Hello World

[NorthernSpares]

Tell us a little about yourself
My name is Carl and after circa 10 years of working for other people I have decided to go it alone (Well..... my partner keeps me on the right path too!).

What country do you live in?
I live in the UK, Specifically North East England in Newcastle based a 10 minute walk from the iconic Tyne Bridge

What is your current experience? (Years working on computers, in the business, certifications etc..)
I have been working in 'IT and Communications' for 10 years since leaving school. I was previously employed by BT working in customer support initially and then progressing to remote fault diagnostics. My experience in that field encompassed PSTN, ISDN and ADSL fault finding and resolution, supporting both 'internal' and 'external' customers including end users. I then moved into a similar role with T-Mobile although the focus of this role was more isolation of faults (A vast majority of which were user error) in the Smartphone, Tablet, Mobile Computing and Mobile Broadband areas. Last year T-Mobile and Orange merged and the game changed. This brings me pretty much to present day!

Are you self looking to start a computer business, already have one, working for someone else or something else?
I have one.... The business is ready to go. As you may have guessed by the name the main work that I intend to undertake is the provision of laptop and desktop spares however I have refurbishing 2nd user machines in mind although this will be a smaller part of the business. The business will be formally registered at the beginning of April (New Tax year in the UK) and with some blood, sweat and tears I have nothing but success in mind.

Anything else you would like to share? hobbies etc..
In my spare time I enjoy loud music (All sorts) cold beer and the occasional spot of misbehavior. I have been involved with computing from a young age (My first machine was a 286 and I remember when 5Mb of ram was supercomputing!) and I have my parents to thank for the initiation and pointing out that in the 1990's computing is the future. I have never looked back!

Thanks for taking the time to read my introduction, may I wish you all the best and see you on the forums!

[Cadishead Computers]

Hi Carl and welcome to TN.

I'm sure you will find this site, a mine of information, and knowledgeable people.

Please bear in mind the following tips:

Search the forums (even using Google) before posting new threads. There is lots of gold in the old threads.

When asking questions, provide as much diagnostic info as possible - hardware stats, etc and, especially, what you've already done and its results. Nobody likes "This broke. Help!" threads.

We've all got our opinions and anecdotal 'evidence' on things but being able to cite other sources is also a boon to helping each other learn.

Remember we're an international community.

But above all else, enjoy yourself.

See you around on the forums.

Nice intro. Are you signed up with the MS refurbishment program yet?, if not I can highly recommend it.

[NorthernSpares]

Thanks Nige, it is very much under consideration as a medium term goal at present. Thanks for the tips too, I think from what I have seen so far I will like it here!

Cheers,
Carl