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Buying a computer                                                          back to home page

This is taught in the senior center as a two hour session on a periodic basis.  The handout for the class is right here, click here to download.  (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - a free download)  

Other information is indicated below.   Some of it may be a bit dated...going back more than a year!  Often, you can find easy to understand information in Consumer Reports.  Also, many local papers have information.  The NY times has the Circuits Section every Thursday which is very useful! 

Software - the basic office productivity software is Microsoft Office.  Works is a good alternative for those of you on a budget and it should cover all your needs.  However, if you are communicating with businesses, it most likely will NOT be compatible.  There are several versions of MS Office available....from the 97 version all the way to the 2003 version coming out in late 2003!  Any version should be suitable for a business...sometimes you can purchase the software at a substantial discount from sources like www.half.com. 

Some computers come "bundled" with IBM's or Corel (WordPerfect) office productivity pack which can make the purchase price more attractive.  

On-line Shopping

Firewalls

A firewall protects your computer from being having unwanted visitors accessing your files.  This can occur while dialed in through a phone, or, more often, through broadband such as DSL or cable.  Although probability of these happenstances are low, hackers can go in and create mischief.  Some of the sources are indicated below:

www.mcafee.com McAfee Personal Firewall $29.95/year - it is included in version 7
www.symantec.com Symantec Norton Personal Firewall, $49.95
www.zonealarm.com free

UPS - Uninterrupted Power Supply
Good to have if you use the computer for a lot of work and are prone to power failures.  Of course, you should continually save  your work.  Units can be purchased for less than $100 at Staples or any other computer store.  To determine what you need, you can go to American Power Conversion which sells as well as advise what you need.  

Digital Cameras
There are more and more cameras out there, and they are getting more affordable by the day.  If you are taking casual pictures and wish to email them (you don't want huge memory), an inexpensive one will most likely satisfy your needs. You can get a perfectly acceptable camera for emailng photos and occasional prints for about $100 now. 

Below recommendations were in the 3/01 issue of Family PC. 

Under $200
Agfa 3Photo CL18, $149, www.agfaahome.com 
Polaroid I-Zone Digital & Instant Combo Camera   $99, www.polaroid.com 
Umax AstraCam 1800    $199, www.umax.com  (best resolution in the lower price range)

Under $600
Canon PowerShot S100 Digital Elph, $599, www.usaa.canon.com 
Minolta Dimage 2300, $399, www.minoltausa.com 
Olympus D-490 Zoom $399, www.olympusamerica.com 
Sony has the Mavica which uses a floppy disk, (inexpensive storage), and ranges from $499 and up (have used it personally and is very user friendly.  However, it is bulky but the advantage of the floppy disk is significant)

Under $1,000
Epson PhotoPC 3000Z     $999, www.epson.com 
Kodak DC4800, $799, www.kodak.com 
Nikon CoolPix 990   $999, www.nikonusa.com good for technically adept photographer with manual focus, allows creative control.  

Monitoring Tools - allows you to see where others have been on the web!
Rated in 4/1 Family PC

GRADE:  A    Spector 2.1, $69.95 download, $79.95 CD ROM
weww.spectorsoft.com    888-598-2788

GRADE:  B     Computer Cop 1.3   basic:  $9.95  deluxe:  $39.95  
www.computercop.com     877 638-9658

GRADE:  B+     Cyber Snoop    $49.95  
www.cybersnoop.com    800 732-7596

Remote Filtering Services - decide what's naughty (or nice)
Rated in 4/1 Family PC

GRADE A-   Integrity Online    everything goes through their server (not yours so a teenager or hacker can't get into a site).  On the "down" side adults cannot get into what they may wish to review.  $21.95/month   800 428-8797    www.integrity.com  

GRADE B+    FamilyClick    www.familyclick.com   757 459-6300  $49.95/yr
This co. is headed by Tim Robertson, son of Pat Roberson