By Jennifer Pund
JAMESTOWN
Most everyone experiences the frustrating feeling that comes with a frozen computer screen, broken smartphone or printer that won’t work. Before tossing your electronics out a window, call Sal DeVincenzo at Affordable PC Medic. Not only can the Peak to Peak-area resident fix PC or Mac computers, he understands the exasperation felt by users and is sympathetic to the mountain resident. Most of all, he wants to develop long-term trust and, ultimately, friendship.

Affordable PC Medic offers assistance with laptop, desktop, phone and camera issues as well as training. Get help with repairs and network problems; new system advice, set-up and training; data back up and recovery solutions; virus and malware prevention and removal; and digital photography, editing and camera training. DeVincenzo works on or off site and offers free pick-up and delivery to certain locations. Get support for Microsoft and Apple systems as well as office applications, desktop hardware, printers, network devices, phone integration, firewalls and routers. Basically, it’s full service IT support for mountain residents, seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Affordable PC Medic was founded by Jamestown resident Robert Hastings who “handed over” the business to DeVincenzo about a decade ago when he no longer had time for it. DeVincenzo remembers purchasing it for the cost of the company’s Yellow Pages ad contract at the time as well as the start of a 10-year friendship. “It was something like $100 a month, or whatever was left on the contract,” DeVincenzo said. “[Hastings] and I became friends, and still are to this day, because he was so generous in asking me if I wanted to basically take over his business for almost nothing.”

DeVincenzo had already been working with things people depend on for more than 25 years. “I started my life in Colorado with a car repair shop, which lead me to learn about computers,” he recalled. “Back then everything we did in the shop revolved somehow around computers, and they didn’t work so well. So we couldn’t print, or it wouldn’t talk to another computer, so that inspired my learning.”

The switch from the automobile business to computer repair was a natural step for DeVincenzo. “[The two] are very similar because people totally depend on those four-wheel devices and they get very frustrated when they don’t work or they don’t have them. Computers are exactly the same way,” he explained. “They are as ubiquitous as cars are, and [people] are just as dependent on them, too. As computers, smartphones and the internet became more common, I saw the need to help people learn and understand it.”

A self described “absolute-natural-problem-solver,” DeVincenzo feels very comfortable taking on jobs that tend to frustrate others. He attributes this to personality traits that help him understand a frustrated user, as well as know how to remedy the situation.

“You have to have a certain kind of personality to deal with people that are frustrated with some kind of device, and then deal with the device,” he explained. “I know how to make people feel at ease when explaining the problem to me and I am good at translating that into what the fix is. Then, I have a talent in patience with the tenacity to stick with it until I figure it out and get it done. It’s just my personality.”

DeVincenzo, a resident of Bar-K Ranch above Jamsetown, knows the challenges of living in a remote location and has compassion for people who live in the mountains and depend on their technology. “If you call [Best Buy’s] Geek Squad, they might not even find your house,” he said. “I have lived up here 25 years, I am mountain-smart and have the car to get in the driveway if there is snow. I also know mountain people aren’t made of money and tend to live a little more lean than city slickers.”

Serving the Peak to Peak region from Estes Park to Rollinsville, DeVincenzo says help is only a phone call away. “Most likely you will speak to me when you call,” DeVincenzo said, “and I don’t rely on an automated phone service unless I absolutely can not answer. Our specialty is one-on-one help, so I am always available.”

DeVincenzo enjoys meeting people and making connections with his clients. “Connecting the dots and networking is fun to me,” he said. “Figuring out who you know that I know, that’s what I get out of the whole thing. When I am done with the computer work, and the customer is happy—that’s great—but, somehow I made a friend when it was all finished and it’s all about connection.”

Affordable PC Medic has been handpicked by Amazon.com to be listed with their Home Services. “This means we meet their high-quality bar, have passed their thorough background check and are professionally licensed and certified. We are constantly monitored for performance and reviews and our services are backed by their ‘Happiness Guarantee,’” DeVincenzo said.

Call or e-mail for a free consultation and visit the company’s website to see how Affordable PC Medic can move any home or business into the 21st century and keep them running once they’re there.

Affordable PC Medic is located at 538 Ranch Road, Bar-K Ranch in Western Boulder County. Contact Sal DeVincenzo at 303-402-9190, e-mail sal@affordablepcmedic.com or visit www.affordablepcmedic.com for more information.

Originally published in the April 2015 issue of the MMAC Monthly