GoRedwings19's Computer Help Hotline

Yay! Looking forward to my 15/2 package being bumped up to 20/5 sometime next week.

I'm going to buy my niece (12 years old) a new chromebook for Christmas (her Uncle stepped on her old one and broke it, at least the screen). She really liked her other one. Has anyone recently researched them? I am think of the Asus C200 with 32GB storage and 4GB RAM. It has a SD card reader which will be good for storage expansion. It's not the fastest but seems to be well built. Is there another one that is clearly better (and still around $300 or below). 11" would be better (since she doesn't have a lot of room in her bedroom) but 13" might be ok and SD card reader is a must.

Not sure if this is the right place for this topic. Now that I have the Oppo as my source I want to know if there is a fast and painless way to convert my ALAC files (close to 800GB) to FLAC. Any help will be appreciated. I believe it can handle .wav as well so that may be the easier route as I think I can do that through iTunes.

Since I can't seem to get my Macbook Pro 15" (2011) working correctly with Mac OS X, I was thinking that I would try installing Linux on it (where it seems easy to turn off the discrete graphics card with a command line). I'd probably try it out with a dual boot for now. What is the best (but not too difficult to use) Linux distro out there (that will work with a Macbook Pro)? Ubuntu? Linux Mint? Something else? Pros and cons? In the past, I've like the look/feel of gnome over KDE. In order to do this, I will probably need to boot into Linux for the first time without using the GUI (command line only) since the external graphics card is (for lack of a better …

So... after a lot of talking/yelling at Acer, I finally got the replacement HDD, reinstall discs, and whatnot to fix my 4 month old machine that's been down for 2 months After 4 installs today, some phone calls, and some searching on an iPad, I'm about to just "throw it on the ground." Before I do this, or send it back to them (sigh), I thought I'd see if you guys can help. I haven't been able to load windows. I get this: Windows failed to start. A recent hardware (Toshiba 640GB HDD) or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem: 1. Insert your Windows installation disc and restart your computer. 2. Choose your language settings, and then clic…

Well in the string of broken shit that has occurred of late my mini may have bit the dust tonight. It won't see my seagate hard drive, won't play any music, won't fire up any of my audio editing programs... I'm going to let it rest for the night and hope I can get it to fire up for a restore from time machine but who knows. The cpu temps ramped up fast to about 210 degrees is that too hot?

I'd like to extend the life of a 3.5 y/o laptop by replacing the stock HD with an SSD. The plan is to use it for OS (Vista64) & apps only, with data kept external. Don't want to overspend since it is an ever-aging laptop, so I figure the 64GB models strike a good balance between capacity & price (~US$100). Trying to catch up on this tech by reading various reviews & comparing to what is for sale these days. It seems older models were plagued with reliability issues, which I don't need. Brands with better track records include Plextor, Crucial, & Samsung. Surprisingly, Kingston has more than their fair share of negative reviews. So, although they cost a …

Have any of you downloaded it yet? It handles complex code really well and loads pages fast. I'm really liking it.

My newish laptop is eligible for the Microsoft OS upgrade. Has anyone bit on the MS free upgrade? Any war stories? Curious...

Anyone have experience with the Drobo 5D--good or bad?

I've seen this on another forum, and it maybe a good warning for us Windows users: Warning -- New Malware epidemic "Windows Security 2010" - Telecaster Guitar Forum

I'm giving my old Dell Laptop to the Little Monkey, so I'd like to kiddy-fi it as much as possible. Any suggestions for games, applications, etc. to make it more user-friendly for him? (He's 4.) It's running Windows XP. It's a beater.

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.

I'm looking into getting a 2560 x 1600 30" monitor or so -- what's the best place to look up these guys? I know how to google, but someone posted a couple of good sites to look up laptops, I was wondering if there was an equivalent site for desktop components -- Tom's Hardware? I mean, I know to look at things like contrast ratio and response time, but things like color temperature are so subjective, it'd be really nice to find a place where people have more experience with these things, because most of the local shops don't have much in the way of selection.

Google's spending some cash these days. I think it's going to be a pretty big deal in terms of IP for Google. They started out the month with around 1000 patents, and once this acquisition goes through, they should have close to 15,000 with another 7500 pending. I think it'll be a boon for Android and should even expand to the living room with the set-top box industry. I figure GoogleTV will be on Comcast boxes in the next few years. **BRENT**

For those of you playing the home game, my 2015 Macbook Pro went tits up a few months ago. Since then I have been wrestling with the idea of a replacement. Apple's current lineup is ...old and kind of crap. Their recent "California Streaming" event was a massive disappointment (I will not be doing my radio show from a smart phone, KTHX.) More broadly, I'm kinda done with Apple's anti-repair bullshit. I'm not done with MacOS, but I think for the next period of time I'm going to be sticking with stationary Apple products (I still have an iPhone, which I dislike but view as an inescapable evil like taxes and leaf blowers.) I have never owned a PC laptop. I don't…

I need a new, ergonomic mouse. Stacy bought me a Logitech Nano V450 last night and I like everything about it except it's too small and not ergonomic. Can somebody please suggest a mouse with similar characteristics to the Nano (laser and wireless included) in a full size, ergonomic package? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Is the PS3 a useful device if you don't do much gaming? I remember reading about it being a "great" blu-ray player and SACD capable. Whaddya say?

It's time.

I did something incredibly stupid today and lost most of the Users folder on my system while transferring them to my other hard drive (Move, not copy). My last backup was a year ago, so I am looking for a utility to undelete deleted files. Any suggestions? I don't really want to spend $100-$200 for one as there isn't anything that is really that critical; more of a nice to have. Ones I have looked at so far are: FileSalvage (6.1.7) AppleXsoft File Recovery for Mac (2.0) Boomerang-MacOSX-2.1.9 StellarPhoenix 3.5 Any recommendations?

Been thinking about going back to a computer based system (been looking at DACs ) but my only hesitation is that my MacBook won't read some of my CDs. Drive reads 99% of my CD collection, 100% of my DVDs and it's not random either, meaning it won't read the same CDs. Here are a couple it won't read: Radiohead - In Rainbows (from box set) Mark Knopfler - Sailing to Philadelphia Any thoughts? I guess I could get an external drive

Hi All, I teach high school science, and our department has a bit of money to spend. Our school is very dependent on technology for PowerPoint and other software for curriculum, so any problems with our desktops or LCD projectors is a BIG hassle. I suggested that we invest in a laptop and projector to use exclusively as a roving backup for teachers in our department. I am only looking for absolute reliability since every new laptop can run Powerpoint and any other education software one can dream of for lecture purposes. In my very short search thus far, something like this would be about right: http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Edge-E520-11…

Just wondering if anyone has used Optimum Online for an ISP, I am moving to Hoboken in a week and this and Verizon Fios are the options available to me. All else the same, I would probably go with Fios, but there is a promotion that puts the OOL at about half the fios cost for the first year, so just wondering if anyone has tried it with good experiences. No p2p, so I shouldnt have the issues with upload capping I read about.

So I finally got my internet "working" a little while back and now my router is being a PITA. When I connect from the cable modem to the router, and either connect wirelessly or wired to the router there is no internet, but I can still access the router page (192.168.1.1) and if I connect the cable modem straight to the computer using ethernet, the internet works fine. I tried resetting the router and doing everything I found online (that doesnt void the warranty) such as changing the router ip address, changing the router to static ip address, trying different security options, beating it up etc etc So does anyone have any suggestions?

Does anyone know of a program in which a novice graphics artist could get started? I have an idea for the logo for my band, and I wouldn't mind being able to create a rough (computer) sketch of it.