2008 July 05  updated

 

All of these products, PRoComputing has had first-hand experience

	The GREAT Five Programs (software)
AVG	grisoft.com	free 8.0 available free & “professional” versions of the BEST [IMO] anti-virus software for the “IBM-compatible” PC (AVG can be set to ALWAYS vigilant. Plus it integrates with ALL POP3 email clients -- where viruses commonly enter our M$-Windows-based PC's. AVG also available for Linux & Linux- & Exchange-Servers      Thx, many yrs ago, to [PTo]
	screen saver	Now that we do NOT need screen savers for our LCD monitors, here is 330 collections of beautiful photographs that donate 10% of their sales to non-profit organizations, such as the Smithsonian Institution and The Nature Conservancy http://www.secondnaturecd.com/
	software	Mozilla (free) "work-alike" to most M$ Office components: Writer (=M$-Word), Calc (=M$-Excel), Impress (=M$-PowerPoint), . . . . With the save-asPDF buttons in Writer and Calc; plus other features make them more desirable then their M$ workalikes
	software	(free) Glary Utilities safe Registry Cleaner & many other system tools
	software	http://www.earthbrowser.com/
	software	Mozilla (free) Internet Browser with advanced features WARNING: FIREFOX 3 IS INCOMPATIBLE W/MOST FIREFOX 2 ADD-ONS QED: USE FIREFOX 2
to	The GOOD programs (software “tools”), electronics+electro-mechanical devices (hardware) and people/companies that are SIGNIFICANT & IMPORTANT
	PC's	OptiPlex small-business desktop PC & Windows XP OPTIONAL, but recommended EXTRA $99 [over Vista] [ADD TWO GIG DRAM WHEN ORDERING] WARNING1: just received a 755 w/Western Digital HDD (see below, under "THE BAD") WARNING2: ORDER BY PHONE TO U.S. Customer Service==> 1-800-WWW-DELL (ordering online ==>SUCKS)
	software	Mozilla Thunderbird 2 (“email Client”. [PRo] has replaced M$ Outlook that crashes when its stored mail exceeds ~one Gig). While Thunderbird is very stable and is a near “work-alike” to Outlook
	hardware	Quality hardware, oscilloscopes, test equipment The first to produce a commercial laser printer HP is still [IMO] the industry leader in laser printers
and	hard drives	IMO most reliable, rotating read/write storage Seagate comes with 5-year warranty (Seagate owns Maxtor)
	digital cameras	reliable camera's and good optics ==>http://www.olympus.com ==> http://www.dpreview.com/
	digital cameras	The timeless standard in camera's Very Good Optics ==>http://www.nikon.com/ ==> http://www.dpreview.com/
	internet service	Leading provider of dial-up internet service Excellent 1-(866) customer support included,  $9.95 per month
to	The BAD programs (software “tools”), electronics+electro-mechanical devices (hardware) and people/companies that "can" do more HARM then good
	software	HP has had very little respect for software.  But the code (software) is the heart of your PC and your peripherals. "60 Minutes" had an essay on HP's outsourcing and their ugly practice of their India green-card sweatshop programmer employment in the US. ==>HP's printer drivers (software) are the worst in the industry
	internet service	Over-priced like Apple & Sony products Like Apple, AOL treats users like they're idiots. WARNING:  Once installed on a PC, it's extremely hard to remove — it behaves like a trojan virus/worm !!!
		VERY BAD DVD & CD DRIVES [POS] Good PC's, BUT incredibly BAD DVD-, CD- Drives
	drives	PC maker's flock to mitsumi floppy & mitsumi CD drive's because they're cheap & [POS]
	hard drive	Early hard disk drive manufacturer least reliable / prone to early failure
	PC's	Our modern Packard Bell SAD (Such A Deal) junk Government agencies flock to this low bidder.   POS (Piece Of S--t)
	PC's	Our modern Packard Bell SSAD (Son of Such A Deal) junk.  Now owned by the original POS, Gateway.
	apple compukers	OVER PRICED & UNDER PERFORMANCE AND SINCE STEVE JOBS SHOT OFF HIS MOUTH IN JAN 2007 ==> APPLE OWNERS ARE GETTING MULTI-MEGABYTES "SECURITY UPDATES" REGULARLY TO FIX OS X (APPLE'S NOW-VUNERABLE, BLOATWARE, UN-INTUITIVE Operating System
	and the UGLY programs (software “tools”), electronics+electro-mechanical devices (hardware) and people/companies that are  DAMN  DANGEROUS
	Norton	This [POS] anti-virus (anti-user) software is usually included with your new PC User's are UNPROTECTED, even with paid updates! click here==>Does anybody like Norton AntiVirus? (just like AOL, try to un-install it) main computergripes.com/NortonAntiVirus
	blank CD-R/W's	Re-writable CD's.  Expensive Un-stable ==> You do NOT need that for your backups Buy/use/“burn” CD-R's (under 20¢/@ in bulk) CD-R/W's are incompatible with many CD-drives Throw away/destroy the CD-R's when you're finished w/them

 

 

Legend:    POS ==>