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Did You Know?
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· We now offer an online Credit Card
or PayPal payment option. Just click on 'Pay An Invoice Online' in the menu at the top left corner of our Home Page____________
· In the last Newsletter we promoted the Ride to Conquer Cancer, which is taking place this weekend, yes in the forecasted rain!
We'd like to mention another very worthy event that we support, the Parkinson Society's SuperWalk.
Please consider sponsoring the walk here:
Parkinson SuperWalk
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When our next Newsletter hits your inbox, we will be celebrating 15 years in business!
* Win a free hour! *
Guess the selling price of the first new PC we sold, within $100, before taxes to win a free hour's service.
It was an AMD 486 CPU based system with 8MB RAM, 730MB Hard Drive, DOS, Windows 3.1.
It was also delivered with a 14" Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse.
Email your entries by August 15th.
More fine print:
· Only one entry per office or household
· The closest guess to the actual price within $100 wins
· Two or more entrants required for there to be any contest
· Contacts in the computer business are not eligible - sorry!
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FOR SALE
The Notebook listed here last time sold in one week! Thanks, Brenda!
Do you have any gently used PC equipment that you would like to list in this spot? This offer is open to clients, for a minimum $10 donation to one of the charities we have promoted.
Call or Email if you would like to participate!
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Hi there!
Welcome to the July 2010 issue of According To Alan. OK, July is a couple of weeks or so away, but I wanted to catch everyone before they took off for the summer!
Who is ready for the HST tax grab? From all the conversations I have had with clients and colleagues about it, and all the news broadcasts and articles I have seen and read on it, a clear majority of us do not want this new tax, especially when Premier McGuinty promised no tax increases as an election promise! I hope everyone will remember that at the next Provincial Election! Well, like it or not, it's here! I have already received my first invoice charging HST, for my business Internet and Wireless services going forward into July! Wasn't Canada Day a day of celebration at one time?
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 | Netbooks
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You have no doubt seen low cost portable computers available, starting at around $300 and up. These are not 'Notebooks' but 'Netbooks'. They were first introduced primarily for student use, but are now being promoted as the ultimate in portability (short of an iPhone or iPad, of course - but we don't talk about Apple/Mac devices here!) There were a few 'Windows Tablets' around long before the iPad, there may even still be some available, but they never really took off.
I recently purchased a Netbook for the business to try it out, and to use as a demo. I was very pleasantly surprised! It is an Acer brand entry level model, an Aspire One, with an Intel Atom 1.66GHz CPU, with 64 Bit processing capability, a 10.1" Display, 1GB of Memory (not upgradeable), a 160GB Hard Drive, Multi-Flash Card Reader, 3 USB Ports, and Webcam built-in. It also has WiFi built-in, Network and Monitor jacks, and you can attach a Keyboard and Mouse via the USB Ports. Battery life is estimated at 4 hours.
It comes with Windows 7 Starter Edition pre-installed, which is perfectly sufficient to operate it, but for which Micro$oft will happily sell you an online upgrade to any higher Windows 7 version. It also comes bundled with Micro$oft Office 2007 and Norton Security trial editions.
There's no CD or DVD Drive for installing additional software from disk, but an external CD or DVD Reader or Writer can be easily added.
Will a Netbook replace your desktop PC? Not very likely. Is it a good alternative to a second or additional PC, either Desktop or Notebook? A PC for the cottage or when travelling? Absolutely!
Do you need to (or just like to) carry around a portable PC on your daily travels? A Netbook is ideal for that, at about half the weight of a typical Notebook. A briefcase full of stuff, plus a Notebook, can get heavier than you might think!
Want to try before you buy? Call or email for a sneak-peek at our demo unit.
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| Micro$oft Office 2010
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Office 2010 should be available by the end of June, but Micro$oft is getting rather unreliable at keeping it's reseller partners informed lately!
I have been using the Beta (test) version for several months, and found it surprisingly stable and trouble-free! If you have not experienced the new look and feel of the 2007 edition, there will be a significant learning curve. If you are already familiar with the 2007 edition, you will avoid the learning curve, but you will not really notice much difference from the 2007 version in every-day use! So why would you upgrade? OK, rhetorical question!
As with any new Micro$oft products, do not expect an older PC to run the newer products very well. The newer and more powerful the PC, the better new products will run!
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Thank you for taking the time to read this. Your comments on this issue, and suggestions for future issues are always welcome. Links to recent back-issues can be found on our Home Page. I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer!
Alan Davis
Technology Specialist
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