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Archive through December 11, 2003

The TVClubHouse: Archives: 2004 January - Arpil: Computer Problems? Ask here... (ARCHIVES): Archive through December 11, 2003 users admin

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Fluff

Monday, December 08, 2003 - 4:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I thought it was msn only, but now I know it's just the internet connection in general. I applied for ISPs that already came on the computer, but still could not access the web. I'm thinking this is because I didn't have the actual internet cd from the ISP. I just went to the control panel and did it.

Juju2bigdog

Monday, December 08, 2003 - 11:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Fluff, I know what your are saying, but logic tells me that (not having the CD) should not be your problem, since people set up their initial ISP that way all the time. I presume you paid money to MSN to subscribe for their internet access? If so, they should be willing to provide you some initial telephone support to get you going.

Dra, it may be that she is not actually online yet with her new computer but is going to the computer lab to ask her questions.

Fluff, you better get that thing working. You have a hair thread to tend. Don't get discouraged, it is all a bit confusing setting it up at first. It will become clearer as you muddle along. That's what we all did at first. Of course, some, like me, continue to muddle ...

Draheid

Monday, December 08, 2003 - 11:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Fluff: Do you have an internet connection where you live (where you're trying to use the computer from)?? If not, you may be able to access a dialup account free through the university, check with their 'Computer Services' department and ask what you need. Most campuses offer free access to registered students. They should be able to help you get it setup too.

Let me know.

Fluff

Tuesday, December 09, 2003 - 7:43 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks Juju!

I had access Saturday night, then I had more problems and just couldn't get on altogether. I am at my computer lab asking questions. What I'm going to do is send the laptop back (it was used anyway), and just buy a new computer...one that comes with instructions! Thanks Draheid.

Juju2bigdog

Tuesday, December 09, 2003 - 10:27 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Free dialup account for students sounds like the way to go.

Yay Fluff!!!

Whoami

Tuesday, December 09, 2003 - 5:29 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Sis and I are trying to do a routine system maintenance on her PC.

Does WindowsXP have Scan Disk, or something like it? Or, is there a place in XP to go to do a routine cleanup of the 'puter?

Draheid

Tuesday, December 09, 2003 - 5:47 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Whoami: In Windows/XP, open Windows Explorer, right-click on the drive you want to work with, then left-click on 'Properties'. From there click on the 'Tools' tab and you'll find 'Error-checking' and 'Defragmentation' tools.

There is also a tool under 'Start - Programs - Accessories - System Tools' called 'Disk Cleanup' that will clear temporary files, caches, downloads, etc. as well as offer to compress older seldom used files on your hard drive. This is a very comprehensive utility that you can use to recover disk space when you need to.

Hope that helps.

Edit to add: Note - Defrag will not completely defragment your drive, due to the nature of the NTFS file system that XP uses, but it will help your system run better anyway.

Weinermr

Tuesday, December 09, 2003 - 5:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Draheid, I have a question.

In your opinion, which is the better defragmentation tool to use, the one that comes with Windows 98/ME, or the one that comes with the Norton Utilities? Is there any significant difference? They don't seem to be exactly the same. Thanks in advance!

Draheid

Tuesday, December 09, 2003 - 6:06 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Weinermr: I've always been a huge fan of Norton Utilities. Have had them on every computer I've owned for many years including this one. The SpeedDisk utility is, IMO, the best way to defragment a hard drive especially on Windows 98/Me (it is somewhat limited on /XP unfortunately). If you configure it to do so, Norton's utility will even defragment your swap file, something most other defrag programs won't touch, and that can help your system quite a lot in addition to just the defrag alone.

Hope that helps.

Weinermr

Tuesday, December 09, 2003 - 6:18 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks Dra! I always thought Norton did a better job too. That's my unscientific impression of how the PC ran after defragmentation. I'll continue using Norton then. Thank you so much!

Texannie

Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 10:58 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
My husband wants a palm pilot for Christmas. He said, "the basic, cheapest, easiest model..just need date book, address book, calender..no fancy toys". Any suggestions?

Draheid

Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 11:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Texannie: There are dozens of pocket electronic 'Organizers' on the market ranging from simple ($10 - $50) to extravagant hand-held PCs ($100 - $800 and up). Most of the low-end units have all the features you describe and even have way to interface with your computer to synchronize with your desktop organizer (Outlook, etc.) for easier maintenance.

Palm Pilot is a specific brand which sells for anywhere from $100 up to $500 depending on features, memory, accessories, etc.

One model I've seen mentioned on here a few times is the Palm Tungsten (the e-model starts around $200) which looks like a fairly popular unit.

Check Officedepot.com

Hope that helps.

Texannie

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 7:15 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks Dra!

Lostintheglades

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 7:27 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Darn Dra you are good. I have been programming for handhelds for the last 12 years. The manufacturer I dealt with the most had one of the first handheld out there called the Organiser by Psion. Unfortunately they do not make retail products anymore, I still have one that I use though. The Palm Tungsten is a good reliable product and I dont' think you're going to find one for a better price. Stick with the Palm OS though and stay clear of CE.

Texannie

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 7:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
What about something like these organizers?
http://www.officedepot.com/ddMain.do?level=SC&id=3601002&location_info=SG_3_DV_36_SC_3601002

He was pretty specific about inexpensive and nothing fancy. He mainly wants to get rid of his big bulky Day Timer.

Draheid

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 8:14 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Texannie: Those are the organizers I was talking about. One thing to consider is how many contacts, how much information he is going to want to store then choose a device which has more then enough memory to hold that. The units on that page range from 96KB to 8MB of memory.

I have used a Sharp Mobile Organizer for a number of years and was very happy with it. I've also worked with a few other brands, including the Psion, Rolodex, Daytimer, etc. and have found them to all be very similar.

You might want to check for opinions at Epinions.com PDAs under $100 There are even several Palm OS devices in that price range that might be worth considering.

Hope that helps.

Juju2bigdog

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 8:28 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Texannie, I got up an hour early this morning (not on purpose), so I spent a few minutes looking at your link. All of those look like what he has described. Keep in mind I don't have and have never used one of these things, but I liked the all of the Sharps because they had that flip cover. The one for $49 looked especially good because it has 8 Mb memory while the others have as little as a few hundred. That one had by far the biggest memory, not that he may need that much. And you sure couldn't beat the Oregon Scientific for features and price. I wonder why they have it so steeply discounted? And does it really sell for $89 normally?

Edit: I see Dra was posting at the same time as me. I suppose I am going to have to go read Epinions now. Sigh. I could have been sleeping.

Texannie

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 9:26 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks Dra and Juju..this is so confusing! I like bells and whistles and he doesn't! LOL

Texannie

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 9:32 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
This one looks good!
http://www.epinions.com/pr-Sharp_YO-520P_Personal_Organizer/display_~reviews

Draheid

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 10:34 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Texannie: I looked at the Sharp Organizer Homepage for that model and it is listed in the 'archive' as last years product. I would be a bit leary of one which has been discontinued. That's not to say it isn't a good unit, however.

My personal preference would be for one of the 'OZ' series organizers. They are more similar to the Palm type PDA then the one above. Office Depot offers 2 models, the only difference appears to be one has only 1MB of memory and the more expensive has 8MB.

Hope that helps.

Landi

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 11:21 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
texannie, after having some of the sharp organizers (before they made palms!) and then living with my palm pilot, i wouldn't choose anything but a palm. there are very good palms without thousands of bells and whistles and lots of storage for phone #'s and the such for under $100. the beauty of the palm is synching to your computer, i can print out calendars for the entire family of what we have planned, and it is easy to type what you need to have in your palm on the computer and just synch it up. let me tell you, i've had my palm m130 for over a year (it's my second palm - i outgrew my first one) and i wouldn't trade it for anything!

Texannie

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 1:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Me again! LOL

What about these?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1051384585327&type=product

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1051384585327&type=product


This one Dra? http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=356437&location_info=SG_3_DV_36_SC_3601002_SK_356437
It looks good.

Draheid

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 1:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Texannie: It's a difficult choice to be sure. Both of these have all the features you are looking for and much more.

I would personally go with the Sharp OZ-590. It has 4 times as much memory, uses 1 'AAA' battery, and uses a serial port connection to synch to your PC. I think this would be easier to connect to your PC. Especially if you don't have USB ports that the Zire uses for connecting.

Looking at the user manual for the Sharp, they even mention there is an English/Spanish translator function you can load from the included CD-ROM.

Hope that helps.

Maris

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 1:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Tex I am looking at PDAs too and I thought about the PDA from Best Buy but if you click on more info, you will find out that the rebate expired on 11/29. Also it is monochromatic and doesnt have much memory.

Comp USA has a PDA made by Sony called the CLIE SJ22 which is $119 and it is color. Seems to have more bells and whistles and wont break the bank. I am thinking about buying this for my son in the hopes that forgotten homeworks assignments will be history.

Texannie

Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 2:16 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks Dra...I think I will go with the Sharp!
Good luck with your choice, Maris.