[AT] OT - Laptop recommendations - Update

Mon Jul 3 17:33:40 PDT 2006

One wireless router is all you need, Charlie.  It can be one hooked to
your desktop system or to your printer, and then everything else can be
either hardwired to the router or connected via Wi-Fi.  A reason for
wanting to hook to a router at your printer would be if you want to
send/receive Fax items without going through your computer (or even
having your computer turned on).

Your router must be wired (through your cable) to your wide-band
service.  Everything else in your household can be either hardwired or
via Wi-Fi.  Your new laptop probably has Wi-Fi built in so that you can
sit in your Lazyboy with your feet propped up and do all your computing.
Just do your best to keep your laptop cool so it doesn't burn itself
out.  There's lots of jokes and old wives tales out there about
sterilization hazards to men from laptops, but they do get uncommonly
hot.  I invested in a lap desk and a simple collapsible angled stand so
air can circulate naturally to the computer.

The next thing you'll be wanting to find are all the free Wi-Fi hotspots
in the world.  There are directories full of these locations.  Do a
little Googling and you'll find them.  BTW, there are both free and
subscription directories, so take a pick.  The bottom line is that all
Panera Bread Co. sites are free, some McDonalds have free access, most
Comfort Inns are free, many public library systems are free, and many
coffee houses (but not Starbucks) are free.  At many of these locations,
it isn't even necessary to go inside the building.  Pull into the
parking lot, plug your laptop into the cigarette lighter (for a stable
power source) and surf the 'net to your heart's content.  I invested in
a Targa Scout (around $20).  That small device tells me whether or not
there is a Wi-Fi connection available, but it doesn't tell me whether or
not it's free.

FWIW, I found out at a recent tractor show that one of the cheap
inverters from Northern Tool or Harbor Freight is powerful enough to run
both my laptop and my HP All-in-one simultaneously.  So whereas I was
shaking my head in disbelief a year or so ago about stories of people
cruising neighborhoods in their vans full of electronics and looking for
DSL connections, now it turns out that everybody who owns a "modern"
laptop
Computer has the capability -- even me.

The bottom line on this is: invoke security measures on your home Wi-Fi
system, and DON'T USE THE DEFAULT USER NAME AND PASSWORD.

Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of
msm10301 at juno.com
Sent: Monday, July 03, 2006 4:44 PM
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
Subject: Re: [AT] OT - Laptop reccomendations - Update

Well, my wife and I went shopping this afternoon and we found a Toshiba
laptop that we liked, Centrino Duo, 1.5MG ram and a 120G HD, with
Windows Media Center edition. It should serve us well for a long time.
Now comes the task of trying to hook up a wireless network for both the
new computer and a printer. Has anyone done that recently? Any advice?
Thanks for all the help.
Regards, Mike

-- "charlie hill" <chill8 at cox.net> wrote:
Mike I've never owned but one laptop, the one I'm typing on now, so I
can't 
actually say this is an informed opinion but I'm very happy with it.
It's 
a Toshiba.  It's 3 or is it 4 years old now and I've never had a minutes

trouble with it except for a cooling fan that started acting up.  I
replaced 
it for about $15 bucks.

I store lots of pictures and recieve and send big files over the
internet on 
a regular basis.  Works great.

Charlie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <msm10301 at juno.com>
To: <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2006 3:24 PM
Subject: [AT] OT - Laptop reccomendations

I've been thinking about sidelining our desktop and switching to a
laptop 
instead. Ideally, I would like to install a wireless router so that my
wife 
and I are not tied to the desk if we want to surf the web or read email.
My 
question is, what type should I be looking for, and what features are 
important? I know very little about the chip sets used in laptops, and
how 
they compare with the ones used in desktops. Here's what I would need
the 
laptop to do. Internet and email (wireless), Microsoft Office
applications, 
digital camera storage. Our desktop is a PIII 1GZ and it works just fine
for 
what we do. Any thoughts with regards to brands/features would be 
appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike

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