Vista News and More Shopping

by Bob Seidel

A report from research firm IDC, sponsored by Microsoft, says that the launch of Microsoft's Windows Vista will generate 100,000 new jobs and $70 billion in revenue to U.S. companies in the information technology industry during 2007. Well, I certainly can agree with that. Think of all the software that needs to be re-written (and that you will pay for in upgrade fees), all the device drivers that need to be re-written (causing you to buy new hardware when your old stuff won't work with Vista) and all the tech support help that will be needed to master the thing. This is a no-brainer as far as I am concerned. Get your wallet out…

Ah, the seasonal buying frenzy seems to be in full swing. I made the mistake of driving to Wilmington today - hoping that on a Monday it wouldn't be too bad. Well, it was. But I survived. The local electronics stores actually had on plenty of staff and checkout counters open. But getting in and out of the parking lots was an exercise in competitive driving!

What did I buy this season? I got an iPod for my sister, a car DVD player for my younger daughter (actually for the grandkids, but having it is such a relief on trips for her), a new digital camera for my wife, and an FM modulator for her iPod (and new running shoes) for my older daughter. On that subject, if you get an FM modulator so you can use your MP3 player in the car, make sure that it is one that can set any FM frequency. There are some brands that only allow you to select from three or four predefined frequencies - I have tried these and often found that the frequencies that they chose were full of strong signals. You need a clear channel for one of these things to work.

I stayed away from game consoles. Apparently the Nintendo Wii system is readily available - I saw stacks of them at Best Buy. I am not sure about the status of the PS3. But I have an older Xbox and that is enough for our needs. Most of the games on those things are too violent for my grandkids anyhow.

My company was thinking of buying itself another PC to run Vista on, but it decided to wait until the post-Christmas sales to make a purchase. It was a unanimous vote of the board of directors (i.e. me).

What am I getting? As in past years, I have asked my children to just make a donation to a local charity or organization. I have most (perhaps all, according to my wife) of the toys I need anyhow!

I have one unfortunate follow-up on a prior purchase: If you will recall a few months ago, I finally found a 42" plasma TV that would fit in our entertainment center. I thought I got a good price on it, and it was very well rated. But apparently there are some real price wars going on, especially between Wal-Mart and Target. In these wars, they often select an item as a loss-leader - selling the unit at little or no profit just to attract customers to the store. Well, guess what? My particular TV model was the loss-leader of choice - a friend was able to get one for $500 less than I paid and they threw in free delivery! I had to bundle mine into the pickup to avoid the $70 delivery fee. Interestingly, the rest of the 42" plasma TV prices stayed steady - it was only these loss-leader models that really fell. I guess in the electronics industry today you can't look back, at least after the 30 day return period has passed!

OK - enough with the shopping. Next week we will get back to regular technical topics. Oh and by the way, please remember that I welcome requests for columns - just send me an email at the address below.

(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport - Oak Island area. You can visit his Website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail questions or column ideas to him at bsc@bobseidel.com. For specific inquiries, please call Bob Seidel Consulting, LLC at 278-1007.)