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Friday, March 30, 2007
I’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.
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