Desktop Computers

In an age of wanting mobile technology, people seem

to have forgotten the desktop computer.  However, if we take a look at what you get for your money, it doesn’t make since to just forget about the desktop.  I recently bought one with 4 GB of Ram and a 500 GB hard-drive for $400.  You can’t come close getting that much in a laptop for the same money.  Plus, it has an 18″ flat screen.  From what I’ve seen, the flat screens have a much higher quality picture than those of the laptops.  The only real disadvantage to a desktop is that it’s stationary.  So, if you’re looking into a new computer, don’t forget to at least include a desktop in your search.

PS: What do you currently use for your computing needs?  What is your preference?(laptop or desktop)  I would love to hear from you!

Windows 7

So, on my new computer from the last post, I got Windows 7!  I have to say, even though I’ve only had it for a short time, I am thoroughly impressed.  It is full of cool little features, like snap, peek, and shake.  These are three of my favorite features about Windows 7 so far.  The snap feature I’m sure you’re aware of.  Its where you can snap your windows to either side of the screen so that two windows can be viewed side by side.  This comes in handy quite often for me.  The peek feature is were if you need to view the desktop for some reason, you can just mouse over the right side of the task bar and it will allow you to see the desktop without minimizing the current windows.  And the coolest feature is shake.  If you have multiple windows open, and you just need to focus on one, you can click and shake that window and the rest of the windows will disappear.  To get them back, simply click the window and shake again.  Really, I haven’t had too much time to play with Windows 7, but so far it is amazing.  If you don’t have Windows 7, unless you want to spend the money to upgrade, I wouldn’t run out and buy it to upgrade from Vista or XP.  However, saying that, if your in the situation were you need, or just want a new computer, I would definitely say that now is the time to get one!

Compaq Presario

I’m sure lots of you guys are still in bed after shopping all day today!  Well, I saw several desktops that I thought had great prices this year.  I decided on the one that Best Buy had.  It was an eMachine, which I was kind of worried about, but it had 3 GB of RAM, a 500 GB hard drive, a 20 inch monitor, a 2.8 GHz AMD processor, and a printer.  You got all of this for $347.  However, after standing in line for several hours, they had already handed out all of the tickets for this computer.  So, the other desktop I had considered was at Office Depot.  It was a Compaq Presario that came with 4 GB of RAM, a 500 GB hard drive, an 18.5 inch monitor, a 1.8 GHz AMD processor, and an optional wireless printer.  This was all bundled together for $379.  Once I arrived at Office depot, I was in the door and out within a half hour with computer in hand.

Computer Review

So far I am loving this computer.  Even though I was some what worried about the smaller 1.8 GHz processor, it seems to handle whatever I need to do with ease (although I really don’t demand too much from it).  The screen, although smaller than the eMachine, has an absolutely astounding picture.  It honestly has a better picture than my high definition t.v. My only complaint about this whole package is the mouse and keyboard are wired, but I don’t think many desktops come with wireless accessories.Obviously it would be a cheap upgrade to fix.  Overall, I would definitely recommend this computer to anyone that wants to upgrade from an older computer.  It’s fast, has great graphics, and would work for anyone that isn’t demanding a ton of processor speed.

LG Rumor Touch

I got my new phone about  a week ago!  So far I love it.  Lets start with the positives.  I get service almost every where.  The only place I’ve been and not had service was in the campground in Silver Lake, Michigan.  Once I got onto the dunes though I had my service again.  The unlimited txt and data is a huge plus on this phone.  Opera Mini is a must download app as it is a huge improvement over the standard browser.  It opens pages at a reasonably quick speed and displays all the webpages I visit correctly.  The Hello UI is a cool feature, but so far I haven’t really seen a use for it.  I guess if you do a lot of group messages it would be useful.  The camera and video camera all this phone are really good for a cell phone.  Another great thing about this phone is the sound quality.  The people on the other end are kinda quiet, but they don’t break up or anything like that.  Google Maps is also a great feature on this phone.  Instead of paying an extra $10 a month for the navigation app, I can just use Google Maps.  Sure it doesn’t tell you where to go, but it does show me where I am and which way I’m going.

Now to the not so good.  The touch screen takes some getting use to.  Sometimes if you try to scroll, you end up clicking on one of the buttons instead.  But after about a weeks use, I seem to be able to avoid that mishap.  Another bad thing in my opinion is the fact that the phone locks when you are talking on the phone.  So, to get the keypad back you have to unlock the phone, then push keypad.  This really isn’t that big a deal, it’s just kinda annoying. As far as the negatives on the phone that’s pretty much it.  However, Virgin Mobile does lack of a couple of things.  For example, you cannot go to a free ringtone site and send them to your phone.  You must purchase ringtones and apps from Virgin Mobiles webstore.  As for apps, there really aren’t a whole lot.  I really wish Virgin Mobile would add some more apps to their site, but I won’t complain too much because their service is cheap and so far its been reliable.  If you have any questions or comments about the Rumor Touch or Virgin Mobile leave  a comment, and I’ll try to help you out!

Virgin Mobile

The other day I was looking into getting a new prepaid cell phone.  I hate the idea of being tied into a 2-year contract.  Plus I’m cheap and don’t want to spend a ton of money for cell phone service.  Thats where virgin mobile comes in.  Which Sprint recently acquired, so you know the coverage will be very good being that virgin mobile will be using the Sprint network.   They now offer a $25 a month plan that includes unlimited messaging and data, along with 300 anytime minutes.  They also offer a $40 a month plan that includes 1200 anytime minutes with the unlimited messaging and data.  If you use your phone mostly for talking, they also offer a $60 a month plan that includes unlimited everything. These plans are called Beyond Talk.

If you don’t like the idea of paying per month, virgin mobile does offer something called payLo.  On this plan, you purchase their “top-up” cards which refills your minutes.  You have the option of which card you buy.  I believe they start at $10 and go up from there.  The cards extend your service for 90 days I think.  If you are familiar with tracfone, it works basically the same way.  When you go with the payLo plan, the rates are $0.15 a text, $.025 picture message, $0.20 a minute, and$1.50 per MB of data.  Overall this is still cheaper than tracfone which is around $0.33 a minute if you buy the $20 card every 90 days.

The only possible downside I see from virgin mobile is the fact that they only have four phones right now that  work on their Beyond Talk plans.  However, they are pretty decent phones.  They include the Black Berry Curve 8530, the Rumor Touch, the Rumor 2, and the Loft.  Another bad thing about going prepaid is that you don’t get the discount on th phones.  Meaning instead of a $10 or free phone, your going to have to pay close to retail value.  But if you think about it, if you were to buy the Rumor Touch with Sprints 2-year contract for $49.99, and had to pay the $69.99 a month, its still going to be cheaper going with virgin mobile.  In one year using these numbers, with sprint you would spend $890, and with virgin mobile, you would spend $440.  Both of these included the price of the phone.  So, even though the virgin mobile service charges $139 for the phone and Sprint only charges $50, its still cheaper to go with virgin mobile in the long run.

At the current time, I have not purchased a virgin mobile phone.  I will probably be getting it sometime in the next week.  Once I do, I will make another post and do a review.  The phone I will be getting is the Rumor Touch because I love touch screens.  If you have any questions, or thoughts about virgin mobile, or anything in this blog post, please feel free to leave a comment!

Follow up on Amazon Affiliate Program

I was asked to explain in more detail the affiliate program that I joined. Basically how it works is I provide links to products on amazon.com to you guys. If someone decides to click on a link that I provided, and purchase that item, I get like $.15 from that purchase. So far, I’ve made nada from it. So its pretty much just a cool way for me to link to the products I’m talking about in my blog. If you have any more questions just leave a comment and I’ll try and answer.

Old Technology with Modern Advances

Recently I’ve been getting into CB radios. I know these are not the most technologically advanced pieces of equipment, but its interesting to see what they can do. Even with this thought in mind, CB radios really have come a long way from the 70′s. Today you can drive to your local truck stop and find CB radios with Blue tooth, which allows you to use your cell phone with the radio. Essentially, once your phone is connected, you hit a button and can use the CB’s microphone to talk on the phone. There are many people modifying their radios to produce more power. This is what I find so intriguing about CB radio. There are almost limitless amounts of modifications that you can perform. Now, these mods are technically not legal, however as long as they are done by a radio technician nobody will ever know. In a time of Twitter and Facebook, its kinda nice to go back in time and play around on the CB. Does anyone else use a CB or just mess around with one? If you do I would love to hear what you a running! I’m looking at getting a Cobra 25 to replace the one I currently have.

PS: The reason way I first bought CB radios was so I could stay in contact when I followed my Dad to go to the dunes in Michigan.

Family Locator

Have you ever been in the store and suddenly find yourself separated from the people that came with you?  Well, now Verizon is offering an app called Family Locator.  I can think of lots of uses for this app.  The store, amusement parks, festivals, and everyday activities like when your kids arrive at school.  The main reason this app seems to have been created was to keep track of where your kids are, but like I said there are many more uses.  Not only can you get updates via txt message, but email as well.  Plus, you can view the detailed maps on both your phone and the compute The best thing is its only $9.99 a month!  Here is a link to more info about the Family Locator app.Family Locator

Amazon Affiliate

We are now an amazon.com affiliate. You can find the products we offer by clicking on the products tab at the top of this page. I am listing all the products that are currently available for sale on amazon.com in the Featured Products section. Currently there are several different categories available to shop from once you get to our store front. Eventually, I will probably go through and hand pick which items are available in the store. This means you can leave a comment to this post requesting a product and I will be able to get it for you as long as its available on amazon.com.

Here is the link for the store

Toyota Recalls

I know most of you have heard about Toyota’s recent recalls. They first started by saying it was a problem with the floor mats causing the accelerator pedal to stick. After further research, they decided it was more of a problem with the pedal itself. What they don’t tell us is that a couple years ago, they went to drive by wire. This means as you push the accelerator down, it sends an electrical sensor to the computer which tells the engine how much fuel it should be receiving. Now, I’m not saying this is the problem, but its kinda funny how the recalled vehicles all have this technology. Prior to using “drive by wire,” the accelerator was attached to a cable which was connected to the throttle body. As the cable was stretched, it opened the throttle body wider allowing more fuel into the motor. And now, Toyota is looking into a possible problem with power steering. They say the power steering issue is limited to the Corolla, and there has been no recall announced as of right now. You may be wondering why I’m posting this on a technology blog. The reason being that “drive by wire” is a relatively new technology. I think if they are going to be using this kind of system, they should do extensive testing to make sure their customers are safe. Toyota is currently advertising their mini-van for families. I really don’t want to put my kids in a van that uses the “drive by wire” system if there is going to be major issues with it. And now with the possible power steering issue, there is no way I would purchase a Toyota especially for my family. I want to know what your opinions are on this issue. Would you buy a Toyota after all these issues? I know Ford is up 24% and GM is up 14% in sales since the Toyota issues, while Toyota’s sales were down 16%. So, this shows there are some people that have decided not to buy Toyota. So, lets hear you opinions on this issue. I’ve even included a poll if you so wish to participate!

Would you purchase from Toyota?
(polls)