It isn't uncommon for people to ask me to name a price for the service they think they want. It can often be difficult to produce a price out of thin air, and I would always try to avoid quoting you a price which might then be subject to change. I much prefer to find out your exact requirements and then give you a price based on my understanding of those.
Please see below for a description of the types of service I'm offering.

Website Design

As a very rough guide, a fairly simple website (such as this one) would start from around £300.

For that, you would get:

  • Full involvement in the selection of content and styling of your site;
  • Full progress updates as the site's construction takes place;
  • The ability to preview your site at all times, as a subset of this one;

What you DON'T get:

  • Web Hosting:
    • I will liaise with you to find a hosting company that suits your needs and budget;
    • I will also liaise with you to try and find a domain name that suits your purposes, and guide you through the registration process as required.
  • Graphic Design:
    In common with a lot of software developers, I am useless at graphic design. I'm more than happy to design you a website that incorporates your logo and any images that you might want and do so in a way that reflects your logo's colour-scheme, but I have no talent for designing clever graphics.
  • Technical Jargon:
    • It's in nobody's interest for me to speak to you in a language that you don't understand. All that does is leave you confused by what I'm saying;
    • If I do lapse into what sounds like a foreign language, feel free to ask me for clarification;
    • I'll always do my best to try and explain myself;

Home Internet

As with most things these days there is now a wealth of possibilities out there for home and business broadband.
If you're looking for a new setup and are completely confused by the options, I can help you.
Maybe you already have the internet but have yet to embrace wireless in your home/business. I can provide full consultancy on issues such as:

  • Suitable placement of your wireless router;
  • Advice on how to extend the range of your wireless signal;
  • Advice on how to reduce signal interference (a major cause of wireless instability);
  • In extreme cases I can liaise with your provider to help resolve your issues. Such a service would require an onsite presence since it would almost certainly require you to give your provider permission to deal with me on your behalf;
Because of the range of possibilities it would be entirely wrong of me to give you a price without knowing more about your particular issue(s).

Laptops & PCs

It's happened to all of us at some point: you sit down at your PC or laptop with the intention of sorting out your household finances, and the machine decides it doesn't fancy it. In the past you've dealt with telephone-based support engineers so you know that the first step is almost always to switch it off and back on again. In times like these the range of possible causes can be quite daunting and you quickly feel that you're out of your depth. While an issue can sometimes be catastrophic, I can help you. There is however a caveat:

If your hardware is still within the warranty period, I would always recommend that you contact your retailer or manufacturer and ask them to deal with the problem. I have yet to find a warranty whose small-print doesn't include an insistence that repairs should be carried out by qualified personnel. Sadly it isn't me they're referring to.

If you can't contact your provider, or your warrant is already void/expired, I'm more than happy to help. Over the years I've:

  • Built PCs from scratch;
  • Replaced countless components*;
  • Cleaned the insides of laptops to make them run cooler and more quietly;
  • Provided advice and support on the reasons behind a laptop being noisy and/or generating excessive heat;

If your hardware does require new components, I'm happy to source these for you. Where possible I'll provide you a range of prices to choose from, and will then either purchase the item(s) on your behalf and charge you the purchase price plus consultation and installation fee or advise you on where to go for the item(s) yourself and simply charge you the consultation and installation fee.

* It should be noted that the internal workings of laptops and tablets are not as user-serviceable as those of PCs, but I'll be happy to investigate and advise as required. Also note that whilst I may be able to replace a laptop screen, I do not offer a mobile device screen replacement service.
** Depending on the cost of the parts, you may be asked to provide the funds in advance. All consultation and installation costs would be charged after completion of the work.