I mentioned my new job when I started, but haven't said anything to really promote it. And yes, for disclaimer, I work with them.
But if you need software support, Support.com is a really good place to get it. All the support techs are in North America, so they understand and speak English. Service satisfaction is guaranteed. And subscriptions are the most popular service - for $19.99 a month, you can call anytime you have a concern.
For what it's worth, we find most computer problems are caused by malware - viruses and such. They've gotten good as slipping around security software. But we don't rely on scanners - we use a variety of tools and techniques to find and remove malware.
And we operate 24/7. I work nights, so I know that first-hand... :P
Support.com on Facebook
Support.com on Twitter
OK - I found I have posted before about Support.com - here.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Ooma: Still a good deal, just no longer a great deal
Seems Ooma has decided to increase their fees. These are supposedly all taxes and fees that are being charged to them, but I'd note that their primary competitors in the VoIP arena do not charge them. Ooma now charges $30-$50/year in taxes and fees, but the service charge for MagicJack (which is lousy, but still a competitor) is $19.95/year, and netTALK is $29.95/year, both including any taxes and/or fees.
Now, one could argue that Ooma's equipment and service are both better than either of those (and this is definitely the case for MagicJack), and that the cost is still well less than most competitors (such as Vonage at $19.99/month), but I wonder why Ooma has to charge these junk fees when closer competitors don't.
For those unfamiliar, Ooma promises free phone service for life, after the purchase of the equipment. But some time back, they added the asterisk: Taxes and fees are required. These started at, if I remember correctly, somewhat under $12 a year.
Fortunately, some older users (such as myself) got grandfathered in with no annual taxes/fees - for now anyway, but some that were $12/year, who had been considered grandfathered at that rate, just got news that their costs are going up.
Now, one could argue that Ooma's equipment and service are both better than either of those (and this is definitely the case for MagicJack), and that the cost is still well less than most competitors (such as Vonage at $19.99/month), but I wonder why Ooma has to charge these junk fees when closer competitors don't.
For those unfamiliar, Ooma promises free phone service for life, after the purchase of the equipment. But some time back, they added the asterisk: Taxes and fees are required. These started at, if I remember correctly, somewhat under $12 a year.
Fortunately, some older users (such as myself) got grandfathered in with no annual taxes/fees - for now anyway, but some that were $12/year, who had been considered grandfathered at that rate, just got news that their costs are going up.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Dell Sales and Technical Support: Poor in Technical and Support.
Update: See the Comments for follow-up.
I contacted Sales via chat looking for a computer recommendation. My requirements were simple: A Sandy Bridge (second-generation) Core i5 processor and the ability for 3 simultaneous displays.
The agent said that a Radeon HD 5670 video card would work for me, and gave me this link. He may have said that I needed a 5770 and linked a 5670, but the Dell chat system removes all model numbers from the chat logs.
He then gave me a quote, and I bought the complete quote, even though it had some items I didn't want. (I didn't want the security software and didn't need the speakers, but a later agent who tried to take them off wound up with a much higher price for less, and apologized, "I'm sorry the promotions changed").
Similarly, I didn't argue much concerning specific card models because different cards have different features, and your configurator gives very little detail about the actual cards. I mentioned that a forum post said that the system will only handle three displays if one of the ports is DisplayPort, and the agent said that the onboard video includes DisplayPort and that I can use them together. I pointed out that the pictures do not indicate DisplayPort is onboard, and he responded, "yes, but it is guaranteed as included."
The agent gave me a quote, and I bought from the quote provided. I realized only later that the quote only had a Radeon HD 5450, not the 5670 he had originally specified. Again, since the limitations are, to my understanding, based on offered ports and not the chipsets, and since the configurator gives zero information as to the ports or any other specific features of the cards offered, I am relying on the agent's expertise.
When I got the computer, I set it up. And had difficulties getting three displays to work. Both onboard ports were capped and disabled in BIOS; presumably there is a reason for this. I expect this is due to the system design; it's quite common that onboard video does not work with an add-in card. But the onboard video did not have DisplayPort anyway, only HDMI and VGA, despite the strong assurances of the sales agent. The add-in card has HDMI, VGA and DVI, and despite being told that it would not support three displays, I tried anyway, unsuccessfully of course.
Then I contacted Technical Support via chat. And was told that three simultaneous displays requires "Ati 5770". Nevertheness, he connected to my computer and played with my system settings for the next hour, and of course ended the same as it started: only two displays would work at a time. Any two of the three, but only two.
His solution: He will send me a DVI splitter, which will let me connect two single-link DVI monitors to the dual-link DVI port. Which means I am limited to single-link displays and separate audio cables. I was going to use a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter which would pass audio, and would like the ability to go to a higher-resolution display later, such as the Dell 3008wfp or U3011.
In summary, I seem to need an ATI Radeon 5770 card to meet one of the two only requirements for the system. But the sales agent linked a 5670 which he insisted would work. And he then quoted a 5450. And their "solution" is to use a splitter rather than actually fixing the problem.
I contacted Sales via chat looking for a computer recommendation. My requirements were simple: A Sandy Bridge (second-generation) Core i5 processor and the ability for 3 simultaneous displays.
The agent said that a Radeon HD 5670 video card would work for me, and gave me this link. He may have said that I needed a 5770 and linked a 5670, but the Dell chat system removes all model numbers from the chat logs.
He then gave me a quote, and I bought the complete quote, even though it had some items I didn't want. (I didn't want the security software and didn't need the speakers, but a later agent who tried to take them off wound up with a much higher price for less, and apologized, "I'm sorry the promotions changed").
Similarly, I didn't argue much concerning specific card models because different cards have different features, and your configurator gives very little detail about the actual cards. I mentioned that a forum post said that the system will only handle three displays if one of the ports is DisplayPort, and the agent said that the onboard video includes DisplayPort and that I can use them together. I pointed out that the pictures do not indicate DisplayPort is onboard, and he responded, "yes, but it is guaranteed as included."
The agent gave me a quote, and I bought from the quote provided. I realized only later that the quote only had a Radeon HD 5450, not the 5670 he had originally specified. Again, since the limitations are, to my understanding, based on offered ports and not the chipsets, and since the configurator gives zero information as to the ports or any other specific features of the cards offered, I am relying on the agent's expertise.
When I got the computer, I set it up. And had difficulties getting three displays to work. Both onboard ports were capped and disabled in BIOS; presumably there is a reason for this. I expect this is due to the system design; it's quite common that onboard video does not work with an add-in card. But the onboard video did not have DisplayPort anyway, only HDMI and VGA, despite the strong assurances of the sales agent. The add-in card has HDMI, VGA and DVI, and despite being told that it would not support three displays, I tried anyway, unsuccessfully of course.
Then I contacted Technical Support via chat. And was told that three simultaneous displays requires "Ati 5770". Nevertheness, he connected to my computer and played with my system settings for the next hour, and of course ended the same as it started: only two displays would work at a time. Any two of the three, but only two.
His solution: He will send me a DVI splitter, which will let me connect two single-link DVI monitors to the dual-link DVI port. Which means I am limited to single-link displays and separate audio cables. I was going to use a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter which would pass audio, and would like the ability to go to a higher-resolution display later, such as the Dell 3008wfp or U3011.
In summary, I seem to need an ATI Radeon 5770 card to meet one of the two only requirements for the system. But the sales agent linked a 5670 which he insisted would work. And he then quoted a 5450. And their "solution" is to use a splitter rather than actually fixing the problem.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
"Interesting and Different" for supper
On the idea of "interesting and different", I fixed something a little "different" for supper. A 36oz can of white hominy, 15oz can of garbanzo beans, a pound of smoked sausage (1/4"-thick half-slices), and cajun seasonings (1/2 tsp each black pepper and paprika, 1 tbsp each dry chopped onion and jarred minced garlic, and 1/4tsp cayenne power). Simmered all but the sausage for probably 10min while cutting the sausage, then another 20min.
Never used hominy before, but got some for free - nobody else wanted it, and I didn't want to see it wasted. The out-of-the-can texture could be best compared to popcorn packed in water. It tastes like lumpy grits, so it actually works quite well with lots of stuff, just very different than regular corn. Made a really good down-home soup. I'll gladly get more hominy next time it comes up - for free anyway.
Never used hominy before, but got some for free - nobody else wanted it, and I didn't want to see it wasted. The out-of-the-can texture could be best compared to popcorn packed in water. It tastes like lumpy grits, so it actually works quite well with lots of stuff, just very different than regular corn. Made a really good down-home soup. I'll gladly get more hominy next time it comes up - for free anyway.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Chrome Laptop: Good battery life.
After allowing the laptop to stay on the charger overnight, I've been using it cordless for the past several hours (looking up directions and fixing baked unbreaded chicken wings). I've been at it for probably 1 1/2hr, and the battery status shows I've only used 12%.
10hrs battery life without sleeping? And with wireless enabled the whole time? Not bad, as an early rough estimate. If it handles sleeping like Windows CE/Mobile, it probably uses very little power while sleeping (remember, it has almost instant to/from sleep), and could probably go a week (or more) between charges with light use.
1 1/2hrs to fix some wings? Yea, I'm slow in the kitchen, but this included cleaning the wings/removing tips and the loose folds of skin, preheating the oven, cleaning out the dishwasher, etc. But not the actual baking - they're cooking now. I've got a timer app going in another tab, and a second instance of the app ready for after turning them.
And now that this post is done, the battery meter is down by another 1%. I'm also slow with typing and editing my thoughts. :)
10hrs battery life without sleeping? And with wireless enabled the whole time? Not bad, as an early rough estimate. If it handles sleeping like Windows CE/Mobile, it probably uses very little power while sleeping (remember, it has almost instant to/from sleep), and could probably go a week (or more) between charges with light use.
1 1/2hrs to fix some wings? Yea, I'm slow in the kitchen, but this included cleaning the wings/removing tips and the loose folds of skin, preheating the oven, cleaning out the dishwasher, etc. But not the actual baking - they're cooking now. I've got a timer app going in another tab, and a second instance of the app ready for after turning them.
And now that this post is done, the battery meter is down by another 1%. I'm also slow with typing and editing my thoughts. :)
Monday, December 20, 2010
Chrome OS
I just received a Google Chrome OS laptop, a small laptop that runs a beta (pre-release) version of the new Chrome OS operating system (which is redundant, I acknowledge - "OS" stands for "Operating System"...).
Initial notes: The outer box had nothing about what it was or what was inside, other than a warning that a lithium-ion battery was inside. The inner box box is covered with a diagram of what I must conclude is supposed to be a "better mousetrap." Inside were the unit, the battery, the charger, and two sheets of paper. The larger one only had a very brief overview on the buttons and info about the service (wifi and 3G, all info is automatically synced, apps are available frm the Chrome store). The smaller one had diagrams of how to install the battery, and how to plug in the charger, and a safety guide that was written to be fun to read. It actually said not to blend it, then commented that we'll never know if it will blend. Later it mentioned the operating temperature range, and said that it was redundant because they had already said not to bake it. Oh, and the larger page said that 3G service is included for two years with 100MB/mo, and additional plans are available. The only thing I'd question is that the smaller one said not to use it until the battery was charged - yea, right - I plugged it in to charge, then turned it on, letting it finish charging while I play with it. I'm typing this on it now.
The OS is Google Chrome with a few additions on the Tools menu to handle stuff like touchpad click speeds and touch-to-click. If you are familiar with the Chrome browser, you know most of Chrome OS.
The display is about 12.2" (based on a measuring tape) and doesn't seem very high-res, but it's perfectly suitable for the purpose. I didn't see any settings other than hardware brightness buttons, so I'm not sure what the resolution actually is. There is a built-in camera, but I don't see any info on the resolution or any controls for image quality. Since the only OS is the web browser, there is no picture-taking or video-recording software, so I couldn't use that to determine the camera resolution.
There is one USB port, primarily (if not exclusively) for a mouse, and there is a VGA port - but again, I didn't see any settings for it.
An interesting point is the touchpad. There are no separate buttons, and touch-to-click doesn't work until the initial OS setup was complete. Then I found that the touchpad itself is a mechanical button. That's right, you can mechanically click anywhere, not just via tap. That's more precise, since you don't have to lift your finger from the pad - you just push a little harder. But once the OS is going, you can use the more common tap-to-click too. And the pad is multi-touch, at least some. You can tap with two fingers to right-click and you use two fingers to scroll, scroll-wheel style.
The keyboard has large chiclet-style (short throw) keys. The large keys make touch typing easy, despite the small unit size. There are no F keys (and no Windows or Context menu keys) or numeric keypad, though the keypad is rarely on a unit this size anyway -- and I'll have to get used to Ctrl-W instead of Ctrl-F4 to close a tab. And there is not Caps Lock, for what it's worth. Where the Caps Lock normally goes has been replaced by a dedicated Search button, which opens a new tab with the Omnibox (address/search box) selected. (Though this can be changed in the Settings to work as Caps Lock instead...)
Also, it has almost instant wake/sleep. The system opened a tutorial on first start that says the wakeup takes 1.12 seconds. You can do a real power-off if you want, but it's not needed.
All info is tied to a Google account, like bookmarks; they're automatically synced with desktop Chrome if you have sync set up there. And apps are synced -- they don't have to be installed per-device. Oh, and there is no wired network option.
About my only test so far on performance is a simple Flash test. It has both Flash 10 and Adobe Reader embedded. I played the trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and it stuttered some at 480p, much less at 720p. Fine; use it for browsing; use something expensive for video. My only fear on that side is that it probably won't handle more involved Flash-based games very well.
Anyway, this will be my primary browser for a while, as I said I would do in my trial submission. I'll try to post regularly, but any lack of posts just means it acts as Chrome should.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
WootOff!
Looks like Woot will be having a WootOff tomorrow!
Why do I think so? They sent me a coupon, together with the suggestion to "check Woot every day for more to choose from—on some days (like, say, tomorrow) a LOT more!"
YAY! Lots of good deals, and lots to waste money on - just less than one would normally waste on the same stuff!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Music brings emotion
This isn't my normal type of post here, but that's OK - It's my blog, and I can write what I want to - :)
You know how something, a song, a place, a type of weather, will sometimes bring a feeling with it? At church, in our choir, we are preparing an arrangement, "Press On", by Dan Burgess. In this arrangement, there's a phrase, "when we're deaf to the song".
I get a little teary at that spot, and I attributed it to a generic idea of not being able to hear the beauty of music. But this time, I realized - and remembered - that there's more to my feeling than that.
Some time back, probably around 2000, a friend of mine got an ear infection. She lost both eardrums, and became completely deaf in both ears. (Fortunately, they grew back, over time.) And she played violin. She had to keep up her practicing. But she could not hear, and there was a chance she would never hear again. And she cried. And those who knew her cried with her.
And here I am a decade later, crying myself when the memory is brought up, even just vaguely, by the lyrics of a song.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
AVG: False Virus Reports on Many Websites
AVG is reporting lots of sites, including Yahoo webmail (includes AT&T) as having a Framer virus. It's a false positive... An update is needed, as soon as possible...
Friday, July 2, 2010
UWantSavings.com: Good Customer Service
I have not ordered much in the past from UWantSavings.com, but on my recent order, I was so impressed by their customer service that I had to add them to my Good Deals list.
They offered 100 Sharpie-brand markers for $29.99 with free shipping. Not just regular Sharpie markers, but a wide variety - regular, fine, broad, highlighters, Professional-series markers, and so forth; these usually sell for about 50¢-$5 each, depending on the variety, and this has no shipping or sales tax. Further, since they offered a free Restaurant.com $50 gift certificate with a purchase of $50 or more, I got two sets. Yes, 200 markers might last me a while, but I know that Sharpie-brand markers will hold up until I need them.
The day of delivery, I got an email with a bold banner instructing me to "check the porch - your order has been delivered!"
I found the box by the door, and I, being a conscientious shopper, counted them. There were 194. I emailed, hoping somebody might send an email apology and drop a half-dozen pens in an envelope in the mail.
That's not what they did. I got an email THE SAME DAY confirming a return and credit for the entire cost. Not just one set, but both. And not a RMA, but an updated receipt specifying that they had already been returned. (Granted, I have not seen a credit clear my account yet.)
And today, three days later, I received a box by UPS with 100 more markers. No receipt, statement, bill, anything - just 100 markers. That's customer service in action.
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