two global brandand I have yet to meet a partner thatsays they don’t want the brand,”continues Bryant. “That’s the goodthing, I’ve never met anybody who says‘no, your brand doesn’t work here,’and I’ve been in 25 countries since Igot here four months ago.”

“It seems that there’s a big demandout there for Dell, which is great,”concludes Clifton.

“The next year and on the horizon... it’s all aboutpresence. We’re here, we’re a great brand but

we’re not present in many places that youwould think we are”

David Clifton,Dell

David Clifton


INTERVIEW DELL

Above: the Paris venue forthe unveiling of Dell’s newportolio and artist TristanEaton at work

Star Trek OnlineATARI

E3 PC GAMES


In the wake of Los Angeles' obstinately lavish E3 show, Andrew Wooden takes a look at some of thekey PC games releases which will be driving the upgrade market in the next year or so…

Let the games begin

ONE OF the most critically acclaimedgames in the first person shooter genre,the original Crysis was particularlypraised for its eye watering graphicsand advanced physics engine. Everyshooter needs an angle, and Crysis’ wasthat you were basically the six-milliondollar man – if he worked in a militaryblack-ops murder squad. The battle suitthat players wore throughout the gameallows invisibility, super speed andsuper strength – allowing for all sortsof fun, such as sneaking up on enemiesunawares, then throwing them 300 feetin the air. Details of the sequel are thinon the ground as yet, but the sheercommercial and critical success of thefirst should ensure strong sales.

IF MMOs can be accused of beinggeeky, then one set in the Star Trekuniverse must surely sit on top of thepile. Set a few years after Star Trek: TheNext Generation, Star Trek Online puts

players in command of a starship, andleaves them to roam around a sandboxuniverse, interacting with other playersand taking part in numerous missions. Players take control of either a Klingonor a Federation starship, and are ableto warp about on their own or formcooperative fleets with others. The welldeveloped story line provided by theStar Trek franchise should make this ahugely popular game with Trekkies andMMO fans alike.

VALVE’S notorious talent for makingperfectly balanced, addictivemultiplayer shooters was put to thehorror genre last year with the originalzombie shooter Left 4 Dead. The wholeconcept of the game was based inmultiplayer co-op, with the singleplayer campaign little more than apractice ground. The next installmentpromises more of the same high-octane, gore splattered action, andshould prove a huge success. With themassive online community the originalhas attracted, plus the following thatValve has always attracted with any of

its games, this title is definitely one tolook out for.

IT WASN’T so long ago thatRPGs were considered by many tobe a peculiar niche in the gamingworld, enjoyed by only the mosthardcore of gamers. The act ofchanging the model to becompletely online has led toan explosion in popularityfor the genre, splinteringoff into new sub-genres.Champions Online pushesthe idea of charactercustomisation above allelse, offering almostlimitless possibilities whichdeveloper Cryptic claims willmake a unique experience foreach player.

PITTING two of the most iconic andpopular sci-fi creations against eachother in a fight to the death was alwaysgoing to make popular entertainment.While the Aliens vs Predator films

suffered from relativelypoor reviews, the two (unrelated) videogame incarnations of the late ninetieswere hugely popular with critics andfans alike. This new version will almostbe a reworking of the original games.Developer Rebellion promises a morevisceral outing this time, with completemultiplayer capabilities.

Crysis 2EA

Left 4 Dead 2MICROSOFT

Champions Online ATARI

Aliens vs Predator 3VIVENDI

Star Trek Online

ChampionsOnline

Crysis 2

THE NOW aging StarCraft is one ofthe most celebrated real time strategygames of all time, gaining particularpraise for the balance achievedbetween the three factions – the

Terrans, Protoss and Zerg. Thegame still has a lively

online community,which will be ready to

pounce on thesequel.

StarCraft 2promises to

continue where thelast expansion packfor the original leftoff, this time with

brand new 3D engine,new units and improvedmultiplayer systems.

THE BUSINESS model of takingpopular franchises and translatingthem into a Lego-based world hasproved remarkably popular. This timestudio TT Games works its blockymagic on Harry Potter, bringing with itthe familiar platform based puzzles and

humor. The plot will be based on thefirst four books and films in the series,with users playing as Harry Potter, RonWeasley and Hermione Granger. Thepopularity of the Lego series of gamesand the soaring success of Harry Pottershould ensure this title sells bucketloads.

THE LATEST version of what has tobe the longest running series in videogame history will be released next year,and promises to continue its trend ofreinventing itself by delving into therealms of the MMO genre. Not toomuch has been announced about thistitle so far, other than it will be set in aplace called Eorzea (which has featuredin previous games) and it will get asimultaneous global launch. Couldthreaten World of Warcraft as theleading fantasy based MMO.

LUCASARTS described this as a ‘storydriven MMO’, which is set in the timeframe of Knights of the Old Republic,2003’s celebrated title taking placearound a thousand years before DarthVader and Luke Skywalker werearound. The plot follows a massive

civil war between the Jedi and theSith, where players can choose eitherside of the battle. The game will putmore emphases on strong narrative,providing sufficient differentiationfrom the soaring amount of opensandbox-based MMOs on the market.

The spiritual successor to classic RTSforefather and pioneer of the 3Dlandscape Total Annihilation, theoriginal Supreme Commander staggeredcritics and gamers with its vast scaleand graphical prowess. Developer GasPowered Games promises to expandthe landscape even further withplanetary sized battlefields. Thethinking man’s RTS.


E3 PC GAMES

StarCraft 2BLIZZARD

Final Fantasy XIVSQUARE ENIX

Supreme Commander 2 SQUARE ENIX

Star Wars: The Old RepublicLUCASARTS

Lego Harry PotterWARNER BROS

Star Wars: The Old Republic

StarCraft 2

The game will putmore emphases on

strong narrative,providing sufficientdifferentiation from

the soaring amount ofopen sandbox-basedMMOs on the market

Star Wars: The Old Republic

PCR’s monthly look at recent developments in the hardware market

Hardware

Mystery Shopper

p 30

This month, the Mystery Shopperhunts for netbooks at Lakeside

Meroncourt

p 34

Sales director Steve Walsh talksabout Meroncourt’s rebrand

Ingram Micro

p 42

UK director of value business, CathiLow talks to PCR

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

MAC PERIPHERALSAn overview of some of theextras for Apple’s range, andhow they’re selling

>>>

P 37

HARDWARE � MYSTERY SHOPPER

30 PC July www.pcr-online.biz

Lakeside Shopping CentreWith increased netbook choice in the market over the recent months, our Mystery Shopper visitedLakeside Shopping Centre to research the latest deals, product availability, specification and prices...

THIS COMET STORE was tucked away in a little trading estate just outside of the Lakeside ShoppingCentre. There was no need for searching for the devices here; they were straight in front of me as Iwalked through the store entrance.

Without a moment to lose, I was approached by a very cheerful chap who pointed me towardstwo different types of Toshiba netbooks. Asking for his opinion on both, this is where he reallyexcelled when giving his verdicts. Launching into his sales pitch, he told me that one of themachines, the Toshiba NB100 11R, used Linux, and the other, the Toshiba NB100 12 used WindowsXP. This was pretty much all he told me about these models.

He finished this chapter by asking me what I was likely to use it for; from my answer he suggestedthe Samsung NC10. This was the most expensive of the models shown so far and was priced at£319.99. Realising that he might lose a sale, he added that if I wanted a ‘normal netbook,’ than the XPversion of the Toshiba model would be okay.

He briefly touched on some, ‘price saving packages’ including discountson Norton Antivirus. He also advised to buy extended cover; the reason givenwas that due to its portability, there was a higher probability of damage.

To finish, Terry asked me if I would be making a purchase offering to printoff product information for the three netbooks discussed.

SCORE

7/10

COMET

Mystery Shopper



HAVING BROWSED the netbooks for a couple of minutes, Iwas approached by a salesman who seemed keen to helpand eager to get a sale.

To get the conversation going, I told him that I aiming tobuy a netbook, asking him to explain the choices before us.I was asked if there was a preference on colour; thisseemed a strange question to start the conversation, but Iwent with the flow. I replied that it didn’t matter too muchand that I was more interested in what it could do.

Somehow, through his body language, I got theimpression that I was going to be shown a Dell Mini 10 firstof all. Sure enough, the first product up for demo wasindeed this machine, which was the most expensive of themodels shown. It had a 10.1-inch Screen, Intel Atom N270processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, HDMI Connection, andwas available in 6 colours, priced £299.99.

Quickly moving on, I tried to bring the conversationaround to the other models in the hope that I could reducethe cost; buy a good machine and get a good deal. Ireminded him that I thought the first recommendation wastoo expensive.

Still very eager to sell me a machine, he enthusiasticallymoved over to the Advent 4213. In his opinion it was, ‘thebest netbook available’ and boasted a 10-inch screen, built-in SIM slot for mobile broadband, Intel Atom N270processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD and was priced £279.99. Icouldn’t help wondering why didn’t he show me thismachine first. Moving on apace, like a true salesman, hereminded me that it was a good size, a somewhat obviousobservation and ‘fairly quick.’ Great – thanks for that.

If I purchased the netbook today, I would also receiveNorton Antivirus with a discount of £30. Plus, MicrosoftOffice was also reduced to £80 from the standard price of£100. Finally, the cheapest was the Advent 4214, similarspecification although without theSIM slot, priced £249.99.

The salesmanship andknowledge was impressive and Iforgave him for trying to make thatadd-on sale of extra software.

SCORE

8/10

CURRYS

THIS CONCESSION within House of Fraser wasmerchandised to a high standard, pristine in its appearancewith a plentiful supply of stock for the potential customer totry out. I was approached by an assistant, who offered, verypolitely, to help in my potential purchase.

I told him I was keen to look at netbook products and tomake comparisons between manufacturers, includingspecification and price. My understanding was that theywere smaller and easier to use than laptops. However, asthere were so many now in the market, was unsure as towhich one to buy. I added the last part to ensure that itelicited a response, which I hoped was going to be full ofrecommendations.

Reflecting on the product range before us, he proceededto talk me through the specifications of each machine. Heasked pertinent and leading questions checking myrequirements such as screen and keyboard size and mypreference of Windows; XP or Vista. This was impressive ashe obviously wanted to make sure I was comfortablebuying a product that suited my needs rather than the mostexpensive machine on sale.

Our conversation continued onto screen quality; he wasquick to pick up the fact that I was really keen to ensurethat the viewing experience was good. I think I gave him theimpression that I wanted a laptop due to the fact that I didlabour a bit too long the details of screen quality.

The sales assistant recommended two machines, theseincluded the following specifications:

Toshiba NB1200 12A, 8.9-inch TruBrite WSVGA TFTdisplay, Intel Atom N270 processor, 120GB HDD, 1GB DDR2Ram, and integrated VGA Webcam at £292.99

Samsung NC10, 10.2-inch WSVGA LED Display, IntelAtom N270 processor, 160GB HDD, with 1GB DDR2 Rampriced at £329.99

The service and knowledge wasimpressive and I was additionallygiven a brochure with full details totake home and consider theoptions at my leisure.

SCORE

9/10

TEC 7(CONCESSION WITHIN HOUSE OF FRASER)

>>>

Turn the page for moreMystery Shopper results

THIS HIGH street veteran and newcomer to thetechnology sector only stocked one netbook.The technology department was devoid ofcustomers. This allowed me to spend sometime in store talking to the staff member. I toldher that I was considering buying a netbooklargely to surf the internet on the move. I askedher opinion of these smaller machines.

She took considerable time and patiencelistening to my needs. In her view, there waslittle point in buying a laptop, if all I wanted todo was surf the internet. This was a refreshing

approach and not unexpected from thiscustomer service orientated retailer. Sheanswered all my many questions concerningthe processor’s speed, hard disk drive andexplained the benefits of owning a netbookover a laptop; these were largely the ease of useand portability aspects.

The Toshiba machine had a Toshiba NB10012A, with a 8.9-inch screen, Intel Atom N270,1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, Windows XP OperatingSystem and was priced £279.00.

The mystery shop conducted in this store wasexcellent; the customer service superb. It’s justa shame the store didn’tstock more models. Itwould be beneficial ifthe selection wasincreased in the comingmonths.

SCORE

6/10

MARKS AND SPENCER

THE TOP SCORES:

1 TEC 7

2 CURRYS

3 COMET

4 MARKS AND SPENCER

4 CURRYS.DIGITAL

5 PC WORLD

This Mystery Shop was conducted by infinite Field MarketingSolutions, a leading provider of field marketing services tothe technology sector.

The solutions provided include Training, Market Research,Mystery Shopping, Demonstration Days, Roadshows,Merchandising and Compliance & Data Capture.Visit our website for details and to request a Case Study.

THIS WAS an impressive store with the newlayout now commonplace in the refurbished‘Winning New Revenues’ store.

Having been rushed in other stores visitedtoday, I decided to take my time in looking overthe product range of netbooks. I was closelywatched by a security guard throughout.

After about 10 minutes, I was approached. Itold him that I was keen to buy a new netbook,as I felt these were easier to transport and justas versatile as larger laptop machines.

He began by asking a strange question. In thesame vein as other sales staff today, the poundsigns were showing in his eyes. The firstcomment off his tongue was to ask if I definitelywanted a netbook.

If I spent a bit more, in his opinion, I couldbuy a laptop. I reminded him that a netbookwas all I wanted to consider today and askedhim to give me his opinion on the modelsavailable and recommend a machine. As insome of the other stores today, the machinefirst up was, yes, the Dell Mini 10 – I think I’veheard that one before.

Having recited the full specification, I wasasked if I needed a CD drive. Asking him toexplain why, I was reminded that ‘for a bit moremoney you can get a laptop.’ “Okay, I get thepoint, but the main reason for buying a netbookwas to surf the net and do light tasks,” I said.

Returning to the netbooks, he showed metwo Advent models, reading the specificationsfrom the point of sale tickets in front of us.These were the same two models previouslyavailable in Currys.digital and Currys stores andwere the Advent 4213 and Advent 4214, priced£279.99 and £249.99 respectively.

I was shown a brochure and then told aboutthe special MicrosoftOffice 2007 and Norton360 install for only £98.66,being informed that Icould probably get a gooddeal on the price.

SCORE

5/10

PC WORLDTHERE WERE four netbook machines on displayin this store, one more than the sister company.As in the other stores just visited, I was quicklyapproached by an eager salesman.

After asking him for his recommendation, hepolitely and dutifully began to recite the productrange before us. Again, he started off byshowing me the most expensive model. Thiswas the Dell Mini 10, already showed to me inthe larger Currys store, which had the 10.1-inchScreen, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, priced £299.99and yes, let’s not forget about the six availablecolours; although this latter point was labouredon in this store a little too much.

Having heard this story before, I was keen tomove onto other choices, asking him to tell mewhat other customers were going for. Heanswered this question by talking about themost expensive machine again.

Informing him that this was a bit tooexpensive and asking him to show me cheapermodels, he moved a notch down in terms ofprice. It was only £20 cheaper and yes, wasanother model already shown. The 10-inchAdvent 4213, which was priced £279.99. I feltthat he was trying to get the most money out ofme rather than what I actually needed.

Reminding him that it wasn’t going to be usedfor anything too taxing, he gave in and talkedme through the remaining models, ending onthe cheapest which was the Advent 4214 with a10-inch screen, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, priced£249.99. Not forgetting the software deals, hereminded me the discounts I could receivewhen buying Norton Antivirus and MicrosoftOffice, as he handed me a brochure to help meconsider my options.

Although the salesman was very polite andhelpful I felt that he wastrying a little too hard toget the most money outof the sale that he could,rather than listening towhat I really needed.

SCORE

6/10

CURRYS.DIGITAL



“The salesperson tookconsiderable time and patience

listening to my needs. This was arefreshing approach and not

unexpected from this customerservice oriented retailer”

What was the motivation behind yourrecent rebranding and what are youlooking to achieve from it?We thought a refresh of our image waslong overdue and it’s a good way forexisting customers to see we areprogressing and active in the market.We’re hoping that it will attract newbusiness, but also give our existingcustomers confidence that Meroncourt, asa company, is here to stay.

Before the end of June, we will alsolaunch our brand new website. It has beendesigned to be much more interactive andmore user friendly.

What can your customers expect fromyour new website?We’re hoping that by the end of July it willbe fully functional and that our customerscan benefit from the changes we havemade in terms of navigation and layout.It’s been a long time coming, so we’reexcited to be so close to the launch.

How strong is the gaming peripheralsbusiness at the moment?It’s good for us and continues to showsteady growth. We have plenty of newproducts coming out over the next fewmonths and we’re sure that the RoccatGaming headsets and keyboardsdemonstrated at this year’s Channel Expowill experience huge demand.

What’s your best performingproduct/category in terms of sales? On the PC side, it’s high-end gamingperipherals such as mice, keyboardsand mats. We are doing extremelywell on multimedia, with productslike headsets and speaker systemsperforming well.

Entry-level mice are still showingstrong returns, as are everydayitems like sound cards and powerproducts, such as laptopbattery chargers as well as thebatteries themselves.

Has the recession impacted sales ofhigh-end gaming accessories? Not really, the market is still very healthyand due to our continual release of newproducts, sales continue to climb. Therecession has affected our standard PCrange more as people look to price pointmore than quality. That’s really a short-term response, as when they see the stock

“The market isstill very healthyand due to our

continual releaseof new products,sales continue to

climb”Steve Walsh,Meroncourt

Ben Furfie sits down with Steve Walsh, sales director at Letchworth baseddistributor Meroncourt to talk about the firm's changing role over the years, itsrebranding, and where the peripherals market is going…

Meroncourt’s headquarters inLetchworth Garden City

‘Courtingsuccess

HARDWARE � MERONCOURT INTERVIEW

34 PCR July

being returned, they know they haveto sell quality to survive.

Why are high-end peripherals soattractive to the market?I think the attraction is how great theylook and perform these days. Often,they are stuffed so full of technologythat for many of us it is difficult to useall of the functions available. But thenwhen you go to a large LAN event, forexample, and see the gear being usedby the professionals, you begin tounderstand why they achieve suchhigh demand. Their enthusiasm fornew technology is just addictive.

What would you say your currentshare of the gaming market is?It’s difficult to say – it’s probablyaround the 15 per cent mark. What iscertain is that we’re growing all thetime, especially as we bring newbrands and new products to themarket. Apart from PC, we have avery large console gaming range,which is also performing well.

You recently ramped up your dropshipping service. What has thereception been to that? Drop shipping is not that new to us,we have actually been carrying it out

for a small number of customersfor 18 months.

However, this yearwe have rolled itout as a conceptfor everyone touse. It has beenwell receivedand is an areathat is growingall of the time.

It’s not aservice thatwill make us

any profit, but it does help ourcustomers to manage their stock andcash flow better. So it builds loyaltyand also shows we are a distributorwho thinks more about the wholerelationship we have with ourcustomer rather than just working onan order-by-order, deal-by-deal basis.

Have you managed to gain newcustomers from its launch? Yes we have definitely taken on somenew customers, though it’s difficult tosay 100 per cent if it’s just because ofthe drop shipping. I think it’s morebecause of our whole package.

Since our return from ChannelExpo we have had an increasingnumber of new enquiries based aroundall the initiatives we have to offer. Wehave more ideas ready to come outover the next few months, which weanticipate will also make us an evenmore interesting partner than manyother distributors.

I firmly believe you have a duty toyour customers to help them as muchas possible; we have to think how we

can make their lives easier and moreprofitable by using Meroncourt.

Meroncourt recently beganTwittering. How important is it foryou to look at new ways of reachingaudiences?Twitter is becoming increasinglyimportant as is our blog site glopipe.They are great ways to giveinformation to people in astraightforward and non-technical way.

We think any form ofcommunication can be of benefit tonot only to us and our customers butalso for end-users. People seem reallyinterested in news, never mind all theproduct information and longspecifications; just give them somebrief updates and they are more thanhappy.

Are there any areas that Meroncourtis looking at expanding into in thenext 12 months?Our expansion plans for the nexttwelve months will be to bring onmaybe just two or three new vendors,

to expand our current ranges fromexisting manufacturers and also toincrease the levels of business we carryout on our fulfilment and storage side.

You say that you’re looking atbringing in two or three newvendors. Are they in your traditionalgaming market, or are they along thelines of your diversification withnetbook accessories?We will bring on vendors who canoffer new products or new ideas solong as the quality of their productsand support is also there. Put simply,without that we don’t consider them.

We’re expecting to sign anothergaming brand within weeks and alsoanother brand new to the UK, whichwill diversify us further into PC casesand cooling solutions. We are also veryfar progressed with a vendor forentertainment and lifestyle products,with a portfolio that includes MP3,digital cameras, photo frames andHDD multimedia products.

We are very fortunate in that ourmanufacturing partner Speedlink has adiverse range already which isexpanding all of the time, they alsomoved into several new areas over thepast twelve months, which is anobvious bonus for us as its UKdistributor.

Where do you see Meroncourt beingin a few years time? Definitely still a big presence in themarket. Still a distributor who caresabout its customers and its products.Still proactive in the technologycommunity as a whole.

We have been strengthening oursenior management team for the pastfew years and expect this to continueso we have a really strong andsuccessful company for the future.

“We have more ideas ready to come out over thenext few months, which we anticipate will alsomake us an even more interesting partner than

many other distributors”Steve Walsh,Meroncourt

July PCR 35

HARDWARE � MERONCOURT INTERVIEW

APPLE has continued to see strongsales over the last year, despitepredictions that the recession woulddent its momentum. Its sales – thoughdown – have been resilient enoughthat the vendor has returned to the top five best-selling PC vendors in the UK,according to recent figures from IDC.

With sales stronger than some rivals,and the stylish image of the brand,now might seem like a great time tostart selling Apple products. However,it is well known that Apple’s hardwarecarries low margins, so what about theperipherals market?

Just as with Windows and Linux-based systems, peripherals are a strongmargin maker. Perhaps this is evenmore true for Apple products, thanksto a fan base willing to pay more fordesign. However, that desire for design,as well as function, means it can beharder to sell peripherals if you stockthe wrong ones.

Luckily, unlike the PC industry,there are fewer concerns overcompatibility, allowing retailers toconcentrate on which products will selland which won’t. “Like all of Apple’sproducts, its own peripherals are an >>>

Please turn the page formore products

HARDWARE � MAC PERIPHERALS

www.pcretailmag.com July PCR 37

“Like all of Apple’sproducts, its ownperipherals are an

absolute joy to use andare hard to match”

Darren Tobin,Ingram Micro

With sales of Apple hardware on the rise, it could be theideal time to get involved in the market. Ben Furfie takesa look at the sector and what makes it different to therest of the computer channel…Apple

A bigger bite of the

[ ]CINEMA DISPLAYSINGRAM MICRO, WESTCOAST

Available in 24-inch and 30-inch models,Apple’s Cinema Display monitors arehigh quality screens, designed for use byprofessionals in the creative industries, aswell as anyone who wants a colouraccurate second display.

CONTACTS

A M Micro01392 823 366

Computer 20000870 060 3344

Entatech0870 770 9588

Micro-PNorth: 01282 776 776

South: 01256 707 070

Ingram Micro0870 166 0160

Westcoast0118 912 6000


38 PC July www.pcretailmag.com

absolute joy to use and arehard to match,” explains

Ingram Micro’s senior businessmanager for Apple, Darren Tobin.“That said, there are many third partyvendors with some fantastic peripheralsand obviously when connecting theseto your Mac you know they’re likely towork straight out of the box withoutworrying about drivers.”

Another area where Apple and itsthird party partners’ products oftendiffer from their PC counterparts is inthe packaging. While it may seem likea minor detail, effective visual

merchandising is a well-known methodof boosting sales. “Vendors often payparticular attention to the finer detailswhen it comes to the product andpackaging of their Mac compatiblerange due to the type of customer theyare trying to market to,” adds Tobin.

As mentioned previously, one strongarea of Apple’s marketing is in itsbrand and many of those who purchasethe products are willing to buy intothat brand – at a premium. However,as Tobin adds, it is crucial that retailersand resellers recognise that whenlooking to attract Mac users’ attention:

“Apple’s end users are not afraid ofspending good money on peripherals,but they do need to be good products.”

Another area that is performing wellis education, claims Westcoast’smarketing director, Alex Tatham.“Sales are up, especially in areas suchas the Isle of Man and the ChannelIsles where the tax breaks mean thecost of Apple equipment is muchlower. However, there are also sales onthe mainland, especially in Academies.”

He adds that where they are buyingApple hardware, there areopportunities to up-sell peripherals

that go with them.However, there are other potential

benefits to schools increasinglypurchasing Apple equipment, namelychildren using the products and thenwanting them at home. “Where thatfilters down to the consumer marketwill depend on how successful childrenare at getting their parents to spendmore than they normally would on acomputer,” he said.

“Possibly Apple’s most popularproducts at the moment is its range ofiPod and iPhones, which consumerswant or need accessories for,” adds

[ ]KEYBOARD AND MOUSEINGRAM MICRO,WESTCOAST

Available in both wired andwireless variants, Apple’s miceand keyboards have beendesigned especially for use withall Macs, including its MacBookrange. Its keyboards are alsoavailable in a range ofdifferent languages.

[ ]TIME CAPSULEINGRAM MICRO, WESTCOAST

Available in 500GB and 1TB models, Time Capsule is awireless hard drive that works with Leopard’s TimeMachine feature. It is a fully enabled wireless networkinghub, with dual band support.

[ ]RAINDESIGN MSTANDA M MICRO

Intended to mimic the foot ofthe iMac and CinemaDisplays, the RaindesignmStand is ideal for situationswhere a MacBook will beused as a desktopreplacement. It also acts as aheatsink to dissipate heatgenerated by the laptop.

>>>

Richard Nuttall, networking andproduct specialist at Enta. “FromEnta’s point of view iPod and iPhoneaccessories are also proving to be verypopular with resellers and thereforeconsumers too. Belkin have a strongportfolio in this area and are buckingthe trend, in terms of sales, during thecurrent recession.”

THE QUICK SELLOf course, many retailers and resellersare cautious in the current climate. Sowhen looking at expanding into newareas you may want to know whichproduct is currently performing welland will therefore be a minor risk.

“Storage is performing very well atthe moment,” claims Tobin. “Mice and

keyboards are also performing well.”Much of this can be put down to therecent boom in sales of laptops asdesktop replacements – something thatwas highlighted by GfK recently.“We’re also seeing a big upsurge onsales of networking peripherals in theMac market.”

However, Tatham is coy about

naming a particular sector that isperforming well. “Yes, certain areas aredoing well, but I would strongly adviseagainst dipping your toes into the Macmarket. If you are interested, thenbecoming authorised by Apple is vital,otherwise you won’t receive thediscounts that your rivalswill, and you’ll be out

[ ]AIRPORT EXTREMEBASESTATIONINGRAM MICRO, WESTCOAST

With the ability to support up to 50concurrent users, regardless of whetherthey are using a Mac or PC, Apple’sAirport Extreme Base Station has beendesigned for a variety of environmentsranging from home use, through tooffice and educational environments.

[ ]BELKIN HIGH SPEED USB 2.0‘MAC MINI’ HUBINGRAM MICRO, WESTCOAST,MICRO-P

Another issue with some Macs is thesmall number of USB ports. Designedto stack with the Mac Mini – butfitting in with all of Apple's hardware– is Belkin’s Hi-Speed hub offers sixUSB ports and an additional Firewireport.


[ ]CANON PIXMA PRO9500 MKIIINGRAM MICRO, WESTCOAST, MICRO-P

One of the areas Macs that are particularly strongin is the creative industry. Canon's professionalrange of printers is ideal for a range of creatives,from photographers through to designers, whoneed high-quality A3 colour printing.

[ ]DVI ADAPTORSINGRAM MICRO

Apple has a number of cables designed to allowMac users to connect a second display to theirMacbook, iMac or Mac Pro. Amongst them areboth the full sized and mini versions of theDisplayPort and DVI standards.

[ ]WESTERN DIGITAL MYBOOK STUDIOENTATECH, INGRAM MICRO, MICRO-P

Created and formatted for Mac, the MyBook Studio rangeis available in sizes from 500GB through to two terabytes.Ideal for professionals, the devices come with support forFirewire 400 and 800. They are also compatible withApple’s Time Machine function.

>>>

competed on price. Yes,Apple’s customers are

willing to spend more on the sameproduct category, but that doesn’textend to individual products, and theyare still just as likely to look for thecheapest deals as their PC usingbrethren are.”

GAME, SET AND MATCHRecent months have seen a number ofincentives and schemes launched tohelp retailers and resellers diversifyinto Apple hardware, with the latestexample being Ingram Micro’s Match

marketing programme.“We have developed an integrated

marketing campaign called ‘Match’ topromote Apple and complementaryvendors that builds on Apple’s

premium position in the marketplace,” explains Tobin.

Much of the focus of the newscheme is to drive attention of new andexisting products to current Mac

resellers, as well as Ingram’s wider PC-focused customer distribution basethat could benefit from moving intothe Mac arena.

“The aim is to increase theawareness of specific brands andincrease product sales within the Applecommunity. Match will also educateand enable resellers to sell Apple-ledsolutions and encourage attached salesby highlighting the complete Applecompatible range and portfolio ofproducts carried by Ingram Micro, anddemonstrate how this represents anopportunity for growth.”

[ ]TRUST 2.1 SPEAKER SETINGRAM MICRO, ENTATECH

While the MacBook and iMac’sspeakers are okay, for decentsound, Apple users will needdedicated speakers. Trust’s 2.1speaker system provides thebenefits of dedicated speakers,while fitting in with the Applelook.

[ ][ ]GRIFFIN ELEVATOROPEN

Designed to raise Apple’sMacBook – as well as any otherlaptop – to a suitable height toavoid back strain, the GriffinElevator has also been designedto fit in with the styling ofApple’s products.

[ ]IOMEGA MINIMAX 500GBINGRAM MICRO

With the same sleek lines as theMac Mini, the Iomega Minimaxexternal hard drive will fit inwith any Apple-based suit.Because of its design, it can bestacked under the Mac Mini orAirport Extreme Base Stationallowing customers to keeptheir desks clutter free.

TRUST ALL-IN-ONE CARDREADER FOR MACENTATECH, INGRAM MICRO

One of the few downsides withApple’s hardware, aside from thenew MacBook Pro models, is thelack of card readers. That is easilyrectifed with Trust’s all-in-one cardreader, which supports allcommonly used cards, includingthe latest generation of SDHC.

“Yes, Apple’s customers are willing tospend more on the same product

category, but they are still just as likely tolook for the cheapest deals as their PC

using brethren are”Alec Tatham, Westcoast


40 PC July www.pcretailmag.com

[ ]LOGITECH DINOVO MACEDITIONINGRAM MICRO

There are few non-Applekeyboards out there that arespecially designed for use withMacs. Logitech’s diNovokeyboard is one of them andcomes with the full set of Mac-only keys including Commandand Option.

>>>

This month Ingram Micro celebrates 30 years in the distribution business. Andrew Wooden talks to itsUK director of value business Cathi Low about the company and its achievements…

30 years of good

serviceAFTER 30 years in the business,Ingram Micro is now the world’slargest technology distributor. Thecompany is ranked highly in theFortune 500 listings and retains over14,000 employees across the globewith a turnover of more than $35billion last year.

Having been named Distributor ofthe Year by Juniper Networks andposting solid results for the firstquarter of 2009 despite the financialdownturn, the steady growth of thelast 30 years looks set to continue.

Where was Ingram Micro set up andby whom?The Company’s earliest incarnationwas started in 1979, a Californiacorporation named Micro D Inc.Micro D was founded in July 1979 byhusband and wife Geza Czige andLorraine Mecca, who were both

school teachers. Today, Ingram Micro is

the world's largesttechnology

distributor and aleading

technologysales,

marketingandlogistics

company. As a vital link in thetechnology value chain, Ingram Microcreates sales and profitabilityopportunities for vendors and resellersthrough unique marketing programs,outsourced logistics services, technicalsupport, financial services and productaggregation and distribution.

What was the business’ main focusback then?Ingram’s initial focus was reselling ITequipment and remains today the bestway to get technology from the peoplewho make it to the people who use it.

How did it change over the years?Ingram continued to expand itsproduct portfolio, competencies andglobal reach, becoming the leadingdistributor today in four of the fivecontinents. The economies of scale weenjoy enabled us to focus on reducingthe cost of doing business for ourpartners and increasing value.

What would you say were the keymilestones in its evolution?Since its beginnings in 1979, IngramMicro has connected technologysolution providers with vendorsworldwide, identifying markets andtechnologies that shape the ITindustry. Today, Ingram Micro remainsat the forefront of the globaltechnology marketplace, bringing the

HARDWARE � INGRAM MICRO


latest products and services to marketand finding new ways to bring value toour customers.

The company offers a broad array ofsolutions and services to nearly160,000 resellers by distributing andmarketing hundreds of thousands ofIT products worldwide from nearly1,400 suppliers.

Through Ingram Micro Logistics,the company provides customizableservices for order management andfulfilment, contract manufacturing,contract warehousing, productprocurement, product pack out andcartonisation, reverse logistics,transportation management, customercare, credit and collectionmanagement services, and other valuechain services. Ingram Micro servescustomers in more than 150 countriesand is the only global broad-baseddistributor with operations in Asia.

How has the wider market changedin that time?Our industry today is hardlyrecognizable! 30 years ago Microsoftrecorded its first $1 million revenueyear and Visicalc and Wordstar wereboth released 1979, when software wasmanufactured to order. HP introducedthe HP-85 Personal Computer, whichhad just 16kb of RAM and a five inch

CRT but cost a little over $3000, andApple had sold the same number ofMacintosh II’s in their history as theysell in a day today! In addition to this,the first ever Computer DealersExposition – COMDEX – was held inLas Vegas in 1979.

Also that year, Ingram Microrevenues chalked up just $3.5 million,compared to $38 billion last year.

Technology today dominatesbusiness in a way that wasn’t possibleback in the seventies. As the pace ofdevelopment and convergencecontinues, technology is a prerequisiteand differentiator in business. So thefocus on excellence, supply chain andgetting it right first time is anincreasingly important point.

With close vendor relationships, wecan ensure we are always offeringcutting edge technology and enablingour resellers to be first to market byoffering, for example, 99 per cent sameday order shipping, with 99.6 per centaccuracy.

Do you think it’s harder or easier forthe average PC retailer/reseller nowcompared to when you started?The current market is exceptionallychallenging, so yes, things are harder.Every reseller has to confront today’stough trading environment.

Ingram Micro works hard withvendors to ensure its resellers are keptup to date with regular training andevents, are offered the very bestpromotions and pricing, and especiallyfor retailers offering point of salesproduct on consumer electronics.

You’re now the biggest worldwide ITdistributor, what would you attributethe success to?Our success comes from a being abusiness that has strong values basedbehaviour. Our values are teamwork,respect, accountability, integrity andinnovation and combined with ourcustomer-centric approach and strongpartnerships with vendor and resellerpartners, we continue to offer our

associates and shareholders world-class financial and business strength.

What advice would you give toretailers currently struggling withthe current economic climate?We would of course advise retailers toensure they partner with IngramMicro and take advantage of ourreseller proposition and enablingprogrammes. We offer a specific CreditBuilder programme, facilitate zero percent finance on specific vendors andcontinually improve our ability to helpretailers and resellers alike take costsout of their own business byoutsourcing logistical elements such asdirect shipments and configuration.

Ingram focuses on adding value toresellers with elements such aswebstore hosting; our latestdevelopment is our Agency IngramMicro marketing portal. This is awebsite where our resellers can getaccess to channel marketing tools andmaterials and send reseller brandedmessages and promotions to their owncustomer base to help generateinterest and demand.

In short, even in the tough climate,Ingram Micro is continuing to supportbusinesses to ensure they can managethe downturn and help them preparefor the future.

HARDWARE � INGRAM MICRO


Ingram Micro’s marketing department

“Today, Ingram Micro remains at the forefront ofthe global technology marketplace, bringing the

latest products and services to market”Cathi Low,

Ingram Micro

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DESKJET D1560

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2 LOGITECH 963291-0914 WINGMAN ATTACK3 USB

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7 LOGITECH 963326-0914 CORDLESS RUMBLEPAD 2

8 LOGITECH CORDLESS RUMBLEPAD 2

9 BELKIN NOSTROMO N52 SPEEDPAD KOMBI

10 SAITEK ST290 USB

HP

LASERJET P2055DN

2 LG GP08NU

3 LG GH-22LP

4 LG GP08LU

5 LG GE-20NU

6 LG GH-22NS

7 SAMSUNG SH-S223F

8 LITEON ESAU208

9 PIONEER DVR-216

10 LG GE-20LU

2 CANON PIXMA IP2600


4 EPSON STYLUS S20

5 HP PHOTOSMART D5460


7 EPSON STYLUS PHOTO R285

8 HP PHOTOSMART A526

9 HP DESKJET 6940

10 HP DESKJET D1470

1 1 1

GAME CONTROLLERS DVD WRITERS INKJET PRINTERS LASER PRINTERS

SAMSUNG

NC10ACER

X193WLOGITECH

ULTRA FLAT KEYBOARD

2 LOGITECH V150 LASER MOUSE

3 LOGITECH VX NANO CORDLESS LASER MOUSE

4 LOGITECH MX 620 LASER CORDLESS

5 LOGITECH U96 OPTICAL WHEEL MOUSE BLACK

6 LOGITECH V450 LASER CORDLESS NOTEBOOK

7 LOGITECH V220 CORDLESS OPTICAL MOUSE

8 MICROSOFT U81-00008 COMPACT 500 USB

9 MICROSOFT BX3-00020 WIRELESS NOTEBOOK

10 TOSHIBA PA3706E-1

2 ACER ASPIRE 5735Z-343G25MN

3 TOSHIBA SATELLITE P300-1CN

4 EMACHINES D620

5 HP 6735S GW694AV

6 TOSHIBA SATELLITE L300-20D

7 TOSHIBA SATELLITE L350-20G

8 TOSHIBA L300-217

9 ACER ASPIRE 5735-644G50

10 ACER ASPIRE 5535-723G25

LOGITECH

V220 CORDLESS OPTICALMOUSE FOR NOTEBOOKS

2 SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER T220

3 SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 723N

4 SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 943BW

5 HP W1907V

6 SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 943N

7 SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 923NW

8 LG 1942S

9 BENQ G700AD

10 LG W2242S

2 MICROSOFT WIRED KEYBOARD 500 BLACK

3 MICROSOFT COMFORT CURVE KEYBOARD 2000

4 LOGITECH CORDLESS DESKTOP EX 110

5 TRUST DS-3400D WIRELESS OPTICAL DESKSET

6 LOGITECH CORDLESS DESKTOP EX 100

7 KENSINGTON 1500109 VALUE KEYBOARD BLACK

8 LOGITECH DELUXE 250 KEYBOARD OEM

9 MICROSOFT MESSENGER KIT

10 MICROSOFT WIRELESS OPTICAL DESKTOP 1000

1 1 1

LAPTOPS DISPLAYS KEYBOARDS MICE

1

1

*From April 2009 data

GfK provides market research consultancy tomanufacturers on the technologies markets and alsooperates a reseller partnership that provides marketresearch information to dealers in the channel. Forfurther information on GfK please contact Sean Fellowson tel: 0870 603 828 or email: [email protected]

Models listed are non-exclusive: Neither sold as a tradebrandnor sold exclusively within one retailer or retail group

HARDWARE � CHARTS


BELKIN

F5D8231 N1 WIRELESSROUTER

MICROSOFT

LIFECAM VX-1000SAMSUNG

ASP-600S

2 CANON CANOSCAN LIDE 200

3 EPSON PERFECTION V 300 PHOTO

4 HP SCANJET G2410

5 CANON CANOSCAN LIDE 600F

6 FSC SCANSNAP S510

7 CANON CANOSCAN 8800F

8 HP SCANJET G2710

9 EPSON PERFECTION V 500 PHOTO

10 CANON CANOSCAN 5600F

2 NETGEAR DG834G MODEM ROUTER

3 BELKIN F5D7632_4A WIRELESS G MODEM ROUTER

4 BELKIN F5D7231_4 WIRELESS CABLE/DSL ROUTER

5 NETGEAR WGR614 WIRELESS ROUTER

6 NETGEAR F5D8633_4 N WIRELESS ROUTER

7 BELKIN F6D4230_4 WIRELESS N ROUTER

8 BELKIN F5D7234_4 WIRELESS G ROUTER

9 BELKIN F5D7230_4 WIRELESS G ROUTER

10 LINKSYS WRT54G2 4PORT

CANON

CANOSCAN LIDE 100

2 LOGITECH QUICKCAM E 3500

3 MICROSOFT LIFECAM VX-3000

4 LOGITECH QUICKCAM E2500

5 CREATIVE LIVE! CAM VIDEO IM PRO

6 LOGITECH QUICKCAM PRO 9000

7 LOGITECH QUICKCAM FOR NOTEBOOKS DX

8 TRUST CHAT AND VOIP PACK CP2100

9 LOGITECH QUICKCAM S5500

10 LOGITECH QUICKCAM FOR NOTEBOOKS

2 JBL ON STAGE MICRO BLACK

3 LOGITECH X-140

4 LOGITECH X-240 2.1 SYSTEM

5 GEAR4 STREETPARTY III BLACK

6 LOGITECH Z-4 2.1 SPEAKER SYSTEM

7 BOSE SOUNDDOCK BLACK

8 SONY ERICSSON MPS-30 BLACK/PURPLE

9 JBL ON STAGE III BLACK

10 BOSE SOUNDDOCK II BLACK

1 1 1

MODEMS/ROUTERS WEBCAMS PC SPEAKERS SCANNERS

EPSON

STYLUS SX100PNY

TECHNOLOG GEFORCE9800 GT

HAUPPAUGE

WINTV HVR-900

2 DAZZLE DVD RECORDER DVC 101

3 V-STREAM XPER DVD MAKER USB2.0

4 KWORLD XPERT DVD MAKER USB 2.0

5 PINNACLE SYST VIDEO TRANSFER

6 DAZZLE DIGITAL VIDEO CREATOR 150

7 LEADTEK WINFAST VC 100

8 HAUPPAUGE HD PVR

9 CANOPUS ADVC 55 VIDEO INPUT ADAPTER FW

10 HAUPPAUGE IMPACT VCB

2 HP DESKJET F2280

3 EPSON STYLUS SX105

4 HP PHOTOSMART C4580

5 HP PHOTOSMART C4480

6 EPSON STYLUS SX600FW

7 HP DESKJET F2180

8 EPSON STYLUS SX200

9 HP DESKJET F4280

10 EPSON STYLUS OFFICE BX300F

DAZZLE

VIDEO CREATORPLATINUM

2 PNY TECHNOLOG GEFORCE 7200GS 128MO

3 PNY TECHNOLOG GEFORCE 6 6200

4 PNY TECHNOLOG GF 6200

5 XFX GEFORCE 9400 GT

6 INNO3D FX5200

7 INNO3D 9500GT-I4F3D GEFORCE 9500GT

8 PNY TECHNOLOG. GEFORCE 9400GT

9 POWERCOLOR RADEON X1650 PRO

10 PALIT GEFORCE 9500GT SUPER

2 HAUPPAUGE WINTV HVR-900

3 DAZZLE DIGITAL USB TV STICK

4 HAUPPAUGE WINTV NOVA-T-STICK

5 HAUPPAUGE WINTV NOVA-S-USB

6 HAUPPAUGE WINTV NOVA-T 500

7 HAUPPAUGE WINTV NOVA-T-USB2

8 PINNACLE SYST PCTV NANO STICK

9 AVERMEDIA AVER TV DVB-T

10 HAUPPAUGE WINTV NOVA-TD

1 1 1

MFDS GRAPHICS CARDS TV CARDS VIDEO CARDS

*From April 2009 data

GfK provides market research consultancy tomanufacturers on the technologies markets and alsooperates a reseller partnership that provides marketresearch information to dealers in the channel. Forfurther information on GfK please contact Sean Fellowson tel: 0870 603 828 or email: [email protected]

Models listed are non-exclusive: Neither sold as a tradebrandnor sold exclusively within one retailer or retail group

HARDWARE � CHARTS


YES, SALES are being squeezed,consumers are hesitant about spendingand everything seems glum. However,the internet is proving to be a goodhunting ground for increased salesacross most of the durable markets.For the total IT market, although saleswere down 4.8 per cent in April 2009compared to April 2008, the internetportion saw a solid eight per centgrowth over the same time period.

As consumers are looking to cutcosts they are becoming much moresavvy at utilising all mediums to findthe best deal for the goods that theywant. The internet now comprises 25per cent of the value in the total ITmarket, and represents a key tool forthem to save a few pennies in anotherwise challenging time. With keygrowth of the internet distributionchannel in the total durable goodsmarket currently coming throughmobile computers and non-game boxsoftware, the IT market is one sector

pushing the internet as an opportunityto reach consumers.

In particular, media gateways andstorage are the two IT categoriesbenefitting the most from the internet.As of April 2009, 43 per cent of allstorage sales are now being madeonline as the consumer looks tocapitalise on key deals for externalHDD. Media gateways stand out, withalmost 84 per cent of sales being madevia the web. This is incrediblyinteresting given that this product isstill in its infancy. Furthermore, withearly adopters and tech-hungryconsumers out there looking toincrease the quality and the speed oftheir home networks, this area couldyet see a much greater expansion of sales.

If we look towards the internetgrowth in the latest month, mobilecomputers continue to drive forward.Within this, web sales of netbooksincreased by over 500 per cent in

April 2009 compared to the sameperiod last year. The online growth iscurrently now outstripping that seenfor netbooks within the traditionalphysical retail environment. For non-game box software the market is alsoseeing growth at two per cent – withnew products due onto the market,sales of older software packages areexperiencing revival.

So what can be said about theinternet as a tool for sales? I believeit’s clear that the internet has beenplaying a greater role formanufacturers and retailers alike toimprove their sales for some time.

Right now, where the High Street issuffering, internet sales are going well.The ‘bargain-hunting’ consumer of therecession is finding the internet a keytool to find and purchase products.And finally, it’s a mark of the ITsector’s sophistication that theconsumer is using this tool to makeimportant home computing decisions.

Written byGREG ALLEN

UK INTERNET SALES UNIT SHARE

GfK’s Greg Allenexamines how theinternet is encouraginggrowth even in thesedarkest of days, asconsumers seek outbargains...

Notebook

Netbook

Desktop Computer

Monitors

Comm. Cards

Comm. Devices

Keying Dev.

Pointing Dev.

Webcams

Storage

Image Displays

Media Gateways

Internet channel proves key to

IT success

HARDWARE � ANALYSIS


SALES UNITS % RETAIL CHANNELS ONLY. APRIL 09

Non-Game Box Software

“As consumers arelooking to cut costs they

are becoming moresavvy at utilising all

mediums to find the bestdeal for the goods that

they want.”Greg Allen, GfK

MONARCH has made a name foritself in the education sector with itsLapCabby range – lockable units thatsecurely store and recharge laptops,with a power supply included.

The new line of LapCabbys nowcome loaded with a brand new energysaving power management system,which helps the enviroment, plus anadjustable seven-day timer.

The main security feature is the dualpoint locking system.When the key isturned, the doors onboth the top and thebottom of theLapCabby locksimultaneously whichmakes the laptopstwice as secure. Thislocking system isoperated from the topof the unit so that thekeys are kept out ofharm’s way.

Another key featurein the design is theventing system. All of theLapCabby models include a

specifically designed and tested air flowsystem, which keeps charging laptopscool while the unit is locked. To keepthe unit temperature down, a meshbase is provided to maintain thesecurity of the unit whilst at the sametime increasing ventillation.

It also has separate electricalcompartments that can’t be accessed

directly fromthe main

laptop storage area, only by hiddendoor releases which prevents youngchildren from getting in to it.

Marvin Douglas, IT furniture salesmanager at Monarch said: “LapCabbyis unique in terms of looks, designfeatures and most of all cost. Thesethree key elements make the range oneof the most sought after products witheducation presently. A key area for uswas to achieve good functionality interms of the ease in which laptopscould be stored, charged, and accessed

during the busy environment of aclassroom. All the unitsmanufactured, whetherthey be Vertical orHorizontal, have either pullout shelves or trays makinglaptop accessibility easier,coupled with dedicatedcompartments away from thelaptops themselves for the ACadaptors. This assists with anyheat dissipation andfurthermore provides a safeplace away from the laptops

should younger children interactwith the cabinets.”

“LapCabby is unique interms of looks, design

features and mostof all cost”

Marvin Douglas,Monarch

HARDWARE � MONARCH


As IT becomes an increasing part of modern education, more and more resellers are looking to tapinto the lucrative schools market. Phoebe Oldham takes a look at Monarch's new LapCabby range…

LapCabby

LapCabby’s pull out shelvesimprove accessibility

LapCabby has been designedwith the modern education

sector in mind. Rounded edgesimprove safety while vibrant

colours aid the visually impaired.

Ian Dow, Group Information Systems Manager: "I have been so impressed with

the high knowledge, clear instructions and professional attitude displayed

by all. There is no doubt that I will continue to promote such a fantastic

product with what can only be described as the best support we could

hope for and have never received elsewhere."

For more information on becoming a reseller, call us on

0845 838 0836 or visit www.eset.co.uk/partners.

we protect your digital worlds®

DEFENDING YOUR CUSTOMERS AGAINST VIRUSES, MALWARE AND HACKERS.

ESET Version 4 Leaner. Faster. Superior.

© 2009 ESET. All rights reserved. Trademarks used herein are trademarksor registered trademarks of ESET.

Antivirus Antispyware

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

GAMESA rundown of thebiggest games dueto come out overthe next fewmonths

p 60

SYMANTEC INTERVIEWMatt Grainger talks to the vicepresident for EMEA consumersales, Lee Sharrocks

>>>

P 52

ADULTEDUCATIONA look at some of theadult educationsoftware on the market

p 55

SoftwarePCR’s monthly look at recentdevelopments in the software market

SINCE ITS founding in 1982,Symantec has grown tobecome one of the world’sleading IT security businesses,operating in 200 countriesacross the globe. Originally a

creator of development tools,its acquisitive nature and a

strategy that emphasises qualityhas seen Symantec develop in to a

multi-national company with abroad portfolio.

As the PC reaches an ever-growingsegment of the consumer population,the security industry has beenpresented with a change in the threatpresented by malware. While thetraditional image of a hacker has beenthat of isolated individuals seeking tomake a name for themselves online,the modern threat focuses on identitytheft and the money that can be madefrom selling personal data.

“The older generation of PC userslearnt the ropes as they went along,”says Symantec’s vice president ofconsumer sales for EMEA, LeeSharrocks. “The younger generationhas been using computers since dayone; they grew up using thesemachines. They’re far more tech savvybut at the same time can be extremelycomplacent about security.

“This is unfortunate, because threatshave become far more sophisticatedand stealthy than ever before. Theemphasis is on stealing personal dataand doing so without being detected.The challenge for us now is to tackleattitudes to security and people’sperception of it.”

With 27 years of experience underits belt, Symantec is in a very goodposition to highlight how threats havechanged over the years.

“Traditional forms of attack, likeviruses and trojans, are still out there,”continues Sharrocks. “We see a farmore refined approach being used,such as drive by downloads, and oursecurity software has had to evolve to

SOFTWARE � SYMANTEC


With an average of 245 million maliciouscodes detected in every month of 2008, it isclear that internet security is a constantlygrowing issue. Matt Grainger talks toSymantec’s vice president of consumer salesfor EMEA, Lee Sharrocks about the company,malware and the future of internet security…

The

Shield

Symantec’s headquarters in Cupertino,California and (left) Symantec’s ‘greencampus’ at Culver City

meet these challenges.”Sharrocks is keen to highlight the

way that the software has changed tomeet the more subtle nature of identitytheft and phishing scams.

“We’ve gone from simply providingan antivirus scan to a full security suitelike Norton 360,” says Sharrocks.“We’re aware that if you just cover oneaspect of security then you’re stillleaving all the other doors open. Thechallenge is to cover existing threatsand to anticipate future ones, so ourproducts have become faster, lighterand more intelligent. We’ve had a hugeleap forward in terms of definitionsand can now offer up to the minuteprotection to our customers.”

Offering fast and efficient protectionis a key emphasis for Symantec. Intoday’s fast paced world, a minor threatcan become a major incident veryquickly, and Symantec is committed tospotting these problems before theycan proliferate.

“We have a 24/7 security responsecentre that monitors feedback from the

240,000 local monitors in 200countries across the globe,” continuesSharrocks. “These centres monitortraffic trends, allowing us to see theissues as they happen and giving us achance to identify the specific natureof the threat.

“It’s becoming more and more

important for us to do this, as we’refinding that a great deal of ourfeedback and analysis centres aroundwhat we call the undergroundeconomy. Software writers develop themalware and sell it to people who thenuse it to extract personal details.Criminals can then obtain thesepersonal details, which are sold by thekilobyte for pennies.

“It’s very sophisticated, very hard to

track and the people who are doing itare getting fairly significant criminalgains. We don’t just track the data,where possible we do work with therelevant authorities to make sure thesepeople are apprehended.”

Despite having a strong reputationin the security sector, only a third of

Symantec’s revenues are generated bysales of security software. Since itsacquisition of remote data backup firmSwap Drive, Symantec now hosts over30 petabytes of secure data, with overseven million active users.

“This is an ongoing concern for us,”adds Sharrocks. “With PCs and mobiledevices becoming more integrated,remote access will be more prevalentand the data must be safe and secure.”

The future of data protection andsecurity is something that Symantec iskeeping a close eye on and Sharrocks isaware that a recession is a good timefor the company to position itself forthe coming years.

“I think it’s fair to say that a fewyears ago, our products fell short ofwhat we expected,” says Sharrocks.“We’ve spent the last two yearsredeveloping our portfolio and ourproducts for 2009 are far faster andhave a smaller footprint than any rivalsoftware. We’re due another releasearound September, which is going toput us even further ahead of our rivals,many of whom are slowing down andstalling at the moment.

“I think that over the course of thenext year, we’ll see a shakeout of thevendors, some are likely to fail, otherwill probably be acquired. As abusiness, Symantec is in a very strongposition – our consumer division islarger than McAfee – so expect us tocontinue to develop great products andmake good acquisitions.”

THE THREAT: KEY FINDINGS FROM SYMANTEC’S ANNUAL SECURITY REPORT

� Of all the vulnerabilities identifiedin 2008, 63 per cent affected webapplications, up from 59 per cent ayear ago

� Six of the top 10 countries whereweb-based attacks were prominentwere from the EMEA region – thesecountries accounted for 45 per cent

of the worldwide total, more than anyother region

� Spain was the top-ranked countryin EMEA for bot infections in 2008,with 15 per cent of the total

� In 2008, 78 per cent of threatstargeting confidential information

exported user data, up from 74 percent in 2007

� Russia was the top country for botcommand-and-control servers inEMEA, with 20 per cent of theregional total

� Over the past year, Symantec

observed a 192 per cent increase inspam detected across the internet asa whole.

� In 2008, Symantec detected55,389 phishing website hosts, anincrease of 66 per cent over 2007,when Symantec detected 33,428phishing hosts

SOFTWARE � SYMANTEC


“We’ve spent the last two years redevelopingour portfolio and our products for 2009 arefar faster and have a smaller footprint than

any rival software”Lee Sharrocks,

Symantec

Symantec is proud ofits current portfolio,which it says is fasterand more efficientthan its rivals

ALTHOUGH it represents a small partof the overall education market, adulteducation is an area that should not beoverlooked. The importance of thesector can be seen by the amount oflearning and retraining coursescurrently being offered on television.

The consumer end for this marketcan be divided into two categories:casual and professional learners.Language training may appeal more tocasual learners, who may be looking to

brush up on their skills before goingon holiday, while professional learnersmay look for more job centred skills,such as accounting, typing orprogramming.

“Adult education software hasremained healthy in a tough economicenvironment,” says the sales director atAvanquest, Steve Powell. “We haveseen growth in a number of retailersand it continues to be an importantsector for us as a company. We do

know that key categories in adulteducation are growing.

“Many of the products appeal to amature market with more time,disposable income and the desire tolearn new skills. The driving testmarket, for example, offers hugepotential; it is a self-fulfilling market,delivering retailers a new set ofcustomers every year, resulting in ahigh annual demand.”

“The great thing about the adult

“Adult educationsoftware has remained

healthy in a tougheconomic environment”

Steve Powell,Avanquest

Adult Education is something that every consumer is likely to have considered at one point. Offering agenuine chance to improve the lives of customers, this software is something that can offer extramargin all year round. Matt Grainger educates himself…

Life Lessons

SOFTWARE � ADULT EDUCATION


>>>

Please turn the page forkey products

[ ]BERLITZ ITALIAN PREMIERInteractive IdeasSRP: 29.99

Berlitz is the market leader inlanguage software, and this productpromises to help learn Italian theeasy way. The unique, provenlearning system can be used on a PCor Mac or can be used as an audioonly option in a car stereo or can bedownloaded to an iPod.

[ ]MASTER IT JAVA TUTORIALBluepointSRP: £14.99

This software teaches users the Javaprogramming language. Theseproducts are narrated byexperienced users and this ensuresan understanding of the featuresand benefits. Secondly, the voiceover is in a British English accent,which is well respected worldwideand ideally suited to resell in the UK.

[ ]OFFICE TUTORIALS WINDOWS VISTAAND OFFICE 2007 MEGA PACKInteractive IdeasSRP: £29.99

This comprehensive training package offerstutorials on how to use Microsoft’s Officesuite, including Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint,Word and the Vista operating system. Userscan pick the topic they want to study and sitback and watch as an expert demonstratesexactly how it's done. An interactive tutorialallows users try out the task in a simulatedenvironment before using the realprogramme.

[ ]LEARN MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007 ANDVISTA ESSENTIALS IN JUST 90 MINUTESKoch MediaSRP: £19.99

This training CD ROM for Microsoft Office2007 and Vista promises to deliver successin minutes. The KAZ Microsoft training clipsallow users to choose from Word, Excel,Outlook email, Internet Explorer webbrowser and Windows Vista operatingsystem and the individual clip they want.The software offers a series of concise, easy-to-follow training clips, which users can useat their own pace.

[ ]KAZ LEARN TO TOUCH TYPEKoch MediaSRP: £19.99

Learn to Touch Type offers a professionalBritish typing tutor for all ages that itclaims will deliver results in as little as 90minutes. The software teaches users howto learn to type and master theircomputer keyboard. The interactive,multimedia typing tutor software uses arevolutionary learning method withoutthe need to resort to repetitive drills andgames.

[ ]MASTER IT ADOBE FLASHTUTORIALBluepointSRP: £14.99

Master IT is a range of interactivetraining titles that have beenlaunched exclusively byBluepoint, the sole UK distributor.This product teaches users how tocreate flash images, perfect forthose considering a future inwebsite design.

education range is that itappeals to a really diverse

demographic. From seventeen year oldschool leavers who are learning to drive,to senior citizens who are learning tospeak Spanish for their holidays,” saysFocus Multimedia’s PR and marketingmanager Grant Hughes.

“Many people will also need to re-train and refresh their skills during thisrecession, and we have products that

will help them do that with very littleinvestment, except time.”

RECESSION AND NEW SKILLS“The recession has definitely had animpact on the adult education sector,”agrees SJ Software’s sales director JamesJennings. “We have found many newcustomers looking to re-train or tocomplement their existing skills due toredundancies.”

Koch Media’s head of software sales,Joanne Kemp highlights the continuedconsumer interest in the sector, despitea decline in interest from retailers: “Wehave seen retailers reducing their rangesover the past years, but on the wholeonline sales stay stable.”

The two potential customer groupsare an important factor whenconsidering sales. Language skills maysee a boost in early summer, as people

plan for holidays or students leaveuniversity and think about travelling.

On the other hand, it is when timesare hard that professional learning maysee an increase. Many people will belooking at training the necessary skillsto either keep a current job or find anew one. These two factors combine tooffer good sales all year round.

“Adult education is an evergreencategory that delivers consistent sales all



>>>

[ ]SAGE INSTANT ACCOUNTS SJ SoftwareSRP: £99

There is one level to the Sage Instant Accounts self study workbooks andthis includes Sage Certification, which is an online exam providing userswith the only industry standard Sage qualification. The self study pack andexam addresses all aspects of the Sage Instant Accounts software andenables users to learn in their own time, at their own pace and then takethe exam when they feel ready.

[ ]SAGE 50 PAYROLLSJ SoftwareSRP: £145 (stage 1 and 2)

There are two levels of the Sage 50 Payroll self study CD workbooksand both include Sage Certification, the industry standard Sagequalification. Each level contains a working copy of Sage 50 Payrollsoftware, three self-study workbooks with ‘read it and try’ sessions andaccess to an online version of the Sage certification exam.

www.pcretailmag.com July PCR 57


year round, with great margin potentialfrom both premium and budget titles,”continues Powell. “We do see peaks atkey periods throughout, often whenthey are used as part of a targetedpromotion such as ‘New Year, NewSkills’ for example.

“Summer sees an increase inlanguage titles as people try to brushup on their skills ahead of theirsummer holiday, with tutorial software

such as Berlitz. A lot of these productsalso make perfect gifts, so naturally thebusy period in the run up to Christmassees a healthy increase in sales.”

“Adult educational software hasalways been a stable software sellerthroughout the years,” adds Kemp.“We work in partnership with Gotham

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/// OPINIONS

STEVE POWELL,Avanquest

“We have seengrowth in a

number of retailersand adulteducation

continues to be animportant sector

for us”Steve Powell,

Avanquest

GRANT HUGHES,Focus Multimedia

“The great thingabout the adult

education range isthat it appeals to a

really diversedemographic”Grant Hughes,

Focus Multimedia

JAMES JENNINGS,SJ Software

“Adult educationsoftware has

performed well sofar thos year. Wehave experiencedsteady growth on

2008 sales”James Jennings,

SJ Software

JOANNA KEMP,Koch Media

“It’s all about beingable to present the

benefits andhighlight how easythe products are to

use”Joanna Kemp,

Koch Media

>>>Please turn the pagefor more products

[ ]THINK POSITIVE!Interactive IdeasSRP: £9.78

Think Positive markets itself as braintraining, fun and relaxation all rolledin to one package. The awardwinning software has been designedto help reduce stress and is based ona decade of scientific research. Thisfeatures four training games, whichare designed to refocus the way themind perceives the world andmeasures stress levels, attention spanand subconscious reactions.

[ ]LIFE IN THE UK CITIZENSHIP TESTInteractive IdeasSRP: £9.78

From the makers of Driving Test Success, thisincludes practice questions based on all theofficial topics from the government’s Life in theUK Test. Learners can transfer questions andanswers to their mobile phone or iPod usingthe powerful Learn on the Go feature. Thecomplete official Home Office study guide ‘Lifein the United Kingdom: The Journey ToCitizenship’ is also included in e-book andaudio book format.

[ ]MINDSCAPE MATHS TRAINERInteractive IdeasSRP: £9.78

Maths Trainer is an enjoyable newway for people to test their mathsability. Challenge number skillsusing specially designed exercisesthat will improve mentalarithmetic at work, school or in adaily routine. Includes 12 funactivities to improve your mentalarithmetic skills and eight dailytest activities.

[ ]WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?Interactive IdeasSRP: £9.78

The software automatically searchesAncestry.co.uk, the UK’s largest collectionof family history records online, helpingusersu track down information on distantrelatives. The user can then bring theirfamily history to life by creating a wholehost of trees, charts, reports and evenalbums to share with family and friends.

[ ]EMEDIA GUITAR METHODInteractive IdeasSRP: £34.99

Guitar Method is packed with 165comprehensive lessons, coveringbasics like strumming the guitar,playing melodies and finger picking.Offering over 50 full motion videoinstructions, audio can be sloweddown to match any tempo, whilethe animated fretboard shows songfingering as the music plays. Therevolutionary teaching style willhave users playing songs, chordsand riffs within minutes, with over70 songs including hits from artistssuch as Bob Dylan, Grateful Deadand Steve Miller.



New Media and with theexpansion of their product

range we expect a good increase insales by bringing new products tomarket and opening up new areas ofbusiness for ourselves.”

Despite its status as an evergreenmarket, adult educational software issomething that must be actively sold tocustomers in order to gain themaximum margin possible.

“We have always seen greater sales ofthe product online and from peoplewho have tried a demo product before,or who have been told about theproduct,” confirms Kemp. “It’s allabout being able to present thebenefits and highlight how easy theproducts are to use.”

“Adult education software hasperformed well so far this year,” saysJennings. “We have experienced steady

growth on 2008 sales. We feel that therecovery market will represent a bigopportunity in increasing sales ofproducts like our Sage Accounts adulteducation packages.”

DRIVING SALES“The best way to sell these products isby offering customers a wide range oftitles and covering the key areas ofeducation such as languages, office

tutorials, music training, typing anddriving,” concludes Powell.

“Retailers also need to offerproducts for different levels of abilityand at different price points dependingon the needs of the customer. Bystocking both entry level andcomprehensive versions of products,retailers will appeal to a widercustomer base and capture bothimpulse and considered purchases.”

[ ]MAVIS BEACON TEACHES TYPING PLATINUMInteractive IdeasSRP: £29.99

Despite a complete redesign, this softwarepromises to deliver the same level of excellencewhen it comes to typing instructions and practicethat users have come to expect. Offering dynamicpersonal instruction, which utilizes Mavis Beacon’sAdaptive Response Technology, a practice area,typing games and multi-lingual modes.

>>>

Call of Juarez: Bound inBloodUbisoftTrilogy: 0845 362 7769

Batman: Arkham AsylumEidosCentresoft: 0121 625 3388

*ABC-certified distribution 102,010 Jan-Dec 05

ON THE RADARTITLE GENRE PUBLISHER TELEPHONE DISTRIBUTOR DATE

Brain College: Call Of Atlantis Self-Improvement City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy July 3 2009

Brain College: Magic Shop Self-Improvement City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy July 3 2009

Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood FPS Ubisoft 0845 362 7769 Trilogy July 3 2009

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince Action EA 0121 625 3388 Centresoft July 3 2009

Rygar: The Battle Of Argus Action/Adventure Rising Star Games 01582 433700 Centresoft July 3 2009

Flying Club II Simulation Just Flight 0845 234 4242 Mastertronic July 17 2009

Calvin Tucker's Redneck Jamboree Mini-games Zushi 01279 822 800 Gem July 24 2009

Code Of Honour 3: Rise Of The Desert Devil Action City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy July 31 2009

Puzzle Kingdoms Puzzle Zushi 01279 822 800 Gem July 31 2009

Batman: Arkham Asylum Action Eidos 0121 625 3388 Centresoft August 28 2009

Mary Celeste Mystery City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy August 28 2009

Navy Seals Action City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy August 28 2009

Section 8 FPS South Peak 0121 625 3388 Centresoft August 28 2009

Raven Squad FPS South Peak 0121 625 3388 Centresoft August

Roogoo Action South Peak 0121 625 3388 Centresoft August

Brain College 3 Self-Improvement City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy September 4 2009


Champions Online MMORPG Atari 0121 506 9585 Advantage September 4 2009

The Humans Puzzle Deep Silver 0870 027 0985 Koch September 4 2009

Need For Speed: Shift Racing EA 0121 625 3388 Centresoft September 18 2009


Brain College: Lost Cities Of The Amazon Self-Improvement City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy September 25 2009

Invasion Over Europe Action City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy September 25 2009

History Engineering an Empire Egypt Strategy Slitherine 0870 027 0985 Koch September

History Great Battles: Medieval RTS Slitherine 0870 027 0985 Koch September

Constellation Professional Simulation Just Flight 0845 234 4242 Mastertronic Q3 2009

Dirt 2 Racing Codemasters 01279 822 800 Gem Q3 2009

Chronicles Of Mystery: The Tree Of Life Mystery City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy October 2 2009

Sniper: Southern Strike Action City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy October 23 2009

Terrorist Takedown 3: Operation Crossfire FPS City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy October 23 2009

Dungeon Lord - The Orb and the Oracle RPG JoWood 01273 202 220 Lace October 30 2009

FPS 3 FPS City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy October 30 2009

Rage Of The Dead Action City Interactive 0845 362 7769 Trilogy October 30 2009

Alpha Protocol Action Sega 0121 625 3388 Centresoft October

Need for Speed: ShiftEACentresoft: 0121 625 3388

This month sees the launch of the latest game to tie in to the Harry Potter franchise – Harry Potter and theHalf Blood Prince – as well as the new Call of Juarez title and the acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum...

GamesReleases

� Centresoft: 0121 625 3388� Contact: [email protected]� Available: July 3rd � Price: £29.99

THERE are few franchises in recenttimes that can compete with the cross-market success of Harry Potter. Whatstarted out as a simple children's bookhas spawned into a vast merchandisingbusiness. The computer games havehad particular commercial success

across practically every platform going.This latest title once again follows theadventures of the bespectacled wizardhimself, as he tries to stop various evildoings wreaking havoc on Hogwarts.

As with previous games in the series,the gameplay will be varied, with playersflying on a Quidich broom one minuteand throwing sparks from a magic wandthe next.

Expect this title to do particularly wellalongside the cinematic release soon.

GAME OF THE MONTHHARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE

SOFTWARE � GAMES

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PCR’s monthly look at recent developments in the consumer electronic market

ConsumerElectronics


INTERACTIVE IDEAS

p 65

Managing director Michael Trup talksabout the firm’s record breaking results

PRODUCT FOCUS

p 68

Kingston’s new range of memorycomponents for Macs

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS � INTERACTIVE IDEAS


>>>

Turn the page formore

You’ve just finished the financialyear, how was it?We just finished a record year withsales up 42 per cent versus last year.In two years we have doubled the sizeof the company, and are alreadyrunning up another 40 per cent so farthis year, although it’s early days.More importantly our profits havealso risen, as has our liquidity, so all inall we are entering this financial yearin great shape – famous last words!

Is this the best set of financialresults ever for Interactive Ideas? Yes. Our sales declined three years agowhen we pulled out of the gamessoftware market, but two years ago webeat our previous peak healthily and

then last year we eclipsed it,increasing by over 50 per cent.

What do you attribute this rise to? We pulled out of games softwarebecause the console market was soconsolidated that as a distributor, youcouldn’t make any decent margin, butwe were running some big risks. Wedecided then to focus on ourcorporate licensing business throughthe reseller segment and expandingour peripherals for our e-tailcustomers, where we add a lot ofvalue. We felt that boxed softwarewould go into decline due to digitaldistribution, although e-tail has wonso much market share it has offset thisand is still a growing area for us. We

looked for those areas of distributionthat we could really add value to, andamount to value-added distribution –especially around Linux, open sourceand up and coming technologies whilealso providing promotion and contentmanagement for e-tail. So far thesebets have all paid off handsomely.

How are you planning oncapitalising on this going forward?Any plans for expansion? We are currently hiring for two newpositions in product managementaround open source and softwareservices. We anticipate creatinganother four to five positions duringthe course of the year here andprobably some other technical

After a record financial year for UK distributor Interactive Ideas, Andrew Wooden talks to MD MichaelTrup about how the firm is managing to gain so much success in a full blown recession…

Successful Ideas“Our profits have risenas has our liquidity, so

all in all we areentering this financialyear in great shape”

Mike Trup,Interactive Ideas

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS � INTERACTIVE IDEAS


capabilities at our Indian associatecompany, Interfinet Technologies, inwhich we own a stake. I wouldanticipate that we would be movinginto larger offices over the next 12months as we are pretty much out ofspace and also extending our stake inInterfinet.

There’s currently a recession on,would you say there’s any elementsof the financial situation that havehelped Interactive Ideas? Competitively, we entered thisrecession in very good shape with arock hard balance sheet, no debt andin growth mode. It’s not that we aresmart, we just had our individualproblems three to four years ago andaddressed them radically. Therecession is helping us by making iteasier to hire and acquire assets togrow with.

From a market point of view, manyof our key vendors like Redhat,Acronis, Sunbelt and Solarwindsrepresent cost reducing, performanceenhancing solutions. The recessionhas forced corporate IT departmentsto try and get more for less from theirbudgets, whereas perhaps 12 monthsago they didn’t see the need. On theretail side of the business, e-tail haspicked up market share and most of

the items we sell are ‘small ticket’ – sostill within everyone’s budget.

You’ve just celebrated your 15 yearanniversary, how has the firmchanged in that time?We are now 40 people and areincreasingly a knowledge basedbusiness. Our corporate reseller salesteam has deep technical knowledgeand our marketing department isintegral to the provision of valueadded services to our vendors andcustomers in both retail and resellersegments. We are now seeing stronggrowth, more than at any time in ourhistory, and of course when you arestarting with a large number even aslow growth rate means addingmillions of sales a year.

As we grow we are becomingincreasingly professional. We don’twant to lose our friendly efficientimage and our ‘relationship’ culture,but it is difficult as you grow rapidly topreserve the things that make usunique, but I know it is vitallyimportant that we do.

Do you think the channel will be ina better position economically bythe end of the year? Yes. There will continue to be someconsolidation in the channel but I

think the economy will actually turnquicker than people are expecting.There is a lot of cash sitting on thesidelines earning nothing, just waitingfor assets to stop depreciating. I thinkwe are at that turning point. Howeveremployment will continue to declinefor the next six to nine months andmarginal firms will be squeezed byfunding shortfalls. The financiallystrong however, will be investing incost reduction strategies andacquisitions.

INTERACTIVE MARKETING

One of the initiatives InteractiveIdeas attributes to its fiscal successto is its recently launched retailmagazine, which gives its customerbase the latest information on newproducts and services.

The publication is producedevery six months, offering morein-depth vendor information thanis usually available on a selectnumber products. It bolsters theother marketing tools the firm hasput in place of late, including aYouTube portal and regular retailupdate email.

The latest version celebratesthe firms 15th anniversary, andfeatures Saitek, Snakebyte,Subsonic, Trust, F-Secure, Magix,IOLO, Avanquest and Focus.

“We are now seeingstrong growth, more

than at any time in ourhistory”

Mike Trup,Interactive Ideas

Interactive Ideas made a successfulgamble when it decided to include PCperipherals in its portfolio

KINGSTON’S new retail focussedApple system memory packs aredesigned to be easier to install thanprevious components, providing Macusers a simple way to boost power.

Utilising its Licensed Apple Partnerstatus, Kingston’s new range of productsare compatible with MacBook andMacBook Pro notebooks, Mac Mini andIntel iMac systems. The closerelationship with Apple also means nowarranties are invalidated by openingup the machines in order to install thenew components.

Kingston also says that the design ofthe products makes the installation itselfparticularly simple. For retailers thatmeans there’s no in-store technical helprequired – and a clear mark-up system

means returns should be kept to aminimum. Round the clock supportfrom Kingston is also offered.

For customers the simplicity of theproducts means the option of upgradingis now open to more than just the supertech-savvy, which could be particularlylucrative in a market where more andmore people will be looking to savemoney by upgrading rather than buying

a brand new machine.The vendor is also positioning the

components as a useful purchase forthose customers who are buying brandnew computers, offering a cheaperalternative to buying a more expensive,higher spec machine up front.

They come in 2GB single packs or a4GB set. Speeds for the DDR2 are800MHz, while the DDR3 offers speedsof 1066 MHz. The DDR3 RAN3-1066/2GB retails at a price of £64.99,the RAN3-1066K2/4GB for £114.99,while the DDR2 RAN2-800/2GB goesfor £59.99, and the RAN2-800K2/4GBfor £109.99. Here in the UK, they canbe picked up from Computer 2000,Hammer, Ingram Micro, Northamberand Simms.

The close relationshipwith Apple means no

warranties areinvalidated by opening

up the machines inorder to install the new

components

Kingston’s ApplesVendor stocks Mac memory

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS � PRODUCT FOCUS


Call 01423 704700 or visitStorage • Tape Media • MultimediaBackup • Networking • Flash MediaCommunication and much more...

Stock up now to meet theback to school demand

8x External Slimline DVD ROM

Available now from

£24.00*ex.VAT

BlackCCI Part No. 32589LiteOn Part No. ETDU108-02

WhiteCCI Part No. 32588LiteOn Part No. ETDU108-01

• Watch DVD movies on yournetbook

• Available in both black or whitedesigns

• USB power charging• Portable design, using USB-2

connection to ensure the bestperformance

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• Support both 8cm and 12cmdiscs of CD and DVD family

• High efficient power savingmode, slim size and ultra lightweight

2.5" 500GB External USB (Espresso Black)

Call for pricingCCI Part No. 33000Hitachi Part No. FS-U25/500E

Introducing the Signature Minifamily of bite-size drives,bursting with tasty ingredients.Supple and resilient to the touch,with a positive velvety grip,they're designed by our friends atPininfarina, the icon of Italiansports car design since 1930.Just plug one in, and inside you'llfind smart ways to protect andmanage all your precious data.• Durable and made for travel• High speed USB-2 "Y" cable

included provides powerwithout extra cables.

• Free technical support• 2 year warranty

2.5" 320GB External USB (Black Cherry)

Call for pricingCCI Part No. 32995Hitachi Part No. FS-U25/320H

19" LCD TV/Monitor with DVB-T Tuner

Available now from

£140.63*ex.VAT

CCI Part No. 31718LG Part No. M1994D

This digital TV monitor from LGoffers a multi-purpose all-in-onedisplay solution for a variety ofPC and home entertainment.Enjoy easy and convenient accessto various AV devices such as Blu-rayTM players, video gameconsoles & camcorders.• DVB-T integrated TV Tuner• 20,000:1 contrast ratio• 5ms response time• DVI/HDMI• 3 year warranty

Media Player HDMI500GB

Available now from

£128.52*ex.VAT

CCI Part No. 32516LG Part No. HXF1P50FB

The LG XF1 is a mobile hometheatre solution, store and viewyour media content on this ultrastylish portable device.• Full HDMI connectivity • Supports MPEG 1/2/4, AVI

(MPEG4, Xvid), MOV (MPEG4) • 500GB storage capacity • Play and Play USB connectivity

Laptop Stand USB-2

Available now from

£9.20*ex.VAT

CCI Part No. 33095Sweex Part No. DS021

• Adjustable Platform Design• Comfortable Wrist Rest• Built-In 4-Ports USB-2 Hub• On/Off Switch-able Cooling Fans• 4 positions adjustable platform• 2 x 80 mm cooling fans• Independent of operating system

USB MultimediaKeyboard

Available now from

£3.01*ex.VAT

CCI Part No. 31818Sweex Part No. KB060UK

Full Size multimedia keyboard inblack, with USB connector and130cm cable. Comes with 13hotkeys!• Ideal for Multimedia work• Supports Windows 2000, XP

and Vista

USB Optical Mouse

Available now from

£2.11*ex.VAT

CCI Part No. 30138Sweex Part No. MI501

Comfortable and stylish USB 3 button mouse.• 3 buttons and Scroll

function• Resolution: 800 CPI• Plug and Play

Maxxum Back Pack

Available now from

£28.68*ex.VAT

CCI Part No. 28968Swissgear Part No. GA-7303-13F00

• Made by Wenger, makers of thegenuine Swiss Army knife

• Fits notebooks with screen sizesup to 15.4"

• Shock absorbing shoulder straps& adjustable chest strap

• iPod/Music player pocket

Potomac Roller Case

Available now from

£54.23*ex.VAT

CCI Part No. 28975Swissgear Part No. GA-7466-14F00

• Made by Wenger, makers of thegenuine Swiss Army knife

• Includes extra 15"/15.4"notebook case

• Easy-Glide Skate Wheels • Expanding Files

OpticalDrives Storage Displays

ConsumerElectronics

Peripherals

Visit ccidistribution.co.uk for realtime stock availability and pricing.

* Pricing is correct at the timeof print and is subject tochange without notice

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MARKETPLACETHE PLACE FOR BUSINESS>>>

To advertise onthese pages pleasecall Carly Bailey:

ADVERTISER CONTACTS

01992 [email protected]

Bluepoint0870 121 8001 bluepoint.net

Solwise0845 458 4558 solwise.co.uk

Kaspersky0871 789 1632 kaspersky.co.uk

SJ Software01282 865 500 sjsoftware.co.uk

Ideal Software01767 689 720 idealsoftware.net

Agency Sales01623 473 040 www.aslweb.co.uk

A Onexxxx xxx

CD Writer0208 293 0777 cd-writer.com

Interactive Ideas0208 805 1000 interactiveideas.com

Wasp0845 430 1971 waspbarcode.co.uk

Brigantia01765 603 300 brigantia.com

Broadband first0800 027 0346 broadbandfirst.co.uk

TADL0845 370 8668 tadlassist.com

SDA0161 819 1515 sdatrading.com

Expodata0870 077 0077 pctestpro.com

Laptops direct0844 412 4513 laptopsdirect.co.uk

Computer gear0121 503 0666 computergear.co.uk

GEM01279 822 822 gem.co.uk

VIP0871 622 7500 vip-computers.com/uk

Cartridge Expert01489 795 668 cartridgeexpert.co.uk

Keyboard Co0845 205 5555 keyboardco.com

Enet07801 818 815 enetcomputers.net

MARKETPLACE � NEWS

CCI is to boost its presencein the storage market, signingHitachi GST and Transcend’sproduct ranges.

The Harrogate-baseddistributor will handle all ofHitachi’s range of portableand desktop external harddrives in the UK channel.Hitachi said that expandingits dealings with CCI was vitalto increasing its market share.

“Our relationship withCCI has been successful,”

said Hitachi GST’s EMEAvice president, StephenPereira. “CCI’s continuedcommitment to customerservice – and its ability to goabove and beyond the normto ensure that our brandvalues are upheld – will helpus as we grow our brandedbusiness in the UK.”

CCI’s sales director NickPreston said that the companywas keen to ensure its entirereseller base was up to speed

with Hitachi’s range. “We’redelighted that it has selectedus as a UK distributor.”

The firm also struck amajor deal with Transcend to

carry its entire range of SSDstorage products.

“As a customer-driventechnology company, we lookfor partners that share thesame high-performancequality philosophy,” saidTranscend’s UK generalmanager Norman Hsu. “Thispartnership will enable us tonot only significantly growour brand in the UK, but alsoto ensure that the market seesthe benefits of SSD.”

Distributor to handle Hitachi’s desktop and mobile lines and Transcend’s SSD range

ENTATECH has secured thecoveted ‘master distributor’status with communicationsvendor Billion.

The new arrangementbetween the two firms is a signof how closely aligned theircustomer bases are, accordingto Billion’s UK sales andmarketing director, Julian deSelincourt: “We’re delighted toappoint EntaTech, one of the

most respected players in theSMB market, as our leaddistributor in the UK. It makesan ideal strategic partner forfuture growth. The Billionrange fits well within itsportfolio and we are lookingforward to building on oursuccess to date and positioningthe brand as the premier fixedand mobile routermanufacturer for home,

SOHO and SME customers.”EntaTech claims that

Billion’s product portfolio ofmodems, wirelessrouters, 3Grouters andVPN gatewaysare well placedto takeadvantage ofcurrent markettrends.

“We’re very pleasedto be working withBillion whocomplement our

communications portfolioperfectly,” said EntaTechgroup vice president, Jon

Atherton. “They have clearUSPs and the demand

for secure VPN andhighperformancenetworkingproducts isgrowing at afast pace.”

“We’re delightedthat Hitachi hasselected us as aUK distributor”

Nick Preston,CCI

CCI strengthensstorage offering

Comms vendor Billion appoints Telford distributor as lead partner in the UK with ‘master’ status

EntaTech signs new Billion deal

MARKETPLACE � NEWS

INGRAM GETS WACOMWacom has signed a distributiondeal with Ingram Micro to carry itsproducts in the UK, as it launches amajor drive to improve its presencein the market. The vendor said thatIngram Micro’s size and access tostrategically important resellers wasthe key to the deal.

SEASHELLS BY THE SEASHOREVIP has begun a drive for thelatest launch from Asus –the Seashell 1008HA.“The 1008HA is themost attractive EeePC in the range,however, it is not justall looks, with thelatest N280 processerand weighing just 1.1kgthis really makes it standapart from the competition –expect demand to be high,” saidVIP product manager ChrisBloxham.

SONICWALL SIGNS COHORTSonicWall has signed a distributiondeal with Cohort Technology tointroduce its secure networkingtechnology to the UK channel. “Aspart of the ongoing evaluation ofour distribution strategy, we haveappointed Cohort Technology Ltdto help us become more dominantin the UK market,” said Andy Zollo,sales director for Northern Europe.

KRAMER TARGETS UKMARKETKramer has appointedTrue Colours as its UKdistributor. The cablespecialist has madeits range of amplifiers,

switchers, controlsystems, room

connectivity, cables andconnectors available to the UKchannel. It has also announced thatit will offering resellers a 25 percent margin on RRP for all productsand up to 40 per cent off cabling.

BLUEPOINT RESELLERASSISTANCE AVAILABLEBluepoint has rolled out a newonline tool, intended to help itsresellers produce professionallooking marketing materials andquotes. Called My Branding, thetools are split into several modulesand have been designed to be assimple as possible for them to use.“It allows resellers to present a clearand professional email or documentdirector to their own customers,”explained Bluepoint's Hassan Manji.

AMD LAUNCHES GRAPHICSSCOUT COMPATIBILITY TOOLAMD is confident that its newwebsite, dubbed 'Graphics Scout'will be a success, after it noted a‘very positive’ response during itstrial period. The tool has beendesigned to help mainstreamconsumers identify compatiblegraphics cards, and to removemany of the barriers to gettinginvolved in DIY upgrading.

CUSTOMERS STILL SPENDINGThe recession has failed tosignificantly impact consumerspend on gaming hardware,according to the latest figuresfrom research house JPR. It notedthat while all parts of the gamingindustry had seen a slow down inactivity, PC gaming was amongstthe least impacted areas. However,it did concede that it was likely tosee further contraction during thecourse the year of around sevenper cent or $1.4bn (£876m).

NewsBytes

NVIDIA has teamed up withdistributor Spire to encourageindependent retailers and resellersto get behind its new Ion netbookplatform push.

Central to this drive is Asrock’slatest netbook offering: “The AsrockIonstar 330 is a terrific little systemthat offers a truly excitingopportunity for the channel,” saidSpire’s sales and marketing director,John Appleton.

“Spire has provided excellent

foundations for a retail SKUsolution, with great potential to tapinto a wide variety of markets,”added Nvidia’s Northern Europeansales manager Louis Belcuore.

He was also enthusiastic aboutthe model’s potential outside ofretail. “Thanks to its small size, lowpower consumption andcompetitive price point, the Ionstar330 will be an attractive prospectnot just for customers, but sectorssuch as education and enterprise.”

Nvidia and Spireform partnership

CCI’s Harrogateheadquarters

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I THOUGHT the feedback on my Maycolumn was impressive but my inboxand mail bag have both been full afterthe June edition. It seems thateveryone has got their own story to tellabout dealing with the great Britishunwashed public, and we have beenlaughing our socks off at the Brigantiaoffice. I will publish some moreamusing indie-reported stories inPCR’s December edition to give

everyone a good laugh over Christmasand New Year.

Channel Expo 2009 was a greatsuccess for the Brigantia team, withmany members visiting our Club standto talk with our management and ourfriends from NASCR, ITACS, Enta,

Westcoast, AVG and Intel who joinedus. I was very pleased with the numberand quality of the potential newmembers who came to say hello, and Iknow Chris Speight was delighted withthe interest from vendors and serviceproviders, who all seemed to belooking for new and innovative ways ofengaging with the indie channel.

I would thank Intel for once againallowing us use of their brilliant

Formula 1 simulator, which generatedmuch interest from those visiting ourstand. Matt Woolley from ITACS heldthe lead in our timed competition formuch of the event but in the end thewinner was Nick Walsh (lap time: oneminute 1.59 seconds) from distributor

PSA Parts, closely followed by runnerup Stuart Stokes of Syn Star UK (laptime: one minute 2.89 seconds). Walshwon our first prize of a Navman S50satellite navigations system, and Stokeswon £50 in John Lewis vouchers.

Our thanks go to Brigantia associatedistributor Westcoast for donating theprizes and also to AVG for the manycopies of its excellent software givenaway to those visiting the stand. LornaOsgood, our stand manager, was keptbusy throughout the event anddescribed the stand as being the busiest she had worked on for anumber of years, which speaks volumesfor the organisers.

All at Brigantia look forward totaking our Club stand to London nextyear for Channel Expo 2010.

I read in the June edition of thismagazine that some are worried abouthaving Channel Expo 2010 and RetailVision Europe both in London and aweek apart next year. Frankly, I thinkthis is great, as although they target twodistinct sectors of our market, it will bevery convenient for vendors and serviceproviders to have these events runningone after another.

To vendors and service providers, Iwould thoroughly recommendChannel Expo for the breadth of itsoffering to UK and Irish indies andchannel players, and Retail VisionEurope to those wanting to target pan-European buyers from etailers,multiples, supermarkets and buying groups.

Next month, with the help ofBrigantia associate Croner Consultingwhich provides our free business andlegal support line to members, I intendto tackle the thorny topic of consumerrights, which seems to have been thehot topic in June within the Brigantiamembers forum.

Anyone who would like to raise anyspecific questions for us to answershould email me directly and I willendeavor to incorporate the questionsand answers in the August column.

This month Brigantia’s Iain Shaw celebrates a successful Channel Expo 2009and recommends visiting Channel Expo and Retail Vision Europe next year...

CONTACT IAIN SHAW � [email protected]� 0870 160 3215� www.brigantia.com

Iain invites opinions fromPCR readers and willrespond though this column

Join the Club

“Channel Expo 2009 was a great success for theBrigantia team, with many people visiting our

Club stand. I was very pleased with the numberand quality of the potential new members who

came to say hello”

MARKETPLACE � BRIGANTIA


INDIE PROFILE/EVENTS � MARKETPLACE


This month RogerHumm visits Cardiff andDinas Computers. Dinashas been establishednearly two decades,and has been operatingfrom its presentpremises in Crwys Roadfor the last ten years...

LIKE MANY people in the PC trade,Dinas owner Wyn Williams has had toadapt the way the business operates.His shop serves a range of home andbusiness users, and being close to thelocal university, the student market isalso important. This sector hasmushroomed over the last five years –there are upwards of 30,000 students inCardiff – with most of them havingsome kind of IT requirement.

“Things in the computer industryhave changed massively over the years. Iremember selling top spec PCs for£5,000 twenty years ago, now you arelucky to get £400. However people and

businesses will always need theirmachines serviced and repaired, andthat is what we have been increasinglyconcentrating on over the last fewyears. It’s become a bit like the carindustry, the likes of Dell, Tesco andPC World are your main dealers, andwe’re your back street garage that picksup the pieces when things go wrong."

“There is a strong community spiritamong the traders here, and many ofus trade with each other on a regularbasis. It’s a difficult job competing withthe out of town shopping centres andinternet sites, but a few years ago wewere faced with the council planning to

introduce a Controlled Parking Zone infive areas across the city.

“That would have been a disasterand would have probably led to meclosing down and selling up. Weformed an action group based aroundlocal traders and community groups,and with the threat of a localreferendum hanging around theirnecks, the council caved in.”

Williams strongly believes that thehigh street indie computer shop is hereto stay, but what it will look like inanother ten years he says is anybody’sguess. We look forward to visiting himagain in 2019 to see.

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INDIE PROFILE

DIARY DATES 2009

FACT BOXYear Established: 1989

Number of Outlets: 1

Number of staff: 3

Regular Vendor Lines: Acer, HP, Viewsonic, Fujitsu,Toshiba, Norton, Microsoft, Belkin,Dlink

Contact name and address:Wyn WilliamsDINAS Computers, 106 Crwys Rd, Cardiff CF24 4NQ

Telephone: 0800 052 9445Email: [email protected]:www.dinascomputers.co.uk

Roger Humm is Head ofMembership Relations at BrigantiaComputer Experts –[email protected]

The UK’s channel calendar is full of important events. Here are someupcoming highlights…

JULY 2009MOBILE MUSIC NOWJuly 9th BAFTA, LondonThis unique conference hosted byPCR sister magazine MobileEntertainment will be the highlightof the summer for everyoneinvolved in digital music.Representatives from every link inthe value chain will speak at theJuly 9th conference, presented inassociation with 24-7Entertainment. There will be akeynote presentation by BarneyWragg, formerly head of digital atEMI and a senior VP at Universal.Having been a label insider andnow a consultant on the ‘outside’,he should have some fascinatinginsights into label culture and itsapproach to mobile.

OCTOBER 2009STORAGE EXPO 2009October 14th–15thOlympia, LondonStorage Expo is the UK's leadingstorage event, with all the majornames in the channel present.Designed for both resellers andCIOs, Storage Expo is a melting potof IT professionals, providing theideal opportunity for resellers to notjust find out about the latestproducts and developments in thechannel, but also network withcompanies that are actively seekinga new storage solution.The event also has a number ofeducational programmes designedto boost your knowledge andunderstanding of the market, aswell as discuss solutions withexperts and peers.

LONDON GAMES CONFERENCEOctober 27thBAFTA, LondonThe London Games Conferencewill take place during theincreasingly popular London GamesFestival on Tuesday October 27th atBAFTA in Piccadilly.Organiser Intent Media, whichpublishes MCV and PCR, expectsup to 200 delegates. It is alsointroducing a different concept toprevious games seminars.One key element of the LondonGames Conference is value formoney, with the walk-up rate forthe day being only £229. This is halfthe price of last year’s Games 3.0conference.Members of the ELSPA and TIGAtrade bodies will be able to gain afurther discount, bringing the costto under £200 per delegate.

If you would like to promote your event, please contact:[email protected]

This information is believed to be correct, but potential visitors should confirm details with showorganisers before making arrangements to attend

MOBILE MUSIC NOW

STORAGE EXPO ‘09

Wyn Williams outside his shop,Dinas Computers, in Cardiff

MARKETPLACE � PCA NEWS


HERE’S A COMPLAINT that Ifrequently hear from independentresellers: “Vendors and distributors justdon’t want to listen to us little guys.”And how’s this for a moan I get fromjust about every vendor I talk to: “It’svirtually impossible to engage with theresellers.” Does it strike you that theremight be some common ground here?

Let’s toss in another little group offactettes. PCA member Bear IT wasoriginally set up seven years ago; it nowhas enough business to support 12 staff– mostly technicians. It has won a raft ofbusiness awards both locally andnationally. The two directors attendevery PCA event without fail and arenow on first-name terms with key peoplefrom leading vendors and distributors,and their views are sought by suppliersand industry publications alike.

Should we consider Bear IT’s successto be merely a spookily strange anomalyworthy of Mulder and Scully, or is therea simpler, more prosaic explanation?My vote is on the latter option. Here’swhat Adam Harris of Bear IT has to sayabout it: “PCA membership has beenabsolutely great for us – it has openeddoors that otherwise we’d never haveknown existed, and it has facilitatedbusiness in several different areas. We’dnever dream of missing a PCA fosterednetworking opportunity.”

Harris’ business partner MarkLambert is equally enthusiastic. “Ourvery modest PCA membership fee hasbeen paid for many times over by thebenefit we’ve got from being part of thechannel’s trade association. Anyonewho wants to know more is welcome tocontact me or Adam directly on 08704436 967. I’m always up for a bit ofnetworking, whether it’s with suppliersor fellow resellers.”

As Lambert indicates, a key part ofbuilding your business is buildingrelationships with your suppliers and

elsewhere in your industry. Anyone cando it, and like anything else the resultsyou achieve are in direct proportion tothe investment you’re willing to make.That investment isn’t so much nakedlyfinancial as about budgeting your time.Of course, time is an ultra-scarceresource for most people – including, ithas to be said, the directors of Bear IT.But they have made the investment andare now reaping the reward.

Over recent years it has becomeincreasingly apparent to many people inthe channel that the market is changingand they need to change their attitudesaccordingly. The ‘at each other’sthroats’ view of business competitorshas been replaced by the concept of ‘co-operation’ – competitors co-operatingbecause failure to do so would hastenthe demise of both. Networking witheach other whenever the opportunitypresents is an important way to buildrelationships. From the vendor’s pointof view, engagement or ‘mind-share’with resellers is vitally important to thedevelopment of their business.

The PCA, as an organisation for thewhole of the IT channel, and from itsinception having had the slogan‘keeping the industry as strong aspossible for as long as possible,’ isnaturally keen to foster goodrelationships in the marketplace. Andwith that in mind we’ll be building onthe success of our recent Scottishmeeting and holding a series ofregional networking and businessdevelopment events in the autumn.They will be evening events that willlargely replace our day-long nationalannual conference. Furthermore, they’llbe open to all resellers; you don’t haveto be a PCA member in order toattend. If you want to be on theinvitation list and invest in someworthwhile networking, then let meknow at [email protected]

Keith Warburton, chief executive of the PCA,examines how communication and co-operationcan build businesses...

Keith Warburton is the CEO of TheProfessional Computing Association,the 15-year-old, not-for-profit tradebody with membership made up of

businesses from all parts of the channel.

Visit www.pcassociation.org formore information orcall

0845 634 9245.

Engaged? You should be

“PCA membership hasopened doors that

otherwise we’d neverhave known existed,and it has facilitatedbusiness in several

different areas”Adam Harris, Bear IT

Mark Lambert (left) and AdamHarris (right), of Bear IT

MAC TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION � MARKETPLACE

Macs can run Windows and now it transpiresthat Dell is enabling users to run the Mac OSon netbooks, too

I’M WELL aware that most of myreaders are actually Windows resellerswho are considering a venture into theminefield of selling Apple computers, sohere’s one for all of you. Did you hearthe one about the Apple computer thatran Windows faster than its arch-enemy,the PC? You didn’t? Well you’re likely tobe hearing a lot more about this one,because apparently it’s true.

When Apple shipped the currentMac OS X v10.5 Leopard last year, theimprovements under the hood includedenhancements to Boot Camp, the Mac OS kernel that allows installationof Windows XP or Vista (and alsoWindows 7 when it ships) onto a Mac,and then lets the Mac boot-up as a

Windows PC. Butthere are an

increasingnumber of

reports that aMac running

Leopard’s Boot Camp and Windowsactually out-performs any equivalent-spec PC.

DELL PUTS ON A MACI think I’ll leave this thought-provokingstatement hanging for a month andreturn to it in the next issue with moredetails. But in the meantime, did youhear the one about the Dell Mini

Netbooks that run Mac OS X? Youdidn’t? The Dell Mini 7 and 9 (andprobably the 10 also) can be easilymodified with a small softwaredownload which allows the user toinstall and run Apple’s Mac OS X v10.5.And it runs very well, too. Althoughthis is actually quite old news, there’s aninteresting aside to this that could havemajor implications.

APPLE’S APPROVALThe question that begs asking in light ofthat is why is Apple are allowing this?The software download comes from Dellitself – not some small independent‘hackintosh’ developer, and fullinstructions are available via Dell’swebsite. It’s very unlikely Apple wouldallow this without approving it, andthere’s no Apple alternative to Dell’sexcellent ‘Mini’ series of netbooks – notyet, anyway.

But at the same time, Apple ispreparing to do battle with three verysmall clone makers who have got MacOS X running on Wintel hardwareusing a similar software modification toDell’s. So if Dell is allowed to broadcastthe fact you can run the Mac OS on itsnetbooks via its website, I have a feelingthat the legal teams for the clonemakers will be watching developmentsvery closely.

ROBERT PECKHAM is the Executive Director of the MACTECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION, which began life as The UKMac–Dealer Association five years ago, and re–branded in 2007to reflect the changing, consultancy and services–drivenbusiness model that many Apple resellers have now adopted.

WWW.MACTECHNOLOGY.ORG.UK [email protected]: 08717 177264


This month, Robert Peckham looks at running anOS designed for one machine on another...

>>>>>>>>>

See Apples through

Windows

MARKETPLACE


ITACS NEWS

LEGAL requirements for traders arethere to protect consumers and withseveral stories in the press at themoment it is a good time for a quickreview of them.

There are four acts that you needto be aware of and understand: (1)Sale of Goods Act 1979; (2) Supplyof Goods and Services Act 1982; (3)Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994

and Sale; and (4) Supply of Goodsto Consumer Regulations 2002.And, if you are selling items via theinternet or mail order, for example,then you should also familiariseyourself with the ConsumerProtection (Distance Selling)Regulations 2000. Together, theseacts offer consumer protection inexcess of EU law, but according toTrading Standards, UK law takesprecedent.

The Acts state that goods must‘conform to contract’ – this meansthey must be as described, fit forpurpose and of satisfactory quality.Or, to put it another way, reach thestandard a reasonable person would

regard as satisfactory, having takeninto account the price and anydescription. Goods must be freefrom minor defects and this includesthe appearance and finish. Goodsmust also be durable and safe.

Should the goods not conform tocontract at the time of sale then it isimportant to remember that it is theseller, not the manufacturer, who is

responsible for the goods. Thismeans that you as the seller mayhave refunded the consumer in full(or in part, depending on use andabuse) within a reasonable time.

Goods must last a reasonableperiod of time. Depending on theitem, this could be up to six years.Should you sell an item thatproduces a fault within six months itis deemed faulty from new. (Unlessyou can prove otherwise.) After sixmonths it is up to the customer toprove it was faulty from new.

This has been a brief introductionso talk to your local TradingStandards who can give you advicepertinent to your business.

Matthew Woolley, chairman of ITACS, explainsthe regulations you need to understand...

EVERY INTERACTION that aperson has with a business builds upa picture of that company. Everylittle thing affects it: how the phoneis answered, how bright and tidy theplace is, and the quality of anyinformation given out by the shop,such as opening times.

Imagine one shop wallpaperedwith off-putting rules for refunds,then a competitor that haswelcoming notices that tell youabout the fantastic service you canexpect – where are you going tospend your time and money?

I’d like to discover which offerswork for people in the real world ofIT. Ones like these: no call-outcharge, no fix no fee, free estimates,free data back-up, same-day call-out,free insurance quotes, while-you-wait service, etc. Do you use theseor similar offers, and how well dothey work for you? Don’t feel you’regiving away your ‘trade secrets’ as Igot this list out of the Yellow Pages.If I get even a couple of responses,I’ll share them in this column.

And now for something completelydifferent… Within our high techworld, unexpected things happen tomake us laugh. We get funny requestsfrom customers, such as: “I need ascarf (SCART lead) for a PlayStation.”Or we have to work with very badJaplish installation instructions, orget impossible and hilarious Windowsmessages popping up.

Please pass on your true but funnyIT stories and let’s see if we can getenough for a regular feature. Here’sone before I go. It seems YahooGroups moderators are being giventhe power of life and death accordingto a message they receive: “Pendingmembers require your approval. If youtake no action, they willautomatically expire after 14 days.”

Please send me your feedback byemail to [email protected].

NASCR NEWS

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NASCR committeemember Geoff Carremphasises theimportance of firstimpressions and asksfor funny stories...

A funny story...

“Imagine one shopwallpapered with off-

putting rules forrefunds, then a

competitor that haswelcoming noticesabout its fantastic

service. Which wouldyou choose?”

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OFSPECIALIST COMPUTER RETAILERS

YOU CAN CONTACT NASCR ON 08456 440715 OR VISIT

WWW.NASCR.ORG

INDEPENDENT TRADE ASSOCIATIONOF COMPUTING SPECIALISTS

YOU CAN CONTACT ITACS ON 08445 763 760 OR VISIT

WWW.ITACS.ORG.UK

Rules and

regulations

“Goods must be as described, fit for purposeand of satisfactory quality. Or, to put it anotherway, reach the standard a reasonable personwould regard as satisfactory having taken into

account the price and any description”

Straight and DirectLAPTOPS DIRECT was created in2000 as a subsidiary of Huddersfieldbased supplier Buy It Direct to be thespecialist etailer and distributor of itsgrowing laptop portfolio.

Buy It Direct has a proven record inturning around failing businesses andreturning them to profitability and thecompany now employs 100 staff withan annual turnover of £80 million. Itsthree main customer groups areconsumers, small and medium-sizedenterprises, and the education sector.

Buy It Direct’s managing directorNick Glynne has attributed the successto good cash management, a focus ongood products and special offers,simplicity and a fanatical level ofcustomer care.

Operating primarily through itsdedicated web portal, Laptops Directoffers a very broad range of products ataggressive prices.

“We have a specialist buying team

which is able to buy theproducts at highlycompetitive prices,” saysGlynne. “We pass thesesavings down the line, whichmeans that our customers canbe assured that they’re gettingthe best price point possible.In many cases, our resellers canget better prices than theywould from the distributors.

“The pricing is a key focus forus, we want to offer the mostcompetitive prices that we can.

Other retailers will offer a fewselected products with one or two

deals whereas, as a specialist supplier,we can offer a massive range ofproducts and offer all the deals that areof the most benefit to our customers.”

As well as competitive pricing,Glynne also feels that the standard ofcustomer service that Laptops Direct

offers is another key to driving sales. “We have a great sales team who can

help our customers identify exactlywhat kind of computer they need andgive them the information they need tomake the most of their money,” claimsGlynne. “We can ensure that peopleare provided with information, we canidentify their needs and we can providethe products and prices to meet them.”

The combination of price point andcustomer service has meant thatLaptops Direct has enjoyed an uptakein business during the recession, andthe company is expecting a 30 per centincrease in sales and correspondingrevenue over the course of this year.

“It’s a tough time for everyone,”confirms Glynne. “People are lookingharder for good bargains and so theytend to stumble across us in the courseof these searches. Larger companies aregoing to struggle as their overheads willprevent them from offering a lower

price point to cash-consciousconsumers.

“We’ve also started to handlerefurbished laptops, which can bebought and sold at lower prices butoffer a much better profit margin,”adds Glynne. “This something thatwe’re encouraging our resellers to do aswell, as everyone in the chain islooking to make savings wherepossible, and refurbished hardware is agreat way to do that.”

Looking forward, Laptops Directwill be continuing the strategy that hasmade it a successful company that hasappeared in The Sunday Times FastTrack report for three consecutive years.

“Our parent firm is a constantlyexpanding company that offers simplesolutions to specific markets,” saysGlynne. “It recently launched ServersDirect, another online portal that willprovide small businesses with low cost

Laptops Direct has enjoyed growing sales over thepast 12 months, due to its emphasis on price point,products and customer service. Matt Graingertalks to marketing executive Nick Glynne about thecompany and its ongoing strategy…

CONTACT

Phone:0870 167 0818

Web:www.laptopsdirect.co.uk

“People are looking harder for good bargainsand so they tend to stumble across us in the

course of these searches”Nick Glynne, Laptops Direct

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MARKETPLACE � COMPANY PROFILE


server and network technology. It alsooffers IT support as part of the packageincluding installation, data migrationand ongoing management.”

“Laptops Direct is always going tofocus on laptops, and the products areour primary concern,” concludesGlynne. “We’re always going to havethe best product ranges and the most

competitive pricing; all we need to dois make it as easy as possible for thecustomer to get the best value they can,through our channels.

“There’s no real need to change ourstrategy at this point, we’re still makinggreat profit margins, and we’ve got amarket beating business model. We’relooking forward to the future.”

“We’re always going to have the best productranges and the most competitive pricing, allwe need to do is make it as easy as possiblefor the customer to get the best value they

can, through our channels”Nick Glynne,

Laptops Direct

Nick Glynne in front of theLaptops Direct offices

COMPANY PROFILE � MARKETPLACE


All Sage Products In Stock

Tel No: 01282 865 500 Web: www.SJsoftware.co.uk/PCRetail

Sage Instant Range V15 (now with 24/7 support) RRP SJ Sage Instant Payroll £100 £69Sage Instant Accounts V15 £115 £75Sage Instant Financial Suite V15 (Accounts and Payroll) £160 £99Sage Instant Accounts Plus V15 £170 £99Sage Instant Business Suite V15 (Accounts / Payroll / ACT!) £203 £125Sage Instant Accounts Training CD-Rom £40 £26

Sage 50 Accounts 2009 Range Sage 50 Accounts 2009 £550 £349Sage 50 Accounts Plus 2009 £795 £529Sage 50 Accounts Professional 2009 £1075 £739Sage 50 Accounts - Additional Company Upgrade £250 £199Sage 50 Accounts - Additional User Upgrade £250 £199Sage 50 Accounts CIS Module £265 £199

Sage 50 Payroll 2009 Range Sage Payroll (50) Employees 2009 £265 £199Sage Payroll (50) Employees 2009 with Sage Cover £510 £369Sage Payroll (100) Employees 2009 £370 £279 Sage Payroll (100) Employees 2009 with Sage Cover £625 £449Sage Payroll Unlimited Employees 2009 £550 £439Sage Payroll Unlimited Employees 2009 with Sage Cover £925 £749

Sage 50 ACT! 2009 Range ACT! 2009 Single User Pack £180 £115ACT! 2009 Two User Pack £360 £230ACT! 2009 Three User Pack £540 £345ACT! 2009 Four User Pack £720 £460ACT! 2009 Five User Pack £810 £549Available upto 10 users on an individual user basis.

The above are a sample of the products we carry. For a quote, or to order any Sage Product, please call our Sage Trade Sales Team on 01282 865 500 or Simply Order Online! Also available - Sage Upgrades, Sage Cover, Sage Stationery, and much more. Please check the website for special offers. Prices are exclusive of VAT.

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Competitive Trade Pricing across the Sage Product Range.

SJ will help you keep your product knowledge up to date on Sage Software, by providing you with the latest Sage Product Information, utilising PDF Documents and Evaluation CD’s, making it easier for you to sell Sage Accounting Software.

We are totally dedicated to assisting you in selling Sage Software.

Tel No: 01282 865 500 Web: www.SJsoftware.co.uk/PCRetail

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Introducing Sage Training Products (with Online Exam and Certification) RRP SJ Sage Instant Accounts with Sage Certification £100 £75 Sage 50 Accounts Stage 1 with Sage Certification £145 £99 Sage 50 Accounts Stage 2 with Sage Certification £145 £99 Sage 50 Accounts Stage 3 with Sage Certification £145 £99 Sage 50 Accounts Stages 1, 2, and 3 with Sage Certification £310 £229 Sage 50 Accounts Professional Classroom Licence (Not for Profit) £310 £235 Sage 50 Payroll Classroom Licence (Not for Profit) £265 £199 Sage 50 Classroom Courses £250 £150

The Benefits of Dealing with

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MARKETPLACE


APPLE HAS introduced an £899 13-inch model to its MacBook Pro line,and updated the existing 15 and 17-inch models.

Announcing the upgrades at thisyear’s Worldwide DevelopersConference, Apple said that theintroduction of the smaller modelwould make its professional range oflaptops more accessible.

Other upgrades to the range

include the introduction of SD cardslots and a more advanced LEDscreen, which the company said willoffer up to 60 per cent more coloursthan previous models.

The new 13-inch and existing 15-inch models will also come withApple’s built-in battery, originallydebuted in the 17-inch MacBook Pro.Apple claims that the new batteriesprovide up to 40 per cent more life

than the previous removable ones.All of the laptops feature Nvidia’s

GeForce 9400M chipset, however onlythe larger 15 and 17-inch models alsohave discrete graphics in the form ofthe GeForce 9600M GT.

The 13-inch model is available intwo models: one with a 2.26 GHzIntel Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM and a160GB hard drive, and another with a2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB of

RAM and a 250GB hard drive.The 15-inch has three available

SKUs: a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duosystem with a 250GB hard drive; a2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo systemwith a 320GB hard drive, and a 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a500GB hard drive.

Finally, the 17-inch mode features a2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processorand a larger 500GB hard drive.

Launches new smaller model, updates others at this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference

Apple updates MacBook Pro range

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To advertise inthis section,

please contactCarly Bailey

Tel: 01992 [email protected]

MARKETPLACE


THE FIRST of the new Packard Bellproducts have emerged since PC vendorAcer acquired the brand in 2007.

The range is apparently targeted atthose who don’t have an encyclopaedicknowledge of IT, but use a PC often.

While retaining the ‘i’ prefix formany of the products, such as theiMedia and iXtreme, new sub-brandssuch as EasyNote for its laptops, Dotfor its netbooks and Maestro for itsmonitors have also emerged.

Dot has two devices launching: theS, which has a 10.1-inch screen, and theM, which has an 11.6-inch screen. Bothfeature multi-gesture touchpads, Wi-Fi,optional Bluetooth, optional 3Gwireless, a VGA webcam and Dolbyheadphones included as standard.

The EasyNote Butterfly is aimed atthe ultra-mobile segment, is less thanone-inch thick and weighs 500g lessthan a standard laptop.

The TR series is targeted at the

designer market, with a glossy cover,matt interior, silver coloured touchpadand ramp speaker. It comes with a 15.6-inch screen and features Dolby’s SoundRoom technology.

Lastly, its NJ, TJ and LJ series areone and the same, with the differentnames referring to screen sizes. The NJis the 14-inch model, the LJ the 15.6-inch model and the LJ is 17.3-inches.

First SKUs unveiled since purchase by Acer in 2007

The range is apparentlytargeted at those who

don’t have anencyclopaedic

knowledge of IT, butuse a PC often

New Packard Bellrange emerges

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MARKETPLACE


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The S12 is slated tolaunch later this year,replacing its current S10and S9 models � Firstnetbook to featureNvidia’s Ion technology

LENOVO launched its latest netbookat this year’s Computex show, loadedwith Nvidia’s Ion graphics platform.

Due to arrive in the US in August(the UK date is yet to be announced)the S12 is the follow up to the S10 andS9 Ideabook models. Both those SKUsperformed well sales-wise for Lenovo.

At 12.1 inches, the device is close toa full sized laptop, and with Nvidiaclaiming Ion is comparable to its

GeForce 9400M chipset, it can beconsidered almost as powerful. Indeed,the graphics vendor is claiming thatIon-based netbooks will be more thancapable of playing some of the latestgames, including Spore, Call of Duty 4and World of Warcraft.

Surprisingly, considering thepurported power of the device, it isonly 1.14-inches thick and weighs in at

1.36KG for the six-cell model. Both theIon and Ion-less models come with1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB HDD, a1.3 megapixel webcam and 802.11b/gwireless capability.

Lenovo has also managed to pack inan express card slot, three USB 2.0ports, a multitouch trackpad, a HDMIport on the Ion-based model and a fullsized keyboard.

Lenovo unveilslatest Ideapad

Nvidia is claiming thatIon-based netbooks willbe more than capableof playing some of the

latest games

DELL USED this year's E3 event tolaunch its first Alienware laptop of theyear – the M17x.

At 17-inches, it is bordering on adesktop replacement, but has morethan enough power to do socompetently. It also has a number offeatures built in to reduce strain on thebattery, prolonging its life on the move.

The model is available in a numberof configurations, with either single ordual 1GB GeForce GTX 280Mgraphics, Intel Core 2 Duo or Core 2Extreme quad core processor, 4GB or8GB of DDR3 RAM, and 512GB to1TB of solid-state disks. It is available ina choice of silver or black.

The device also borrows fromtechnology originally debuted in Apple’snew MacBook range – integratedgraphics in addition to the discretecards, designed to reduce strain on thebattery when the 280Ms aren’t needed.

In addition, the M17x comes with aslot loading optical drive – which canbe upgraded to Blu-ray if desired – aswell as a nine-cell battery, four USBports, eSATA, Firewire, HDMI andsurround sound. It also comes withsupport for 802.11n wirelessnetworking.

Prices start at £1,699 for the basicmodel and go up to £5,000 for the topof the range spec.

Dell steps up gaming with

Alienware

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MARKETPLACE


Prices start at £1,699 for what is officially the mostpowerful gaming laptop on the market

Latest netbook features technology intended to keep users in the loop with optional wide area network

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MARKETPLACE


HP HAS unveiled the latestnetbook in its Compaqbrand, the Mini 110C.Building upon the Mini 700,the new model has beendesigned for communicatingon the move.

The device has a built-inwebcam and microphone,WLAN, as well as optionalWWAN. HP is promotingthese features as key,positioning the 110C as theideal netbook for businesstravellers who need to beable to videoconference whileon the move.

The 110C itself is a 10.1-inch netbook, weighing in at1.17KG for the three-celloption. It also has a 92 per cent fullsize keyboard, three USB ports and a 5-in-1 card reader.

The latest Intel Atom processor

powers the device, while Intel’s GMA950 integrated chipset provides thegraphics. It also has a 160GB harddrive and can be bought with a high

definition video accelerator as anoptional extra.

“Our Compaq Mini 110c packs anawesome array of features in to a cool-looking and ultra-mobile design thatgoes easy on the wallet,” says HP’sconsumer business developmentmanager in the UK, Ben Perrins.

“This makes it the perfectcompanion PC for cost and styleconscious mobile consumers lookingfor supreme connectivity and a familiarWindows experience that can be takenanywhere.”

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HP targets mobile communicators

“Our Compaq Mini 110c packs an awesomearray of features in to a cool-looking and ultra-

mobile design that goes easy on the wallet”Ben Perrins,

HP

ACER HAS announced that it willbegin shipping Google’s Android as an

optional operating system on itsAspire One range ofnetbooks from the

third quarter of 2009.Acer claims it allows faster

connection to the internet andincreased efficiency while on the move.The firm expects the addition to boostdemand for its range of netbooks.

It also revealed its first business classnetbook, the Aspire One Pro 531.Designed for mobility and long use, ithas a 10.1-inch screen, weighs little overa kilo and has over 7.5 hours of batterylife. It is also slim at just 2.5cm thick.

In addition, it offers an 89 per centstandard size keyboard, 802.11g wirelessnetworking and Bluetooth. It can alsobe configured to have integrated 3G,opening up its use as part of aconnected business solution.

“Netbooks are designed to becompact in size and easy to connect tothe Internet wherever you go,” sayspresident of IT Products GlobalOperation, Jim Wong.

“The Android operating system offersincredibly fast wireless connection tothe internet; for this reason, Acer hasdecided to develop Android-basednetbooks for added convenience andconnectivity to our customers.”

Androidenters the PC marketplace

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MARKETPLACE


Acer looks to shake up the OS market � Googlemobile platform to offer alternative to Windows

“The Android operating system offers incrediblyfast wireless connection to the internet; for thisreason, Acer has decided to develop Android-

based netbooks”Jim Wong, Acer

MARKETPLACE


INSPIRED BY real life aircraft andhelicopters, Logitech’s latestperipheral launch is being targetedat flight simulation enthusiasts.

Launched at last month’s E3, theG940 is the latest in Logitech’s highend G-series of controllers.Composed of a joystick, dualthrottle and rudder pedals, thepackage is one of the mostcomprehensive on the market andthe company has high hopes for itin the high-end gaming market.

The controller is also thecompany’s first force feedbacklaunch in its flight sim department.Logitech claims that theintroduction of the technology wasdriven by its desire to make using itas close to the real thing as possible.

“There’s nothing ordinary aboutthe G-Series gaming peripherals,and the G940 is no different,”commented Logitech’s director ofproduct marketing for gaming,Ruben Mookerjee.

“We approached this project withthe goal of redefining the flight simexperience. Whatever you’re flying,the G940 behaves and feels like thereal thing – from takeoff rightthrough to landing.”

The pack is expected to launchin September with an RRP of £279.

New G-series flightsim peripheralspackage designed toprovide mostrealistic experienceto date

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SDA Trading (UK) Ltd, 18 Moulton Street, Manchester, M8 8FQTel: (+44) 0161 819 1515 Fax: (+44) 0870 236 0247

www.sdatrading.com [email protected]

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“There’s nothingordinary about theG-Series gamingperipherals, andthe G940 is no

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Logitech

Logitech takes tothe skies withlatest launch

WESTERN DIGITAL has updated itsMy Book Studio line, with the launchof a four terabyte external hard drive.

Designed to work seamlessly withApple Macs, the new range is targetedat creatives and comes with a variety ofconnections, including eSATA, Firewire800, Firewire 400 and USB 2.0. It alsohas Western Digital’s GreenPowertechnology to conserve power usage.

Western Digital has said that thelarger size would appeal to professionals.“The new My Book Studio Edition II is

the best choice for creative professionalswho require massive capacity and extra-fast performance,” commented the vicepresident of marketing for WesternDigital’s branded product group, DalePistilli. “With four terabytes of capacity,photographers, graphics artists,videographers and home videoenthusiasts alike will have the space theyneed to store hours of high definitionvideo as well as the performance theyneed to run those demanding videoediting applications.”

Western Digitalbeefs up My Book Studio range

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MARKETPLACE


Mac-focused dual external drive boosted to 4TB �Device is aimed at creative professionals

Latest USB dongle designed to entice the stylish consumer with up to 16GB storage

MARKETPLACE


TEAM IS hoping to change the waypeople look at technology with thelaunch of its new Diamond Disk USBmemory stick.

At less than 30mm long, thememory stick has been designed foreveryday use. However, rather than justbe functional, the team behind thedevices development has also aimed toadd a hint of style.

Emblazoned with a Swarovskicrystal, the device is aimed at themarket that wants high technology, butalso wants it to be fashionable. To thatend, the device has won an award fromthe international iF design team at thisyear’s Computex Awards.

“It has been universally admired, byboth men and women,” claimsdistributor Target’s marketing manager,Caroline Spillane. “We have seen menbuying them for themselves, as well asfor their partners.”

However, the actual look of the

memory stick isn’t the only aspect ofthe product that has been carefullydesigned. “The Diamond has a hugecapacity, but at the same time is smallenough to carry in the pocket of the

most fitted outfit and not show.”It is available in a variety of sizes,

from 2GB, right the way through tothe 16GB option and comes withTeam’s lifetime warranty.

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Team targets fashion conscious fans

“We’ve seen menbuying them for

themselves, as well asfor their partners”

Caroline Spillane, Target

MARKETPLACE


Sage Courses from £ Tel No: 01282 866 300 Web: www.SJstartup.co.uk

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Official Sage Training Courses at trade prices.

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leading to the Sage Certificate of Competence.

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Introducing SJ Sage 50 On-Line.

ROCCAT HAS set its sights onhardcore LAN gamers with its latestproduct launch, the Tusko.

Designed to protect flatscreenmonitors, it is aimed at gamers whotake their own equipment with them toevents. The monitor bag offers severalfeatures intended to prevent damage tothe display while on the move, such asrigid plastic plating to resist shocks,strong clip hooks and water repellentmaterial. It fits monitors ranging from15-inch to 19-inch and thanks to theclip hooks, the bag can be tightened orloosened to ensure that the display isheld snugly.

Alongside the ability to holddisplays, the bag has several pouches

designed to hold keyboards, miceand other accessories.

The vendor also has a numberof other products launching thismonth, including its Kave 5.1gaming headset. This offers real5.1 sound surround, as well as avibration function. The productis flexible, with comfort and highquality microphone reception forcompetitive gaming, but alsoclear sound reproduction formovies and music.

It is launching a pair of smallerearphones.

The Vire earphone have stereosound, inline earphones andergonomic design, and are ideal for

when a full headset is eitherimpractical or not allowed. They canalso be used with mobile phones andMP3 players.

These new gaming products areavailable from Meroncourt.

New monitor bag, headphones andearphones look to corner the lucrativeevent gaming market

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Roccatboosts range

MARKETPLACE


US FIRM Cables to Go is lookingto move into the UK market withits line of TruLink Wireless USB toVGA adapter kits.

The products broadcast thesignal from a PC to either a remotemonitor or projector, removing theneed to deal with wires.

With a range of up to ten metres,the kit is aimed at a wide variety ofuses, from classrooms toconferences, as well as living roomsor shop windows.

The product is based on the USBand VGA standards, meaning thatalmost all computers and displayswill be compatible. It also meansthat users of laptops and desktopsdon’t need to be restricted to apoint near to the device.

“We have seen a huge demandfor wireless VGA solutions intraining, classroom and conferenceroom settings, where customerswant simple connectivity fromanywhere in the room, as well assupporting several users,”commented the president of Lastar– Cables to Go’s parent company,Bill Diederich.

He is confident that the devicecan fulfil the needs of manycustomers, and that it is an exampleof how the company isn’t solely tieddown to selling wired solutions.“The Wireless USB to VGAadapter is a demonstration ofCables to Go’s ability to providequality connectivity solutions, thatare both wired, and wireless.”

New UK entrantlaunching wirelessUSB to VGA adapterfor TVs andprojectors

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Cable to Golooks to break UK market

MARKETPLACE


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EPENS HAS launched a duo ofnew SKUs designed to revolutionisethe way that people take notes andinput them into their PC.

Aimed primarily at students,business users, designers or artists,the ePen range enables handwritten notes and drawings to bedigitally transferred to a PC, eitherin real time through the base unitor stored on the pen for extractionat a later date.

ePens is pitching the product as adevice that not only enables digitalcapture of notes, but also helps tocut down on paper waste. It worksby attaching the base unit to thetop of a paper pad, linking that to aPC with installed software, andthen writing away.

“ePens provide the perfectcompromise of traditional anddigital, enabling us to continueusing our pen and paper, but withthe advantage of being able to store,share and retrieve our workdigitally,” comments ePens’managing director, Alan Penman.

The two packages – Mobile Notesand Create – are compatible with awide range of software. MobileNotes is the vendor's handwritten todigital package, and can also beturned into a mouse when needed.Create is its writing, drawing andphoto editing solution, andprovides a genuine alternative toexpensive graphics tablets.

New product rangesdigitise written wordsand drawings forarchiving and use ona computer...

ePens looks tochange writing habits

“ePens provide theperfect compromise

of traditional anddigital, enabling usto continue usingour pen and paper

but with theadvantage of beingable to store, share

and retrieve ourwork digitally”Alan Newman,

ePens

STORAGE AND multimedia distributor CCI

Distribution recently organised a charity

football match for fellow Harrogate

businesses, in order to raise money for St

Michaels’s Hospice, a local care home.

Ten teams took part in the Hornbeam

Charity Football Competition, with CCI

fielding two teams.

“St. Michael’s Hospice is aiming to double

the number of local people it cares for by

2012, so CCI was very keen to get involved

and try to provide a helping hand,” said CCI’s

warehouse assistant manager Chris Rhodes,

who organised the event. “We’re delighted to

have contributed to such a worthwhile cause.”

Left and below is Paul Evison, internet sales

and marketing manager (in the purple),

tackling a player from Nuffield Health Club.

CCI DISTRIBUTION

CHARITY FOOTIEMATCH

THIS MONTH: CCI plays football, Enta wins an award, and a Persil box PC

Off the Record

OFF THE RECORD


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Send your pictures to:andrew [email protected]

OFF THE RECORD


ENTA WINSAWARD

ALTRINCHAM BASED IT repair andretail store Fathom IT has puttogether a recycled PC, with aPersil washing powder box as itschassis. Apparently, the theorybehind the creation was tohighlight the ‘make do and mend’philosophy.

Modelling the device is TonyLane from partner Harold Sharpaccountants (left), and MD NathanEvans (right).

NO TWO days are ever the same, but the main – and mostexciting – part of my role is to constantly seek ways toimprove Target as a business.

One of the great things about Target is that over theyears we have developed a team of people who give us theability to turn ideas – even the madcap ‘wouldn’t it begreat if’ ones – into reality.

We may reject some ideas because they don’t makecommercial sense, but we have never rejected an ideabecause we couldn’t find a way to do it. And this hasresulted in us being the first to market with so many newinitiatives over the years.

In houseWe also design, develop and maintain all of our systems in-house, which means that if we want to completely changethe way we work in any part of the business - whether it behow we source products, manage inventory, set prices,communicate with customers etc – we simply sit down,decide what we want to achieve, work out how to do it,and implement it.

This also means that a large part of my time is spentbouncing ideas around with clever people who can makethings happen, and at any point in time we will typicallyhave a number of exciting projects in progress. We have acurrent project, for example, that we believe will be thefirst of its kind in the UK and will revolutionise the wayproduct information is rolled out to customers.

Madcap ideasWhen we’re not bouncing around madcap ideas, I tend tospend my time on a variety of different things, dependingwhat’s happening at the time. At the moment we’reorganising our Open Day in August, and we have aCustomer Focus Group meeting next week, so we’reworking on a number of things for both.

Paul CubbageTarget Components

A day in the life

“A large part of my time is spentbouncing ideas around with clever

people who can make thingshappen. We typically have a number

of exciting projects in progress”

NEW PCARECRUIT

CLEANCOMPUTING

DISTRIBUTOR ENTATECH was awarded

the ‘software distributor of the year’ at

the recent Microscope Aces awards,

held in the Hurlingham Club, Fulham,

West London.

EntaTech’s group vice president Jon

Atherton and marketing supervisor

Lindsey Fish (pictured) picked up the

prize on the night.

THE PCA has made Ori Yiassoumis(right) from Barking based Hi-GradeComputers and honorary fellow.

Founder Keith Warburton (left)said: “Ori Yiassoumis’ track recordin successfully leading thecompany through severalevolutionary stages of themarketplace is an excellentexample of the responsivenessneeded by all businesses, especiallyin these trying times.”

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Jon Atherton

and Lindsay Fish

Xxx

Xxx

This month, managing director of fixITlocal John

Carter bears all to PCR...

In the

HOT SEATDescribe yourself in three words

To the point.

How do you relax away from work?

A game of golf is always a good way

to relax, and do business. I’m also a

keen Spurs fan, although I’m not sure

if I’d describe that as ‘relaxing’.

What’s your favourite

game/book/film/album?

Depends what you mean by a game –

I’ve played more games of ‘Spoof’

than I’d care to remember and I’m

always up for a game of cards –

though I’d be persuaded never to

gamble of course! As far as books go,

I liked Richard Branson’s Screw It, Let’s Do It – as much for

the title as anything else. On the big screen the Rocky

movies and on the CD player, anything by The Boss (aka

Bruce Springsteen).

What was your first computer?

The first was a Commodore Pet – it sounds twee now but

it was the forerunner of a lot of today's business PCs. The

first proper business PC I had was an ACT Sirius 1 – which

was both 16-bit and 8-bit at the same time and ran two

operating systems; Digital Research’s CP/M was thought to

be superior at the time to Microsoft’s MS-DOS. I seem to

remember a reviewer describing it as ‘A mess DOS’ at the

time - still what did they know?

What’s your best memory from working in the

computing and IT industry?

The early days when we were seeing three-figure growth

rates are hard to beat but in more recent times we’ve had

some great successes working closely with resellers

through DMSL and fixITlocal.

Who’s the funniest person you’ve met?

Sir Alan Sugar – he’s hilarious!

Who do you most admire in the channel today?

No one individual springs to mind. Anyone who can stick

to their principles and their partnerships but still be flexible

enough to adapt and change to the needs of the market

deserves credit. I am not sure if there are that many people

around who can make that claim today.

What did you want to do when you were younger (and

why)? When I was much younger, centre forward for Spurs so I

could stick a hat-trick past Arsenal! Later on, I wanted to

run my own business so that I could do the things I felt

needed to be done and would get results.

BACK PAGE

98 PCR July

“QuoteUNQUOTE“The industry should focus on simplicity and get away from bellsand whistles. The majority of customers are not tech heads. Theyjust want a good experience and good things to happen.Categories that are introduced which are too complicated won'tcome into the market. This industry thrives on innovation, butthe faster the customers understand the technology, the faster itreaches more customers.”

Walmart senior vice president and general merchandisemanager Gary Severson tells this year’s CEO Summit in theUS that innovating for the sake of adding stuff isn't the best

way to do things.

“A very sad day indeed, a complete shock considering its subcriberbase was still at 50,000! All the best to the staff, some of whichhave been in the industry for decades and become close personalfriends to many. You will be greatly missed.”

“This is a sad day. PCW is a magazine that has bucked the trendin most PC magazines and provided interesting articles andprojects, rather than just hundreds of reviews of articles most willnever buy.”

Just a couple of the comments (from Kerri Chard and JeffSmith) made on PCR-online.biz upon the announcement that

Incisive Media was closing consumer PC stalwart PersonalComputer World. Editor Kelvyn Taylor described working on

the magazine as "a real labour of love".

“The majority of customersare not tech-heads. They

just want a goodexperience”

Gary Severson, Walmart

bookmark us in your phone:

mobile.pcretailmag.com

LATESTNEWSSTRAIGHT TO YOUR MOBILE

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Acer recommends Windows Vista® Home Premium.

Acer and the Acer logo are registered trademarks of Acer Incorporated. Copyright 2009 Acer. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, the Windows logo and Windows Vista are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Other trademarks, registered trademarks and/or service marks, indicated or otherwise, are the properties of their respective owners. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. Specifi cations subject to change without notice. Pictures are intended simply to illustrate the product. *SDP relates to Suggested Dealer Price. **with 6 cell battery.

Your second connectionAspire One puts complete wireless freedom in the palm of your hands. Freedom to explore new ways to connect, communicate and interact with the world you care about. Freedom to be yourself anywhere you want to. The Aspire One comes with Windows® XP Home Edition pre-installed delivering a familiar and reliable experience and making it easier to locate and connect to the wireless networks around you.

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Acer and the Acer logo are registered trademarks of Acer Incorporated. Copyright 2009 Acer. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, the Windows logo and Windows Vista are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Other trademarks, registered trademarks and/or service marks, indicated or otherwise, are the properties of their respective owners. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. Specifi cations subject to change without notice. Pictures are intended simply to illustrate the product.

The easy way to mobile Freedom Acer’s ultra-lightweight, ultraportable netbooks are designed to bring you the ultimate in mobile freedom. Combining all the simplicity, quality and ease of use you expect from Acer with everything you need to stay connected, chat and manage your life on the road, these netbooks are set to change your expectations of simplicity on the move.

Acer recommends Windows® for everyday computing.

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pcr issue 70, july 2009

Documents

windows logo

acer logo

intel logo

intel core

new tax

windows vista home premium

digital britain report

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