Refurbished Laptops are the Real Deal!

Laptop computers have found usefulness as portable media devices.

Even refurbished laptops can be used as DVD players, stereos, and recording devices. The mobility and portability of laptops make them very useful in these categories as does the increasing capabilities of the electronics. (continued...)

Many people are beginning to use their notebooks as portable DVD players.

They can take these mobile devices on airplanes to pass the time as they travel. They can also use these portable notebooks in hotel rooms to provide them with entertainment. Some parents are investing in notebooks to use as entertainment for the children in the backseat with DVDs as the family makes long trips. The ability to refurbish used laptops with these portable DVD drives makes them an inexpensive way to entertain adults and children during their travels.

A notebook computer can also be used as a video phone for notebook conferencing capabilities. Traveling workers can take their portable laptop equipment to other offices as well as their homes and still connect with co-workers and clients. Mobility has become a trend with today’s workforce, and notebook computers provide this mobility.

The sound capabilities of notebooks are also making them popular for use as portable music players. With MP3 music becoming more and more popular, even refurbished computers can hold and playback a large number of songs. Various notebook software programs allows for various types of audio. Audio books are also being played on notebooks for the entertainment and even education of the notebook user.


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New PDA Discussion Forum

I'm pleased to announce that we have a new PDA discussion forum to help our readers get some answers to their PDA or Mobile support questions or discuss some of the topics on this blog.

This will be the place where you can post some of your own useful links for others to benefit from.

This will also be the place to find links to Free Stuff for your PDA.

Feel free to use it but please don't abuse it.

Visit The New Forum

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GPS Facts

Some cold, hard facts about GPS/mapping and what you need to know to make a good choice.

GPS is very accurate -- this stuff works! Even cheap GPS receivers can pinpoint your location to within about 10ft., no matter where you are on this planet. That's remarkable. Accuracy will never be your problem when you use GPS. Unfortunately, accurate though GPS is, mapping systems often tend to fall behind when you're driving. Sometimes you come to a complete stop while the system slowly catches up. (continued...)

Finding satellites -- there are 24 on-duty satellites up there, and your receiver needs to lock onto at least 3 of them to know where you are. That can take some time. Sometimes too much time. Check the specs and pick a receiver that doesn't take forever.

GPS for dummies -- if you suspect you are one, as far as GPS goes, stay clear of the techie/outdoorsman GPS and mapping systems. They use special terminology and you really need to know a lot about longitudes and latitudes and waypoints and such in order to make any sense of it all. If all you want is to drive from Point A to Point B. without getting lost, select one of the friendly systems. They let you pick your start and destination, then show beautiful maps, and easy-to-follow lists of directions, and they have trust-inspiring voice prompts. On the other hand, if you're a seasoned navigator or outdoorsman, make sure you pick a system that has all the professional features you need and want. The trend is towards nice graphics and ease of use.

PDA based systems -- if you already have a PDA you can convert it into a powerful GPS system for not much money (from $150 to $350). Just get one of the many bundles that includes the GPS receiver (USB or Bluetooth) and mapping software. If you'll be using the system primarily in your car, you need a suction-cup mounting arm for the PDA, and not all bundles come with that. As for the PDA, the larger display and the higher the resolution the better. Glare and visibility are issues also. In-car systems are usually much better in that respect. With a PDA you must find a place that minimizes glare.

Stand-alone systems -- they come in all shapes, sizes, and prices. Serious research is needed to find what's right for you. Inexpensive units are usually just raw navigation devices for outdoors people. They have no onboard maps. If they do, they're very crude. Even larger stand alones generally only have crude maps. However, they may have card slots to hold downloadable maps, or even hard disks for all the mapping you want. Those units generally need vehicle power to run and you can't use them anywhere else because they have no batteries.

Disappointing displays -- you'd think mapping and navigation systems would have great displays. They don't. Economy systems have awful, dinky little screens, but at least they don't need much in terms of quality for the data they display. But even midrange systems often have LCDs that would be unacceptable in a PDA. So before you spend a lot of money on a system, make sure you can live with the display.

Mapping data -- Don't worry about the mapping data. It all comes from the same source. There are just 2 players in this industry -- NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas -- NAVTEQ owns the U.S. market. This means even the least expensive bundle comes with the same high quality mapping data. It also means that whatever errors there are in NAVTEQ's data will be in all systems that use NAVTEQ.

Points of interest -- most systems boast millions of points of interest, but there are surprising differences in the way they are grouped and accessed. Some systems provide more detailed POI data than others. If the POI database is important to you, do some research and pick a good one. They mostly use the same data, but while some are useful and easy to use, others are unweildy, biased and often plain wrong.

Interface -- you'd expect little difference between mapping systems, yet that assumption is wrong. Almost every application we've reviewed has a totally different look and feel, from clumsy to (fairly) elegant, from friendly to stark and technical. Even maps don't look the same. Some are sparse and businesslike whereas others look terrific. Overall, the state-of-the-art in mapping system user interfaces is still not very evolved. Most are clumsy and inconsistent. It shouldn't be difficult to get from point A to point B., but in most systems it is.

"Personality" -- some systems are inflexible and ornery when you do not follow the route they plotted for you. They may insist you make a U-turn 4 miles after you take a shortcut or go on a different road. Others are more forgiving and quickly compute a new route to your destination for you.

Satellite reception -- you'd think they're all roughly the same, but they are not. Some systems constantly complain about weak signals or lose the signal altogether whereas others are rock-solid and never lose the satellite (Tom Tom and Socket do very well here).

Bluetooth -- a Bluetooth connection between a GPS receiver and a PDA can be anything from completely transparent to a total pain. Go for one that makes it easy (Tom Tom is best in this category).

Voice prompts -- good voice prompts can really help finding your way, but quite often the prompts are too generic or they come too early or too late. It'd be nice to be able to customize the prompts.

Error correction -- with the mapping and POI databases containing lots of errors, there should be a way for users to provide feedback.

"Paranoia" -- some vendors go to great lengths to lock and protect their software. In order to install the software and get to the maps you may need serial numbers, authorization codes, online activation and other nonsense. Others, like Delorme, trust the user.

Desktop applications -- most mapping bundles, come with a desktop application. Some of them are very complete and very flexible (Delorme) whereas others are just utilities to let you download maps to your handheld.

Overall assessment -- I've been following GPS and mapping systems for years. They have progressed in leaps and bounds, yet they're not quite there yet. The sheer variety of different systems is confusing to consumers. Many systems remain steeped in a highly technical, non-consumer-friendly mode. Receivers lose signals too easily, and the general state of mapping system software interfaces is poor. At this point it is generally as difficult to learn how to use most of these systems as it is to follow directions or read old-fashioned maps. The people who don't need GPS probably understand the mapping systems whereas those who need help most will have a hard time figuring them out, which, of course, defeats the purpose.

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Find Great Deals On Computer Accessories

By: Michael Mulleda

Tip #1. Do a Google search. Don't be too general in your search, type in exactly what you're looking for. Try putting the words you type in quotes to narrow the search.

Tip #2. Go shopping at the office supplies and discount clubs. You may find some discount clubs like Costco & Sams have a 6 month return policy, check your location. California stores have a 6 month no questions asked policy, and yes, this means Computers and Software too, even if the package is open and you have used it. Just make sure you can put it back in the box and you have the receipt. (continued...)

Tip #3. Don't forget to check eBay.com.

Tip #4. Try other stores like Fry's, Best Buy, Circuit City, Dell, Gateway, CompUSA.

Tip #5. If your looking for used, try craigslist.org, eBay.com, http://auctions.yahoo.com

Tip #6. Compare prices at pricescan.com, pricewatch.com, pricegrabber.com, price.com, epinions.com, shopper.cnet.com, streetprices.com and bizrate.com.

Tip #7. Check the Sunday newspaper.

Tip #8. Staples, Office Max and Office Depot have price matching. So If one of them has a sales you can take the sale ad to any one of them and they will honor it. Helpful if the store having the sale is not to close to you.

Hope this helps, good luck and thanks for reading.

About the Author:
Michael Mulleda is a successful business man providing advice for consumers on purchasing a variety of Computer Accessories & Supplies. If you have time drop by his site http://gomarketnet.com for some free tips, information and great deals.

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Don’t Throw Away Your Old PDA

By: Steve Bralovich

As the main contributor and publisher of this blog, I've decided to take it in a new direction.

For the past several months the blog has been focused in more general terms and not in one specific area.

During that time I have been trying to come up with ways to give this website more of a focus that will really benefit my readers in a significant way. And now I have the solution to that problem. (continued...)

Recently, it occurred to me that what many users are looking for are ways to get the most out of and extend the useful life of their existing PDAs and mobile devices.

The technology industry tends to focus on creating new and better devices which is a good thing.

However, in their quest to create new products and revenue streams they often forget about their more established products and customers.

Companies will drop entire product lines due to lack-luster sales. This is certainly the case for Viewsonic users who can't get Pocket PC 2003 upgrades for their V36 and V37 PDAs.

I have an old Compaq 3630... one of the original Pocket PC's. It's only got 32MB, a 206Mhz Strongarm processor, a dead batery and a screen that's not long for this world. It's been replaced by my brand-spanking new Dell Axim X50v but I'm not going to throw it out just yet.

I'm going to replace the battery and screen, add a GPS unit and use it in my car for navigation on trips to unfamiliar places.

With any luck, I should be able to get another year or two of service out of it. Not bad considering I bought it refurbished for $199 2 years ago.

That's what I call cost-effective computing and starting now, that's what this website is all about.

Sooner or later, we all have to upgrade our technology. Whether it’s your old device or a major software upgrade like the new Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system it's inevitable.

But, older devices are still powerful and can be used for many things that don't require the latest and greatest processor and memory specs. You can still use them to surf the Internet, read e-books and play some games among other useful things.

In keeping with that idea, this weblog will focus mainly on ways for readers to accomplish this.

The way this is done will not always be conventional and may require, at times, some knowledge of computers and electronics and some additional money on your part.

Wherever possible, we will provide links and information about ready made solutions such as software and hardware add-ons that don’t require much knowledge on the user’s part and are reasonably priced.

But periodically, you may need to roll your own solution via some registry tweaks, programming scripts or disassembling your device. Please don’t attempt these on your own if you're not experienced in this area.

It's my hope that you'll be able to use the information on this blog to get the most out of your PDA and only upgrade when it's absolutely necessary.

When you are ready to upgrade, there will be information about that here too and we may even tell you when it’s necessary to do so in your particular case.

Please leave your comments and suggestions on these ideas using the comments link below.

Stay tuned for more and happy computing.

Save Money On Pocket PC Software

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Tips and Tricks -- Create Shortcuts

By: The Authors of Pocket PC Tips and Tricks

Shortcuts give fast access to important docs. If you are like I am, you use your Pocket PC to keep a daily journal of activities, or a daily "To Do" list. If you don't use a third-party finance program, then perhaps you use Pocket Excel for your finance tracking needs. (continued...)

All of these types of documents are those that you are likely to access frequently - either daily or several times a day. If you have documents like this, you may want to place shortcuts to them right on your start menu. To place shortcuts on your start menu, do the following:

Open File Explorer.

Navigate to the directory where your file is saved.

Tap and hold on your file and then tap "Copy".

Navigate to "My Device" then tap the "Windows" folder, and then the "Start Menu" folder.

Tap the "Edit" menu.

Tap "Paste Shortcut"

You can then rename your shortcut because longer filenames affect how wide your start menu is.

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