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DEL.ICIO.USI’m going shopping and taking your credit cards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m careful with my money. But when it comes to spending your money, hey, the sky’s the limit.
So today I’ll send you off on a shopping trip with my selections for must-have technology.
This isn’t a list of trendy gadgets that would be fun to have. Instead it’s stuff that I truly think you should have. I’ll avoid the obvious as best I can. For instance, past columns have talked about improvements needed for PCs upgrading to Microsoft’s new Vista, or essential anti-virus software. If you haven’t gotten those messages by now, I doubt this column will convince you.
So, in no particular order, here are items and technologies that any home PC user must have.
Power to the PC
A UPS is an uninterruptible power supply, and you just flat need one. If the power goes out, the UPS will give you time to shut down your computer without losing data. But a UPS includes voltage surge protection and also protects you from lightning damage arriving over your telephone, cable or electrical lines.
That’s not all. In a pinch, you can use the battery-powered AC from the unit to charge cellphones and laptops during a power outage. I favor the APC brand of UPS - they’re easy to find at stores and work great. Prices have dropped, and you can buy a UPS for about the same price as a good voltage surge protector.
Flash … this just in
USB flash drives are the lipstick-sized devices that provide portable data storage. The tiny drives easily slip into your pocket or onto a key chain but carry much more data than a CD. Just plug them into a USB port to use them.
Unlike hard disks, they use solid-state memory. So they’re lightning fast. There are obvious uses for flash drives, including moving data from one computer to another. I like to carry one along on a trip, instead of a laptop. Then I can get at my data on a borrowed computer or one at a hotel or friend’s house.
Microsoft’s new Vista provides a new reason to buy a flash drive. Simply plug the drive - I’d suggest a 1-gigabyte or 2-gigabyte drive - into a USB port. Vista will automatically ask you if you want to use that flash memory as a way to speed up your computer. Both Lexar and SanDisk make good drives. You should be able to find a 1-gigabyte model in the $30 to $40 range.
Take the safe route
A router - either wired or wireless - lets you create a computer network in your home. The obvious reason is sharing an Internet connection. But routers also let several computers share one printer.
I know people who have just one computer but still use a router. Are they crazy? Maybe - but not for having a router. Modern routers include a technology called NAT that creates a firewall to keep the bad guys out of your machine. And while it’s a bad idea to use both two software firewalls, it’a great idea to combine a software firewall with the hardware protection provided by a router.
Hold that pose
It’s time to put your film camera on the mantel with the other antiques. If you don’t yet own a digital camera - or if the one you have is several years old - it’s time to pick up a new one. After all, you’ll be going on vacation soon and there are all sorts of warm weather activities to picture.
There’s no longer any reason for the average person to use a film camera. Not only do digitial cameras provide excellent image quality, the old problems are gone. The first generation of digital cameras had two big flaws: (1) The picture quality was fine on the Web but looked terrible as a print or enlargement; and (2) there was a long lag between the time you pushed the button and when the picture was taken.
You’ll save money by never again buying film. And processing is done electronically and for free. You’ll also save on prints, since you’ll only make prints of the shots you actually want to keep.
OK. You have the shopping list; get busy.
Disagree? Or maybe you have additions. Lets talk about it.
Permalink | Comments (18) | Post your comment | Categories: Columns
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Comments
By Claude
March 30, 2007 6:18 PM | Link to this
When I saw the headline, I thought you were confessing to that TJ Maxx hacking. :)
By Bill
March 30, 2007 7:41 PM | Link to this
Had that been me, I would be typing this from Tahiti.
By Jim
March 31, 2007 1:16 PM | Link to this
Flash drives are OK. But I like a 2G memory stick that can do double duty in my camera and computer digital media slot.
And how do we know you are not typing from Tahiti?
By Bill
March 31, 2007 2:08 PM | Link to this
I may be in Tahiti but, if this is an island paradise, there’s sure a lot of yellow pine pollen in paradise.
Good idea about getting more use out of your camera memory stick. Speaking of that - my camera uses compact flash cards. The first 1 gig card I bought was well over $100 - now I see them at Fry’s for around $30.
By Peachy
March 31, 2007 6:05 PM | Link to this
Techno-buddy…are you planning on doing a laptop comparo anytime soon? I’m getting the itch…any suggestions? A lot of AUTO CADD, some Word, some Excel, lots of surfing, lots of music, some photography…some games…
Help?
By C. Henry Adams & BIE
March 31, 2007 6:28 PM | Link to this
Bill, I notice that you mentioned the digital camera and I wanted to make a few comments while adding another item to your list, “the disposable camcorder”.
The first digital camera I purchased was back in 1999 at about $400 USD from Walmart. It only had about 1.5 Mega Pixels. (Note: Mega = Millions, Pixels are the smallest unit of area of a video screen image….per Newton’s Telecom Dictionary 22nd edition)
Today, I have in my possession a digital camera that has 4.1 Mega Pixels and can take motion video without audio. It cost me about $65 USD at Eckerd Drugstore. It comes with a SD Compact Memory Slot…I also purchased a $40 USD 1 Gigabit Card alone with it and now I can store images and soundless (no audio) videos.
Ok, that being said, Bill you failed to mentioned the “Disposable Camcorder”.
Recently, I purchased one of those Camcorders from CVS Drugstore for about $26 USD. It has 4 simple buttons but not alot of minutes to record. However, if you record in 30 to 45 second intervals and focus on unique moments in time…you might find it interesting to utilize.
Nevertheless, it will record video & audio (sound). The draw back is that it only allow you to review the most recent video segment recorded.
Once you have recorded your video then take it back to CVS and pay $12 USD to have them place your videos on DVD.
I would advise you to not place anything pornographic or illegal on video. Fore, you will possibly incriminate yourself.
Other than that, I recommend that someone check it out. It’s a good tool to have in your vehicle to record accidents for insurance purposes too.
Just a thought.
C. Henry Adams & BIE
http://www.networkingmenu.com
By Old Techie
March 31, 2007 9:16 PM | Link to this
Bill,
As a child of the sixties, I have a huge music library as well as boxes of unmounted photos. I now want to organize my “media”.
I just purchased an HP dv9000 with Vista Ultimate. I am overjoyed with it. I also have an HP C6150 printer (scanner, fax & copier too), so I can scan photos. I have already begun transferring CD’s to my new computer (Windows Media Center). It is very fast and easy, although I can’t figure out how to record individual cuts off a CD.
I have a few questions: 1) Do you feel that Windows Media Center will do a good job of managing my music, photos, etc.? 2) What device do you recommend to allow me to upload my music for play on my home stereo or car? 3) How would you go about digitally recording records for archival and re-play?
Thanks…..
By Nick
March 31, 2007 10:18 PM | Link to this
Old Techie… If you have a wireless network consider the IROKU wireless music client to play your music on your home stereo. I’ve been very happy with it.
Nick
By Eric
April 1, 2007 7:36 AM | Link to this
I wish all of you would get a life.
By deidreNC
April 1, 2007 9:11 AM | Link to this
eric they all have a life-its just not yours…geeze
By Jim
April 1, 2007 5:16 PM | Link to this
As of April 1st the cost of flash memory has fallen to about $12.50 a gigabyte. Big box electronic and office supply stores sell good brand 1 to 4 GB models(such as SanDisk) for near this price, often without the bother of a mail in rebate.
By Randy K
April 2, 2007 1:14 PM | Link to this
WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER v11 Bill- HEEELLLPP! I recently downloaded(actually microsoft did it for me) the new Media Player v11. It gives you the ultimate “ouch”, in that when you insert any blank CD, you get the dreaded “blue screen”. I’ve been to their help site several times, and adjusted my settings, but something is terribly wrong. Can you give me any insights if you have heard of this problem, and can suggest any ideas on a fix/workaround? Thanks.
By RichDaddy
April 3, 2007 9:15 PM | Link to this
Bill, I agree with all of your PC device suggestions and have them at home. One more thing to suggest is a flatbed scanner. Doesn’t have to be expensive as $50 - $100 buys a good one with OCR software and all the other goodies. It allows you to make digital and paper copies whenever you need to.
By Bill
April 4, 2007 9:12 AM | Link to this
Hi Rich, yeah as a matter of fact I have 3 flatbed scanners at home. I don’t use them for photos as often as I did before switching to digital cameras, but they’re very handy for my real estate agent wife.
Two of them are just regular flatbeds - including one high end one I used before moving to digital photography - and a third is part of a multi-function scanner, printer and fax machine. I generally hate multi-function devices but - nowadays - seems like most of the decent fax machines are going that way.
By Ssgreeno
April 4, 2007 10:00 AM | Link to this
Does anyone have any experience with converting LPs to CDs? I know there are already some turntables out there that do this, with more coming. I have some vintage jazz on LP that never made it to CD, that I have been saving for such a technical breakthru (for home use). I’m no technophile, so any conversions must be childishly simple.
By Bill
April 4, 2007 10:09 AM | Link to this
Hey Ssgeeno - I’ll add a link to a pretty good (and long) article on how to do it.
Here’s the link.
The information seems good, the fellow seems to know what he’s doing (other than with spelling and grammar, grin).
It’s one of the few popular tech chores that I’ve never tackled - I can most of the old stuff I have on MP3 and so have taken the lazy way out. Let us know how it turns out.
By ChrisD
April 4, 2007 10:19 AM | Link to this
Obviously, eric doesn’t understand what anyone’s talking about.
By ChrisD
April 4, 2007 10:23 AM | Link to this
I’m looking for a good progressive scan DVD player/recorder (not high definition) than can handle all +/- formats and allow me to plug in my digital video camera and burn DVDs directly. Any suggestions? Every one that I like gets slammed by cnet. I’ve been looking forever. I already have a DVR, so I’m not interested in recording TV.