GoRedwings19's Computer Help Hotline

http://www.macworld.com/article/132715/2008/03/photoshopexpress.html Looks promising...just skimmed the article.

So, my wife needs a new laptop. Currently, she (and I) both use Windows-based laptops for home & work, so that is the OS with which she is familiar. However, she has had iPhones since v6 (now on vX 256GB), and also uses an iPad for most casual tasks (web-browsing, e-book reading, etc.). The Windows laptop is used only on-occasion for more mundane tasks. Predominant PC use-cases include iTunes library base/backup, and creating/sharing documents for the local Rotary club (MS Word & Excel files). So, she needs an HD capacity bigger than her phone, as well as the latest Microsoft Office suite. Given her leanings toward other Apple products, she is considerin…

I'm starting to accumulate a fair bit of hi-res material in iTunes and much of it is made up of higher-bit rate versions of albums I already have in CD format. What I can't seem to figure out is how to tag these duplicate albums so they will sort and display separately without adding a modifier (like [24/96] or [DVD-A] or whatever) to the Album field -- since doing that screws up LastFM and other apps that pull that data. Sub-fields like Comments, Grouping etc. don't seem to be used by iTunes to distinguish different versions. Any iTunes power users out there?

Rather than resurrect a subthread in "what did you do today" or "ye mac thread", I thought I'd start a new one. What is the math software of choice to do DSP, modeling, etc.? I wouldn't mind paying a little bit, but of course I would prefer free, since I'm only a hobbyist at this point. I actually do need it at work (not really, my assessment), but CSC is so cheap they won't spring for anything the customer doesn't put in the contract as 'required'. Shelly posted that she hated the way Mathematica does licensing, and after investigating it, I concur that my infrequent use of it will not justify paying $155/year or $20/month. I might actually be in the Matlab …

Not cheap, but looks quite nice as a pure storage solution. I have a couple of their single external enclosures and they've been very reliable. I wonder if they'd sell it unbundled if one asked very, very politely?

Courier: First Details of Microsoft's Secret Tablet - Microsoft courier tablet - Gizmodo Pretty damn cool vision for a future tablet/booklet pc. If the final devices are even close to as responsive as the video shows I'll be very impressed.

I have been planning to get the new Microsoft Surface Pro when it comes out to replace my again Motion Computing slate tablet pc. It seems to have a decent stylus digitizer (although not a Wacom digitizer) and it a good price. However, I just saw this (from http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/tablet-pcs/1297429/microsoft-admits-surface-pro-128gb-storage-limited-to-83gb). "Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet, which is due to launch with a headline-grabbing 128GB of storage space, will only have 83GB of room for users' files. According to a statement from the company given to Softpedia, the 128GB Surface Pro device - ... - a chunk of its 128GB capacity is taken up by the operat…

Is it possible to use Mobile Me to sync my calendar if I don't own a Mac, or Microsoft Outlook? I was kind of hoping I could just have everything I key into my iPhone calendar go to the magical me.com cloud in the sky, but it looks like if I try to sync my iPhone without first having synced with Outlook or iCal, it will just zap everything on my iPhone Calendar. Is this the case?

So I've been tasked at work to put together a spec sheet for a mobile workstation (think gaming laptop, without games) and I'm looking for some advice/assistance. The general requirements are that it needs to be able to run damn near any software that we throw at it (CADD, REVIT, Solidworks, Photoshop, etc.), store a bunch of data, but not be so obnoxious that it can't be used in a conference room for presentations (i.e. loud or stupid looking). It only needs to be transportable so battery life isn't really a concern or heft/size. Budget is TBD and quite robust, for once. So far the likely candidates that I've come up with: 1. MSI GT80 Titan 2. Origin EON17-SL…

Here's one for the IT guys: I share a printer between 4 computers on a network and I want to monitor how many copies are printed from each of them. It seemed to me like a rather simple and common thing to do, but I've spent the last hour googling for a free solution to the problem and apparently it doesn't exist. There are many enterprise solutions, but I won't pay 100$ to do such a simple task on my home network. Have I overlooked something?

Because of neck stiffness, I am thinking of switching from 2x 20" Apple cinema displays to a single 27" display (for the office). Given that Apple's 27" is glossy and expensive, I started looking at the Dell 27" U2713HM. Is there anything else that is a lot better in that price range? I will be using it with a Mac.

My dad is in need for a simple back-up solution and a wireless base station. I only found the time capsule as an all-in-one solution. Is really Apple the only producer of such a box? He uses windows (on a Thinkpad (r -series?)), anyone knows if the time capsule will work properly as both a wireless switch and a backup solution?

Sorry if I'm late to the party on this one, but just found this little hint: Use fine-grain volume control in 10.5 | Mac OS X Hints | Macworld

I no longer feel comfortable traveling with my Logitech Trackman, as that is discontinued and sells for > US$100 on Amazon, much less eBay. And I don't seen an equivalent, although I'll be getting the Logitech wireless thingy to try. So...any recommendations on rugged mice? I want something I can throw in my bag that can endure the abuse I plan on giving it. Especially the buttons. Or should I get a hard clamshell or something to protect it? Not that that will save it from the abuse. I tend to press harder on the buttons or downright bang on them when the computer becomes unresponsive or starts doing something I don't want it to do. Optical or laser? Laser…

Well it seems microsoft has done it again to me. For years off and on I have had problems whenever microsoft has done an update and it would screw up everything. This time in early February there was some type of update that FUBARed my whole computer. First I suspected it was the NORD vpn update but I deactivated it and there was no difference. The problems are- I cannot access any apps. The startup icon and search bar do not work, When I hit startup button+R, I can see the HDs with some documents but no apps, MS Office, Windows Accessories etc do not appear on the HD tree, When attempting to pull up saved docs I get error messages which makes me thi…

Ok, Had some computer issues recently and was forced to rebuild my computer. I've have one of those Logitech Laser mouse thingies... something 1000. Downloaded the drivers and it installs setpoint. The damn thing is acting so twitchy... should I just uninstall setpoint? Will all the fancy extra buttons that I dont really use still work? dammmmmmnnnnnnnn yoooooouuuuuuu Logitech!!!!

Hello I have a 2.5 year old thinkpad T42 that needs to upgrade it's speed. I don't like the new vista.. or the newer T60/61 models so I just want to upgrade what I got (i just spent like a month with a t61p that was so tank-like i called it the "petreaus computer"... and the windows kept crashing like once ever 3 days!) 1. my memory is already 2gb, which is as much as this computer is willing to go. 2. it's a very clean computer... so i don't think i have anything slowing it down.. but eliminating useless programs is always a plus. 3. i want to focus on the hard drive: Should i get a solid state hard drive or should i get http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Sear…

My mom is ready to pull the trigger on a new desktop computer for her business. A few machines have already been recommended to her by a computer support guy that she has worked with for many years. I wish I could offer her more help, but I am pretty clueless with respect to any of the new computers being offered these days beside Apple and she isn't interesting in getting an Apple for her business. I think she would like to keep the price in line with what has been recommended, so the $500 to $1000 range. Typically, she uses such a new machine for about six to seven years. My two primary concerns are, first and foremost, reliability and then good to great value for h…

My current home pc has been good to me over the last 6-7 years but i feel it's time to update to a newer a more robust machine. i have been waiting for Windows 7 to come closer to retail till i start to look into the pieces more seriously and i feel the time is now. this time around i want to build my own instead of buying an off the shelf. my current pc is a hp Media Center M370n with an upgraded Video card (nvidia 256), 3.24gigs of ram, and a 250gb hard drive. my use's for the current machine: keeping up with my music library (main use) watching movies via dvd or itunes downloads or from hulu as i use a Vizio 32 lcd as a monitor. net browsing of course. using …

I have a Sesonic X750 GOLD 750W PSU that I purchased from NewEgg exactly 2 years ago tomorrow. It stayed in its box until I finally in late 2013. My motherboard is an Asus Sabertooth Z87. Six times over as many days, I've had a panic reboot with the BIOS reporting an error message that the system had automatically restarted because excessively high voltage coming from the PSU. It then prompts me to go in to BIOS and make any necessary changes. I have not made any changes as I don't know what is wrong. These reboots have happened in groups. Usually two within a short period of time, and then none for a few days. A week ago I had a 2 minute power outage that happened whi…

I think it dissapeared around the time I installed service pack 3. Does anyone know the name/location of the exe that launches the search command? Thanks, Biggie.

For those that have used a touchpad that available for a desktop computer, is this a good idea or lame idea? I need something that will work while resting on my thigh. I use my computer while I'm in an arm chair with the keyboard on my knees and my mouse on my thigh. The trackball isn't that great of a set up. It's awkward and when it falls off of my lap the ball falls out and roles into the nearest open suer grate and I have to fish it out with a piece of chewed gum on a stick. Are there many differences between brands of touchpads? Which one should I get? What's the best value for performance? It seems you guys know your computer stuff. Thanks, aaron.

I've been having this problem for years, and have gone through like 5 different routers and various wireless cards. I am constantly having dropouts with my wireless and have to constantly reconnect, and even when connected it can still be pretty slow. Right now I have a Trendnet something N router and an N card. It had been working pretty well until around a week ago, I have no idea why it would suddenly start being so terrible again. My computer a floor above the router and pretty far, but I have problems with the laptop one room away from the router as well. What the hell can I do, other than getting ethernet wired through the house (which would be really expensive i…

Please, talk amongst yourselves.

so you guys know of one around $50? oh just needs to do analog cable