Laptop Computers

[Crankin]

I use Safari; never had a problem with it. Every time I try to switch to Firefox, something bad happens to my computer. I don't like change, anyway.
The clinic where I work uses Explorer. It's so old, you guys would laugh.

[badgercat]

The clinic where I work uses Explorer. It's so old, you guys would laugh.

I've done clinical rotations at two different hospitals that are still using Internet Explorer 6. It's shocking, considering that IE6 got a reputation back in the day as being about as secure as a piece of swiss cheese.

As far as the original topic goes, I have an almost-3-year-old MacBook. Before that I had a Dell laptop (Windows XP) that I got in early 2005 and still runs fine. That was back when Dell was still essentially direct-order. My mom has a Dell laptop that she bought at Best Buy last year and it just doesn't seem as "solid" as the old ones. I also have an Asus EEE Windows 7 netbook that I bought this past spring--I got in the habit of taking lecture notes on my computer last year, and I was getting nervous about schlepping my Mac (which is my primary computer) back and forth to campus every day. I call my netbook my MacBook insurance policy.

I guess what I'm getting at is I'm not a die-hard supporter of anything... I like all of my machines. Go with what feels good. If you're thinking about trying a Mac, now's as good a time as any. I'm glad I got mine and "expanded my horizons," so to speak, and if my MacBook dies I'll probably replace it with another Apple product (if I can afford to), but I'm not bonded for life.

ETA: if you do go with Mac, I also recommend the AppleCare... I took advantage of mine recently when my wi-fi card failed. I brought it in to my local Apple Store and they replaced it while I waited, no charge. It doesn't cover any kind of accidental damage, but it is a little extra peace of mind since it extends your warranty from one year to three.

[pll]

I've been using Firefox on Windows for years, and in the Mac, I am using Safari but a friend who's a Mac guru swears by OmniWeb. I have yet to give it a fair try.

Related to web browsers, did anyone read about how offers change depending on the web browser you use? See the blog entry here, on the Capital One interest rate offers.

[OakLeaf]

did anyone read about how offers change depending on the web browser you use?.

Not just your browser, but everything. Location (easy, from your IP address), content of your posts, everything they can correlate about your demographics from the above-referenced data mining. That's why Facebook and Google are worth so much money.

[Irulan]

Who else does not use Internet Explorer?

Frankly I haven't taken time to look into all this but I know some of the big employers have IE enterprise-wide as the base and then layer their web-based, licensed tools on top.

We don't, and it's annoying as hell to run into sites, all government, that still will only run IE. I mean, c'mon guys, get with the new millennium.

[jessmarimba]

Yep. I switch between Firefox and IE at work and use Safari at home - but I had to do an online file review with a gov't department the other day who sent an email stating that their system works on IE 6 (or whatever) and NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR!! Does that browser even exist anymore??

(And for what it's worth, their review system doesn't work on IE, either. The browser shuts it down instantly as malware, regardless of the security settings I choose)

[Roadtrip]

Not just your browser, but everything. Location (easy, from your IP address), content of your posts, everything they can correlate about your demographics from the above-referenced data mining. That's why Facebook and Google are worth so much money.

Your IP is always going to be viable to the server your hitting when requesting a web page (they need to know where to return the request) and yes, a simple report can show that to the server owners, so it's really easy to see where your viewers are. If you enter your private information in the browser settings, yes, that info can be crawled by the server and captured.

NEVER put your information into the browser properties.

ALWAYS assume that anything you put out on the internet is just as good as placing an avert in the local paper.

As to why Google is worth so much money, they developed a very simple (easy to use) tool, with a powerful back-end that indexed and crawled the internet so that finding information was more intuitive. People flocked to the site and Google started to monetize it... ever do a web search for "Car Loan" and all of a sudden your seeing tons of ads for Car Ins, Lending Tree, eLoan, etc? That's how Google makes it's money, by charging a higher rate for ads because they can target you and the advertiser knows his ad is being see by a more interested demographic.

Think of a billboard and if you had the ability to know the demographics of the person walking by who would read that billboard. If you knew how they voted in the last election, how many kids, relationship status, what hobbies or special interests they might have. If you knew they were an avid biker, the LBS would likely pay a premium to get his advertisement seen by that demographic group, right?

Same thing goes on on a broader level all the time. Ever notice how those Lottery Jackpot billboards always are placed in poorer neighborhoods and the luxury car billboards are conveniently located near the mall or affluent communities?

Facebook is just evil and looks the other way while advertisers scrape the data of you and ALL your friends any time play a game or interact with a part of the site. Not all advertisers do this, but Zynga is the biggest and has made millions (and likely paid Facebook a good chunk too), while they collect data on you and your friends every move. Oh and yea, if one of your FB friends inadvertently opens up the private data cookie jar, because your linked as friends, your private information is out in the wild now too.

Shannon

[smilingcat]

Soo where are the internet explore based cell phones?? I think it would be really funny if someone were to write a hack to jail break all those cell phones out there ahem I would like a jail broken iPhone... I would like to use the iPhone on pay as you go plan with virgin mobile and use their flat rate 3G network.

No I don't use IE, I use firefox on Linux box. Less malware to contend with on Linux box. If you were a hacker, I think you would target an easy prey like those using IE. One can safely assume that those using IE are less sophisticated than those using Firefox, Chrome, Opera...

A bug in Windows 7 office suite: You need a service pack 3 to fix this ugly bug!! Well this is what I was told. Remember, I hate windows so I try my best to be a ignoramous when it comes to Windows.

If you create a graph in Excel spreadsheet and paste it into word document and print, sometimes the graph line will disappear and nothing you can do about it.

And when I tried to paste several different graphs into word, it literally froze up my computer (work computer).

I hate windows.

Linux anyone??? Cute Penguin for a mascot! He is very charming BTW

[moonfroggy]

linux is pretty cool. i used linux and nothing but for about 8 years. i have ben to lazy to install it on my current mac though. if my library would let me download audiobooks and ebooks in linux it would be installed but i need to be booted into mac to do that and a few other things.

[itself]

I am also looking for a netbook/small laptop. What I struggle with is the fact that many computers only "seem" to have a life of about 3-5 years.

So the new Macbook Pro is $1200. At Best Buy, you can get into a netbook for about $400. Samsung is making some really great netbooks, as is Toshiba, Acer, and Eec.

[NbyNW]

I am also looking for a netbook/small laptop. What I struggle with is the fact that many computers only "seem" to have a life of about 3-5 years.

Yep. That's why AppleCare is such a good idea. I have a 2006 MacBook Pro and the motherboard failed just a month shy of my AppleCare expiring. They replaced it, free of charge. Thankfully I did not lose any data. I'm usually good about making backups, but had gotten a bit lazy a few months prior.

I know I can automate backing up my computer, but a few years ago I was having trouble deciding between a remote server or an external hard drive. Maybe a good idea to revisit this!

[OakLeaf]

I know you know (and I don't do both, either ) but technically, you shouldn't "choose between" onsite and offsite backup - you really need both to be secure in case of theft, fire or flood, and yet have your backups most quickly accessible in case of a garden variety hard-drive failure.

I'm sure there's a level at which technology is rolled out more slowly than it ought to be, but honestly, I see more of the opposite (companies rolling out new technology that isn't quite ready for prime time). So I don't know that obsolescence in the computer world is really planned - I think it's more that technology is just marching on at an ever-quicker pace ... remember Moore's Law (yeah, I had to look it up to remember the name )? (The good news is that according to a cNet article cited in that Wikipedia article, the growth is expected to slow in a few more years.)

[Irulan]

we use Carbonite for off site back up. For $50 a year it is a great deal. It's saved us several times as we run an engineering company out of our home. The bonus is it acts as a remote desktop, too.

[NbyNW]

I know you know (and I don't do both, either ) but technically, you shouldn't "choose between" onsite and offsite backup - you really need both to be secure in case of theft, fire or flood, and yet have your backups most quickly accessible in case of a garden variety hard-drive failure.

Yes, very well stated. I think I've just been very lax at figuring out how much space I'll actually need, what it will cost, and getting it set up. I really should just bump it up on my priority list. After the million other things that need to get done!

Thanks, Irulan, for the Carbonite recommendation. I'll take a look at them!

[smilingcat]

I have one of the first netbooks. Asus Eee900.

Next netbook will have an internal hardrive. The 900's keyboard is just too tiny even for my think small fingers. I also don't care for the touch pad, instead, I use a very small USB mouse. Also check on the battery life or usage time before it needs to be recharged.

The last item is the weight. 2 pounds doesn't sound much but wait until you lug around your "purse" well I carry lots of things in it but the added 2 pounds and the weight of the power pack, external USB drive really does a number on my shoulder.

I still like my net book. I take it with me on my trips.