Podcast: Play in new window
We had a lot of calls this week. Among the topics discussed were Rick’s advice for upgrading (or not upgrading) Windows and Microsoft Office, Facebook privacy and Office 2010. Tune in on the third Wednesday of next month to join us live, or catch the podcast a few days later.
This is the first post from my new iMac. After much searching, I found that the best deal on a Mac is to get one from Apple directly.
Here are a few tips on how to get the best deal. Read the rest of this entry →
- I am officially a Mac user - how I got the best deal';tweetcount_short_url='http://bit.ly/as5ZM';tweetcount_cnt=1;tweetcount_via=false;tweetcount_links=true;tweetcount_api_key='R_f192c44841dc57c539527fb4a9b74e7a';Cheap computers are everywhere. I say this knowing that cheap is relative. $600 to one person is different than $600 to another.
Some may think that $600 is high considering that the same $600 can buy you other items that will last much longer than 4-6 years and those things typically won’t break down or crash.
Is $600+ for a computer high when you compare it to a nice piece of furniture, art or a pretty good tuneup on your car?
Once you’ve purchased a computer, how much is too much to spend on a repair? When do you fix it and when do you replace it?
Sometimes we over simplify this decision process. We try to come up with formulas like, “If the repair cost is higher than one third the price of new, and the system is more than three years old, you should replace it.” However, there is much more to consider than a basic formula can offer.
No matter how much you spend on the purchase of a new computer or how much an upgrade or repair may cost, the true value of a computer is in the information, not the components.
If you suddenly lost your address book, how much would you pay to get it back? If you suddenly lost all of your photos, how much would you pay to get them back? If all of your financial and business data were suddenly gone, how much would you pay to get it back? Chances are that the value of one or more of these things exceeds the value of the computer.
The more I work with people and computers, the more I realize that computers can not be compared to anything else. Yet, people try.
People try to compare their computers to cars, appliances, and other items that we use in day-to-day life. Being a computer repair guy is far more stressful than being a washing machine repair guy. If the washing machine guy can’t fix the problem, does your entire wardrobe disappear? If he makes a mistake while replacing a belt, is there a chance that it will tear your clothes to shreds? Not really.
Working with computers is quite different. I have seen entire family photo collections disappear in an instant. I have seen years worth of financial data accidentally deleted. These are daily mistakes that have no equal in the world outside of computers.
There are two costs to every computer and both are equally important. There is the cost of the system itself and the cost of maintaining that system.
Buying a top of the line computer is worthless if you don’t spend a few dollars on a backup drive. Spending a few dollars on a backup drive is useless if you don’t use it. Be honest with yourself and evaluate how important the data on your computer really is and how significant of a role it plays in your life.
This may be an eye opening process, but the sooner you realize it, the more you will take care of the information that the system holds.
This week’s article is for all you dial-up Internet users who haven’t moved to broadband because it is too expensive. I am not directing my comments to those who are on dial-up because they live in the toolywads and are not eligible for DSL or Cable Internet.
Broadband Internet is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity and a value for anyone who uses the Internet more than five minutes per day. To illustrate I will explain how broadband Internet can give you half an hour or more to the average day simply by making one single chore easier.
How a dial-up user makes dinner:
1. Take a survey of what’s in the fridge. Ah! Left over chili, garlic, sour cream, and corn tortillas. – 5 minutes.
2. Dig through half a dozen or more recipe books to find a recipe that includes enough of these ingredients to make a pleasant dish. – at least 20 minutes.
3. Try to find a way to keep the recipe book open and a place to set the recipe book while you compile the meal – 10 minutes.
How a broadband user makes dinner:
1. Surveys the fridge as noted above. – 5 minutes.
2. Go to allrecipes.com and foodtv.com and check off a list of ingredients that you have on hand. – 2 minutes.
3. Click the button to search recipes and see results of all 200 recipes that meat your specifications. – 6 seconds.
4. Narrow the search to include something that also has purple onions. – 3 seconds.
5. Print out the recipe as a 3×5 cutout. – 15 seconds.
This process would take over an hour on dial-up Internet waiting for pages to load.
Not only is the broadband connection faster, but it changes how time is spent. Rather than waiting, searching, and trying to find even a simple result for your search, it quickly puts you in the right category and then all of your time is spent using your right brain to choose which result you want to go with.
How a dial-up user programs their TV remote:
1. Dig through drawers looking for the manual. – 20minutes-1 hour.
2. Assuming that the remote is found, look up in index how to program the device.
How a broadband user programs their TV remote:
1. Visit the manufacturer’s website. – 5 seconds.
2. Go to the support section and into the manual downloads. – 10 seconds.
3. Download the manual. – 45 seconds (25 minutes or more on dial-up).
4. Search the manual for “program channels.” – 6 seconds.
Broadband Internet becomes a tool that replaces lost time. Isn’t that worth $5-$10 more per month?
In fact, it is very likely that if you do your homework, you will find that broadband Internet will actually save you money and time.
Every January, I spend several days per week setting up new computers. Some people receive them as gifts for Kwanzaa or one of the other Winter festivals, others just take advantage of the great prices this time of year.
Setting up a new computer correctly can be one of the most important factors in how your computer performs the rest of its life. Here are a few tips to help you along the way.
1. Don’t tear down your old computer all at once. Only take away the big pieces and leave the cables in place.
Many of the same cables can be reused and this will prevent having to re-string wires. Power cords, modem cables, and USB cables haven’t changed so there is no need to use the new ones that came in the box.
2. Put the big pieces in place before hooking wires together. This will prevent having to attach cables more than once. Make sure that all of the devices will fit in their spaces and cords are long enough.
3. Hook up all other cables before plugging in power cords.
POWER EVERYTHING ON
4. When prompted, give as little information as possible. You don’t need to register with Windows, you don’t need to tell it what kind of Internet you are using, you don’t need to type in a name for each person who will be using the computer and, whatever you do, don’t put in any passwords before the system is completely up and running.
If you are asked to put in a password for your user account, just leave it blank.
5. Don’t let any teenagers do anything besides hook up the pieces. Getting the software in place is critical before you let a teenager loose on the system.
6. Uninstall all of the crap software. Take off all Norton or McAfee software as well as any other software that you don’t want. Look for the Trial version of Microsoft Office and make sure to take that off as well.
7. Download and Install AVG free edition .
8. Run Windows update from the Tools menu in Internet Explorer or top of the Programs menu.
9. Download and install Mozilla Firefox and remove the icon for Internet Explorer from the your desktop as well as any other icons that you don’t need.
10. If this is your first computer, setup a free email account at gmail.com. This will likely be the last email address you will ever need. If you have another email address, use it to give away to solicitors and prize applications.
You will then have a computer that will surf the web safely, run cleaner and have far fewer problems than if you had run it with all included software and settings.
