Example 1:  My AppleTV.  This past Christmas, I wanted an AppleTV for the house.  On apple.com it’s listed at $229.99.  Best Buy’s price was $279.99 (it has dropped to $239 now that I’m outside my price match window… of course).  I had a Best Buy gift card for $75, so I was stuck getting it from there because with the gift card, it would be cheaper since I was paying for it in cash.  I then emailed Best Buy customer support about the $50 markup and was told that they don’t price match websites.  Even though it was not a discounted website, but Apple itself, they still would not give me the $50 difference (I would have even taken a BB gift card).  This is just one example of markups.  You do know that a cable that you buy from Best Buy at $50 can be bought online (and at you’re house the next day) for $10… how crazy…

Example 2: The Geek Squad.  I have seen both satisfied and unsatisfied customers with the Geek Squad, but more and more are becoming unsatisfied because they are continually taking advantage of customers.  Case in point:  A relative of mine had and issue where the screen was not coming on and the computer was constantly rebooting and would never boot to Windows.  Geek Squad told him it would be $249 for a new hard drive and labor.  He then gave it to me to look at.  After about 10 mins, I checked HP’s website and saw that it was a recall because of the issue.  I received a box the next day and in 3 days had it back, fixed for free.  So, even if the Geek Squad would have changed out the hard drive, it wouldn’t have been fixed and he would have been charged for the new hard drive anyways.

Oh and the “PC Optimization” junk their selling for $40 is a ripoff.  They are taking off what’s called “Crapware” meaning stuff that the PC retailer put on it (Acer and Sony were the worst with crapware).  You can do it in about 30mins of time.  Here’s an article on it and the scrutiny that Best Buy has come over on it: http://consumerist.com/2010/01/consumerist-investigation-best-buy-optimization-is-a-big-stupid-annoying-waste-of-money.html

There are tons of other examples, but these were enough for me.  Good bye and good riddance.

If you already use iChat and it’s Screen Sharing function, then you know how cool it is to help someone hundreds and even thousands of miles away via Instant Messaging. All you need is an AIM account which is free: www.aim.com and then give your computer guru your username. That way they can log in and take over your screen (with your permission).

Here’s a link on Screen Sharing on iChat
http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/ichat.html

What’s on the inside:

They generally have an 8′-10′ screen, no dvd/cd burner (which is the reason they are slim), 1-2GB of RAM, Wireless internet, (some) Bluetooth, webcam, and either Linux or Windows OS.  Right now the main processor is an Atom processor, which for most people means nothing.  It’s not made to handle a huge workload, but for internet browsing, checking email, using MS Office, it works great.  The hard drives are also a big issue as they can either have a regular 2.5′ laptop hard drive or the SSD hard drives.  The SSD hard drives have no moving parts so that you’ll never hear the dreaded term “My hard drive died”.  The drawback is that SSD’s are not as big as the laptop hard drives.  If they say it has 4GB-64GB, then it’s SSD.  Over that, it’s a regular laptop hard drive.  The biggest complaint is the keyboard, which for obvious reasons, has been shrunken down to fit on the tinier machine.  It takes a little while to get used to, but it isn’t unbearable.  You can also hook up an external mouse and keyboard if it drives you nuts.

The reason I bought one:

With my son growing up by the day, I thought about putting in a DVD player in my car for the long trips.  The only issue was that to get it installed would be close to $1000, so getting a computer and downloading my movies  to the hard drive would really be the same thing and WAY cheaper.

You’ve been “Hackintoshed”

One of the cooler features of netbooks is that most have the same parts that are in Macintosh products.  So, in theory, you can make your own Mac!  On the scale of 1-10 difficulty wise, it’s about a 6-7 because of various issues like Audio or Wifi not working.  See this chart for details on which netbook works with OSX.

Overall feelings

I love using my netbook for watching movies, surfing internet, IM chatting, etc.  Is it my main computer? No, but for everyday recreational use, it works great.  Keep an eye out for a new term “Nettops”  which are small desktop computers that will be about $200+ as a useful computer to hook up to your TV.

Websites to check out:

www.myfirstmac.com (helpful tips on learning your way around OSX)

www.macupdate.com (where you can get cool software for free)

www.tuaw.com (site for all kinds of Mac News)

www.macworld.com (leading publication for all things Mac)

Software (you can get from www.macupdate.com)

Free

Adium- Best chat client around (besides iChat)

Transmission/ uTorrent- Torrent clients

Firefox- Internet browser

Cyberduck- FTP client

VLC Player- Best movie player out

AppCleaner- Delete apps completely

Fluid- Make websites into apps for a dock

GetTube- Download YouTube videos

Handbrake- Best movie converter out there

Burn- CD/DVD burning app

Growl- Adds notifications on your desktop (Highly recommended!)

NeoOffice- Free Office suite (similar to MS Office, but free!)

The Unarchiver/UnRarX- File openers for .zip and .rar files

Quicksilver- Quicklaunch bar

Paintbrush- MS Paint type app

Not Free

Roxio Toast- Great CD/DVD Burning software

MS Office- Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Entourage

iWork- Office suite with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote

Parallels (or VMWare Fusion)- Use Windows on your OSX side together

The Beginning Steps

STEP 1: register at eBay
That’s your profile on eBay. You will make a username and password so that you can buy stuff off of eBay. Be original in both your username and password.

STEP 2: register at PayPal
PayPal is where you pay for your stuff that you buy on eBay. This is the money part, so you will be putting in a credit card number or your checking account number. It’s safe and PayPal has GREAT customer support. You can also use PayPal for other website stores which can really be helpful.

Buying on eBay
Use the search box on the top to look up whatever you are looking to buy. Once you have found something you like, you will have two options: bidding or buying it now. If you are bidding, it’s like an auction where you must wait until the time runs out. If you are buying it now, you will buy it immediately. Once you have won or bought the merchandise, you will be sent to PayPal to pay for the item. REMEMBER, if you bid or buy, IT’S AN OBLIGATION TO PURCHASE THE ITEM!

Selling on eBay
If you want to sell something on eBay, you will click the SELL button and follow the instructions on describing the merchandise. TAKE GOOD PICTURES OF THE ITEM(S) and take pics of all the accessories that you are including as well. If someone bids on the item and wins, you will get paid via PayPal (unless otherwise posted) and you will need to transfer the money to your bank account (takes around 2 days for it to post).

FEEDBACK IS EVERYTHING!
feedback is the most important element in eBay, the more positive scores, the better! You will start out at 0, so keep buying and paying on time/immediately and you will get more positive feedback scores. If you don’t pay on time, you will get a negative score and that harms your reputation on eBay. I personally won’t let people bid on my merchandise unless they have 10 positive feedback scores.

BUYER BEWARE WHEN BIDDING OR BUYING
1. Use PayPal only (money orders and personal checks are very shady and can be a scam)
2. Look at the seller’s feedback score (the lower it is, could be a scam)
3. Look at the shipping location (you may have to wait FOREVER if it’s shipped from overseas)
4. Look for real pics of the merchandise (could be an imitation product espically with iPods and Hong Kong)

The good far outweighs the bad. You can save TONS of money on various items, especially in my field of technology and electronics. for example, an HDMI cable for your TV at Best Buy is around $30-$50 for one. I bought 3 HDMI cables for $12 with shipping!

Always use eBay as a starting point before shopping for anything!

nave’s term”n”ology
eBay- a website for buying or selling stuff
PayPal- the website used for buying stuff off of eBay and other websites
feedback- your reputation on eBay. the higher, the better
Auction- potential buyers will bid until the time is up on the item
Buy It Now- potential buyers can buy the item immediately

For Beginners:
There are 2 types of computers:

1. Laptop
Pros: portable; can use it to watch dvd movies on the road; cheaper than in the past; not many things to plug up-less wires but, you can plug up a monitor, keyboard, and mouse if you want.

Cons: Not as fast or have more storage than desktops; can get hot; screen size is not as big as you can purchase with a desktop; more expensive to fix

Things to shop for:
What type of OS?
Screen Size?
Hard Drive?
RAM amount?
DVD burner?
Processor Speed?
How many USB ports?

2. Desktop
Pros: faster and has more storage than laptops; you can choose your screen size; better for real computer gaming; cheaper to work on

Cons: meant to stay in one place; more wires; sometimes you will have to buy stuff separately.

Things to shop for:
What type of OS?
Monitor Screen Size and is it a Flat Screen?
Hard Drive?
RAM amount?
Processor Speed?
How many CD/DVD burner drives ?

* the speed of the computer has taken a backseat to storage. Now, most people will use a computer for media purposes and internet which needs more storage, not speed.

nave’s term”n”ology
hard drive- where all stuff is stored.
Don’t buy a computer with less than 100GBs

RAM- when you double click, how long it takes for it to open.
Don’t buy a computer with less than 1GB

USB- where you plug in printers, ipods, digital cameras

processors- how fast the computer is. Don’t buy a Celeron or Duron processor (will say on tag) because it’s the slowest. Athlon, Pentium, Dual Cores are all the best way to go.
Remember: 1000MBs=1GB

Types of OS (Operating Systems)

Windows
You will either have Windows Vista or Windows 7 (don’t get BASIC, buy only PREMIUM or above)

Macintosh
OS X 10.6 also known as Snow Leopard

Linux
Found in Walmart on cheap machines and on the EePCs because the actual OS is free. Linux is good for advanced computer folks but I wouldn’t recommend it for beginners. Some popular Linux distros are Ubuntu and gOS

As a person who has used all three OS types and has taught classes on each OS, I personally use Macs.

The Pros of Macs:
Their stuff is made better, so less repairs; you don’t have to worry about viruses (because they go after windows more); you CAN now run Windows if you want; it’s easier to learn for beginners

The Cons of Macs:
More expensive; less “bang for the buck”; Buying one may be an issue )you can only get them by internet or now through some Best Buy stores or an Apple Store if there is one in your area)

Other items to buy:
Laptops
- Extended Warranty? (I do like some warranties, so do your research ahead of time.)
- Case?
- Blank CDs and DVDs (DVD-R and CD-R)
- USB Thumbdrive (to save things)
- External mouse and keyboard?
- Extra Battery? (can be bought later)
- Extra RAM (recommended, but can be purchased later)

Desktops
- Blank CDs and DVDs (DVD-R and CD-R)
- USB Thumbdrive

Most computers will only come with a trial version of Microsoft Office and an Antivirus program. I recommend buying Office ($150), but you can find an antivirus program that’s free (AVG and Avast), so you’ll save $60 to $100 a year.

LCD TVs- flat screen TVs (7-50+ inches)