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Submitted by THX 1138 on
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Tip, tricks, questions, what's new in technology......

Terry

I also use MSN messenger.

Sat, 04/27/2002 - 7:37 PM Permalink
ares

i was just gonna mention that for anyone who uses more than one of the messaging services, i highly recommend trillian. it talks with aol, yahoo, msn, icq, and has an irc client built in, reducing the number of programs you need to keep running. they do occasionally have a problem when aol tries to be a jerk about who can connect to the aol servers, but that seems to have been resolved.

edit:incidentally, my user names can be retrieved from the "contact me" portion of my web site.

Sat, 04/27/2002 - 7:40 PM Permalink
Terry

Thanks for the thought Bill. I have done that and did all the critical updates, all the product updates and still the problem persists. I think it's time for a new machine. This one will drive me nutz at the rate it's going.

Sun, 04/28/2002 - 6:51 AM Permalink
Terry

It's time to have some fun.

On the other hand, I hate giving up. It's like a challenge to be met and I hate not meeting challenges in my life.

On the third hand, one needs to know when to give up.

Sun, 04/28/2002 - 7:08 AM Permalink
Terry

If I could get this thing running right, I'd keep it. If not, getting shut down from half the websites I visit is a major pain in the rear end.

This isn't new enough to spend lots of time and energy and money making it better. It has a 450 or 500 processor in it and that was an upgrade. I put a bigger hard drive into it and added memory at the same time I upgraded the processor.

Any money spent will be for a new one.

Sun, 04/28/2002 - 7:17 AM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

buffer under run technology

Sun, 04/28/2002 - 9:01 AM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

Have you tried un-installing IE? I think you get an option to repair it ? You probably di, but that's how I fixed my 486.

Sun, 04/28/2002 - 9:04 AM Permalink
ares

both, ian. and actually the latest rev of easy cd creator has buffer under-run support as well.

Sun, 04/28/2002 - 9:34 AM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

So guess which one I'm downloading ?

Sun, 04/28/2002 - 11:32 AM Permalink
ares

i wonder.... :)

Sun, 04/28/2002 - 12:55 PM Permalink
Terry

So after trying a bazillion different things, nothing has improved.

Sun, 04/28/2002 - 3:02 PM Permalink
Frosti

Hee hee! I installed two 128mb memory sticks into my computer last night. Quite a boost from the 64mb I had been running!

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 5:15 AM Permalink
Frosti

I only had time to check my e-mail last night before going to bed. I'm looking forward to running some other apps and just generally enjoying the nitro boost. I'm sure I'll be kicking myself for not doing this a year ago. :)

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 6:24 AM Permalink
ares

oh, you'll enjoy it very much, frosti! guaranteed. and yes you will, considering a year ago i bought a whole gig for what you paid for your 256 now :)

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 6:28 AM Permalink
Frosti

I took advantage of the Best Buy rebate special. $25 per 128mb, after rebate. Probably be the best $50 I've spent it a while.

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 6:48 AM Permalink
ares

just make sure you keep on 'em for the rebate.

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 6:58 AM Permalink
Frosti

I do a lot of BB rebates, mostly for blank cds. I haven't had any problems with them. OfficeMax, on the other hand...bleagh.

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 7:07 AM Permalink
ares

i guess my experience is (mostly) limited to the ones that happen the day after thanksgiving. when i think about it, those are the only ones i've ever really had problems with anyway.

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 7:10 AM Permalink
Frosti

Probably the sheer volume gives them trouble at that time of year.

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 7:33 AM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

Right now, I have about 1000 CDs and 7 Keyboard/Mouse combos.

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 11:24 AM Permalink
Terry

Gateway used to be considered one of the cadillacs of the computer world. I haven't heard much lately, but am wondering what anyone knows about them. I could get a discount on one so that's why I'm asking.

Feedback please!

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 4:00 PM Permalink
THX 1138


I'd buy a Dell.

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 4:13 PM Permalink
ares

i'm with thx, mostly because i get 10% off of retail. that and they're a really solid name. i could tell the story i remember reading about how michael dell built the company in his college days.

as a computer, absolutely nothing wrong with a gateway. they rank right up there with dell in my book. as a company, gateway's always held this persona with me that they're on shaky ground. maybe that's just me, and completely unwarranted, cuz they're still around.

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 4:50 PM Permalink
Terry

When my mother got a new computer, we ordered a dell and she's been very happy with it. It's my first inclination to do that - but if we can get a discount on a gateway, a certain other half needs to be convinced to get the dell as opposed to the gateway.

I also know people who have been very happy with their cow computers. Ares - that shaky ground thing is the same reason I'm a little hesitant on the Gateway.

Decision, decision, decision.

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 4:58 PM Permalink
ares

honestly, the way gateway never seems to live up to the expectation that they're gonna die, i don't think i'd worry about them.

Mon, 04/29/2002 - 5:19 PM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

Is there any way to tell what kind of snooping is being done? Can I alt-con-del on NT and see what programs are running?

I had my training today for benchmarklearningonline.com It's a pilot program at Met Council and I have a year license to access as many courses as I want. Also, I can do this at work or at home. Looks pretty cool so far, but I only scored 57% on the HTML programming assessment.

Wed, 05/01/2002 - 5:32 PM Permalink
ares

win 3.1????? wtf?

Wed, 05/01/2002 - 5:57 PM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

Thu, 05/02/2002 - 11:29 AM Permalink
ares

ian, i take pity on you :)

Thu, 05/02/2002 - 11:30 AM Permalink
Luv2Fly

O.K all you tech savvy folks I need some advice.

It's time for a new P.C for ol' Luv2Fly Now I am not completely a computer neandrathal but I'd love some advice on what to buy. I'm pretty sure that I'm a dude getting a Dell. I am looking at a laptop the 4100 Inspiron 512 mb with the upgraded 40 g's And am going to get my DSL hookup as well. Don't know what kind of goodies I want to put on it yet, I don't know if DVD is an option but it would be fun and give my flight sim a boost. I have 2 Dell desktops now and have had great luck with them. I get a group rate for my business and can get it for about 2,100 after all the taxes etc. Any thoughts ?
I want to

Wed, 05/15/2002 - 8:59 AM Permalink
THX 1138



Dell is a great machine!

I just went to the Dell site and personally I would go with less of a machine because I don't need the RAM, HD, or video card as what would be on a $2,100 machine.

Wed, 05/15/2002 - 9:17 AM Permalink
Luv2Fly

I have to have some of those toys for actual business use. and some well let's just say the new flight sim is coming out and it takes alot to drive em :)

Wed, 05/15/2002 - 9:19 AM Permalink
THX 1138



I understand totally, just personal preference is all.

I've been looking at them myself lately. Scibe wants one for school so she doesn't tie up the desktop with her school work.

I'll have to get one by September.

Wed, 05/15/2002 - 9:27 AM Permalink
Frosti

I'm in the same boat. I'm looking to buy something by the end of the year, because Mrs. Frosti and I have been jockeying for computer time. I'm hoping to stick close to the $1000 neighborhood.

Wed, 05/15/2002 - 9:32 AM Permalink
THX 1138



A few weeks ago I found a $999 Dell that would have been perfect. Too bad I had to spend the money on redoing the porch instead.

:-(

Wed, 05/15/2002 - 9:39 AM Permalink
Frosti

I was looking at their website today. They've got an inspiron 2650 and inspiron 4100 that both look somewhat attractive. $1299 and $1199 respectively.
Why doesn't e-Machines make a laptop!?

Wed, 05/15/2002 - 9:49 AM Permalink
ares

i noticed that the price of my dream dell lappy is back below 4 grand, so your 999 dell would probably be cheaper now. also, if you're not interested in 3 or 4 years worth of warranty, you can get them even cheaper.

and yes, luv, the dev player is an option on all 4100.

Wed, 05/15/2002 - 10:03 AM Permalink
THX 1138



Free DVD or burner upgrade until Thursday.

Wed, 05/15/2002 - 10:07 AM Permalink
Frosti

We went to Best Buy on Sunday, they have no interest financing through 2003.

Must. Be. Strong.

Wed, 05/15/2002 - 10:36 AM Permalink
ares

and see, i'm just not caring about how much interest i end up paying on it. that, of course, is my problem in the situation.

Wed, 05/15/2002 - 10:43 AM Permalink
No user inform…

Hello--

New here...but have lurked awhile.

I, too, think Dell is the best choice.
Remember when 'Steve' (of Dell TV-ads.) did
his first commercial? The one where he talks to
his friends parents, trying to convince them to buy their son a Dell?

Anyway---I really enjoyed that commercial and remember thinking, "I hope he does more ads."

Well---Dell *is* doing a LOT more ads. w/him---but I
think their quality has gone way down since the first one.

What do you-all think?
Seems like Dell realized they had a good spokes-person, but the ad.-writers need to re-group and try again! IMHO....
(not that I am any expert...lol).

I have a two+ year old Dell WebPC...which they only produced for about a year, then stopped.
(500/10G/64/W98se).

For what I do (only surf and e-mail) it's fine.

I get about 45,000-48,000...which is better than my last Packard Bell (266/8G/32/W95) which got
33,000.

I am SO tempted to get a new Dell for $599. I don't
see how PC prices can drop much lower (before they start to rise again!)

Do you-all think the cost can possibly go lower---or have they reached their bottom limit?

I think their plan is/was to drop the prices long enough to practically
INSURE that EVERONE possible would have a PC in their home---thus also insuring future
customers for their sofware/upgrades.

Of course---once the market is saturated---
they'll advertise *must-have* up-grades...
kmnowing that "most" people want the latest-and-greatest. (Except ME! lol I'm too cheap!)

Anyway....sorry so long.

Fri, 05/17/2002 - 4:57 AM Permalink
Frosti

I'm cheap too!

Responding to Bill's post about the auction site, I'm a little wary of buying a used machine. Should I be?

Fri, 05/17/2002 - 5:06 AM Permalink
ares

No problems yet, but I am sure that there have beem some.

yup. $240 compact flash memory card bid on here. the seller took my money and ran. along with 7 other people's money. needless to say, she's now under investigation by the dover, de police department.

Fri, 05/17/2002 - 6:38 AM Permalink
THX 1138



Ula, I haven't seen many of the Dell ads because i don't watch much TV. I've heard Dell is now selling clothing revolving around the guy in the commercial. Something like "Dude, you're getting a Dell".

I personally think PC prices are about as low as they're going to go. Reason being is they are constantly getting better. Can't beat that! A better product @ the same price!

Fri, 05/17/2002 - 6:56 AM Permalink
ares

bill, i'm eligible to file a formal complaint under their bidder protection plan tomorrow, i'll get $175 of it back, so i'm not out all of it. however, i do take comfort in knowing that the seller actually has a criminal history, so she's somewhat shady to begin with.

as for computer prices, i was discussing best buy's employee discount with someone here the other day. he made the comment that they don't get all that big of a discount on tv's. i told him the reason for that was simple, and asked what the one piece of computer hardware was that hasn't fallen in price proportinate to the rest of the system. the monitor. obviously, that's gonna change as demand grows for lcd displays, as they're a lot cheaper to produce than a vacuum tube is.

Fri, 05/17/2002 - 7:29 AM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

Mon, 05/20/2002 - 5:10 PM Permalink
ares

bill, i'm waiting for the same thing.

lance, i like the case they're showing on that machine! (he says as he realises that what he really needs is a case with a bunch of internal disc bays, at least 4 externally accessible 3.5" bays and at least 5 externally accessible 5.25" bays.)

a thing related only to the twin cities: channel 5 had a blurb tonite about how minneapolis cops are at odds with the city because they don't have access to the city's limited signal pre-emption system (the white strobe light on the emergency vehicle, and the little black receiver and flood light on top of the traffic signal itself). ya know, the only reason that city has the limited system it does is because its replaced the signals that have it on since 1995 when state law required it. we've been using it here for what, 30 years?

:: wonders about the feasability of acquiring such an emitter on ebay ::

Tue, 05/21/2002 - 9:34 PM Permalink
King Boreas aka Ian

what he really needs is a case with a bunch of internal disc bays, at least 4 externally accessible 3.5" bays and at least 5 externally accessible 5.25" bays

What might one do with something like that?

:: wonders about the feasability of acquiring such an emitter on ebay ::

You can get, anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant...

Wed, 05/22/2002 - 1:17 AM Permalink