| | Computer Upgrades Piraino Enterprises is the only firm you need to call in the Chicago area for Computer Upgrades. Most upgrades performed On Site.
One Company. One Call. Piraino Enterprises.
Our reputation for professional friendly, fast and dependable computer upgrades for Small Businesses and the home user is known throughout the Chicago area.
Piraino Enterprises can upgrade your hardware instead of replacing your computer. Upgrading your operating system, drivers, memory, video card, sound card, motherboard, network card, CD-ROM, DVD, DVD-RW, CD-Rewriter, DSL modems, broadband routers and internet sharing, can optimize your computers performance to today's standards.
Piraino Enterprises will evaluate your computer upgrade needs, design the proper upgrade requested. Schedule the implementation of computer upgrade needs when your schedule permits.
Hardware upgrades are priced Per Job based on the type of system and the upgrade requested. Parts and installation will be included. Companies with more than four computers are eligible for our service and/or maintenance contracts.
Contact us for an initial consultation at no charge.
Upgrade Requirements
Free Expansion Slots
A free expansion slot is a long electrical connector on the motherboard that is empty. Expansion slots are needed to plug in additional devices like modems, video cards, sound cards, ect. There are three types of expansion slots: ISA, PCI, and AGP.
ISA slots. The original 8 bit slots from the IBM PC. They are mostly used now for modems and older sound cards. Soon they will be extinct. Most new computers no longer have ISA slots.
PCI slots. The newer 16 bit slot (twice the transfer rate of the ISA slot), should be used for your video card (unless you have an AGP slot, see below) and any additional hard drive or SCSI controllers. Basically, any device that needs to be fast should be in a PCI slot.
AGP slot. Advanced Graphics Port. These are found on all new computers except for certain low-priced Celeron and Duron computers.
If your system has an AGP slot you should have an AGP video card. AGP cards can either be double speed (2X) or quad speed (4X). Motherboards and video cards with 8X AGP have been announced and should soon be available for purchase.
Make sure any computer system you buy has at least one or more free PCI expansion slots for future upgrades. Free ISA slots would only benefit those with older add in devices.
External Expansion Connectors.
USB - All new computers have USB (universal serial bus) connectors. USB connectors are good for attaching printers, scanners, flash drives, cameras etc. It is possible to add additional USB ports to a desktop or laptop by buying a USB hub.
USB 2.0 - The updated version of USB. USB 2.0 is about 40 times faster than the original USB (USB 1.0). This allows high-speed devices like hard drives, fast CD-RW drives, and DVD drives to perform about as fast as an internal PCI connection.
New computers are just starting to be sold with USB 2.0 connectors. All USB 2.0 connectors are also compatible with USB 1.0 devices.
Firewire/IEEE 1394 - Invented by Apple, this port currently has about the same speed as a USB 2.0 port. These ports are very popular with digital video camera users. While all Apple computers now have Firewire ports, most PCs do not.
Tip: USB 2.0 and Firewire PCI expansion cards can be purchased to upgrade your PC.
Free Drive Bays.
Free drive bays are necessary to add additional hard drives, Removable Drives, CD-ROM, CD-RW, or DVD players.
Know What You are Buying.
The low priced slimline, integrated, compact, and spacesaver type desktop systems should be reviewed very carefully for soldered on components, free slots, and free drive bays. When in doubt, stay away from compact or spacesaver systems.
Often by spending $200-$400 more for a Pentium 4 or Athlon XP based system, you can get twice the performance and more features. You will also have an upgradeable computer that will serve you well for another 3 years.
If you choose the $700 Celeron/Duron system to save a few bucks, keep in mind that in a year or two you will probably want to replace it as it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to upgrade.
Why search for help when your equipment fails One Company. One Call. Piraino Enterprises.
When high-tech help is needed One Company. One Call. The highly trained employees of Piraino Enterprises can handle all your computer upgrade needs.
One Company. One Call. Piraino Enterprises. Our customers have had the convenience and economical solution of dealing with only One Company for all of their computer upgrade products. Our service department has the ability to identify most product's manufacture with or without the brand names for ease of upgrades.
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