Torrance Man Strives for Comfort in His PC Parlor

By Muhammed El-Hasan DAILY BREEZE

Tony Musorafite used to fix clients’ computers on a 21-foot workbench in his garage.

But the Torrance resident’s business outgrew his home office. So, in 2000, six years after starting the business, he opened Tony’s PC Parlor in a Torrance strip mall.

Musorafite, 47, grew up in New York tinkering with electronics equipment. He spent six years in the Navy, working as a technician on cryptography equipment. After the Navy, he worked for eight years testing aerospace equipment for Airborne Instrumentation Laboratories in New York. Musorafite’s wife, Shea O’Neal, and son L.T. — short for Little Tony — work with him in the business.

* What does your job entail?

We focus on computer service and repair. And I build computers. I build servers and workstations and L.T. delivers and sets them up.

* How do you know what kind of computer to build?

I find out basically what the customer uses it for, and I go from there.

* How long does it take to build a computer?

From start to finish, maybe an hour and a half. Assembling the hardware is the easy part. Putting in the software is the most time consuming.

* What’s the most powerful personal computer you’ve built?

We built a system about a month and a half ago. The customer is a single father who had a divorce and he got the kids. And he wanted to keep them entertained. So ,he wanted a big gaming system. The system was somewhere around $3,400. It has two 17-inch monitors connected to it. A lot of the games out right now are so video intensive. He paid for a $700 video card.

* What are the main reasons customers bring in their computers for repair?

Spyware, adware and viruses. That’s 90 percent of my business. It’s so bad these days that it’s almost not worth it to clean it up. So, you just do a fresh installation of Windows. We like to wipe the whole system fresh, and put in all the safety precautions.

* What’s the biggest challenge you face?

I need to make sure customers are comfortable with me so they trust me.

* How did you name your business?

It’s a parlor. I’m from back East. So, whenever I think about a parlor, I think about a nice, comfortable place to be. I have served wine and cheese on Friday nights.

* What’s the best part of your job?

The interaction with customers.

* What’s the worst part of your job?

The unexplainable things that happen with computers. When something happens with a computer, the customer never knows why.

* What keeps you up at night?

I stress over getting people’s systems finished. I stress over not being able to get it out in a day or two.

* Do you use your home computer much?

I don’t go home and use a computer. I get home and I want to get to bed. There’s no time for computers. I don’t want to touch a mouse or keyboard when I leave here.

* What are your future plans?

We’re going to start Tony’s Learning Lounge. They’re going to be really laid-back classes. We’ll start out with digital photography and Photoshop.