What You Need to Know about All Things PC
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The Naked PC - http://www.TheNakedPC.com What You Need to Know about All Things PC Publisher: Lee Hudspeth and T.J. Lee Editor in Chief: Dan Butler Contributing Editor: Al Gordon This issue is for Thursday, September 19, 2002 - Vol. 5 No. 19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Table of Contents ** 01. Letter from the Publisher ** 02. Online Resources for Car Shopping (by Lee Hudspeth) ** 03. Fisher Pens - My View (by Dan Butler) ** 04. Thinking Inside the Box, Part II: Catching the Right Bus (by Al Gordon) ** 05. Update News, Part I (by Al Gordon) ** 06. Featured Product - Sony Walkman Portable CD Player (reviewed by Lee Hudspeth) ** 07. Featured Drawing ** 08. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and interesting stuff ** 01. Letter from the Publisher In this issue Lee shares what online resources he and his family found useful in their recent car search and purchase. Dan relates his daily experiences with the various Fisher pens we're now carrying in TheNakedPCStore.com. Al looks at the processor, memory, hard disk, motherboard, and bus specifications in his latest built-it-yourself PC project. Al also covers the Windows XP Service Pack 1 and Quicken 2003. We're giving away a Brass Lacquered Fisher Bullet Pen. It's fun and easy to enter, see this issue's Featured Drawing article. Reader support is what keeps The Naked PC free. You can help us by passing a copy on to co-workers and friends (no spam please). We make it easy for you to refer people to The Naked PC... check out our Refer page: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/refer/ +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ MICRO-LIGHTS the Super POCKET FLASHLIGHT! Micro-Lights are the BRIGHTEST flashlights for their size in the WORLD. Reliable, incredibly bright light for any situation. A Micro-Light is small enough to clip to your key chain, carry it in your pocket or purse and you won't even know it's there. But you'll never, ever be caught in the dark! Instant light in emergencies, or just when you have to find something under your desk or the sofa. The Red, Orange, or Yellow lights run for 120 hours on a single lithium battery! Carry a Micro-Light for a week and you'll never go anywhere without one again. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?pocketflashlight +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 02. Online Resources for Car Shopping (by Lee Hudspeth) My family recently needed to buy a car, quickly. We had about three days in which to consummate the transaction, and I want to share with you the online tools I used to help in the decision. * Kelley Blue Book -- I suspect most of you know what a car's "blue book" value means. Here's where to go and get that value-- actually, it's a spectrum of values--for free: the private party (private sale) value, the trade-in value (what a dealer would give you for it as a trade-in), the retail value (the price a dealership might ask). http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?lee1 * Carfax.com -- This fee-based service will provide you with detailed information on a car's history, all you need to know is the VIN (vehicle identification number). The full report, priced at $14.99, includes these sections. For $19.99 you can buy unlimited reports for 30 days. Vehicle Specifications: basic vehicle info like year/make/model, body style, driveline, etc. Title Check: check for salvage/junk title, rebuilt/reconstructed title, flood damage, damage disclosure, manufacturer buyback (LEMON), exceeds mechanical limits (EML), and not actual mileage (NAM). Odometer Rollback Check: an analysis of reported odometer readings. Problem Check: check for accident, salvage auction, failed emissions inspection, fire damage, crash test vehicle, gray market vehicle. Registration Check: check for lease, rental, government, taxi, fleet, commercial, non-profit. Vehicle History Details: report on various history records like odometer reading, title issuance, emissions inspections, etc. including the information source. The Web site offers the following free reports: Lemon Check, Record Check, Recall Check, Problem Car Check, and Stolen Car Check. I don't know about all manufacturers or dealers, but we zeroed in on a manufacturer's "Certified Used Car" program and they had the Carfax report already printed up for each of their certified vehicles. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?lee2 * National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) -- The NHTSA is a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and one of their functions is to crash-test new cars and document what happens, statistically, then make the results public. The agency has an extensive set of free Web resources related to their New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). Here you can study crash test ratings by year for cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs (on each tabular report page vehicles are clearly listed by manufacturer and model); search the recall database, read FAQs, read the "Buying a Safer Car 2002" report, view sample crash test videos, and link to other crash test sites. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?lee3 For me as the father of two young children, the NHTSA's report "Buying a Safer Car for Child Passengers 2002" is helpful and information reading. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?lee4 I know that lots of folks like the information provided by Consumer Reports, in our case we didn't use it. That's because my wife's brother's family had already done extensive research on a specific vehicle, and we had been kindly given the opportunity to drive it several times at length, so we were comfortable with that car. If we had not been fortunate to have that opportunity (and in-laws who are meticulous researchers with criteria similar to ours), we would have pursued CR. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?lee5 Use car manufacturers' Web sites to glean additional information, for example, locate dealers, request a quote, view detailed model information, compare financing options, apply for financing pre- approval, look at used car inventories, and more. Once you have narrowed your choice down to one or two vehicles, call the manufacturer's customer service department, supply the VIN of the car(s) you're interested in, and the representative may--as she did in my case--give you information about its "in service" date (date first purchased), any extended warranty data, recall history (handled or pending), whether or not there have been any in-warranty repairs, and so on. Whether you're in the market for a new or used car, I think these online resources and tips will help you in your search. I realize there are dozens of other sites devoted to the buying/selling cars; however, the sites listed in this article are the ones I found most useful. You can reach Lee Hudspeth at: mailto:LeeHudspeth@TheNakedPC.com +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ "Computer Tips Compendium" We've collected over 460 computer tips and have packaged them as an electronic book in PDF format. That means that the text of each and every tip is fully text searchable... you'll find the tip you need, when you need it. We've pulled together the BEST TIPS, tricks, and techniques that you're likely to ever find all onto a single CD. You also get free access to the restricted Tips Section of The Naked PC Web site! Tips on where to find the information you need on the Internet, shortcuts to settings, fixes and workarounds to problems, general computer tips, tips for specific software, over 460 tips to help people like you use your computer even more productively. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?comptips +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 03. Fisher Pens - My View (by Dan Butler) Lee covered many of the technical aspects of Fisher pens in his review in our last issue #5.18. This issue I'll fill in a few of the blanks and try to give you a feel for the pens themselves. You can find information and see pictures of all the pens here: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?dan1 One comment I hear repeatedly is how small the bullet pens are. Yes they are small at 3 1/2" and are designed to carry in your pants pocket. Just think of these as a pants pocket or purse pen. Opened you'll have a full size writing instrument that's easy to hold and writes like a dream. We do sell clips to fit the bullet pen. They are handy to hold your pen in your ticket pocket or inside a purse. However I think you'll find it's just as convenient to let them ride loose in your pocket. My bullet pens have held up well with the Swiss-Tech tools, Photon Micro-Lights, pocket change, and other goodies I carry in my pocket. Are you one of those people who writes little notes down all the time on any scrap of paper you can find? I am. Drives my wife nuts! So I always have pen(s) with me. The bullet pen has become my ever present companion and writes every time I want it to. See all the bullet pens here: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?dan2 If you are looking for a full-sized pen, consider our Astronaut and Shuttle pens. The Astronaut is a substantial pen. Some people find it a bit on the heavy side. It's built to last and work under any conditions. Do you prefer a thinner pen? Try one of our Shuttle models. You'll find a nice selection of styles and the price is a bit lower than the AG-7 Astronaut pen. Like the bullets, the Astronaut and Shuttle models are all steel and brass for a long dependable life. We also carry a Triple Action pen (black ink, red ink, and a pencil) that has become the main pen at my computer. See all of these pens here: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?dan3 Use a PDA? I don't but I've tried writing on one with a black matte bullet pen. It worked okay but wouldn't be good for fine writing or long term use. We have the chrome and black matte bullet pens with a stylus on one end. The Triple Action Pen mentioned above comes with a free stylus to replace either the black or red ink. You can check these pens out here: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?dan4 Let's talk about the ink for a moment. Yes it writes in all sorts of extreme conditions. But on a practical level the pen writes on just about any surface you'll be writing on: paper, wood, cardboard, latex gloves, etc. In the past I've had trouble with other pens not working after my hand has been on the paper for a while. The oils seem to create "no write" zones. This hasn't been a problem with the space pens. They always write first time every time for me. If you're left handed you'll appreciate the "low mess" factor. On the hottest day recently (100+ degrees) I did have a small amount of ink showing on my hand. But it was minimal and didn't rub onto the next surface I touched. Normally I don't see any ink on my hand. The ink cartridges write for a long time, approximately 4 1/2 miles of writing, and won't dry out on you. All the pens come with a medium black cartridge. If you want a different color or point thickness we recommend buying the other color with the pen and putting the black cartridge aside to use in case you run out and don't have a spare cartridge handy. See all the ink choices here: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?dan5 All in all you can't go wrong with any of the Fisher pens. You'll be pleased to carry any of them and they write like a dream - first time, every time. You can reach Dan Butler at: mailto:danbutler@TheNakedPC.com +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ >> "How Many Ways Will You Use These Amazing Devices?" They're incredibly handy. When we first saw these amazing little devices we thought, "these will look cool hanging on my key ring." Then we started using them. WOW - every day we find more uses. How many will you find? http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?swisstech +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 04. Thinking Inside the Box, Part II: Catching the Right Bus (by Al Gordon) So you have your basic need for speed. What's the first thing you think about? Usually, it's the processor speed. We've got that. For our test system, Intel provided a 2.53 GHz Pentium 4, at the time its fastest (since outpaced by a new 2.8, with the 3.0 GHz mark expected to be surpassed by the end of the year.) http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?al1 Next on the shopping list usually is memory. Got that covered, too: 512 MB of Kingston Technology's 1066 MHz RIMM Rambus modules. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?al2 And while we were at it, we also put a couple of 7,200 RPM hard drives into the system for speedy data access there. But now how does data travel among all those speed demons? They have to take the bus. This brings us to the heart of matter: Intel's D850EMV2 motherboard (Intel uses the term "Desktop Board"). This is a very nicely conceived unit, which among other things includes USB 2.0 ports, part of Intel's push to make that technology mainstream this year. It also has a built-in Ethernet port, thereby saving you an expansion slot, and there is onboard audio. The latter might not be an audiophile's dream, but is more than adequate for business audio needs. However, the key feature of the D850EMV2 from the point of view of system capabilities is its 533 MHz system bus. The system bus is, in essence, the internal wiring that links a system's various components together. Often, it can be a bottleneck that undercuts the performance of other components, and is one of the reasons why processor clock speed differences do not automatically translate into real world performance improvements. It's like driving here in Boston, a city of narrow streets and heavy traffic. Whether you are in a Ferrari or a Hyundai, you pretty much are going to creep along at the same speed. For your Ferrari to act like a Ferrari, you need to break free of the traffic congestion. Intel's 850E chipset is the traffic cop on the motherboard and works to give the components some open road to exploit. The 850 series supports Rambus memory. Intel's 845 chipsets support conventional DDR SDRAM and the most recent versions of them also allow for a 533 MHz system bus. In buying a PC today, a key decision is whether to go with Rambus memory or stick with DDR SDRAM. Rambus is substantially faster-- as its name suggests, its architecture involves speedier connections among the chips that comprise the memory module. Kingston's top Rambus modules clock in at 1066 MHz vs. 266 MHz for the fastest DDRs. But the price is steep--the street price of 256 MB of DDR is under $100 while the same amount of Rambus is double that. (Part of the reason is that Los Altos, CA-based Rambus Inc., which developed the technology, gets a substantial royalty from manufacturers.) Accordingly, when you go out shopping for a PC, you will tend to see Rambus only on the top- of-the-line models. Value-priced units will have DDR. Will you notice a difference? As always, your mileage will vary. When writing a document in Word, there will be--and wasn't--any discernable real world difference. But when running batch conversions of graphics files and processing multimedia files--my key PC "heavy lifting" test--I was pleased to see that lengthy tasks took substantially less time to complete with the faster architecture. The more complex your computing needs, the more value the architecture will provide. (c) 2002, Al Gordon You can reach Al Gordon at: mailto:al@TheNakedPC.com ** 05. Update News, Part I (by Al Gordon) Ah, September. Back to school. Footballs and Fall are in the air. The new TV shows have not yet flopped. And in the computer world, it's the upgrade season. I'll be going through this Fall's line up in roughly the order the products were made available to the TNPC Secret Testing Labs. But first, there is that 1,000-pound gorilla we need to deal with: Windows XP Service Pack 1. And also we have to note that the folks at Intuit have proven me wrong on Quicken 2003. Windows XP Service Pack 1 is available for free download: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?al3 In customary Microsoft fashion, you can run "Express Installation," which downloads only the components that an installation application determines you need. Microsoft estimates the typical download will be 30 MB. Or there's the 134 MB "Network Installation," which is the total package. Or you can get the package on CD for $9.95 in shipping costs. Microsoft documents more than 300 WinXP bug fixes in SP1: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?al4 Some of those you got if you were religious about running Windows Update and getting the "hotfixes." But even if you did--and certainly if you didn't do running updates--getting a comprehensive fix will be a plus. Besides, you know the rule: now that the first Service Pack is out, it's time to think more seriously about an upgrade. The other aspect of SP1 is what you might call the fix for the "Justice Department Bug." Microsoft amusingly doesn't document this one very well, but when you run the "Add/Remove Programs" Control Panel applet, there now is a "Set Program Access and Defaults" icon, which allows you to make non-Microsoft media players, browsers, email apps, and instant messengers your Windows defaults--and also to block access to these apps. So you could, for example, make Netscape your default browser and hide Internet Explorer. Of course, Federal Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, and not Microsoft, has the definitive word about the effectiveness of that particular feature. During last year's upgrade season, I observed that personal finance software was getting a little, shall we say, stale. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?al5 Intuit's Quicken 2003 Premier ($60, after a $20 rebate to upgraders), however, demonstrates that there is still a little life left in the product segment yet. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?al6 One of the things that was making the software stale was the continuing addition of new--extra-cost--services and the overloading of Web-style interfaces to the point where a user had trouble finding anything. There were charts over here, and tables over there, and links somewhere down yonder. So where the heck is the record of that check I wrote at the cleaners last week? This was true of Microsoft Money, also. Quicken 2003 mercifully cleans up the mess. A new "Account Bar" along the side (left by default, right if you want to move it) puts a summary of your key information into one place. In addition to being a helpful financial snap shot, it also provides navigation to your specific accounts. Another handy touch is that Quicken now puts more key features into menus in its account registers and provides more crosslinks from section to section and feature to feature. For example, you can get from an item shown in Quicken's calendar to the actual Register item in a logical, easy-to-use fashion: click the item in the calendar, then click a "register" button. Of course, nothing is perfect. Quicken always has been big on plugging Intuit services and alliances, and 2003 is even more obtrusive in that regard. No matter where you go in Quicken, you are likely to be seeing an advertisement for its brokerage services, bill payment service, or what not. It's like the ads now infesting movie theaters: I suppose they are inevitable, but nothing says I have to like them. But otherwise, Quicken 2003 was the first Quicken upgrade in a couple of years that left me feeling that I had actually gained something in the way of better managing my finances. (c) 2002, Al Gordon You can reach Al Gordon at: mailto:al@TheNakedPC.com ** 06. Featured Product - Sony Walkman Portable CD Player (reviewed by Lee Hudspeth) I love my CDs! I wanted to listen to more music more often, and carry it with me anywhere on a ubiquitous media format, and I decided to take advantage of my CD collection and save some bucks (relative to buying an MP3 player, although I think MP3 players will be price-competitive with CD-only players in a year if not sooner). I found a Sony Walkman packaged in a "car kit" version, and it has everything for the discriminating, CD-bound music enthusiast. The Sony D-E356CK car kit includes a CD/CD-R/RW player, an AC power adapter, headphones, a car connecting pack (for cars that have only cassette decks, the converter looks like a cassette and sends the Walkman's output signal through the cassette deck's heads), a rotary commander, and a car battery cord. It has some compelling features including Sony's skip-free ESPMAX technology (you can turn it off or on); bass-boosting digital Mega Bass (you can turn it off or on); an "automatic volume limiter system" that when selected locks the unit's volume control so it can't exceed the 3 setting; four play modes (with accompanying menu display); a hold button (locks all buttons against accidental operation); and a battery life display. This Walkman is small, light, and rugged, and I can't get it to skip under normal use, including in a car with badly worn shocks! Without accessories, the player weighs less than 7 ounces. Battery life is 33 hours (with ESPMAX on). Street price on this Sony Walkman car kit is $59.99. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?fprod ** 07. Featured Drawing The survey question for this issue's drawing is, "Which search engine do you use most?" If you haven't entered one of our The Naked PC survey drawings before, here's how it works. You go to a Web page on our site, answer one survey question, and type in your email address. To encourage folks to participate, we conduct a drawing from the email addresses of each survey's participants and we give away something really useful. Now, obviously we already have your email address or you wouldn't be reading this, but this drawing for prizes will only include those folks who answer this issue's question (entering a prior drawing doesn't count for this one). We'll only use the email addresses we collect for the purpose of notifying who won the prize, nothing else. Before our next issue is published, we'll pick one entered name at random. The winner gets one Brass Lacquered Fisher Bullet Pen--an $18.00 value absolutely free. But you have to enter to win. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?fdrawing ** 08. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and interesting stuff *-* A Microsoft researcher believes he has found evidence of the first occurrence of a "smiley," it was 9/19/82 by Scott E. Fahlman. The researcher used nine-track backup tapes from the period 1981-1983 to locate the :-) smile-marker characters in a Carnegie Mellon bulletin board posting. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?news1 *-* Intel reports on techniques it will use to make chips faster, smaller, and cheaper. According to Pat Gelsinger, Intel vice president and chief technology officer, "We envision a future where information becomes more personal, where my communications device is in my lapel pin, where I have instant access to knowledge whatever I am doing and wherever I am." http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/519/tr.cgi?news2 Have you come across something newsworthy? Drop us a line: mailto:hottips@TheNakedPC.com **PLEASE SUPPORT THE NAKED PC BY VISITING OUR ADVERTISERS** +++----------------------- classifieds -----------------------+++ Have Your PC Read Documents to You! TextAloud MP3 handles any text source and speaks it to you. Take your eyes off the screen and let your PC read to you from documents, reports, email, Web pages, you name it. Converts to MP3 files so you can hear any text on your portable player. 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We now offer High Quality Remanufactured Toner Cartridges Save 30-40% * FREE Printer Utilities! * MaxPatch Ink Supplies http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?maxpatch +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ DISCLAIMER Personal computers are individual machines with performance that can vary with components, software, and operator ability. The Naked PC is not responsible for the manner in which the information presented is used or interpreted. Also, although we work hard to provide you with accurate Internet links in The Naked PC, we are not responsible for Internet links herein that represent sites owned and operated by third parties. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, performance, or availability of any such third-party sites. REDISTRIBUTION POLICY We encourage you to forward this newsletter to your friends, associates, and colleagues for their review and enjoyment. However, please do so only by sending it in full, thereby keeping the copyright and subscription information intact. We do request that, once they've reviewed an issue or two, they subscribe independently rather than continue to receive issues from you. This helps The Naked PC grow and prosper, thereby funding its continued publication. Also, if you wish to post this newsletter to a newsgroup or electronic discussion group, you may do so if you preserve the copyright and subscription information. Thanks. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe, surf on over to: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/subscribe.html To make comments or suggestions, surf on over to: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpfeedback.html or send email directly to: mailto:tnpc@TheNakedPC.com WEB BULLETIN BOARD Check out our 24x7 Web bulletin board. If you've got a technical question about PC issues, or suggestions of your own, this is the place to hang out: http://www.PRIMEConsulting.com/annoyanceboard/ ADVERTISING To advertise in The Naked PC go to: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpcadvertising.html Mail services provided by Blue Horizon Enterprises, one of the very few "Mom and Pop" operations left on the Web: http://www.bhorizon.com Copyright (c) 2002, PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. and Dan Butler. All Rights Reserved. The Naked PC is a trademark of PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. ISSN: 1522-4422 TNPC Hot Tips:
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