I would say that 90% of every computer I see has at least a surge protector handling its power. The lightning in the Highlands makes it a necessity. If you use a surge suppressor strip, did you know it is only good for one surge? Its essentially a fuse with outlets. Once the fuse blows you have no protection. Thats why the light goes out or flickers. Take a look at your surge protector , NOW! It may need replaced.
Many have got the word and use an UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to provide not only surge protection, but brown out protection. Brown out means low power. Our friends, Virginia Power, consistantly provides less then 120 volts AC to the Highlands. A UPS can make sure that your PC sees exactly 120 volts of pure AC power. Prices start about $50.00 and can protect your computer investment. Many UPS have network and phone line protection that is necessary in the mountains. I've seen way too many modems and routers get fried by surges in their systems.
What I don't see is people using UPS with their expensive electronics. Stereos, HDTVs, CD/VCR players, and Satellite dish electronics should all be protected by a UPS. They are even more sensitive to surges and power fluctuations. Check out your situation and let us know if we can help.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
#160 - Windows 7 is coming
Happy Bastille Day! Today we'll take a first look at Microsoft's new operating system, catchily named Windows 7. This replacement for the disaster named Vista is due out October 22. Even now you can buy a PC from HP and get a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it comes out. Not sure I would jump on that wagon quite yet. So lets see what improvements Windows 7 has besides having a different name. All our comments are based on the "beta" (that means trial) version of Windows 7 available today.
The best news is that Windows 7 is that it is faster and requires less resources then Vista. All the trial test show speed comparable to XP with slightly faster start ups and shut downs. The downside is that many of the Vista bells and whistles are still around - Aero, the graphics interface being one that not many will use, but take up huge amounts of Windows 7 resources. Windows 7 does have an "XP Mode" that will allow anything that ran on XP to run on Windows 7. This is a major big deal for business. Now whether the "XP Mode" runs as fast as original XP is what users will have to test out with their software.
The improvement's that Microsoft thinks we need are as follows: The taskbar has been given more functionality (hmmm sounds like Apple's OS X). You can pin documents and programs there and there are jump lists that open your most frequently used items. Thumbnail previews have been added in the system so you no longer have to guess at what is in a document when you hover over it with your arrow. Of course you may need bifocals or a magnifying glass to use this feature. For sharing files Microsoft has added something called Homegroups that makes it easier to share files in your group or at home between users. Microsoft calls Windows 7 their most "stable" operating system ever and that is what users want. The bugs and quirks of Vista have made many scared (and rightfully so) of new operating systems. An unstable release of Windows 7 might be a fatal disaster for Microsoft.
The best news is that Windows 7 is that it is faster and requires less resources then Vista. All the trial test show speed comparable to XP with slightly faster start ups and shut downs. The downside is that many of the Vista bells and whistles are still around - Aero, the graphics interface being one that not many will use, but take up huge amounts of Windows 7 resources. Windows 7 does have an "XP Mode" that will allow anything that ran on XP to run on Windows 7. This is a major big deal for business. Now whether the "XP Mode" runs as fast as original XP is what users will have to test out with their software.
The improvement's that Microsoft thinks we need are as follows: The taskbar has been given more functionality (hmmm sounds like Apple's OS X). You can pin documents and programs there and there are jump lists that open your most frequently used items. Thumbnail previews have been added in the system so you no longer have to guess at what is in a document when you hover over it with your arrow. Of course you may need bifocals or a magnifying glass to use this feature. For sharing files Microsoft has added something called Homegroups that makes it easier to share files in your group or at home between users. Microsoft calls Windows 7 their most "stable" operating system ever and that is what users want. The bugs and quirks of Vista have made many scared (and rightfully so) of new operating systems. An unstable release of Windows 7 might be a fatal disaster for Microsoft.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
#159 - Keeping the planet green with Technology
I've recently seen some interesting new gadgets that try to help us be more green. Lets take a look at some.
The Eco-Kettle tackles the problem of wasting energy by boiling too much water. The Eco-Kettle lets you select the exact amount of boiled water you need and then does the job. The kettle uses 30% less energy in boiling water to boot! Here is more information on the Ec0-Kettle:
The pressure sensitive bath mat takes a simple concept and works to save you money and water. Position the mat in your shower near the shower head. When you are on the mat you get that lovely hot shower. Move off the mat and the water stops while you scrub. Now why didn't I think of that? Samsung Design
We have often thought that getting a new cell phone every other year has to be a huge waste in for the environment. Nokia agrees and has begun making a cell phone made out of recycled materials. I hope Apple and Motorola follow Nokia's lead. Nokia Ink 01
There are several new composting machines on the market that you can put in your kitchen or garage to produce great soil for your home and garden plants. Here is a site with lots of information: Composting in the home!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
#158 - Survivors of the Technology Boom
So who is left? From the PC wars we have HP, Apple and Dell. I'm glad PCSS is a long time HP reseller we have see the company get better and better at making PCs and Printers. Dell's business model of direct sales is good for some people, but thankfully not for all. IBM, AST, Compaq, and hundreds of other PC brands never made it to 2009. Apple has been around since the beginning listening to a different drummer.
In the printer wars Lexmark (old IBM), HP, Canon and Epson are still making printers. HP has the lion's share of the market and gets very good quality ratings. Lexmark is low end, Canon and Epson make decent high end printers.
Monitors are made by just a few companies in China and Korea. They then put a label on them that you recognize (Viewsonic, LG, Samsung, Sony etc). The quality is so good that almost all monitors come with a little used 3 year warranty. Great Wall Computer, Hong Kong THFT Co., Daewoo, Ma Labs are some of the bigger manufactures. A very detailed look at your monitors documentation will let you know who makes it.
Network equipment is dominated by Cisco/Linksys, Netgear, Dlink and Belkin also hold major positions in consumer products. Cisco, 3Com, Nortel and Juniper are big in business applications. Wireless networks haven't changed the players, they just started to make wireless gear.
Is there room for new computer equipment manufacturer? Well they start up all the time in Asia, they just don't market here under there names. We tend to like nice western names for our computer equipment manufacturers.
In the printer wars Lexmark (old IBM), HP, Canon and Epson are still making printers. HP has the lion's share of the market and gets very good quality ratings. Lexmark is low end, Canon and Epson make decent high end printers.
Monitors are made by just a few companies in China and Korea. They then put a label on them that you recognize (Viewsonic, LG, Samsung, Sony etc). The quality is so good that almost all monitors come with a little used 3 year warranty. Great Wall Computer, Hong Kong THFT Co., Daewoo, Ma Labs are some of the bigger manufactures. A very detailed look at your monitors documentation will let you know who makes it.
Network equipment is dominated by Cisco/Linksys, Netgear, Dlink and Belkin also hold major positions in consumer products. Cisco, 3Com, Nortel and Juniper are big in business applications. Wireless networks haven't changed the players, they just started to make wireless gear.
Is there room for new computer equipment manufacturer? Well they start up all the time in Asia, they just don't market here under there names. We tend to like nice western names for our computer equipment manufacturers.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
#157 - Freeware - The truely free lunch
We've all heard there is no such thing as a free lunch. If its free your really can't afford it. We've found those sayings generally true. There are some free things for PCs that we use every day. There are also items that are supposedly free that are really spyware.. Buyer beware so to speak. All of the programs mentioned here can be downloaded safely at www.download.com Here are some of our favorites:
For handling pictures we use Picasa from Google. It does a very nice job of photo organization and basic editing. For more advanced editing we use the Paint program built into windows (Start, All Programs, Accessories, Paint) or the great photo editing program GIMP. GIMP is more complex to use then Photoshop, but hey the price is right!
Managing music is more problematic. We use iTunes (free from Apple) to handle our music (we do confess that this is on our Apple Mini, but it works the same on a PC). We love how it displays and sorts our music. We aren't so thrilled about how it organizes the music on a hard disk (it doesn't and that can be a problem). Microsoft's Windows Media Player has so many issues that being free isn't a plus.
The best program to find out information about your PC is the Belarc Advisor. It does a thorough job of letting you know what hardware and software is in your system. Belarc will give you a nice print out that you should keep around. No shortage of good information here.
Browsers are free and there are no shortage of them out there. Our favorites are Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. They both are quick and have extra protection features for searching the Internet. Speaking of protection, You know we use AVG antivirus in both its free and paid versions. The paid version just has better real time protection. For removing spyware/malware on an infected system Malware bytes is the leader by far.
And last for this blog, but certainly not least is Open Office. This Microsoft Office Clone has programs that read and write Word/Excel/PowerPoint files and lots more. Beware that this is a huge download (not for dialup users).
For handling pictures we use Picasa from Google. It does a very nice job of photo organization and basic editing. For more advanced editing we use the Paint program built into windows (Start, All Programs, Accessories, Paint) or the great photo editing program GIMP. GIMP is more complex to use then Photoshop, but hey the price is right!
Managing music is more problematic. We use iTunes (free from Apple) to handle our music (we do confess that this is on our Apple Mini, but it works the same on a PC). We love how it displays and sorts our music. We aren't so thrilled about how it organizes the music on a hard disk (it doesn't and that can be a problem). Microsoft's Windows Media Player has so many issues that being free isn't a plus.
The best program to find out information about your PC is the Belarc Advisor. It does a thorough job of letting you know what hardware and software is in your system. Belarc will give you a nice print out that you should keep around. No shortage of good information here.
Browsers are free and there are no shortage of them out there. Our favorites are Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. They both are quick and have extra protection features for searching the Internet. Speaking of protection, You know we use AVG antivirus in both its free and paid versions. The paid version just has better real time protection. For removing spyware/malware on an infected system Malware bytes is the leader by far.
And last for this blog, but certainly not least is Open Office. This Microsoft Office Clone has programs that read and write Word/Excel/PowerPoint files and lots more. Beware that this is a huge download (not for dialup users).
Thursday, May 21, 2009
#156 - Watching TV on the Net
Its rerun season. For whatever reason - you know it has to be money - The major networks close out their prime time season in May and send us the reruns or the Class B shows for the summer. It used to be if you missed an episode (or even a series) you had to have recorded it or wait for the rerun. That's no longer the case. The networks own sites have full episodes of programs available for view (with commercials). There are also sites that allow you watch whole seasons of prime time content at your convenience. Hulu, and Joost let you pick which program you want to watch and then it comes up with reduced (but still there) commercials. NBC & ABC support Hulu and Joost has a selection of all network shows. There are live TV feeds on the Internet so if you have Internet, but no TV you can watch programs.
All this brought to mind where the future of TV is heading. We are so busy, that it is tough for us to commit to watching a program at the same time every week. The advent of the VCR broke that chain, but the actual implementation of taping shows wasn't so hot (who hasn't had to read the manual 3 times to make sure a VCR would record). Next came TIVO(DVR technology) - the Hard Drive that would record your programs automatically and keep them until you could watch them. Of course that technology was space limited and could screw up if a program came on late or lasted too long (think football games). After owning a DVR for a year, you find yourself constantly erasing old programs. It seems to me that keeping the programs on the web, where you could watch them and see the ads when you want is a better technology.
I see the networks not losing this valuable revenue stream and all will have "watch me later" options for all their prime time shows. They may even get smart and store old seasons of popular shows so that consumer can load the shows on the Internet and the networks can insert up to date ads. You know how popular DVDs of TV shows are. But who really wants to dust DVD cases? Its just better when someone else keeps the clutter!
Just hit the comment button if you would like to post your thoughts!
All this brought to mind where the future of TV is heading. We are so busy, that it is tough for us to commit to watching a program at the same time every week. The advent of the VCR broke that chain, but the actual implementation of taping shows wasn't so hot (who hasn't had to read the manual 3 times to make sure a VCR would record). Next came TIVO(DVR technology) - the Hard Drive that would record your programs automatically and keep them until you could watch them. Of course that technology was space limited and could screw up if a program came on late or lasted too long (think football games). After owning a DVR for a year, you find yourself constantly erasing old programs. It seems to me that keeping the programs on the web, where you could watch them and see the ads when you want is a better technology.
I see the networks not losing this valuable revenue stream and all will have "watch me later" options for all their prime time shows. They may even get smart and store old seasons of popular shows so that consumer can load the shows on the Internet and the networks can insert up to date ads. You know how popular DVDs of TV shows are. But who really wants to dust DVD cases? Its just better when someone else keeps the clutter!
Just hit the comment button if you would like to post your thoughts!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
#155 - The mini notebook computers
I'm in Denver airport today filling out this blog on the FREE wifi. Yeah Denver airport! I only had to watch a 30 second commercial to get to the Internet. Not a bad deal! In Atlanta it costs $7.99 for 24 hours of access.
Anyway, I'm using a new HP 2140 mini notebook computer that I acquired last week. So what does a "mini notebook" mean? It has a 10" diagonal screen (only 4" tall, more on that later). The keyboard is 92% of full size. That is about as small as I can use and still touch type. Every now and then I'll slip on a key. It only weighs 2.6 pounds. The case is made of aluminum and appears durable. The screen is scratch resistant and very bright. There is a touch pad built in, but the buttons are on the side of the touch pad instead of top/bottom that is normal on most laptops.
The mini 2140 I have has 1GB of memory, 160GB hard disk drive and runs Windows XP Home. There are 2 USB ports, an external VGA display port (for a projector), an Ethernet RJ45 port, an SD memory card slot and an Express 54 expansion slot (the new version of the pcmcia slot). It has wireless and bluetooth built in. (I'm on wireless now and using a bluetooth mouse). The processor is a special Intel ATOM 1.6GHz model that was specifically designed for the mini notebook market. It has a web camera built in with microphone and headphone ports. The only thing missing is a DVD/CD burner player. It's just too small to have one.
I've been using it for a couple of weeks with pretty good success. I love the size and the portability. It fits in everywhere. The screen is bright enough. The only issue so far is that the screen is short. In some programs you don't get enough information on the screen. In AOL I get about 3 lines of a message on the screen with the rest filled up with ads. The speed is great with the 1GB of memory and XP. It is as fast as my other HP notebook and faster then my Lenovo with Vista (it has 2GB of memory!). I got the expanded 6 cell battery so it will run to a max of 8 hours on one charge! That is remarkable. Cost for this model is $499.00. Acer (that makes the mini's for HP) makes a plastic case version with a 3 cell battery for $299.00! PCSS sells them both.
Here is a link to the Specs: HP MINI 2140
Anyway, I'm using a new HP 2140 mini notebook computer that I acquired last week. So what does a "mini notebook" mean? It has a 10" diagonal screen (only 4" tall, more on that later). The keyboard is 92% of full size. That is about as small as I can use and still touch type. Every now and then I'll slip on a key. It only weighs 2.6 pounds. The case is made of aluminum and appears durable. The screen is scratch resistant and very bright. There is a touch pad built in, but the buttons are on the side of the touch pad instead of top/bottom that is normal on most laptops.
The mini 2140 I have has 1GB of memory, 160GB hard disk drive and runs Windows XP Home. There are 2 USB ports, an external VGA display port (for a projector), an Ethernet RJ45 port, an SD memory card slot and an Express 54 expansion slot (the new version of the pcmcia slot). It has wireless and bluetooth built in. (I'm on wireless now and using a bluetooth mouse). The processor is a special Intel ATOM 1.6GHz model that was specifically designed for the mini notebook market. It has a web camera built in with microphone and headphone ports. The only thing missing is a DVD/CD burner player. It's just too small to have one.
I've been using it for a couple of weeks with pretty good success. I love the size and the portability. It fits in everywhere. The screen is bright enough. The only issue so far is that the screen is short. In some programs you don't get enough information on the screen. In AOL I get about 3 lines of a message on the screen with the rest filled up with ads. The speed is great with the 1GB of memory and XP. It is as fast as my other HP notebook and faster then my Lenovo with Vista (it has 2GB of memory!). I got the expanded 6 cell battery so it will run to a max of 8 hours on one charge! That is remarkable. Cost for this model is $499.00. Acer (that makes the mini's for HP) makes a plastic case version with a 3 cell battery for $299.00! PCSS sells them both.
Here is a link to the Specs: HP MINI 2140
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
#154 - Things our Grandchildren will not recognize
Nice title, no? I was having a conversation with a friend today and we talked about items that we are familiar with that people two generations hence (the imaginary grandkids) will have no clue about. Things like newspapers, phone booths, desktop computers, watches (kids use their cell phones for the time - more accurate), video cameras, photo & movie film, movie theaters, big box TVs, TV antennas to name a few.
We argued a while on when paper books would go extinct. Amazon has introduced their "Kindle" wireless reading device. KINDLE 2 Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds and no PC required! It remains to be seen if devices like this will replace their venerable past. I can see a time where you can have EVERY book you have read or used in school available on a reading device you carry around. Great concept!
Here are some technology dinosaurs: Hard Disk Drives (Solid State Technology Drives are now up to 80GB in size!); Floppy Disk Drives (people ask me all the time what to do with the boxes of old floppy disks they have lying around); CDs (just like vinyl records!); DVDs (Just like VCR tapes!); Answering Machines; Fax machines; Black & White Printers; paper photo albums; letters, snail mail and the one I'll miss the most: Local Stores!!!
Let me know what you think we will miss!
We argued a while on when paper books would go extinct. Amazon has introduced their "Kindle" wireless reading device. KINDLE 2 Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds and no PC required! It remains to be seen if devices like this will replace their venerable past. I can see a time where you can have EVERY book you have read or used in school available on a reading device you carry around. Great concept!
Here are some technology dinosaurs: Hard Disk Drives (Solid State Technology Drives are now up to 80GB in size!); Floppy Disk Drives (people ask me all the time what to do with the boxes of old floppy disks they have lying around); CDs (just like vinyl records!); DVDs (Just like VCR tapes!); Answering Machines; Fax machines; Black & White Printers; paper photo albums; letters, snail mail and the one I'll miss the most: Local Stores!!!
Let me know what you think we will miss!
Monday, April 13, 2009
#153 - The LaserJets Birthday
The HP LaserJet is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month. Although I never owned an HP LaserJet (1), I did have a LaserJet II at work. The first laser printer for IBM Compatible personal computers was introduced in 1984 by HP as the LaserJet (now called LaserJet Classic). It had 300-dots per inch resolution and 8 pages per minute speed. It sold for a tidy $3,495.
The next LaserJet was not the II, but the LaserJet Plus. It introduced the concept of "soft fonts". You could now bold your print or italic the print. HP introduced the world's first mass market laser printer, the LaserJet series II, in March 1987, list priced at $2,695. There are still LaserJet IIs in operation. It was the most reliable printer ever produced. The first personal laserjet was the LaserJet IIp introduced in September 1989 and costing only $1495.
The LaserJet brought the end to the dot matrix and daisy wheel printers that started the PC revolution. You can now buy an HP LaserJet printer for only $129.00. It has 4 times the resolution and 3 times the speed of the original LaserJet. Life is good!
The next LaserJet was not the II, but the LaserJet Plus. It introduced the concept of "soft fonts". You could now bold your print or italic the print. HP introduced the world's first mass market laser printer, the LaserJet series II, in March 1987, list priced at $2,695. There are still LaserJet IIs in operation. It was the most reliable printer ever produced. The first personal laserjet was the LaserJet IIp introduced in September 1989 and costing only $1495.
The LaserJet brought the end to the dot matrix and daisy wheel printers that started the PC revolution. You can now buy an HP LaserJet printer for only $129.00. It has 4 times the resolution and 3 times the speed of the original LaserJet. Life is good!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
#152 - A new Internet Explorer: Version 8
Microsoft always seems to be catching up. First Mozilla Firefox came out with tabbed browsing. A year later Microsoft comes out with Internet Explorer 7 with tabbed browsing. About 6 months ago Google introduced Google Chrome - the fastest browser around. Now Microsoft has introduce Internet Explorer 8 - supposedly faster.
I downloaded IE 8 last week and have been playing with it since. I will say that the first thing I did with IE 8 was to turn off all the new fancy bells and whistles to make it look like IE 7 and at least that works. Microsoft is bent on changing interfaces just for the heck of it. Vista added very few innovations, but it did look different then XP. Microsoft Office 2007 is all about different interface, much to its demise. People HATE Office 2007. Maybe Microsoft has ffigured out it needs to keep the familiar interface to allow a program to be usable.
IE 8 is faster then IE 7, but I won't say it is faster loading web pages then Chrome. Here are some other features: WebSlices is a nice looking feature. They seem to work somewhat like Apple’s customizable Dashboard clippings, except in this case the clipping lives in the browser.
Say there’s a part of a page you’d like to track, but you don’t care about the rest — a weather widget for example — the WebSlice would allow you to bookmark just that element. IE 8 will then track changes to that portion of the page, alerting you when new info is available. Other new features highlighted on the page include a revamped Favorites Bar, automatic crash recovery and better phishing protection. Even with Tabs, it's easy to get lost amid too many open windows. Tab Groups organize tabs in relation to one another. For instance, tabs that you open from the same site are placed next to each other and marked with the same color. The tabs can then be closed or moved as one unit. The Smart Address Bar in IE8 turns the URL area into a search field of sorts. Wait, this is JUST LIKE CHROME! If you type a word into the address bar, IE8 searches through your browsing history, favorites and feeds to find sites related to what you are looking for. The search results are based on titles of pages as well as keywords within the Web address and are divided into three groups: History, favorites and feeds.
You can download IE8 here: IE 8 Download
I downloaded IE 8 last week and have been playing with it since. I will say that the first thing I did with IE 8 was to turn off all the new fancy bells and whistles to make it look like IE 7 and at least that works. Microsoft is bent on changing interfaces just for the heck of it. Vista added very few innovations, but it did look different then XP. Microsoft Office 2007 is all about different interface, much to its demise. People HATE Office 2007. Maybe Microsoft has ffigured out it needs to keep the familiar interface to allow a program to be usable.
IE 8 is faster then IE 7, but I won't say it is faster loading web pages then Chrome. Here are some other features: WebSlices is a nice looking feature. They seem to work somewhat like Apple’s customizable Dashboard clippings, except in this case the clipping lives in the browser.
Say there’s a part of a page you’d like to track, but you don’t care about the rest — a weather widget for example — the WebSlice would allow you to bookmark just that element. IE 8 will then track changes to that portion of the page, alerting you when new info is available. Other new features highlighted on the page include a revamped Favorites Bar, automatic crash recovery and better phishing protection. Even with Tabs, it's easy to get lost amid too many open windows. Tab Groups organize tabs in relation to one another. For instance, tabs that you open from the same site are placed next to each other and marked with the same color. The tabs can then be closed or moved as one unit. The Smart Address Bar in IE8 turns the URL area into a search field of sorts. Wait, this is JUST LIKE CHROME! If you type a word into the address bar, IE8 searches through your browsing history, favorites and feeds to find sites related to what you are looking for. The search results are based on titles of pages as well as keywords within the Web address and are divided into three groups: History, favorites and feeds.
You can download IE8 here: IE 8 Download
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