Google can save you money. - Part1

Google has been in the news lately for reducing the options served in its employee café. I can’t fault them but most of us love any free lunch, breakfast, and dinner.

Although you’re not a Google employee, you can still take advantage of the “free lunch”. In this case it’s not food for the body, but food for your computer and maybe your mind.
I’m often surprised by the number of people who do not take advantage of the free services offered from Google. If you’re reading this blog, I know you like to save money, so I hope you’ll take the Google gift horse.

GMAIL

I often tell people of the value of Gmail (Google’s free email service), only to hear that they don’t want to change their email address from Verizon, AOL, or Comcast, etc. While I totally understand the hesitance to change, the benefits out way the fear.

Most ISPs give you an email address with service. That’s great, but I believe it’s just a trap to keep you from switching ISPs, as you fear losing your email address. They have you hooked!
You can break the cycle. Get a Gmail account and gradually get your contacts used to the new address. This way, if your ISP doesn’t satisfy you or if you can find a better deal, you won’t loose you email addy when you switch.

There are many benefits to Gmail. Aside from the aforementioned ISP independence, Gmail is
1. Free. No strings attached.
2. POP3 Capable. Post Office Protocol allows your mail to be stored locally on your machine via an email client like Apple Mail, Thunderbird, Outlook, Eudora, or Entourage. The advantage here is that finding old message is faster and easier. Also, you have access to downloaded messages even if you’re not connected to the Internet. You can also draft messages to be sent later. If you have your laptop, but you’re traveling and not connected to the Internet, you could reply to messages and those replies will be sent when you connect to the Internet.
3. Surprisingly not crowded. Many email addresses are still available. You don’t have to be jsmith12875839@_____.com you may be able to actually get your name or preferred handle.
4. More professional sounding than aol or yahoo. I have been to some sites, downloading trial software, that did not accept yahoo addresses.
5. Very user friendly. The web interface is easy to use and can be easily customized. The help files are detailed and just a search away.
6. Extremely powerful. Gmail allows you to modify your email address to keep track of where mail is coming from. For example, if your email address was jane@gmail.com you could also use jane+recipes@gmail.com, for all of the recipe websites where you register. Then you can easily filter +recipe mail to a specific folder.

So switch to, or at least get, a Gmail account.

There will be more Google freebies in my next post. Sphere: Related Content

Buying a computer

Has your computer kicked the bucket? Recently my laptop died. My baby, her name was Alice. While talking with some friends about this blog I was challenged to save money while getting a new computer. Here are the results of my search. Hope it helps you.

Primer
If you know a bit about computers, please skip this section. If not, here’s a little analogy that should explain the basic bits and pieces. Think of you computer as a machine (a robot version of you) that needs to perform a job.

The job in this case is to empty a full tub of water from your bathtub into the street nearest to your house. Yes, I know this is an odd task but bear with me, OK. You have a bucket. That bucket is RAM. The bigger the bucket, or more RAM you have, the faster the process should go i.e. you can carry more water (instructions or computer commands), with each pass from the bathroom, through the house, out the door, and to the street. It seems simple that you’ll want a lot of RAM, but there are other things to think about. By the way, RAM is usually measured in mega- or giga-bytes.

When performing the water task, you have to think about how fast you can actually move (processor speed). The faster the processor, the less time the task will take. That statement comes with a caveat. Too much can be overkill. You don’t need a Formula 1 car to drive from your door to the street. If you’re surfing the Internet, sending email, and using basic Office type applications; a basic processor is more than fast enough. Most important for accessing the Internet is your connection to your ISP (more on that in another post). Without going too deep, you may have to consider BUS speed, which is the ability for you to move in an obstacle free path through the house.

The last real piece to this puzzle, aside from peripherals i.e. monitors, keyboard, mice, etc; is the size of the harddrive. This is also measure in mega- or giga-bytes. The harddrive stores instructions (programs) that allow you to perform different tasks and acts as storage for you files e.g. pictures, spreadsheets, video, etc. Up until recently, I would have advised you to get the biggest harddrive you can afford, but cloud computing has changed all of that. You can view a previous post on that here.

Buying a computer on the cheap
I’m not going to get into Mac vs. PC, or even Linux. You have to make that choice. We already have more than enough choices to consider. If you need a basic machine for surfing the Internet, sending email, and using basic Office type applications, you have a myriad of choices. You could buy a new basic machine or a refurbished/used machine.

If you’re thinking of going down the refurbished/used path, you must remember to buy from a reputable seller. Tiger Direct has a basic Dell desktop for $199.00 or get a Dell laptop from USA notebooks for $299.00. In both cases, I’d elect to get a little more RAM. Spring for the extra $20. I have purchased refurbs before. In general the desktops haven’t been a problem, but I’ve had major battery issues from refurb laptops, often resulting in the purchase of an expensive new battery.

If you elect for a new basic machine, you have some frugal options as well. Unfortunately, the dream or a $100 laptop is just that, a dream. You can, however get decent basic laptop from J&R for $419.99. This machine doesn’t have a CD-ROM drive, but it does have a wireless card so you should be able to install applications and move files via the Internet. If you need a little more try this Gateway computer for $699.97, complete with a CD/DVD-R drive.

If you need more power than the basic options I’ve listed here, then start googling, you may be able to find a deal I missed.

Good luck and may the force protect your logic board. Sphere: Related Content

Free Internet access. Free ISP (Internet Service Provider)

In a previous post, I briefly wrote about “catching” a free wireless signal, either by chance, with an unsecured wireless connection, or at most pubic libraries and schools. While I’m frugal, I’m not giving up my high-speed connection, just yet. But, if you’re connecting via dial-up, you may be able to save some cash, connecting to the Internet for free.

If you’re considering this, please keep in mind that you will be hit with a few ads when connecting. Also, you’ll be limited to dial-up speeds. But, if you’re an infrequent net surfer, basically checking email and reading this blog, this may be an effective cost cutting measure for you.

United Online, the parent company of NetZero and Juno offers up to 10 hours of free Internet access through Net Zero at this link. If you POP, grab your mail quickly by a mail client, 10-hours/ month should be more that enough time for basic use. With this free access, you will not be supplied an email address, but that’s not a big issue as Google offers free mail and POP access through gmail at this link.

If you need more than 10 hours of access, you’ll have to research your local options. ISP Bargains has a list of options organized by state.

Take a look. See if this can work for you.

Even if you opt not to ditch your ISP for something free, signing up for free access could be useful as a backup. An example of this usefulness would be in the case of a power outage. Provided that you have a laptop with a charged battery and your landline is a standard line, not VOiP through your cable or phone company, you can make calls without electrical power. This call could be from your computer to an ISP, giving you access to the Internet. Sphere: Related Content

Save money using The Cloud

Cloud computing is the new Internet buzz-word.
Cloud Computing ensures storage scalability for data including pictures, movies, and video, while providing complete secure access from any computer in the world. If you’ve ever lost data because of a system crash, harddrive failure, or even realized that you’ve left important documents at home or the office, cloud can ensure that you won’t be in that bind again.

Office Software
Cloud computing can save you money by eliminating the need for you to purchase some software. A good example of this is with Microsoft Office. According to Microsoft, Office will cost you at minimum $149.95, or up to $679.95. You could upgrade for $239.95 to 539.95 (link).
Well, there are pirated versions … but why chance malicious code or viruses and more than that why steal and be subject to prosecution. Use the cloud! Google allows you to use most of the functionality of Office with Googledocs (link). Once you set up an account you can enable gears that will allow you access to the files locally. Most of the functionality here seems to be based on OpenOffice (link), originally developed by Sun. This software gives you free legal license to office software for word processing, spreadsheets, drawing, and databases on almost any platform.

Screen Capture
Now that you have basic office software and with google docs you can share your documents you might want even more office freebies. Well if you’re attempting to show things that are on your computer screen you may want to take screen captures. Of course you could use “alt-printscreen” on a PC or “Command-Shift-3” on a Macintosh, but using those built in utilities you may leave you with excess images such as your menu bar. Try Jing (link) from Techsmith. It’s nice, easy, and free. Go download it. This won't save you money, as the basic functionality exist on your machine, but you'll save lots of time.

Fax Software
Need to receive faxes but don’t have a fax machine? If you’re computer has a modem (that’s connected to phone line) you can probably use the software that can with your computer. But, what if you’re not connected to a phone line or even on the phone. Try efax. Efax (link) will give you a fax number that will receive faxes then forward them to you email. There’s a limit per month but it works very well. I’ve used it for years. You can send faxes either from your modem or use FaxZero (link). Again there’s a limit for free usage but it works well when someone cannot receive a file via email. This could save you on the cost of a seldom used fax machine and definitly the electricity used by the machine being on constantly.

Free Internet Access
Many free services require that you have Internet access. I carry my main machine, a laptop, with me most places and get free Internet access easily and freely quite often. Often there are open personal wireless networks with which one can connect. There are free wireless networks at most schools and universities. And almost every library across the U.S. has wireless access. Also here’s a list of free hotspots. Just remember to visit the site and save a document with locations before you need them.

Turning Any Computer Into Your Own
Have you ever been away from your computer and wanted access to you files? Well you could enable filesharing from your computer, use shared documents on googledocs, or try Desktop 2 (link). This software from Sun is like having a virtual computer. Files stored here are accessible from any computer with an internet connection. Once logged in, you have a desktop, similar to Windows or Macintosh OS, with all the files you use. Free access is always good.

Free Conference Calling
Do you want to get people communicating together for free? Try FreeConferenceCall.com (link). You should be able to save some money for your small or large business easily.

Free Entertainment
No need to pay for DVD rentals or purchases or even to go to the movies. Try SurfTheCannel (link).

Sphere: Related Content