‘Cyber’ shop caters to ‘Knights’ despite relocation

Local PC repair and retail shop Cyber Knight Computers moved off Easton Avenue to a larger location at 433 Raritan Ave. in Highland Park, but it still maintains its commitment to providing quality and affordable assistance to University students.
When considering relocating his business from 25 Easton Ave. to a larger location, Owner Mike Beberman said he feared losing his main clients — the students. To keep business, he added a new pick-up, drop-off service.
“This is something I’ve instituted as part of our business,” said Beberman, a University alumnus. “I want to be able to service students. I enjoy employing them, I enjoying servicing their computers, and it’s nice to be a part of the community.”
Customers can call to arrange a time for computer pick-up. After repairs are evaluated, Cyber Knight will call to discuss fees and take payment information by phone so customers never have to set a foot in the store, Beberman said. Once the computer is fixed, an employee will return it. The pick-up/drop-off days are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“We wouldn’t have the ability to do that in New Brunswick,” Beberman said.
The owner said he moved his store for a number of reasons, but a top reason was space.
“This store is about three times the size of the store we had,” Beberman said. “Parking has been a nightmare for years and years, and with the impending construction of the Gateway project, it could really shut us down for a bit.”
He said the continually growing reputation of success for his business necessitated more room.
“The scope of my business has grown to where we’ve got a good reputation from people … and customers that have graduated still travel to my store to do business with me,” Beberman said. “It’s nice to see that.”
He said because his services and products are less expensive and of higher quality than other computer services, he does not fear losing students as customers anymore.
Many customers had to drive to his old store anyway because computers are heavy to carry, so the further distance is not a big hindrance, Beberman said.
The company, which opened on Easton Avenue in 1999, primarily sells and repairs computers and offers other services such as customization.
“Some students have graphic arts computers and they have different needs than people who do music and music composition, so we craft computers to fit their needs. We design them, we build them, we take time to discuss with the customer what they want so we can customize it,” he said.
Beberman, a former University Athletics employee, started his business to help students and enjoys continuing that tradition today.
“We have long-standing ties; [we have] been fans of Rutgers [and] supporters of Rutgers, hence the name Cyber Knight — that wasn’t an accident,” he said.
School of Arts and Sciences first-year student Christina Hunt recently bought a PC laptop for school.
“I don’t know a lot about computers,” Hunt said. “So I would want to ask someone to help explain things to me.”
Beberman said the most common problem he repairs usually involve viruses and spyware.
“We make sure that we sell things like anti-virus, [because] I’d say at least half of our business is removing spyware and viruses from people’s computers,” he said.
At Cyber Knights, virus protection is available for about $35, less than the retail price of about $49.
“As much as I like doing business, I don’t want to see people get hurt by these viruses, so it’s [the] little things we do to price it so it’s more affordable,” Beberman said.
He also suggests running scans as often as possible, checking for Internet and software updates, cleaning out laptop vents, backing up information and not spilling beverages on the computer.
“There’s a lot of basic maintenance that goes on. [Computers are] such a basic part of the day for people now; they grab it like a purse or something and you’ve got to remember it’s still a piece of electronics,” Beberman said.
Cyber Knights also offers a diagnostic and maintenance service to clean out and optimize your PC for $69 to prevent more expensive repairs in the future.
School of Arts and Sciences sophomore Mark Kim said he thinks computer services can often be overpriced but necessary if you don’t know how to fix your computer.
“I think it depends on the individual situation,” he said.
Mark Mucci, a University alumnus, enjoys working at Cyber Knight Computers despite holding a full-time job as an elementary school music teacher.
“I’ve stayed here because it’s a good job,” said Mucci, who started working there in 2006. “You see a lot of different people come through. It [was] nice to have [had] the shop in the middle of New Brunswick, and the new shop in Highland Park is also a big step up for the store.”