3 Year Collect and Return Warranty as Standard
31.05.02

Customer Care Ahead of The Industry Standard

June 2002 will see Rock Group Plc celebrating its 10th year anniversary with the announcement of another exclusive Industry 1st. rockdirect.com is set to revolutionise it’s standard warranty package, ensuring it offers the most comprehensive after sales service of any notebook manufacturer.

Ten years ago Rock entered the notebook market with the launch of their NP-IOI notebook, featuring a 16MHz 386SX CPU, 1Mb RAM, 20Mb HDD and an 8.5" mono LCD. It was to be the first of many milestones in Rock’s history with their inspiration driving many of the major advances in notebook technology. This year has been no different, as rockdirect.com launched the world's first notebook based on Intel's most advanced x86 microprocessor, the Pentium 4, making the Rock Xeno the first true “full performance” desktop replacement notebook.

Recent research shows that both Consumers and SME’s, who require laptop computers, view Reliability, Quality, Service and Cost Effectiveness as the four most important attributes in the purchase decision criteria. Customers are reluctant to purchase low cost notebook computers from manufacturers who can offer little in the way of warranties and after sales technical support. rockdirect.com has responded to this need.

To show further commitment to the portable computer industry, rockdirect.com have pioneered a new approach to Customer Service by introducing a 3-year Insurance backed, Collect and Return Warranty to it's notebook range. This exceptional warranty offering will be of great value to all customers who are perhaps reluctant to purchase extended warranties due to budgetary constraints. In addition, Businesses and Educational establishments will have the guaranteed comfort of knowing that they will not incur any additional costs for 3 years, thus reducing the overall cost of IT ownership.

“It is now 10 years on from when we started”, says Nick Boardman, Managing Director “and during this time we have witnessed many technological advances, with the only one constant being our commitment to the notebook computer market. We are continually looking for ways to differentiate ourselves from the competition, whilst offering increased added value for our customers, and so it is with great personal pride that we establish yet another industry benchmark.”

“A Service and Support that is quite simply second to none” has always been one of the prime philosophies for rockdirect.com and they are pleased to be the first and only notebook manufacturer to offer a warranty package of this kind as standard. Designed to give customers the security and peace of mind they demand, Rock’s 3-year Collect and Return Warranty will deliver unrivalled support to Home and Business Users everywhere. Now that's what you call total customer satisfaction.

Editors note: rockdirect.com, a division of Rock Group Plc, is one of the UK’s leading notebook specialist manufacturers now in its 10th year of trading.
For further information, please contact Sarah Chard (PR and Marketing Manager) at rockdirect.com on 08702 203 608, fax 08709 90 90 91 or email sarah.chard@rockdirect.com

Inspired Technology From Rock Group Plc

1992. Rock Computers entered the notebook arena with the launch of their NP-101 notebook. Featuring a 16MHz 386SX CPU, 1Mb RAM, 20Gb HDD and an 8.5” MONO LCD.
1993. Rock Computers launched the NP-603. One of the UK’s first colour notebooks. It won the prestigious IF design award at Cebit ’93, Europe’s largest computer exhibition.
1994. Our Modulus was the first “Modular” 486DX-33 TFT notebooks, offering swappable drive bays.
1995. Quintet launched. The UK’s first Pentium based notebook with integrated CD-ROM.
1998. In April, the Mentor was one of only two machines supporting the new 13.3” XGA TFT screen but the only one supporting a 200MHz MMX Pentium processor. The Agenda 980 was the first notebook in the UK market to feature the latest Pentium 300MHz MMC-II CPU with AGP chipset, 8Mb ATI Rage LT Pro graphics adaptor and a 2 x DVD drive all as standard.
2000. Rock computers underlined their position, as one of the UK’s largest and most successful notebook manufacturers, by changing their name to rockdirect.com reflecting the company’s continued commitment to e-commerce. The new rockdirect.com website was launched, making the notebook purchasing process easier and more convenient for both new and existing customers. Working in partnership with Initial City Link, rockdirect.com also featured an on-line tracking facility. The year 2000 saw a significant milestone for rockdirect.com, receiving 24 awards from industry experts of leading IT publications.
2001. The Rock Sigma Si was released with overwhelming praise. Receiving 7 independent industry awards from leading PC magazines within the first month of release and was the first Pentium III based 1Ghz notebook to feature an integrated CD-RW Drive.
2002.The Rock Xeno P4 was launched. Rock Group Plc celebrated its 10th year anniversary by putting customer care ahead of the industry standard. Rock continued to be focused on it’s customers and were the first notebook manufacturer to introduce a 3 Year, Insurance backed, Collect and Return Warranty on all their notebook computers.

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