Chad’s News

This article by Kim Komando has some good tips regarding what to look for in a new computer that runs Windows Vista. Vista, by the way, was named the year’s biggest tech disappointment by PC World.

Buying a New Windows Computer

By Kim Komando

You can still get computers that run Windows XP. But Vista, whatever its faults, is the future. We’ve used Vista all year in the office. It has worked fine.

Vista requires a more powerful machine than XP. That means you may have to spend more than you planned.

There are several versions of Vista. Vista Home Basic is just that—basic. Skip it. Go with Home Premium or Ultimate.

Home Premium and Ultimate give you a much better experience. You’ll be able to see all the improvements in Vista’s design. There are also more features in these editions. For example, they both include Media Center. To learn more about the different versions of Vista, read my buying guide.

With Vista, you’ll need plenty of RAM. The minimum you’ll need for Home Basic is 512 megabytes. For other versions of Vista, you’ll need 1GB. I would double this. Otherwise, be prepared to add more RAM later. This is particularly true if you’ll do photo or video editing.

You’ll also need plenty of graphics power. That’s due to Vista’s Aero interface. The minimum amount of video RAM you need for Vista is 128MB. Again, I would double this.

Buy a computer with a dedicated graphics card. The card will have its own memory.

Cheaper computers have the graphics system built in to the motherboard. This is called integrated graphics. If you buy a computer with integrated graphics, the system RAM will also be used for graphics. This will slow down your machine.

Things are different if you’re buying a laptop. You may opt for integrated graphics to improve battery life. Also, it will be more difficult to find a laptop with a dedicated video card. If you go with integrated graphics, settle for no less than 2GB of system RAM.

You may want to add RAM later. Make sure the laptop will accept more RAM. Some top out at 2GB.

Most people focus on the processor when buying a computer. These days, chips are powerful enough that most will do just fine. However, I’d stay away from the budget chips—Intel Celeron and AMD Sempron.

I would go with Intel’s Core 2 Duo or AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 dual-core chip. With laptops, buy AMD’s Turion or Intel’s Core 2 Duo Mobile.

Don’t worry too much about processor speed. Any of these processors will be fast. But if you can get a deal on a faster chip, go for it.

Hard drive capacities just grow and grow. If you’re buying a desktop computer, the hard drive will probably be 160GB or larger. This is more than adequate—unless you�re doing video editing. With laptops, hard drive size is more limited. I would aim for 80GB or larger on a laptop.

A CD/DVD burner is also essential. Fortunately, it should be standard on most computers you’ll see.

Also, the computer should have plenty of USB ports. Some laptops only have two; I would shoot for three or four. Memory card readers are also a nice touch. However, they’re useless if they don’t accept the cards from your gadgets.

Once you get your new machine, you�ll need to set it up. Vista has a tool that will help you transfer data easily. It’s called Easy Transfer. I have a tip that explains it.

Copyright 2008 WestStar TalkRadio Network. Reprinted with permission. No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the written consent of WestStar TalkRadio Network. Visit Kim Komando and sign up for her free e-mail newsletters at: www.komando.com.

Ever needed to close a bag of chips but didn’t have a clip available? This video shows a simple way to securely close the bag. I’ve tried it, and it works pretty well.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/…
(via Lifehacker)

I’d heard that chocolate wasn’t good for dogs, but I never realized it was quite so devastating.

Link: http://www.sciencebase.com/…

Ever had one of those dialog boxes that was just too small, and it couldn’t be resized? Windows freeware utility ResizeEnable should take care of the problem. Note that the program is a hack and may not work in all cases.

Link: http://lifehacker.com/…

PhotoRec is a free utility that recovers files from corrupted flash drives, memory cards, and CD-ROMs. It can be downloaded here.

Link: http://www.cgsecurity.org/…
(via Lifehacker)

Ever had a really long web address that you needed to send to someone, or to post in a comment somewhere—just to find that it gets split into pieces by the software? Or perhaps you have a complicated URL that needs to be entered by hand and is prone to error? TinyURL has been around for some time now, and it has the answer to this problem. Simply register the long URL, and TinyURL will give you a much shorter, email-safe URL with which to replace it. Clicking on the short URL will automatically redirect you to the long URL. The short URL never expires, so you can use it with impunity for as long as TinyURL is in existence.

Thanks to Josh for this topic.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/

Ever found yourself in need of a temporary email address that goes away after a day/week/month? The linked article has several disposable email providers—be sure to check the comments for even more.

Link: http://lifehacker.com/…

Here’s a neat shortcut for the power user. Rather than opening an FTP client and logging in, just use Windows Explorer.

Link: http://cybernetnews.com/…
(via Lifehacker)

Chad’s News has previously discussed compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs). They last longer and use less energy than regular incandescent bulbs. Turns out, however, that CFLs also contain mercury, so when one finally burns out it’s important that it be properly disposed of. The linked article lists five ways to recycle a CFL.

Link: http://lighterfootstep.com/…
(via digg)

Ever seen internet activity on your computer when you weren’t accessing the web? It could be something as simple as an installed program checking for updates, or as bad as malicious botnet code. Back in 2005, I asked Slashdot how to determine if my machine had become a zombie. They had some good tips, and my computer turned out to be okay. The linked article has specific instructions on how to use the ‘netstat’ command to find out which programs are accessing the internet. Well-designed rootkits will not show up on the list, of course, but other tools exist for those.

Link: http://labnol.blogspot.com/…
(via Lifehacker)

To promote its ink cartridge refilling service, Walgreens will refill one cartridge for free. This offer is good for today only.

Link: http://www.foxnews.com/…
(via Kim Komando)

With A Taste of Colorado going on here in Denver, the tips in the linked article are particularly timely. They tell you how to win (or at least improve your chances) at common carnival games. I like the one about shooting out the red star—rather than aim at the star, shoot a circle around the whole thing and the star will fall out.

Link: http://www.blifaloo.com/…
(via Lifehacker)