"It is our understanding that Totally Awesome Computers is officially 'going out of business' tonight," said Dan ("The Laptop Man") Young, president and founder of PC Laptops. "As much as I personally feel bad for Dell (Schanze, owner of Totally Awesome Computers) and the Totally Awesome employees, I'm most concerned about their customers. If something goes wrong with your computer, you need to get it fixed right away, and you don't want to wait forever to get it working again. So, just as we have done in the past when other computer manufacturers have closed their operations in Utah (such as Gateway Computers and Micron), PC Laptops is offering free labor service support for at least the next 90 days to all owners of computers made and sold by Totally Awesome Computers."

Although a handshake agreement between the owners of PC Laptops and Totally Awesome Computers kept the two firms focused on different segments of the personal computing marketplace (laptops and desktops, respectively), the two companies are completely separate legal entities with no cross-ownership whatsoever. Additionally, there is no truth to rumors that PC Laptops is buying Totally Awesome Computers, its assets or will become the new owners of Totally Awesome Computers.

"I've always focused PC Laptops on providing the best laptops on the planet with the absolute best service in the world," Young said. "From that standpoint, it's never been my intention to move into the desktop or server computer arena. Nevertheless, when it became clear that Totally Awesome Computers was going to shut down, expanding into desktop and server computers made good business sense to me."

Expanding into the desktop and server computer marketplace will mean that PC Laptops will need to expand its workforce significantly, specifically by 20 to 30 new employees, or 40 percent or greater from its current employee population of nearly 50 employees. To this end, PC Laptops will begin accepting job applications this evening with job interviews starting tomorrow. Individuals interested in being considered for employment with PC Laptops should visit any of the six PC Laptops store locations in Utah for a job application.

"It's our understanding that Totally Awesome Computers will be holding a companywide employee meeting at 7 p.m. tonight at the Jordan Commons theaters in Sandy, Utah, where they will be informed of the company's closure," Young said. "We will then explain our new plans to those present and begin accepting job applications at that time."