Zazbot Discount Shopping

Many people are provided standard desk top computers at work selected by their companies computer team. Some will have laptops instead and most of these office workers will have no say in what they are using, nor do they care about what kind of equipment they use as long as it works. If you are self employed on the other hand and work out of your home office, it is a much different world.  Not only do you have to provide your own computer IT support or hire someone at fairly expensive rates to do upgrades and keep things running, you have to make your own decisions as well with regards to what equipment you use.

My current configuration is a laptop with a second screen that I use to expand my desktop. I can place different applications on either screen and refer to either one at any time. It really improves my efficiency and ease of use especially if I have 5 or 6 applications open at the same time which I often do. My second screen is over four years old and is really not that big. It is only 13 inches wide which is actually quite small when you compare to 21 inch and 24 inch high definition wide screens that are now available on the market. This would almost double my desk top space and I think would be a great investment.

Technical Requirements and Decision Making

As with all computer technology there are lots of options and choices to make and it is sometimes difficult to narrow down the decision process. What manufacturer, what warranty, what size of screen, what response time, what aspect ratio do I need,  brightness, contrast,  input ports, ergonomic options, resolution, USB interface, viewing angles, HDTV and on and on?

All I am looking for is a bigger monitor that I can extend my desktop onto, yet there are all of these technical options to consider! It can get pretty confusing to most people if they do not understand computer technology very well.

What to Look For?

It is back to basics! The key question is how will I use this monitor which in turn will point me in the direction of the type of monitor I need to select.  If you use your monitor for work, lots of text, spreadsheets etc and little gaming or video, then you really want to focus on accurate text, legibility and color tint issues. If on the other hand you need a monitor that is great with gaming and video, then brightness, screen response time, accurate colors and a wide viewing angle are important.

Since I am looking for something that is useful for work related activity and not video or gaming, response time and color is not as important as great text reproduction along with accurate colors for picture and video creation / editing.

Next we have to consider ergonomics. I use my laptop monitor as my main work space. It has a large screen and it has all of the features that are needed for my work activity. The second display is a workspace to place applications and information that I will be referring to as I continue with my work activities. A large 24 inch screen is excellent with a stand that is low profile so that the screen lines up with my lap top screen will be ideal . A wide screen is a must have in this situation since it really expands your desk top and provides more space to display whatever content you require to work with.

Manufacturer & Warranty

Now that I know I need a large 24 inch display, with excellent text reproduction, reasonable response times and color accuracy, there is the issue of which company to purchase from, the manufacturer, warranty and price.

Normally I do not purchase extended warranties however for my laptop I have purchased an extended next day repair type of warranty since I depend on this machine to complete assignments every day. I cannot afford to be without a laptop for more than a few days.  On the other hand I can quickly find a new display if the one that I am using to extend my desktop fails for some reason. Therefore an extended warranty is not really necessary as far as the display is concerned. Some people would not even bother with the lap top next day repair warranty, however this really is a personal thing related to your work, due dates and need to provide great customer service.

Regarding the manufacturer, and using the same logic, purchasing a display that has good user ratings and feedback along with some of the better known manufacturers is probably a safe way to go. Forget the inexpensive no-name brands that are available. It is just not worth dealing with any difficulties that might arise from an inexpensive display and the price differential is not that much different anyway. You will be writing this off from a tax perspective if you use it for work so it does not matter if the display costs a little bit more to get a better supported brand.

Finally it comes down to which vendor can offer the best price for the best display that meets my needs as stated earlier. With a little shopping around and a bit of patience, you can usually find a display that meets all requirements on sale at any of the major electronics stores. Shopping on line is another option as well for comparison price shopping.

Returns

If you are really patient, wait until after Christmas or some other major sale activity and watch for returns. Customers can often find a really good deal by purchasing an “out of box” item on sale. These units all come with the same warranty as a brand new device would have, although they may have been taken out of the box and used for a brief time. Always check that you have all of the chords, papers and warranties that come with the unit before you walk out of the store.

These can be really good deals for many desktop computer monitors.

Computer printers are so versatile and so inexpensive these days that everyone can afford to have a decent printer that will not only print emails and reports you can also use them to print photographs as well. We purchased the Cannon MP210 printer with four functions included. This printer will print just like any other printer, it will also scan documents and pictures and save them in the appropriate file type such as jpeg or pdf. If you need to copy documents and print multiple copies, this printer can handle it as well. Users can also connect cameras directly to the printer to print pictures from the camera. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I bought an Acer laptop and it lasted about two to three weeks before I had had enough and took it back for a full refund. It had some software issues, I didn’t like the way the keyboard felt or how the mouse pad and click buttons felt. I went to Best Buy and grabbed something different. I didn’t have much hope of finding a PC that I was going to be happy with, after all the duds I have dealt with over the years. Vista really turned my off when it was launched, and I would not even buy another PC if it had Vista installed. I had pretty much given up on the whole PC experience and was quite frustrated, but the reality of some of the software I needed to run was the I was stuck with owning at least one PC. We have two Macs in the house which we swear by and we know from experience are far superior computers, but we had to have at least one PC that worked okay.

So when I went to Best Buy to purchase a new PC for the first time in my life I was not excited at all about getting a new computer. The last two I had purchased (Toshiba Netbook and the Acer laptop) were big letdowns and it left a bad taste in my mouth. So I decided that when I bought this PC I would buy a brand that I have never owned before, and the model that was brand-new this year. I went straight to the Sony Vaio that was sitting on the shelf, touch the keys a little bit, and touch the mouse pad and click buttons a little bit. I asked a salesman to wrap up one of these new Sony laptops that had a decent sized screen and told him I had to get to the airport to catch a flight so that he would move fairly quickly and get this transaction over with. I really didn’t have any high hopes about the Sony brand either, but I had to give it a shot.

I don’t know why I didn’t have any great expectations regarding the Sony laptop, because we have two Sony big screens in the house (an old Sony 42 inch projection big-screen, and a 52 inch Sony LCD flatscreen) and they have been very solid. We also have a Sony cupboard mounted CD/radio in the kitchen, which has been very reliable and we had it for quite a while. I remember as a kid when the first small Sony Trinitron televisions came out and my father raved about them, and he bought one. The picture was much better than any of the other brands that were available in the stores in that small town, so the Sony brand had made an impression upon me quite early. But for some reason, even with that I was never really a promoter of Sony equipment. They always have a good reputation for making quality electronic equipment but for some reason I never really bought into it. Now it is different, because we go through a lot of computers and electronic equipment with our business and over the years the Sony equipment has held up the best. Read the rest of this entry »

Bought a Toshiba netbook last week and it was kinda wierd at first because the keys are so much closer together than a typical laptop or desktop. However, after writing about 5000 words on it, it feels quite good and I’m actually typing very quickly now. I still have to pause when I reach for the ” (quote) key because it is so small. The delete key is easy because it is top/right corner of the netbook. Ironically, this netbook has allot more hard drive space than our past laptops, and the speed is faster too. All of my web browsers seem to be a little bit slower though. I’ve tried Google Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer, and they all seem to be a little bit slow when clicking around the Internet. It may be my home Internet connection that is the problem, we while I’m on the road again, we’ll see what it is like on other Wifi connections. I’m writing this in a pure .txt file which a prefer, so that I can copy/paste all of this content into the Zazbot.com blog.

Every new gadget we buy for the office, or for blogging, gets a small review on what we think of it in our opinion. A short review really. We write or blog about ANY product we buy since Zazbot is all about shopping, comparing, and buying. This goes for the RV, computers, gadgets, cars, trucks – you name it. As a matter of fact, we bought a GMC Canyon awhile back and we have not done a review on it yet – I’ll get to that soon.

So we like the netbook for how light weight it is, the built-in camera, and quick keyboard, and overall “smallness”.

As far as durability goes, we of course don’t know that yet, but we’ll be able to blog about that a little later after we’ve had this puppy on the road with us for awhile.

I’m at this minute sitting beside a Kal-Tire gas station/store in a wee little town called Elko (Elko, B.C (British Columbia, Canada) as we are meeting my parent here is a few minutes and then taking a left turn going south towards the Roosville border crossing. Then we’ll head down the road south through the Tabacco Plains and on to Whitefish and Kalispel – a short 3 day trip to hang out with Mom and Dad, see the sights, and do some shopping.

I’m sitting in the front seat of our 2300 Sunseeker RV, which we have posted about already. This machine has been fantastic so far (touching wood) and it’s the perfect size for us, and our two Golden Retrievers. It’s a pig on gas of course, but you just have to budget for it. I would say that if your family is on a tight budget, steer clear of motor homes, RVs, and boats. They’re all money suckers big time! It’s great if it’s affordable, and this is why so many elderly and retired people can afford to use these recreational vehicles.

Hmmm……..so much for my review of the Toshiba Netbook – oh well, we’re allowed to have the odd disjointed post that goes in all sorts of directions.

This Toshiba Netbook is black and is 10.1 inches for screen size. It came with Windows XP (Home Edition) already installed. I was SO relieved when I noticed this, because all my software runs on the WinXP OS. I don’t own any computers that run the Vista OS, and I’ve heard good things and bad things about Vista. I’m sure that in time Vista will be the norm for me too, so I’m trying to manage all of our work online with fewer and fewer software programs and use only web based solutions. This makes it much easier when we have a computer go down, get lost, stolen, or burnt in fire. We back everything up on mulitple flash sticks for this very purpose.

We have three computers in the family business now. No desktops anymore. We have a Mac, this Toshiba Netbook, and my wife’s work laptop, which is an old Dell I picked up off Ebay for $180 bucks. The Mac has been the most solid as far as any computers we’ve owned, and the 2nd place honor goes to the 14.1 Gateway laptop, which this Netbook replaced. The Gateway just sort of died with instant blue screens of death after just a few minute of starting up. Now it won’t even start up anymore. Luckily I got most of our data off the machine before it totally calved.

So my parents look like they are rolling in to Elko here, so I’ll update on this Toshiba Netbook review a little later. We’ll talk about memory, RAM speed, and much more then. Bye for now!

Well I’ve used many different laptops in the past with my online and offline businesses. I spend a whole whack of time on these infernal notebooks, laptops, or whatever you want to call the damn things.

They stopped being toys a long time ago and that’s fine, because they’re just objects. I used be really anal about cleanliness and handling of my desktops and laptops, but that has change over the last 6 years. I toss them sometimes, close them up and use them for coasters and dinner trays. I throw them in and out of my car(s) and sometimes I don’t bother with a laptop bag. I let me dog (96 pound golden retriever) sit on my laptops if they so choose warm up the infernal pieces of crap.

Now I say with all humility that I am my own worst enemy when it comes to the endless stream of money I have to spend on laptops, but I don’t believe notebooks and laptops are meant to last for a decade. Maybe two years at the most. The hardware, chipsets, peripheals, and software always takes another leap within two years so you are due for a new one anyway. This is why I treat my laptops with such disrespect I suppose. Also, I did what is not a great idea – I made my hobby a job, and this is why these laptops are only tools now and not toys.

Which Laptops Have Stood Up to My Abuse

So you’re likely wondering which laptop brands I’ve used. Toshiba, Gateway, Hp, Dell, and Mac. I use mostly PC software and computers for my work, and I use Mac for recreational work such as DAW’s (google it) and Photo and Movie work. As far as durability goes, the Mac notebooks are not really any tougher than some of their PC counterparts. Some Mac fans would of course disagree and that debate is now nauseating

However, overall the Mac notebooks and and the Gateway laptops have been the most durable and resistant to my constant abuse. I have found the Hp laptops to be very fragile and don’t far well with constant abuse. I was going through an Hp laptop every 6-10 months, Toshiba laptops lasted about 12 -16 months with constant disregard for care.

The clear winner in my case has been the Gateway laptops. I mean driving over them with your car is not a good idea, but the two that I’ve had have been “done over” with complete disregard for longevity. I’m actually writing this post on one of these abused Gateway machines. The exterior case is scratched beyond belief and 4 of the keys are black because I have worn the paint off of them.

There about 8 little specs in the screen where the LCD finally gave up from my excessive nastiness. These specs are at the lowest center position of the display so it’s not really a big deal – does not affect my work at all. The screen is still bright, but not as bright as a new machine. Actually, this is the only complaint I have with the Gateway machines. The screens, displays, monitors (whatever you want to call it – don’t care) are not as bright as some of the other machines I’ve used.

Toshiba machines are quite durable too, but their power connection breaks like the HP models. One of the reason this Gateway has lasted so long is because the AC power connection is a 90 degree thin wire connection. Not as smart as the Mac laptop power connections with their magnet attachment and ultra thin wire.

Enough….my experience shows these are the toughest in order.

Toughest Laptop List 

#1 – Gateway

#2 – Mac

#3 – Toshiba

#4 – Dell

#5 – Hp

One of the most popular Christmas gifts in our family was the SanDisk Cruzer flash drive. In particular, the 4 gigabyte stick. When I got one from my Dad, I was pleasantly surprised to find out the SanDisk Cruzer had a retractable USB connector, and was U3 smart enabled (you can read a more detailed account of what U3 is here).

Running Software on the Cruzer

Basically this means you can install software on your Cruzer such as Webaroo for browsing, and Skype for calling people. There are many more applications you can run on the Cruzer, but I won’t go into all of them here. This ability to run software on a flash drive is what sets flash drives like the Cruzer ahead of their competition. In fact, a standard flash drive that simply stores data will begin to fade away.

The Advantage of the Sandisk Cruzer When Travelling

This is very exciting for people who travel allot, and get frustrated with the Internet services in other countries. Have you ever tried surfing the Internet in Mexico? Usually a painful experience. In my experience, checking email in Mexico is all I usually accomplish before I get frustrated and leave the cyber-cafe or hotel Internet room. Now with a flash drive that has  software loaded such as a browser and a form filler like Roboform (which is U3 compliant), you can plug into any Mac or PC that has a USB input, and have all your favorites in a familiar browser.

 Why the SanDisk Cruzer Flash Drive is a Great Gift

• only about $40
• compact and handy
• as mentioned above – U3 technology
• most people these days are happy to have a portable option for their personal computing
• you can put it on a key chain
• the retractable USB connector gives it longevity (durability)

Bought the Mac OS X Leopard last month because I can run Windows on it. I was expecting great things, and I got just that. This is by far the smoothest operating system to run Windows for me yet.

Lightening fast, and all of the Mac advantages come with it. Everything is running much more stable, and I can run some heavy resources sucking programs in the background as I browse the net. Being a Windows user since the very beginning I had to learn a new way of “right clicking”.

When your use Windows on your Mac Leopard you need to “right click” a different way. You hold two fingers down on your track pad, and click. This does the same as a “right click” does on a PC. As the cliche goes, “once you go Mac, you never go back”. I have to agree 100% with that. I’ll never go back to a PC again.

How To Get Windows Going On Your Mac Leopard System

Your Mac Leopard OS X uses a format called “Boot Camp”. What you do to get Windows installed on your Leopard is access “Boot Camp” while you’re running in Mac mode. Follow the onscreen instructions and you will be partitioning your hard-drive. Then you will be asked to install Windows on the new “Boot Camp” partition. Easy. Very Easy.

Then you have to use a Windows Home or Pro install and it has to be SP2 (or Service Pack 2). If you only have SP1 (or Service Pack 1), you can simply do what they call “slip-streaming” from Sp1 to Sp2. I had to slipstream my Windows Pro Sp2 install. Here is the best site that give you detailed and simple instructions on how to slipstream your Sp1 to Sp2. You’ll need to be running a copy of Nero 6 for the burn process.

Once you’ve installed Windows on your Boot Camp partition, you will be asked to insert your CDROM that came with your Mac. This installs all the stuff (drivers and what-have-you) you need to make your Windows perform like a monster.

Done. Have fun.