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What kind of computer do 3 teenagers use?

An extremely slow and sick computer!

Today, again, I ran across a family who has multiple teenagers (3 in this case) who use a computer that has become polluted with spy and adware. I see this situation again and again, week after week. This computer was less than 2 months old!

Give the typical teenager a Windows based computer (doesn’t matter if it is XP or Vista) and within weeks (sometimes hours) the computer is almost useless. Parents always ask me the next logical question, “Why did it happen?”

New Dell Mini laptops


Introducing the Inspiron Mini 9. Starting at $349.

Dell has joined Everex, Acer, HP, Sony, and the ground breaking Asus Eee PC in the arena of the netbook. Netbooks are small laptops with a screen of 9″ or smaller and a weight of less than 2.5 pounds. They all run on either a form of Linux or Windows XP. The Dell Inspiron Mini (click the picture above to buy or read more about them) is Dell’s entry into this increasingly crowded and popular market. Remember that these netbooks are not for everyone, but they fill a niche for frequent travelers, train or bus commuters, and computer users who want an inexpensive yet capable second computer.

Dell goes deeper into Linux

Dell announced that they will release a line of laptop computers this fall with an instant on technology called Latitude On. Early indications are that it will closely mimic the Splashtop technology I wrote about last year and during CES 2008. And like Splashtop, the Dell technology involves using a light version of Linux to produce an extremely fast boot up (30 seconds or less) time and can access the Internet through Firefox and a wireless signal.

Asus started a whole new trend

I just returned from visiting my brother and his new baby and traveled, again, with only my phone and my Asus Eee PC. As usual, the little laptop did not disappoint. I was able to keep up with email, work with my spreadsheets and word processing documents and do other web research as well. All from a little marvel that cost less than $400 and weighs less than 2 pounds.

Linux at Lowes

I’m in the middle of a pretty major house refurbishing right now and am making frequent trips to the hardware stores and elsewhere. Today, while asking a Lowes rep a question, I glanced at one of the computer screens and saw Firefox for Lowes on the title bar. I was blown away that a major corporation had the good sense to use Firefox, then as I scanned the monitor, there was no sign of a start button. Instead, I immediately recognized a Linux like Start button that looked similar to the Xfce desktop that Xubuntu uses.

Adobe Reader 9 update – DON’T DO IT!

Adobe released version 9 of their PDF (Portable Document Format) Reader program. Once the king and almost sole PDF reader on the market, it, like so many other mainstream programs, has become bloated beyond recognition. This software bloat slows down the performance of even the fastest computers, and for this reason, I firmly stand against software bloat.

More Linux success stories

I want to keep singing the praises of an operating system that I used to make fun of on our show; Linux. In partial defense of myself, Linux traditionally has been known as the geeks operating system, and a user needed to be permanently attached to a forum for help and have an affinity for the command prompt or as its known in Linux, the terminal.

I no longer recommend Ubuntu or Macintosh

If I keep recommending Linux/Ubuntu and Apple Macintosh to my customers, I will have to find another line of work.

Admittedly, I came to the Linux table very late (just over a year now) and have only been luke warm to Macintosh over the years. Windows Vista put me over the edge last year, and I started looking seriously at other operating systems. What I found in both Ubuntu and Mac OSX was an extremely stable, secure, easy-to-use operating system. I estimate that over the past 18 months or so, I have recommended and help setup more than 2 dozen Apple computers or Linux computers that I either installed Ubuntu on or were bought new.

The $399 Power Computer

Last week, I was charged with finding a computer for a customer who only wanted it for Internet, email, and word processing. He didn’t want to add any games, extra programs, or anything else to it. My first thought, as I was listening to his needs, was Ubuntu. One other request was not to break the bank on cost. Lastly, he told me that he would be hooked up to a high speed cable Internet service.

Upon talking a little more, I explained my idea bout an Ubuntu Linux machine. He asked, “Does it do Internet? Email?” I said, “Yes.” He agreed that it sounded fine to him.

Zonbu – Part III


This will be the fourth article I have posted about the Zonbu computer company (read previous Zonbu articles here). Since my last report, I helped setup a second Zonbu laptop and visited with my first Zonbu customer today. The second Zonbu owner bought his for his wife who enjoys mainly email and Internet and had no need for an expensive machine. He and his wife found the computer easy to operate and extremely capable for their needs.

In visiting with my original Zonbu client today, all we did was talk about basic computer learning issues…no computer or security issues. The laptop is working well and fitting her needs perfectly. She had the occasion to talk with Zonbu support on a few occasions and found them to be extremely helpful and patient.

One of the things we did today was setup an Epson printer with her laptop that she received from a friend. As many of you are painfully aware, setting up a printer in Windows can take up to 20 minutes in some cases because of the gargantuan installs the manufacturers throw at us these days. Here’s how the Zonbu printer setup went (and all Linux printer setups for that matter):

  1. Plug Printer into power outlet
  2. Turn Printer on
  3. Plug USB cable into back of printer
  4. Plug USB cable into Zonbu laptop
  5. Immediately, a screen appears asking if the printer shown was indeed the printer plugged in (and it was)
  6. Click Next
  7. Waited exactly 17 seconds for the