Posts Tagged: holiday

Netbooks are NOT made for Windows XP or Vista

EeePC One year ago, ASUS started a fire storm of new computers that now go by the name of netbooks with the release of their EeePC. I wrote about this subject just a few months ago, but with the holidays approaching and netbooks are high on gift giver’s radar screens so I want to explore netbooks a little more in depth.

Netbooks make attractive gift giving ideas for a few reasons:

They are inexpensive; usually cost less than $400.
They are extremely portable (2-3 pounds).
They are cute.

Here are some facts you need to know about netbooks:

Netbooks run on an Intel Atom processor that has roughly half the power of a typical laptop Intel or AMD processor.
Netbooks utilize a very basic graphics system.
Maximum RAM is 1 GB (very few exceptions)
Hard drives are usually solid state flash memory ranging from 4-16GB. More expensive models have small hard drives with up 160 GB of space)
Screens are no larger than 10″
Keyboards are 80-90% of a typical laptop keyboard.
They do not have CD or DVD ROMs.
Prices range from $300-700
Most have built-in web cams
All have wi-fi capability and Ethernet as well
Some models run a Linux operating system, some Windows XP, and a few attempt to run Vista.

Netbooks are in no way meant to replace a desktop computer or even a laptop. Instead, netbooks are designed to be used as a second or third computer for traveling, Internet or email access in another room of your home, light word processing or document creating/editing, making Internet phone and video calls, instant messaging, and even listening to music.

Because netbooks run on tiny batteries and less powerful processors, trying to run a large operating system like Windows XP and especially Vista is completely impractical. Windows XP with all its updates and service packs and security software requires a strong processor and a minimum of 512mb of RAM or 1 GB of RAM on a slightly older processor. Also, Windows XP, and especially Vista) require above average graphics processing to function with any oomph. Vista barely crawls on dual core processor with 1 GB of RAM and is completely useless on a netbook.

Linux, on the other hand, can be completely customized for a less powerful computer like a netbook and doesn’t need to be burdened by excessive updates and security software. This makes Linux a perfect fit for the netbook Plus, Linux laptops come pre-installed with complete office compatibility, games, multimedia software and more…all things you need to spend extra for with a Windows install plus you need to have an external CDROM to install all of these things on a netbook since it has no CDROM.

If you are in the market for a netbook for yourself or to give as gift this Christmas, by all means go for it. I love my little Asus EeePC and think they make the best travel companions and work great for getting a small amount of work or email done while watching TV or sitting outside. But know up front their purpose and don’t expect more from them. Here are my recommendations when shopping for a netbook:

Do NOT spend more than $400.
Get one with a Linux operating system, NOT WINDOWS.
Make sure it has a built-in web cam. You will like having the ability to make video calls while on the road.
Purchase a 4-16GB extra SD Card for storage, but realize that it isn’t meant to be storage machine.

If all this still makes your head swim a little, here are my top 5 netbook suggestions (in no particular order):

Again, keep in mind that netbooks are not meant to be a replacement for a desktop or a full-time laptop, but an adjunct to them for traveling and quick access to a computer. If you already own a netbook, leave a comment below sharing how you use yours and what your experience has been with it.

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 1 Comment
26
Nov 07

No great holiday computer sales

I was pretty disappointed with the lack of good computer sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Prices for computer have been pretty low since mid-summer, but I was hoping to see some 2GB RAM laptops under $450 and desktops with 2GB of RAM for less than that. Maybe we will see some lower prices before Christmas Eve.

Adam didn’t post any outstanding deals on digital cameras either, so I’m assuming that the camera market was equally as flat as PC’s.

Large, widescreen monitors did surprise me with some low prices, however. One 22″ widescreen LCD monitor was advertised for $149, and I also saw a 19″ for around $100. On the other hand, Palm is still selling their nearly four year old Palm E2 for a ridiculous $199. How they can justify this price when they just announced the Palm Centro (a Palm AND phone with 10X the functionality and power than the E2) for $99 is beyond me.

Overall, it looks like a dismal tech shopping season to me.

Did you find any great tech deals over the weekend that I didn’t see? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — No Comments
21
Nov 07

Rock Band has me in an eBay mood

It has become a holiday tradition for me to go through an eBay selling phase. It all began when the XBox 360 was released and continued on with the PlayStation 3.

I was beginning to think that I would not have an opportunity to buy this year’s crazy in-demand toy and resell it on eBay. Then came Rock Band.

In a totally unexpected move, I purchased two Rock Band Special Edition kits. I saw that most stores only had a few in stock so I looked them up on eBay and read about the holiday supply in the news.

As it turns out, there is an expected demand but not until after Black Friday. Everything indicates that Rock Band will be in short supply. Right after release there were over 2200 units up for sale on eBay. At the time of this writing they are down to a little over 1600. That is very low for a product that is almost a guaranteed profit over retail price.

The units are selling in stores for $169 but the price is fluxuating between $180-$250 for units that offer reasonable shipping costs and low starting bids.

There is a very good chance that the demand for Rock Band will meet or surpass last year’s demand for the PS3.

*Rock Band is a video game accessory and game that includes a guitar shaped controller, a set of drums and a microphone. The game is played by matching the button pattern and rhythm of popular hard rock songs. The game requires extreme hand-eye coordination and takes air guitar to a whole new level.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — 4 Comments
7
Nov 07

Gift of the gadget guy – a Christmas story about giving

Computer bargains are all over the place! This week I must have seen
two dozen offers that I would have purchased if I only had the funds.

When I think back to all of the computer sales I have seen come and go
over the years that I have been helping our listeners answer
their computer
questions, this will probably be one of the best ever.

I can’t help but wonder how much richer I would be if I had actually
been paid for all of the time I have put into the Castellini
on
Computers show and newsletter over the past six years.

I was telling my wife and four small children about some of the great
computer deals this week as they ate their mush and hash goulash.

My son Tim said to my wife, "I don’t need an iPod Touch mum, I am just
happy to have my health." My daughter, Pollyanna, added, "I only wish I
had Guitar Hero III so that the kids at school would want to be friends
with me."

I explained that you can’t buy friends with material things and money.
"Yes," yelled my wife, from the room without a computer. "We mus’n't
fuss
about things we don’t have. But it sure is hard being a good wife and
mum
without a Palm Centro."

I think tomorrow I will sneak away for a while and see if I can trade
my pocket watch for that new electric comb I saw in the Sharper Image
catalogue.

Whenever I get down about the things I am lacking, I just remind myself
and family that the Holidays are more about giving than receiving. For
example, $200 would give a PSP, $300 an iPod Touch, $400 an iPod
Centro, $3000 a Canon Realis X700 HD projector.

Email of the week

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 5 Comments
23
Oct 07

New computer recommendations

At least once a year, I write a short article about my current computer recommendations. The holiday season is upon us, and I haven’t written an article like this in awhile, so here goes.

In the past six months, I ask more questions than I give when approached with this question.

Scenario 1

If I find that the person has a 2-4 year old computer with Windows XP, and just thinks the computer is slow, I go with this advice:

Add RAM to 1 GB to existing computer (cost: less than $50)
Reformat computer and install a fresh, clean copy of Windows and only essential software (cost: free if the user does it, about $150 if a professional does it or $300 of Geek Squad does it)
Add DVD Burner (cost: $75)
That’s it, the computer will run like a juiced track athlete again.

Scenario 2

If the computer user asking the question has a 4-7 year old computer, maybe 256-512mb of RAM and has an interest only in card and puzzle games, email, and some light Internet or maybe some basic digital photography, I try to convince them to:

Give up Windows, reformat the computer and install Ubuntu Linux. Great functionality. Solid, solid system. No need to be a computer security expert to keep it running. (cost: Free if they do it, $60-90 to have a professional do it)
Get high speed Internet if they don’t have it already

Scenario 3

Computer user absolutely, positively wants a new PC.

IF they are flexible and open minded, I try to steer them into a cheaper Vista machine, then strip it and put Ubuntu Linux on it. Vista machines are selling so poorly, a fast machine (when Vista is removed) with 1 GB of RAM and a DVD burner can be found for as little as $400 or $500 with a 19″ flat panel monitor.
If they are flexible, but worried about being too open minded, buy a cheaper Vista machine, buy a copy of Windows XP, then take Vista off and install XP.
If they are flexible, open minded, and willing to invest a little more money, I suggest seriously looking at Macintosh iMac all-in-one or a Mac laptop (Macbook). Like Linux, these machines are fast, very secure, and extremely capable

Scenario 4

Computer user absolutely, positively wants a new computer AND it must be Windows.

I explain with a lot of animation how important I think it is to stay with Windows XP and consider ordering a new machine with XP pre-installed from Dell, HP, Toshiba or a local computer maker. I recommend getting 1 GB of RAM, DVD burner, and separate video card (not on-board video).

If the user absolutely, positively wants a new computer with Windows Vista, I sigh (on the inside), then explain to them that if they want to have the best possible start with Vista they need to:

Get at LEAST 2 GB RAM…preferably more.
Get at LEAST a 256mb video card (NOT on-board video with shared RAM)
Read up on how to disable 90% of the froo-froo features of Vista to aid in speed it up or get a professional to do it for them.
Use AVG anti-virus instead of McAfee or Norton …which actually is the same advice I give for ANY Windows user.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — 668 Comments
14
Aug 07

Fun with Cameroon Pet Scams

I really love English Bulldogs.

Recently I became aware of a common pet scam that is based on every other over seas Internet scam.

Someone from Cameroon posts a desired breed up for a ridiculously low price.

He/she asks for money plus shipping. You never get the dog.

Here is my recent correspondence with one such scammer.

I have resorted the posts from oldest to newest so you can enjoy the events as they occurred.

For reference, here are the photos the scammer sent with the email. Keep in mind that these are the actual size photos that were sent!

tinybulldog
tinybulldog2
tinybulldog3
tinybulldog4

Original post that my sister saw on Craigslist in Denver:

Hello

Thanks for the mail,i work for a Christ orphanage care center at Denver,but presently i am in New lakes Cameroon. i have come to discover that the weather/climate,is not good for my baby.she finds much difficulties in adapting,and due to the nature of my work,i find much difficulties in taking care of her,so i want to send her back to the States/Canada to any caring family/ pet lover or a Christian home.i hope

that you will take great care of her ok? i will not refuse anyone from

getting my baby, all i need for her is love and care and if you will

accept in sending me update pictures of her every month.She is just 13weeks old

so gentle to kids, a very good companion at home, she is good with other

house pets.she is vet checked,AKC registered and up to date on all her

sorts.She will run and play like a 3year old kids.She has very good

temperament with kids and other pets at home she will make a very fine

house pet.This little girl loves to run and play, Likes

to stop and smell flowers.. She comes along with a 1-year health

guarantee She comes along all her playing toys, including her menu

booklet,and video CDs, which shows what she likes and dislikes.her asking price is $350.i will like to know

how soon you will be ready for the puppy.her pictures are attached to this mail

thanks

Yes, it was centered like that and no changes were made to spelling or punctuation.

My reply:

Please send me your contact information. I am very very intersted in saving your baby!

Thank you,

I was 99 percent sure it was a scam, but I thought I would give them a chance.

Their reply:

Hello

that you will take great care of her ok? i will not refuse anyone from

getting my baby, all i need for her is love and care and if you will

accept in sending me update pictures of her every month.She is just 13weeks old

so gentle to kids, a very good companion at home, she is good with other

house pets.she is vet checked,AKC registered and up to date on all her

sorts.She will run and play like a 3year old kids.She has very good

temperament with kids and other pets at home she will make a very fine

house pet.This little girl loves to run and play, Likes

to stop and smell flowers.. She comes along with a 1-year health

guarantee She comes along all her playing toys, including her menu

booklet,and video CDs, which shows what she likes and dislikes.i will like to know

how soon you will be ready for the puppy.her pictures are attached to this mail

thanks

The formatting was a little better, but everything else was identical.

My reply:

Ya. I saw all that in my sister’s email. How many dogs do you have? There were pictures of four different dogs with different markings. Do you have any larger pictures? I assume you are on a short vacation and will be coming back to Denver soon as Christ orphanage is very understaffed judging by the ads I always see on KKDNVR about their need for volunteers. I was wondering if you would be willing to trade it for a Mac p-p-p-powerbook. (I did not include this link in the actual email.)

I will gladly have one of my friends in Cameroon pick up the dog.

Thank you,

Their reply:

i am sorry fo the ale reply,i went for evening prayers.that is all the pics i have for the puppy,and the pictures you see is the pics of 1puppy,and not different puppies.so how soon are you ready for the puppy?

My reply:

At this point I decide to really start seeing if this person will get irritated at my responces. Please note that I made up the names of breeds as well as the distinctive features of each breed.

ashley,

it is no problem. I am so glad you wrote back. Those pictures are still very small. I used my photoshop custom enlargement filter and the dog has a brown patch over the left eye in some photos but not in others. Does the patch move? Did the patch appear as he got older? You didn’t use an bleach or other chemicals to remove the spot did you? The smell of bleach bothers my cats.

The dog in the picture appears to be a southwithshire breed. Can you tell me if this is the case. If not, it may be a kanarvastshire and those are very valuable. Are you sure you only want $325? Even shouthwithshires are selling for over $3200 by private breeders. kanarvastshires are only licenced to be raised by two breeders. Does the puppy have a pink nose or black, this would really help me in knowing more about which breed it comes from. Either way I am interested, but if it’s nose in pink (inside) I will be especially excited.

Are the pictures actual size? Have you had the puppy vaccinated against elm beetle?

Any answers will be appreciated.

Adam

Their reply:

Hello

i am just so sorry for emailing you very late,i was at a seminar,and only came back yesterday.the batch appears as she grows older. my baby is a southwithshire breed,and i am sorry you misunderstood me the $325 was for the transportation.her re homing fee is $1950.my darling has a pick nose.she has been vaccinated against elm,re best and is currently on sorts.she will come along 1yrs health grantee.pls i will like to know how many pets you have at the moments,because my darling is so sociable with other house pets.in fact you will see that magic in her when you get her.

hope to read from you.

My Reply:

At this point I decide to make some of the same mistakes in my post as they make in theirs. Note that they were hoping that the dog would go to a good Christian home and that they work for Christ orphanage, yet she was delayed in a previous post because she was gone for evening prayers. Isn’t that strange?

No problem ashley. I am in no hurry. For a shouthwithshire I will gladly take the time to get this right. Will you be coming back to denver any time soon.

I have a few other pets but they are also very sociable.I told my family about the dog and they are very excited. We think we may take a holiday there and pick up the dog at the same time. Is this a good time of year to visit cameroon?

Thanks,

Alvin (I decided to make a change to my name to see if they would call me on it.

Their reply:

I begin to sense that they are getting a little irritated at my wavering interest in their baby.

ok Alvin if you will come to pick her up here,then that will be very great.this is the rightful time to visit Cameroon,when you want to come do let me know,so that i can help make some reservation for you. i have close to 3months to be here in Cameroon,and the weather it really not good for the pup.so pls the earlier you come the better.

thanks.

My reply:

This should be my final message to them. At least until they get to Denver with the southwithshire.

Sorry, about that last note. It was written by my friend Alvin. He is always replying to my email. I have three other friends that often respond to my email their names are Simon, Theodore and Dave. You don’t have to reply to their messages.

I just realized that Cameroon is in AFRICA! Did you know that? I thought it was in Detroit or something. That is too far for me to go to pickup the dog. I will wait until you get back to Denver. Let me know when you get here. Please keep your dog in doors I heard that some places in Africa catch stray dogs and put them in baby food. I would hate for you to have to utter the words – “A baby ate my dingo”

I am sure you will find another interested party in Cameroon with air conditioning.

Thank you,

Aaron

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 1 Comment
1
Aug 07

First ALL Internet Program

Video Chat Example Starting tomorrow night (Thursday, August 2, 2007), Adam and I will be broadcasting our show for one commercial free hour right here at HelpMeRick.com from 9:30-10:30pm.

We plan to do the show at that time every Thursday night barring holiday’s No radio stations, no middle-men, no commercials, just you and us. In today’s article, I’m going to try and lay out how this will work and how YOU can still interact with us to get your questions answered.

First off, when you come to our site on Thursday evenings at 9:30pm (and probably earlier), you will see our video chat window on the left side of our page. If you see just a still picture of Adam and I, that means we aren’t live yet, but if you see us moving around and hear us talking, then we are live and ready to go. Follow these steps to get in on the live action:

You must be using a high speed connection in order for the chat to work right.
Click ONE time on the picture of us to open the chat in its own window (so you can continue to surf the Internet while listening/watching the action)
Type your name or nickname into the chat box and click “Start Chat”
Now sit back, relax, and either type a question to us OR if you want to sign up for an account at Stickam (its free), you can use your own web cam so that we can hear and see you.
You can also still email us through the site and we will be answering more questions from email than ever before.

That’s it!

Please know that since this will be a public Internet channel, there may be hoodlums trying to cause some havoc from time-to-time, but we have our hand on the eject button at all times and will dismiss/ban any trouble makers from the room. We hope that we will indeed draw new listerners/visitors to the site and show, but very much want to continue our long tradition of helping the every day computer user.

Our plan is to post the audio of the chat and possibly even the video of the session after the show so you can listen to it as many times as you want, any time you want.

How can you use the audio ANY time

Visit the site and click the play button from any computer, any time.
Download the audio file and save it to your computer so you can listen any time you want.
Burn that audio file to a CD to take with you in the car or play on your home stereo
Copy the audio file to an MP3 player.

We can answer more specific questions during the show on Thrusday nights.

Also, you never know when Adam or I will be sitting at our desks and decide to turn on the video chat. Now that we have the technology, the possibility of us being “on the air” will be more frequent.

Riding Shotgun with Rick — No Comments
3
Jan 07

Broadband Bliss

During the holidays, I helped a friend buy and setup a new computer. After looking at his current bills, we determined that his family would save money going with our local cable company for their TV, telephone, and Internet setup. They dumped MSN (dial-up), AT&T long distance, and Qwest in the process. Now they have a better TV plan, unlimited long distance telephone calls, nice phone package, and of course the high speed Internet. Once we finalized the setup, I introduced them to some of the things they could do with broadband. They were amazed at the speed of the new machine and connection speed, but also very pleased that their phone would no longer be busy when they used the Internet.

However, they were most impressed with Google Earth . If you haven't seen or used Google Earth (and you need high speed Internet to use it), you are missing out on a wonderful experience…providing you have a curious mind and enjoy geography. Google Earth is an interactive globe that provides you with a wealth of information for about any spot on the planet and then shows you aerial/satellite views of the area. It's fun to look down on your own roof, or the roof of your childhood school! Needless to say, my friends reported a new found love affair with the Internet and their computer.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — No Comments
1
Jan 07

So, I cleaned my office today

Tomorrow I will start taking calls again and return back to work. I decided to use my last day off of the Holiday season to clean my office and get a fresh start on the new year.

I am a pack rat, but I am not the kind of person who never throws anything away. I am picky in what I keep. Most of my clutter is job related. Since I spend my days working on computers, I tend to keep computer parts and cables "just in case."

While I kept a lot of cables, I did decide to finally get rid of a lot of stuff I will probably never need again. I collected a total of 5 trash bags full of junk in the cleaning process.

Some of the things I either trashed or set aside to give away included:
About 50 IDE ribbon cables
About 25 PC power cables
Too many zip disks to count
Tons of old CD-ROM cases
Handouts and press kits from the past four CES trips

Stuff I didn't toss that I probably should have:

5 keyboards (3 are still new in the box)
3 serial mice
A box full of Power adapters that I don't know what they go to
Old Windows 98 versions of various software
6 Network cards
2 56k modems
Several sticks of RAM
Over a pound of computer screws
1 user manual for a PEI 301 386 Memory Expansion Card – it was just too cool to part with.