News And Updates
I wanted to talk a bit about installing your AT&T Quick Silver USB card on your Toshiba laptop. This is not specific to one make or model laptop but it is important to keep this in mind if your having problems getting the network card / modem to initialize.
On two Toshiba laptops I have noticed that many of my customers had problems getting it to connect after following the instructions for installing the card. The install instructions are available on AT&T’s website at this link: http://www.wireless.att.com/businesssupport/laptop-connect.do?handset=ATT_USBConnectQuicksilver_PC%20Card&connectionMethod=pcCard
When you open up the device manager in Windows XP you’ll notice the card installed as a Globe Trotter network device etc.
If you notice a yellow mark by the device it means that there is a hardware conflict or a problem with your driver. If you follow the instructions carefully from AT&T you’ll know you have the right drivers, so the only other possibility is a hardware conflict of some kind. This is usually with Com Port settings etc.
The Toshiba laptops with built in Bluetooth, phone modems, will take up a huge amount of COM port and IRQ resources in Windows. You’ll need to right click on one or two of these to disable them and free up the COM port resource so the Quick Silver modem can initialize. If you look in the picture below you’ll see where the red x is by those devices showing them disabled, and in the mean time allowing the Quick Silver to not have a conflict and get you connected to the internet! If you have other problems or need additional help please submit an email with your question to get it answered!
I always advise people that they should get the best computer for the money! Especially when buying a laptop, sometimes the best for the money can be really cheap, but in most cases is the middle range. In the middle range of $600 - $900 dollars you can normally get a balance of quality, performance, and a great warranty!
Black Friday sales are starting early this year and stores like Walmart and laptop computers are included in the sale. The retailer will be selling several 15.4-inch Compaq CQ50-139WM laptops for $298. Best Buy and Circuit City will also be offering low end laptops for around the $300 dollar price range.
If you have any questions on one before you buy it you can always send us the model or a link of what your looking at. I’ll give you an upfront and opinion on it before you buy it!
Read the rest of the story here:
As the demand for buying new computers goes down, it will drive the demand for having your current computer repaired for a good price. Intel recently announced in an article that there 4th quarter outlook for new chip sales in new computer sales is looking dimmer then it did last quarter.
It just shows where the market is going and why you need to find a good computer repair shop to do the job right the first time! If you have questions on how to find a good repair person let me know, if your in the East Bay Area and need help I am just a phone call away!
Check out the rest of this article about Intel at:
Recently there has been a growing popularity with mini-notebook computers! They are also referred to as netbook computers. These computers are cheap, and have very limited features. A lot of them come with either Windows XP or Linux. They are good for doing email and internet surfing, this works well because many of the models out there also have a built-in wireless card.
Yahoo Tech News Recently published an article on the topic that I was reading about this morning, its worth having a look at!
New windows version 7 is said to hit the market possibly by next year! I personally hope there will be more stability and less glitches than Vista had! Otherwise, people will be staying on Windows XP for a long time!
“Several enthusiasts who have been checking out the new code for the past couple of days praised the stability of the release, particularly for an operating system, at this early stage”
This is a very interesting story and check it out at the link below:
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/cnet/20081028/tc_cnet/83011386031007686456
I was just reading a story on Yahoo Tech News that might interest a lot of you! While this tiny little laptop will not replace an entire laptop, it’s a good sign of where the times are going for having smaller, handsize computers that will do more and make are lives more organized and better!
Calling it a “notebook” may be a stretch, but I can still say for a fact that I’m anxious to get my hands on IMOVIO’s iKIT, a £99 (about $161) miniature PC with a teensy 2.8-inch LCD that some are dubbing a sub-netbook or sub-subnotebook. While it won’t run Word, it does pack quite a punch for its diminutive size.
Read the rest of the story here:
I normally focus on articles that relate to computers and PC Repair but I thought I would change it up by talking a bit about Blu-Ray players. As of right now they are still a bit on the expensive side compared with DVD’s. The blu-ray player mentioned in this CNET review article is made by Panasonic. In my past personal experience, Panasonic has always been a good brand for VCR’s, DVD’s, and even TV’s! So I take this review very seriously when they mention the great value, performance, and quality you receive for a good price!
As Blu-Ray gets more established I think the prices will come down even more from the $300 - $500 dollar price tag many of the models have today. The price of the actual movies are still about 30 bucks a movie but I don’t see that price changing anytime soon! Check out the article below and let me know your thoughts!
I have always been a big fan of the Firefox browser. Its reliable, has a great FTP plugin, and the way it organizes bookmarks is fabulous!
The latest plugin to be introduced is an experimental Firefox browser add-on featuring powerful geolocation capabilities. Called Geode, the technology allows the location of Web surfers to be fixed and then maintained as users move about their hometowns, across the nation, or even when traveling around the world.
Read all the details of this new plugin on yahoo tech news:
The Storm will be Blackberry’s first touchscreen mobile phone to hit the market. It will directly compete with Apple’s iPhone. It will be exclusively set for Verizon Wireless for now!
The total measurements for this new phone will be 4.4 by 2.4 by 0.55 inches and weighing in at about 5.5 ounces.
The main features I really like with this phone is:
- Full-On Office document editing for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Documents.
- Full HTML WEB browser with double tap zoom and slide scroll.
- Video and Music Player.
- 1 GB of internal Storage.
- A full 3.2MP camera.
The only downside is that it will not contain Wi-Fi. If you want to read the whole yahoo tech news review click on the link below:
I just read an article that talks about a new internet bug that is exposing more security risks on financial websites such as ING! This article will go into all the specifics of how the attack happens!
This is just one more reason that everyone needs to make sure that your computer keeps up to date with all the security patches from Microsoft as well as making sure the website you do your banking with also stays up to date on security!
The most serious vulnerability was found in the website of global financial services company ING Direct. The flaw could have allowed an attacker to transfer funds out of a user’s account, or to create additional accounts of behalf of a victim.
These vulnerabilities were confirmed for users of Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers. ING’s use of the secure sockets layer protocol did nothing to prevent the attack. The hole was plugged by ING after Zeller and colleague Ed Felton reported it privately.
Read the whole story here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/30/web_bug_bites_sites/