2011 March 06  updated

 


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


The GREAT


Programs (software)

AVG


free 10 [2011]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
hundreds of 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/


OpenOffice
  
 software

Mozilla (free) "work-alike"
to most M$ Office components:
Writer (=M$-Word), Calc (=M$-Excel), Impress (=M$-PowerPoint), . . . .

With the save-as-PDF buttons in Writer and Calc; plus other features make them more desirable then their M$ workalikes


Glary Utilities
 software
 
(free) Glary Utilities
safe Registry Cleaner & many other system tools
EarthBrowser
 software
 
 
FireFox
 software

Mozilla Firefox (free) Internet Browser with advanced features

     
     
   
to

The GOOD

programs (software “tools”),
electronics+electro-mechanical devices
(hardware) and people/companies
that are SIGNIFICANT & IMPORTANT

Dell
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)

Mozilla Thunderbird
   software


Mozilla Thunderbird
(“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

NEWS==>Seagate & Western Digital drives looks like they are produced by the
SAME Chinese factory !!!

(Seagate consumed 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 hard to remove — it behaves like a trojan virus/worm !!!


VERY BAD DVD & CD DRIVES [POS]
Okay 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]
 
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
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-VULNERABLE, 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 or DVD-R's --
(good bulk prives at CostCo )



Throw away/destroy the CD-R's when you're finished w/them

   
   
   

 

 

Legend:    POS ==>