Articles
Blogs
Kits
Forums
I have been looking at a special technician item called a “Top Deck Tech Station” (see right) for a few weeks andwondering whether I should order one from America until the other day when I discovered that a local supplier was stocking them so I picked one up.
So what is a “Top Deck Tech Station”? In the words of its makers it is:
The HSPC Tech Station (patent pending) is a fast-access computer case – a hardware workbench bringing PC components within easy reach yet keeping them safe and secure.
The Tech Station makes a perfect workstation for computer hobbyists, overclockers, frequent upgraders, IT Professionals, PC Shops. – For anyone needing frequent and fast access to internal PC components.
With tool-less storage for all PC components* it has solid non-conductive construction and lots of great features…
There are a few features I really like about my Tech Station (other than how accessible the motherboard is) and that is the ATX control kit that comes with it. The ATX control kit has a little power switch, a reset switch, HDD LED, Power LED and a PC speaker. I also really like how they have done the motherboard standoffs. Most of them are just soft rubber parts that stop the motherboard from sliding around but there are also two threaded posts to go through the holes that hold it in place. The point of this is that if you want to change the motherboard that is on it, all you need to do is lift it upwards and it comes off. You also have the option to screw a nut on the threaded post for a more permanent solution.
They are a little expensive based on the materials involved and the assembly takes time, but I was glad I bought it from the very first time I used it. My first use was when I had a clients computer that wouldnt post. I loaded their CPU and RAM onto the motherboard that was installed on my tech station and it was nice to have so much room rather than trying to squeeze parts into a tight case.
The second time I was really glad I had one was when I was using it for data recovery on a clients computer. I left the computer installed on my tech station running for hours and when I came back I noticed that my CPU fan had stopped spinning. I immediately thought this was going to be a big problem so I jiggled the mouse to see if it was still working at the system was running fine, not locked up or dead like I expected. I put my hand on the cpu heatsink and discovered it was completely cool to the touch. It turns out that the big 120mm fan on the side of the tech station was keeping the cpu heatsink cool enough which saved my CPU from potentially frying.
I have only had mine for about a week, I have used it many times since and I am glad I have one. Its definitely an asset to my business.
To buy them:
USA & Canada – Xoxide.com is selling them for $79.99 USD
UK – There are UK based sellers such as KustomPCs selling them for £72.50 but you would be better off ordering one from the official tech station site because it works out cheaper (£43.09) to have one shipped from the US.
Australia – I bought mine from PCCaseGear.com.au for $119 AUD. I buy from them frequently.
If you want more information you can read the makers site here.
Very cool i was thinking of putting together something like this for myself I’m gonna buy one ASAP thanks Bryce
I was thinking about building a similar setup and mounting the components to a board for easy access. I’d rather drop the coin and save myself the headache.
Bryce,
You ever think about putting a bunch of techs together so we can pull some bulk discounts?
I have one and I love it. I’ll never go back to having a standard PC as my test setup. NEVER!
I purchased one about a year ago, and like you all I love the ease of access and use. Saves fishing around a tight case.
About how big is it? The pictures are a bit deceiving.
I built something similar for bulk testing componets while at TAFE In Townsville Qld back in 2000. It just consisted of a motherboard tray from an old Pentium III based desktop with standoffs for the motherboard and a seperate 5.25 and 3.5 inch tray pop riverted into position to take optical drives and hard drives. Every component could be removed quite quickly and allowed for easy bulk testing of components. This is a step better than the one I built and will order one today for work.
Does anybody know of any UK sellers with these in stock? I’ve looked at ordering direct from the official site but with shipping charges it works out at about £90
Thanks Bryce,
I need one of these. This is awesome!
Waste of money. You can easily do most hardware testing with just a GNU/Linux CD. Testing the CPU isn’t going to work that easily since people have different CPUs. You’d need quite a few of these to do anything live. I’m not hauling around a various types of laptops and desktops just to test the CPU. When these issues happen it is generally not worth fixing anyway- and you can easily give a customer a price on the fix letting them know the situation (it is either a CPU or motherboard issue) and it is pricey to fix. If they want to continue with the fix (maybe they spent allot of money on the system/or it is new/or it has important data/configuration/etc) you’ll have to order a part and schedule another appointment. If they need it asap check around for parts.
I usually just calculate the cost of the motherboard/CPU and charge them to replace both in terms of parts-followed by a single installation charge.
I have a $40 basic service charge (I cover customers up to 45-60 minuets away) and various other charges depending on what needs to be done. If it was a CPU/Motherboard it would be $40 basic service charge, $40 diagnostic charge, and $129.99 installation charge, plus cost of parts at retail. The parts I’d then order as cheap as possible online. This way I’d make $50 or so probably off the CPU/motherboard. If the motherboard cost me $40 and the CPU $10. Is $350 worth it? Likely it isn’t. When that happens you charge them for the diagnostic and basic service charge. $80. Then you can sell them other services when they need to transfer data. That would be $40 basic service charge and $30-$50 for a data transfer, ($30-$100) anti-virus software, software installations ($30), etc. Sometimes you can sell them printers and other devices as well since Vista/MS Windows 7 aren’t 100% compatible with most printers. I also often sell people on GNU/Linux. Specifically Ubuntu. Ubuntu works allot better for most people-although it is often better to sell them a whole computer than installing it on hardware that wasn’t designed for it.
My suggestion for penguin computer is ThinkPenguin. They sell systems designed for GNU/Linux-unlike everybody else. I’ve had problems with Dell, System76, and LinuxCertified. Dell sucks with GNU/Linux and they sell you systems that don’t work or have chipsets with non-free drivers that ensure that things like suspend to ram don’t work. System76 & Dell don’t offer the level of support most end-users need on GNU/Linux. ThinkPenguin offers an toll-free support number (which is actually good for you as a repair tech cause you then only get computer repair issues and don’t waste time on the phone with customers who aren’t paying you). They also include remote technical support (even through firewalls/routers), support utilities to help users navigate the web (avoid non-friendly GNU/Linux content, not that most users encounter it… but just in case), and branding (important cause they provide quality systems that users are happy with vs the competitors which don’t and if you recommend the competitors you’ll get blamed for their bad support) etc. ThinkPenguin also out-sources repair work with their warranties so you won’t loose out either if you contact them and let them know you are recommending their computers in your area. Compare that to Dell and others which have their own tech support teams. I’ve sold two systems here in the last week or two which is awesome cause I know I’ll be getting any future work as a result plus the added services (data transfers,etc) that I sold personally.