Cheap LCDs

While I'm here, I have to post this LCD deal at Surplus Computers:

12" 800x600 LCD for $46 +s/h

I'm not going to get one, because it comes with no stand, is used, and s/h is $15, but it is a great deal nonetheless. If I were within willcall distance, I might pick a couple up.

CompUSA Tech Deals?

I posted an entry about CompUSA to Are you going to buy that? recently, and although the post reflected my negative experience, I was surprised that others have had bad experiences as well. Its only been a short while, but two people have already commented: you can read my original post about CompUSA and others comments here.

Another comment was to a post I had about CompUSA's future, and even another was in response to a post about CompUSA closing 15 stores.

All that being said, I do have to defend CompUSA here a little, while their service may not be the greatest, they do have some great tech deals from time to time, like the APC UPS 1200VA I got their recently for $99 AR.

Refurbished Everex Laptops at Walmart

You can't beat these prices:

Everex StepNote 15.4" Widescreen Laptop PC w/ 1.5 GHz VIA C7-M processor, Refurbished at Walmart for $398 as of February 27, 2006.

	15.4" diagonal TFT screen with DiamondBrite Technology
		Active-matrix widescreen LCD offers WXGA resolution of 1280 x 800
	1.5 GHz VIA C7-M processor with 256 KB cache)
		For quick, efficient operation
	512 MB of DDR2 SDRAM
		Ample memory has 533 MHz speed and can be expanded to 2 GB
	Spacious 60 GB hard drive
		Store your MP3s, JPEGs, files and more
	Versatile DVD+/-RW dual optical drive
		Burn your own DVDs and CDs on a variety of blank media formats

Additional Features:

• Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2
• Graphics: S3 UniChrome Pro with Chromation CE video display engine
  
• Audio: AC'97 with headphone/line-out jack and microphone/line-in jack
• Wireless LAN: IEEE 802.11b/g
  
• Ethernet: 10/100 Mbps LAN
  
• Fax/modem: Built-in 56K v.92 with 1 x RJ-11 telephone jack
  
• I/O ports: 1 x DB 15-pin VGA port, 3 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x DC-in jack
  
• Pointing device: 2-button glide pad
  
• Software: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2, CyberLink Power DVD, CyberLink Power2Go, Norton Internet Security (trial version)
  
• Battery: Rechargeable lithium-ion
  
• AC-DC adapter: 65 watts
  
• AC adapter measurements: 4.25" (L) x 1.75" (W) x 1.13" (H)
  

I plan to ditch Windows XP Home and install Linux. However, to preserve the license that has been granted for using Windows XP Home with the Everex, I will backup the drive if it doesn't come with restoration cds. I'll probably use Xubuntu. Xubuntu linux runs well on the Satellite 5205-S703.

I'm very surprised that I can't find any published attempts to install linux on this beast. To be sure, my attempts will be published. In my research I found positive reviews about the efficiency of the processor, which is good. If worse comes to worse I can always use Puppy Linux or Damn Small Linux to brute force the laptop into being something useful. When in doubt, install linux!

PC Connection Startech KVM over IP

PC Connection again has a good deal on the Startech KVM-over-IP Server Remote: $529 with free shipping until the end of February 2007.

Techonweb.com

I should also mention that the store I bought the D-Link web camera from, Techonweb.com, turned out to deserve the quality reputation they have. Although there was a little trouble with my credit card denied, and in the process I had some difficulty getting a CSR on the phone, but in the end it worked out fine and I got a good price with minor hassles. If you are considering buying from Techonweb.com, consider my good experience in your decision.

Today Is a Good Day for Tech Deals!

So far I've aleady got a Mac Mini, and I just got some really awesome RAM: 2GB chips for servers from PC Connection. That's right - 2GB on a single chip. That's huge, I know. Each chip rang in at $159 which is pretty amazing. I bought 4 of them, as I have two servers that I can upgrade. I'm not sure if I'm going to put the RAM in both servers, because there is a slight chance it isn't compatilbe with one of them.

Here are my notes I took when making the purchase:

SM25672RDDR6H2BGAI - Recommended for tyan thunder

SG25672RDDR6H2BGSC - PCC - compatible with my SuperMicro server

PC Connection has some great deals on memory, but the server I want to upgrade is not listed as a compatible model, though everything else seems the same. I'm comparing the specs of two memory models from the manufacturer, one that PCC has, and the other the manufacturer recommends for the server I'm targetting.

Besides that, I also picked up a cheap courier bag from PC Connection. $24 when Amazon sells it for $50. Cool!

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And in other deals, Dealnews.com has linked a $5 off a clearance purchase of $50 or more. The link is direct from Radio Shack, so you can be confident its the real deal:

RadioShack In-Store Printable Coupon

Mac Mini!

I'm very pleased - the least expensive Mac Mini was back in stock at the Apple Refurbished Store today! Therefore I was able to use a gift card my wife and I received at Christmas for the Apple store, as well as a discount code from Dealnews for $30 off $400+. The final price was a little more that $460 - which is a great price for a nice little Mac Mini. The one I bought has 512MB of RAM, a 60GB hard drive, and a 1.66Ghz Intel Core Duo chip. It really is a nice little machie.

Now I can start using my Titanium laptop again at work. The TiBook is a really nice machine, but its not as fast as it used to seem. I replaced it with a Macbook, which I've really grown to love. The TiBook is still good for plenty of uses, like Adobe CS2, surfing the internet, scanning documents, checking email, etc.

Hooray! I got a Mac Mini! :-)

Refurbished Mac Mini?

I had hoped to pick up a refurbished Mac Mini, taking advantage of the $30 off $400 from Deal News, but the refurbished minis they have at the Apple Store are bunk in my humble opinion. They are even more expensive than buying a new one. Go figure!

Null Modem Serial Cable

After fiddling with serial connections more than I expected I would, I decided to buy a couple to have handy. The best price I found was from monoprice.com, for $2.60 a piece. Not bad!

If you do your own searching, the key works I found to work the best are "null modem serial cable" you can omit the quotes though.

Good Tech Stuff!

PC Engines Wireless Router Application Platform





Remote Web Power Control Panel



APC UPS



Motorola Bluetooth Headset

Free Virtual PC

Following up on the post about Parallels for free from PC Connection (with the purchase of a full-price Mac), here's a link to download Microsoft Virtual PC for free:

Microsoft Virtual PC

Goodies Arrived!

Lots of goodies came in this past week:

Look at all that fun stuff!


External 2.5" SATA drive enclosure - only $11!


Netgear 8 port switch


D-Link camera


Matrox Dual Head

PC Connection Mac Deals

These are some terrific prices and even better with the rebates:

* New Mac computers get rebates of $50-$200
* Parallels free with purchase of new Mac (two rebates though)
* Canon Pixma for free after rebate with purchase of new Mac

For example, here is an overview of the rebates you can get with an iMac 17" 1.83Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo 512MB RAM 160GB Combo Drive Airport Extreme

As explained above, you can get the iMac, Parallels and a Canon Pixma photo printer for $919 AR + tax, with free shipping until the end of February 2007.

Cheap USB to Ethernet Adapter

I looked around for a while trying to find a good USB to Ethernet adapter that would work with linux and found this:

Linksys USB100M EtherFast 10/100 Compact USB Network Adapter @ Amazon.com

It is priced at $25.34 as of February 16, 2007, which qualifies it for free shipping. It is only USB 1.1, but the Linksys USB200M EtherFast USB 2.0 10/100 Network Adapter is also available from Amazon.com for a few cents more, and of course also qualifies for super saver shipping.

I opted for the USB 1.1 as it seems to have better support in linux because of its Pegasus driver, though I haven't confirmed that yet.

No Microsoft OS Deals!

I'm trying to clean up and organize my Windows operating system licenses, I can't find my Windows 2000 CD, and I can't get a replacement copy, as Windows 200 has been discontinued! You can read more about the technical aspects of Microsoft Windows license types at Docunext, this post is about the finance part of Windows OS's.

Therefore, I'm reviewing the upgrade paths and costs of the differenct versions available. First off, I want my copies of Windows to be legitimate - I'm in the software industry and don't want to poach my own industry, and besides, pirating software is illegal, whether or not you get caught.

While there are sometimes a deal or two with Microsoft OS's, you pretty much have to pay full price. Therefore, I want to make sure I make the best choice.

For my goal of having Windows 2000 and/or Windows XP running on my Macbook via Parallels, I have a few options:

So first I'll deal with XP Professional:

* OEM license - $131 from Newegg.com

* Full / Retail license - $279

* Retail Upgrade - $184 from newegg.com

* OEM Upgrade - ???

XP Home:

* Microsoft XP Home OEM license - $89

* Microsoft XP Home Retail - $189

* Retail Microsoft XP Home Upgrade - $99

In my searches I found this site: 9software.com which seems a little fishy, but 9software.com has good ratings.

And again on the fishy side, Microsoft alleged piracy in 2005.

The question now is whether to get home or professional? The home oem edition is pretty affordable at $89. So that's what I'm going with, a Windows XP Home OEM license from a reputable vendor like Newegg.com. Cool.

Great Apple Macbook Deal

This is a great deal:

Refurbished MacBook 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo - White only $799!

That is a righteous deal if I ever saw one! I might even pick up an extra one for the office.

Couple of goodies!

Picked up 2 retractable ethernet cables from Meritline.com, only $4.99 with free shipping.

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Bought 5 technical books from Amazon, total over $150, but was able to use a coupon code for $15 off!

"Designing Large Scale LANs"
Kevin Dooley; Paperback; $32.76

"Unix Power Tools, Third Edition"
Shelley Powers; Paperback; $39.17

"Essential System Administration, Third Edition"
Æleen Frisch; Paperback; $29.67

"Shell Scripting Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (Expert's Voice in Open Source)"
Chris F.A. Johnson; Paperback; $27.99

"The Book of Postfix: State-of-the-Art Message Transport"
Ralf Hildebrandt; Paperback; $24.72

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Bought this from PC Microstore - but curious how they are able to sell the Motorola Phone Tools software for so cheap:

MOTOROLA RAZR V3, V3i, V3x OEM ORIGINAL USB DATA CABLE W/ MOTOROLA PHONE TOOLS 4.0 SOFTWARE (SJB6371B+4.0SOFTWARE)

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From Newegg.com: SWITCH NETGEAR|GS608 8-PRT 100/1000 for $63 with free shipping and a $15 rebate.

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And finally from CompUSA, an APC UPS: Back-UPS XS 1200 UPS, 1200VA, 780watts: $124 with $25 rebate:
http://image.compusa.com/pdfs/0027925.pdf

That's it!

Wifi Wireless Webcam

I'm trying to find the right wifi webcam to buy... needs to be accessible from computers OTHER than Windows! Firefox, Opera, etc.

Unlike this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WVC54GC-Compact-Wireless-G-Internet/dp/B000DZM4TC

It is only accessible from Windows Internet Explorer, arguably the worst browser ever built.

This could be an option: D-Link DCS-900 IP camera is a flipping bargain - a webcam that works with Firefox. Alas, its not wireless, and the wireless version has too many flaky reviews on Amazon.

I went ahead and bought to DCS-900 from Techonweb.com for $74, plus $5 for shipping. It is a flipping bargain!

Cisco Router, Soekris or PC Engines WRAP

I just registered at Cisco.com and am really pumped up to learn IOS. Only I have a question: where is the best place to buy Cisco gear?

In the past I bought a Cisco switch from Newegg.com, and that was fine, but from what I now understand, you can get IOS updates if you have a service contract. So where do you buy one of those? Also, what is the best device to learn on? Obviously I don't want to drop a ton of cash for a development station, so far the cheapest device with IOS I've found is over $500. If I could find one cheaper that would be great. For example, the Cisco Catalyst 2940-8TT Ethernet Switch costs almost $600 at PCs for Everyone.

Got my Cisco.com login id working but it doesn't do much for me yet. They do seel direct which I'm investigating now. Hmm, seems like the Cisco.com website doesn't like me for some reason, it keeps stalling endlessly. Perhaps they only serve to Windows clients, while I am on a Macbook. Its very possible since I bet that 99% of their customers visit their website from a Windows machine, well actually I bet a bunch of visitors use linux or BSD.

While I was at it I checked out the Soekris Engineering site and remembered they have some pretty sweet items. Unfortunately they are difficult to buy, but I did track down this cool company, Metrix.net, that sells Soekris hardware.

There are two Cisco items I have in mind, the Cisco 871W and the Cisco WS-C2950-12. These are nice machines that both come with IOS installed, but they are both over $500. Guess you got to "pay to play".

I was thinking of using the 871W as a wireless network, but I remembered that I picked up a mini-PCI Intel wireless card last week from Centrix for only $30. Nice. I'm going to install that into the Thecus n2100.

Cisco 871 and 851 comparison

In the end, I think I'm going to go with a Netgate m1n1wall, for $215, unassembled. Its pretty cheap, very low power, and runs m0n0wall, which is an open-source solution. Right now I can't afford a Cisco support agreement, so it doesn't make much sense to buy their gear. Furthermore, I don't have time to learn IOS, as much as I'd like. If I find some time soon I would love to get trained and CCNA certified.

You can find the Netgate m1n1wall here:
http://www.netgate.com/product_info.php?products_id=312{4}26

Cheap Null Modem Cable

I posted this to Slickdeals.net and was met with lukewarm responses. You can easily build a really inexpensive null modem cable by using two female to female rj45 ethernet to db9 adapters. I found these for only $0.25 from Centrix International. They have some awesome deals on random stuff like that.

Another Serial Console Tech Deal

Just found this Startech.com serial port expansion card on sale at PC Connection:

2-Port 16550 Serial PCI Card, Special Buy - Save $4 - $27.95

Only recently have I been introduced to the coolness factor of a console connection, thanks to a 2960 Cisco switch my company bought, and the Thecus 2100 I installed debian on incorrectly and had to connect via a serial connection to fix it. The Thecus n2100 with debian is now running well and it is the coolest thing I've worked with in awhile!

I'm also planning to pick up an Ethernet Power Controller II from Digital Loggers soon too. At $295 I'll be able to save money by not having to keep several PCs plugged in waiting for a wake on lan (WOL) magic packet. Would you believe a powered-off PC still consumes several watts of power? Believe it. Its a good reason to completely disconnect from the power supply when you're not using it. Same with TVs, actually TVs consume even more power I think to keep the CRT warm and ready for fast action.

Benq 22" Flat Screen LCD Display

The Benq 22" arrived from newegg.com via UPS today - the screen is incredible - highly recommended. I've got mine lined up with a Hanns-G 19" and another 19" Benq monitor. Besides those, I have another two Benqs: 19" and 20.1".

The 20.1" will get connected to an Ubuntu linux box which can handle the aspect ratio. I'm planning to setup the two Benq 19" displays at my house to use with my MacBook with the MATROX Matrox Dual Head 2Go Dual Analog mfr#: D2G-A2A-AJ (D2G-A2A-AJ) I picked up from PC Microstore. So then I'll have the Hanns-G with just one 22" display. Maybe I should get another?

Soundpoint Phones from PC Connection

Since PC Microstore didn't come through with the Soundpoint phone, I instead bought two Soundpoint 501 models from PC Connection. I opted instead for the 501 as its cheaper, and PC Connection carried the GN Netcom 2120 which was tested with the 501, where the Plantronics headset was not.

While I was at it, I ordered the above mentioned GN Netcom 2120 headset, which is unfortunately on backorder for two weeks, as well as an Asus barebones. I picked this last one up for $69, which is pretty cool as I have a processor and memory sitting around I can build it with. I can't remember which AMD processor it is, but it is an Athlon. The memory I have is 256MB left over from the Thecus 2100 I recently bought from newegg.com.

New Deals!

Check out these deals I just snapped up:

Matrox Dualhead2go
Ethernet cables galore
Nspire 2.5" SATA enclosure
POLYCOM SOUNDPOINT IP 601 SIP (2200-11631-001)
PLANTRONICS ENCORE NC MONAURAL POLARIS HDSET (P91N-U10P)
Benq LCD 22" Monitor display

I already have a bunch of LCD monitors, but I feel like they are really worth it, in that if you can see more, you can do more!

Update: I just got an email from PC Microstore saying their website has a glitch on the Polycom products, and that even though they list having them in stock, they don't and they aren't able to source them from any vendors. That's annoying! I bought my Soundpoint 301's from PC Connection so I'll get the new 601 from there. And I bought the headset from Founder's Telecom so I'll just get another from them, they have a better price too!

Vista Schmista

So much hype about Vista! Its tough to visit a website without seeing an advertisement for it. I'll pass for now and wait until its been out for 6 months and they've ironed out all the REAL bugs.

Samsung NV7

If I were out to buy a camera right now, I would buy the Samsung NV7. The thing is sweet!

Hosting Deals

For hosting deals, check out:

Informed Hosting

they offer reviews of hosting providers, from Dreamhost to Verizon DSL's included hosting. Speaking of Verizon's hosting, the Verizon DSL Blog has been getting more traffic lately, that's a good sign!

And for you Mac-heads out there, check out Mac OS X Central a new website about the Mac operating system. Lots of hype about the ipod, but Macs are still "insanely great" because of the operating system.

Thecus 2100 Pics

These are from my Motorola e815 (which is an awesome mobile phone!), so the picture quality isn't amazing: