Disagreements galore
It’s disagreement day here in the column, where my readers can take me to task for my comments, observations and reviews. Of the thousands of emails I get every week some of them, you’d be shocked to know, actually run contrary to my opinion. (grin)
Q. In your column about building your own PC, you compared the costs but forgot the $200 for the processor and $50 for the motherboard.
A. Yes, I did. That makes my argument even stronger that building a PC from retail parts may be a fun thing to do but no longer can be done for cost-savings. It’s no longer a Heathkit world out there, alas, even though building your own is loads of fun.
Q. When you discussed free anti-virus products you said the free AVG is just as good as the paid ones. How can that be? I can’t believe that something people give away for free is as good as something supported by millions of dollars in research and development.
A. I am not a testing lab but I rely on the results from the respected labs in reaching my opinions. The AVG anti-virus product is only free to home users; the company makes its money by selling the product to businesses. I would suggest that some of the companies out there are selling anti-virus products for a significant premium (read: high price) over what the market really is. Many rely on rebates and silly schemes to make the price seem low.
I guess the bottom line for me is when a new PC is $300, spending $50 on product that is available free elsewhere is a tough putt for me.
Q. I think your comments about the viruses (or lack thereof) for the Mac is nuts. The reason there are no viruses for the Mac is it is simply more secure than Windows. Every week there’s another patch issued for another problem in Windows. When will you just admit the Mac is just better?
A. I think you’re right on some fronts. I am a huge fan of Apple hardware. I have always said the Apple operating systems are better, more secure and far less susceptible to spyware and other junk. That’s mostly because nothing can be installed on the Apple OS without using the administrator password. That’s just a very, very good idea. However, I also believe my original point that the virus-writing community is focused on Windows is valid. Because it is easier to exploit Windows, it’s the obvious target.
Q. In your comments about rebates I think you overstated the problems. I have filed dozens of rebates over the last couple of years and never had one issue. If you follow the instructions there is nothing to it.
A. Well, thousands of other consumers disagree with you. Rebates and the lack of fulfillment is a growing consumer issue. I just filed one with memory maker K-byte a month ago and got a postcard the other day saying I used the wrong UPC code and therefore I would not be getting my rebate. Considering there is only one UPC code on a package of memory, the odds of me using the wrong one are pretty slim. I filed the procedure to make an appeal and never heard anything back.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: I am a big fan of the Broadway musical “Rent” and now that the movie version is almost done I can’t wait. Check out the Web site at sony.com/rent/
James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com
Viewer mail
It’s hot outside, at least around here, but the mail keeps coming. I guess you all are inside working on your PCs when I need to be outside mowing the grass. But let’s go to the questions.
Q. You mentioned the dropping cost of PCs versus building one yourself. There’s no way that $300 PC you mentioned from could match the one I built for myself. Just my video card cost that. That has to be a pretty basic PC.
A. Well, my point was that the cost of the components exceeded the retail cost of the device so for basic machines it made no sense to build one. I just talked myself out of a job in my repair business because a client wanted me to swap out a motherboard, processor and operating system so he could upgrade a PC to run a specific piece of software. By the time we invested $200 in a processor and motherboard, $100 for Windows then my labor, we exceeded the cost of a new Dell.
Anyway, the point I was trying to make is we used to pay $3,000 for a basic PC. (On a cost-adjusted basis it’s about $3,500 today.) Now a basic PC is $300 and a powerhouse is a grand.
Q. You at one time had written about a program that sends toys and stuff to the soldiers in Iraq to give to children there. I can’t find the Web address any longer and I have some stuff to send.
A. I have written about a couple. One is “Beanies for Baghdad”, where U.S. soldiers are collecting Beanie Babies, McDonald’s toys, small toys and other items to give to the children of Iraq. The Web site is www.beaniesforbaghdad.com.
There’s also Operation Crayon, which collects school supplies for the Iraqi children, and many more. You can go to to www.defendamerica.mil and click on “Support Our Troops” and see lots of programs and ways you can help both the soldiers personally and the children of Iraq.
Q. If Apple switches to Intel chips does that mean I can install the Apple operating system on my Dell desktop?
A. Maybe someday. It would take some pretty impressive coding to make that happen and Apple isn’t agreeing to it. (Part of the Apple experience, they say, is the way cool Apple hardware.) Once it is ported to the Intel platform someone could hack it over but I would not hold your breath. Apple could change its mind someday.
Q. How come Windows PCs are so much more exposed to spyware and virus infections than Apple?
A. Without getting too much under the hood, Windows PCs are simply more “open” than the Apple operating system. It’s getting better but Windows PCs pretty much let anyone install anything they want. If you visit a Web site that needs a plug-in, Windows and Internet Explorer simply would install it. When Apple software, plug-ins or anything else needs to be installed, it won’t install on an Apple system without the administrator password. That step alone stops many infections.
It is expected the next version of Windows due in late 2006 will be more secure than the current one (how could it not be?)
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: I still get many requests for a column archive. I maintain a free archive of my past columns at www.cyberdads.com/blog.html
James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a compute repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com
Make your own external hard drive
One of today’s major concerns of the home PC user – and digital photographer – is backing up data. One of the saddest calls we get in our repair business is someone who has taken thousands of digital photos, saved them to their hard drive, then lost their hard drive.
What many people don’t realize is that hard drives are finite devices in terms of lifespan. Sure, many people will never experience a hard drive failure but many people will. I personally believe in the effort to get PC prices low, hard drives now simply don’t last as long as they used to.
“Back in the day,” as they say, we used to use these gigantic 150 megabyte (yes, megabyte) tape backup drives. Mine was a Colorado drive, which was ubiquitous in those days and took up the second drive bay in 486-era PCs.
Even with a tape drive, few people actually even ran the tape backup because it took so long and was unreliable.
So I have taken a long way of getting around to telling you that you ought to be backing up your data. With today’s huge hard drives the, the best way to do that is to a second hard drive.
Again, a couple of choices. You can add a second hard drive to your PC case, if you know how do to that or want to hire it done. That’s the simple solution. You then can program your backup software to run a backup nightly while you sleep. There is no portability to this solution, however.
Secondly there are external drives for PCs and Macs that run off the USB or Firewire connections. These offer pretty fast connections and portability, meaning you can easily use them to back up more than one PC or carry them with you to the office or to a buddy’s house.
These cost between $120 to $200 for typical consumer sizes. (Prices vary depending on how large a hard drive you want.)
The last option is to build an external drive yourself, which is surprisingly easy. If you have an extra hard drive lying around that is large enough you can use that. If not all you need to buy is a drive and an enclosure kit.
One of the best and most complete kits I have seen is from Azio that makes one that matches the translucent look of the new Macs but also works great with Windows. One of the best things about this kit is how complete it is; many of these kits come from way off-shore and don’t come with on-off switches, fans or even power cords. This one not only combines form and function, it’s also beautiful to look at (though I think the logo is a tad big.)
It’s available in both white and black Lexan for about $50. You can see the details at www.aziocorp.com
Once you have the enclosure, you insert the hard drive, close the case with a couple of screws and plug it in. That’s it. It’s a great solution.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: More and more companies are using blogs to communicate with their customers. Few of them do it right. One who does is Holiday World, a theme park in Southern Indiana. Check out the “Holiblog” at www.holidayworld.com
