Ask Dominic

[Jeffrey R. Jonas]

Originally Posted by rmaday

Wow has this thread deteriorated in a hurry! </IMG>

Not yet...

Reminds me of a bad thread about a year ago started by Wendy

Now it has !!!

[Jeffrey R. Wicklander]

O.K. here's a legit one....

Is there any web design software that is comparable to Dreamweaver but not as expensive? I'm trying to set up a website, not necessarily Home Inspection. Yet.

[Dominic J. Maricic]

http://www.nvu.com/ isn't too bad. I used it a few times though usually I just use notepad.

[Stephen W. Stanczyk]

Easy, inexpensive and has most all the bells and whistles.

http://www.virtualmechanics.com/products/spinner/

[Jeffrey R. Wicklander]

Thanks, Dom & Stephen!

I'll look at them more thoroughly in a little bit!

[Larry D. Kage]

I'm going to want to upgrade to another laptop soon. What are the better quality products out there? I'd like it to last another 5 to 7 years or so...like our Dell did. I think I asked you once, Dominic, on the phone while you were kind enough to be helping me with something else and you mentioned Lenovo (?) and others.

[Dominic J. Maricic]

Hi Larry,

Are you looking to use this in the field for inspections, or just for home use? If you're using it in the field I highly recommend you get a tablet instead of a laptop. They are identical except the screen can swivel and lay flat for you to tap on. It makes things much more efficient. If your looking for a tablet, it really depends on how much you want to spend. Any computer lasting 5-7 years is a LONG time, usually the avg life is 2-3 years (though I still have an 8 year old server going).

Panasonic Toughbook is probably the heaviest, you can chuck it across the room tablet but it is also the most expensive. Lenovo (IBM sold their laptop division to Lenovo and have continued their quality) has good machines which are still exepensive.

The best tablet for your money are the HP's. Dell just came out with a tablet, but the first reviews said they stink. Fujitsu has good tablets as well.

For a laptop, for the best money, I'd still go Dell. I've gotten decent support (though it's usually in India, but at least its 24 hours) and they have good quality parts and a good warranty.

It really depends on what you need it for! Give me some more info on what you're doing. Are you playing Warcraft at night when nobody's around?

[Larry D. Kage]

We would be using it for home and when traveling (often by car), so wireless access...N? This is not for the jobsite. We enjoy movies (I've edited a little and will do more) and my daughter and son-in-law have threatened to get me to game with them. Pictures and editting, etc...I don't know what else off hand.

I've upgraded the Dell Inspiron 8000 but it's old and slow now...

[relliott]

Hey if 2-3 years is average , maybe I better not upgrade my Ram.
My Toshiba sat is going to be 3 this fall.
Got 506 and am getting slow.I suppose the money will not kill me though.
Far as a tablet goes, I am not seeing the big ad vantage , since a laptop sits on the kithen counter just as well.
Thats why I was looking at the Sony.
Seems I could carry that under 2 pound deal in one hand ,and the camera in the other.The tablets I looked at in the stores all seem almost as bulky as a laptop to me.
Maybe I am wrong, but thought the would be lighter before picking one up.
I need something though as I want field internet and full file, e-mail etc on one machine.

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by relliott

I just got done using my first external hard drive
A MAXTOR save your life 160 GB for $54 .95 at Staples.

For another 40 dollars, you could have gotten 500 GB.

Back during the End-of-Year 2007 holidays, I decided to rip my 5,000 CDs to my computers so I could delete the multiple copies of so many songs (such as "Muskrat Love," where there are so many covers of the worst song in the world is beyond me). All the CDs have been ripped and sold, so I now have a lot of room in my home office.

Best Buy, Frys Electronics, and Costco run various sales on the 500 GB ($99) and 1 TB ($169) external hard drives virtually every week, and one can find the 500 GB online for $92 with a $10 rebate and $9 shipping charge.

I was quite impressed with the access time for the 500 GB drives--very fast.

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by dmaricic

It's painful to watch someone destroy $2500!

I remember when I bought my first cassette recorder, a Pioneer CTF9191. Expensive as [expletive]. Cassettes and I just did not get along. I had a Spring Break party (this was at Texas A&M University) for my employees over at my place before everyone took off for the week. The CTF9191 refused to cooperate, and after a few margaritas, I picked that thing up and threw it from the third floor of my apartment down to the parking lot below. Fortunately, it was the Friday before Spring Break, so the parking lot was empty. 'Twas the coolest thing. Darn margaritas.

[Russel Ray]

I bought my Fujitsu Lifebook in July 2001. It's still going strong. Staples has an "old technology" return, and I checked on my Fujitsu. It's worth a big $23. I think I'll keep on using it. It's a great back-up on my network, and I have connected five 500-GB external hard drives to it, which is where I store 5,000 CDs of music.

[relliott]

Russ ,you are right about that, as far as the $$$ for more gigs goes.
The one I bought has plenty of room left after I copied all my pics and docs.
Tried it on another PC and it loaded right away with no problem plus it has that special reboot feature.
Guess I have money left over for a few of those Margaritas you enjoy.

Found some great new programs that just came out and will discuss them later.

[Dominic J. Maricic]

Originally Posted by lkage

I'm going to want to upgrade to another laptop soon. What are the better quality products out there? I'd like it to last another 5 to 7 years or so...like our Dell did. I think I asked you once, Dominic, on the phone while you were kind enough to be helping me with something else and you mentioned Lenovo (?) and others.

"Dude, get a dell" and you'll be set. I'd look at a dual core 2.2ghz or more. 2 gigs of ram (since you'll be editing video). Make sure it has at least 200 gig hard drive though you'll probably want an external 500 gig as well to move the video to as it takes up a lot of space. Screen size is up to you. I like my laptop to be big, I use a 17" widescreen laptop.

Check out Costco. You can often get better deals than going directly through Costco. Also sometimes you can get Costcos price and call Dell, and then they'll beat it (did this once for a friend last year).

[Dominic J. Maricic]

Originally Posted by rray

I bought my Fujitsu Lifebook in July 2001. It's still going strong. Staples has an "old technology" return, and I checked on my Fujitsu. It's worth a big $23. I think I'll keep on using it. It's a great back-up on my network, and I have connected five 500-GB external hard drives to it, which is where I store 5,000 CDs of music.

Exactly. Old computers are great for backup. I have several that just download our websites, the program, all my pics and music as well. Many, I only have a 2TB that is setup in a raid configuration so I only have 1.5TB available. You have 2500 GB (2.5TB). Although I don't have a 5000 CD collection. Heck, I only have 1200 songs!