The new mini laptops are all the rage right now.  And why wouldn’t they be?  They’re small, lightweight and perfect for the tech blogger on the go.  Can you guess what’s at the top of my holiday wish list this year?  Oh yeah, I want a mini!  So, I’ve been doing a bit of comparison shopping to see who has the best deals on the fun and functional minis.

So, over the next few days I’ll be looking at an overview of some of the most most popular mini models available on the market, and if I can dig up the details I’d like to share a few not as well known models with you as well.  In the meantime while you wait I’d really like to hear from all of you out there who have already jumped on the mini bandwagon!

What model did you buy?  What was the biggest selling point for you on that particular model over others?

The big question of the day is MAC or PC for your mini?

I want to hear all about your mini, what you love, what could be better, and what you wish it came with.  Stay tuned all week for the mini goods to drool over.

Computer crashes are never easy to deal with.  I’ve had some awful computer problems before, but this one snuck up on  me.  I did some transcriptions, played a game, answered email and off to bed I went.  In the morning I turned the computer on and it was stuck in a never ending loop.  I couldn’t get to safe mode and I couldn’t do anything with it.

I’ve never seen so many people in line for the Geek Squad at Best Buy before.  It was an hour and a half just to get up to the counter to talk to someone, and there were quite a few techs there helping people, answering questions, and eventually carrying PC’s to the back room for repair.

They told us 2 to 5 business days and we’d have our computer back and running smoothly.  By the end of the week I’m sure they’ll be able to repair the problems caused by the Windows Service Pack 3 in their sleep.  From what I’ve read online so far it seems to be affecting computers with AMD processors, which my desktop has because that was my preference.  My laptop (that I am typing to you from right now and has service pack 3 with no issues) has an Intel processor, because that was all that was available in the model I wanted at the time.  A blessing in disguise?

Anyhow, if your computer hasn’t downloaded it yet, please be careful when it asks you to download and install the latest Windows Service Pack.  A lot of folks, particularly those with AMD processors and/or computers that are more than 2 years old running XP, are having problems.

It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to get on here and blog, we’ve all been feeling a bit under the weather in our house. A stomach virus made it rounds and there was a lot of missed school and work, a lot of gingerale, and a lot of sleeping. Everyone finally seems to be feeling better again and it’s back to chaos as usual.

All these germs floating about was the inspiration for today’s shiny gadget. A hands free soap dispenser looks shiny and fun on your sink and it helps keep the germs at bay. With a house full of kids I’m all about germ control in any way I can get it. And having it look nice is just a bonus.

You can grab a pair of these and have one for soap and one for lotion.  Just wave your hand underneath the spout and just the right amount will be dispensed into your hand.  Bonus number two, less waste!

The drip free spout keeps the sink top from getting soap goop all over it.  And this shiny gizmo is multi-purpose as well.  You can use it for soap, lotion, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, etc…  This would look nice in the office filled with hand sanitizer for everyone to use.  I better not mention that to the hubby or he’ll take it to work for the shared computer station.

It’s been quite the chatter around the geek world the past few days. Are the Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates commercials witty and geek history in the making or are they totally lame? First I will put up my tomato shield, should you disagree with my stance and throw gross slimy things at me.

I side with the totally lame voters. I was completely unimpressed the first time I saw the commercial, and even less impressed the second time I saw it. In fact it becomes more lame every time I see it during a show. Then again, I’m not much of a fan of Gates or Seinfeld, so maybe it’s just the combination that is throwing me off.

As if one lame unimpressive commercial wasn’t enough there is a second installment. This one is funnier than the first one, but I still didn’t find it roll out in the aisles funny or even remotely great.

The whole we’re rich people trying to connect with the real world just doesn’t seem funny to me. I don’t know if it’s my family side that finds this commercial super annoying…. wait, no it’s my “normal real person” side. :eyeroll:

Honestly, I just don’t even understand what these commercials even have to do with Windows?  It seems more like Bill Gates is bored and just decided to shoot some commercials of himself.  Time for Bill Gates to take some of that huge pile of cash and invest in a new marketing team perhaps. I think after watching these commercials I actually feel more pushed towards getting a MAC. I do love my HP computers, but darn that Windows.

So, geek and gadget world… tell me, what are your thoughts on these two unusual commercials?

Storms happen everywhere, some places more than others.  Here I sit on the east coast of Virginia today after getting some lovely gifts from Tropical Storm Hannah and residents preparing for Hurricane Ike to head this way soon as well.  These are the things that made me think of today’s topic, surge protectors for your computers and electronics.

Powering down is not enough, lightning can still come through your powerlines and zap your precious technology to bits.   Paying a few extra dollars for a good surge protector is vital to protecting your computer, your television and just about anything you have plugged in on an ongoing basis.

If the power goes out your line can become vulnerable, some surge protectors have backup protection, but if the power in your home is out I recommend unplugging the computer.   You don’t want lightning coming through for a visit.  I’ve actually seen this happe.  A few years back my brother in law was sitting in his living room during a storm, the dogs were laying on the floor, and his daughter was playing quietly on the other side of the room.

The computer was powered down, but lightning came rushing through the lines and into the computer and it literally blew up.  Not just fried it quietly, it literally madea loud bang, caught on fire briefly, and shook the whole desk, nearly shook the entire house actually.  It was like something you’d see in a cheesy movie, but it was definitely no movie set.

He tried to see if any parts could be salvaged, but the computer was toast.  The hard drive was irrepairable and all the data lost.  (Should I reming everyone about data backups?)  The only solution was to get a completely new computer.  The whole shebang, monitor, PC, keyboard, it was all literally fried.

My computer isn’t the only thing I have on a surge protector.  I have computer specified power protection strips for my desktop, one that I keep in my bag for my laptop, one behind the chair I use at home with the laptop, one for television/cable box/DVD player, and one for my cordless phone.  If it runs on electricity it gets protected.

So, how protected is your technology?  If you’re running your computer without any power protection right now, I encourage you to take care of that today.  Spend a few dollars now rather than have to replace your computer system later.  You won’t be sorry.

Thank goodness for external hard drives. I know they aren’t exactly stylish, but they saved my skin this week. My desktop PC crashed, again. This is probably the third time that’s happened with that computer. And this time around it was no big deal, because I had everything important backed up on an external hard drive! That little external drive is probably the single most valuable piece of tech I’ve purchased in the past year.

If you don’t have one I urge you to get one. They’re really a lifesaver. And if you don’t have a lot of data you can always just pick up a USB thumb drive and store everything on that. They are equally lifesaving! And affordable, you can pick up a 4GB thumb drive for less than $30 at some stores.

First week of the month is when I usually do all my backups on all of our computers (we have three) and also all of my websites. Even though my host provides back up services I like to go in and grab a copy for myself just in case. You never know what will happen. Have you made backups of your files and pictures lately? Today might be a good day to start a new habit of doing that once a month so you don’t lose precious data.