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| goldguy2 |
 Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:33 am Post subject: Flash drives |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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In October 2004 I ended my longtime use of Windows machines and switched to an Apple iMac G5. I love my G5, but there were sacrifices. I had to give up using Worden Brothers TC2000 (now in version TC2005) because it ran only on Windows. IMHO that's the best free stock research program around. You have to pay for downloading data, but it's less than a buck a day. Local workshops are offered, regular free software updates, a great tech support BBS, etc. But it won't run on my Mac. My heart finally healed and now I siphon my charts and data from several websites, mainly StockCharts.com, StockTA.com and good old Finance.Yahoo.com.
Another thing I gave up was those slow but dependable 3.5 inch floppy drives. Suddenly I had hundreds of floppies I couldn't use because Apple has abandoned these drives. Yes, the CD and DVD drives are faster and store infinitely more file data, but . . . Anyway, I was lucky enough to take a few CDs and those Windows floppies to my daughter's home where we used her Windows PC to transfer the files to CDs that will run on my G5. One day I trashed all those floppies and went modern.
However . . . I discovered to my amazement that Apple had built its hardware and software in such a way that once a CD is burned, that's how it remains for time immemorial. You can't just plug it in and add a new file or delete one. I was totally dismayed. After wasting a bunch of blank CDs trying to do the impossible, I learned Roxio offered a program called Toast 6 Titanium for about $90 that would allow me to use multisessions on the same CD, just as I had done with floppies. But it was sort of a klunky hassle and now Titanium (which has gone to version 7) sits on my hard drive mostly abandoned.
Ta-da! Flash drives entered my world. These gum-package-sized devices store a small amount or huge amount of data of any format for a reasonable price, and files can be added or deleted exactly as on the old floppies. They fit in a shirt pocket and can be taken to a meeting or a friend's home to share. No software is required. Just plug one into a USB or USB 2.0 port and off you go with an extra temporary hard drive. My wife, who is NOT a geek, loves them and has several for separate purposes. The only thing you MUST remember is to drag their desktop icon into the trash before unplugging them, or your data will be corrupt and lost. That's called unmounting the drive, and it should be explained in the instructions on the drive's pack.
I can't say nice enough things about my circuitous rescue from the lost world of 3.5-inch floppy drives. Give flash drives a try. |
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| Dave Rathbun |
| Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:36 am Post subject: |
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CFO
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You don't need to use them on a Mac to appreciate them either.  They're great for laptops with limited hard-drive space. I have two, a 64K and a 512K version. I've seen up to 1GB. Anyone seen 2GB or more yet?
I've also seen them called "thumb drives" because they're about the size of a, well, a thumb.  |
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| goldguy2 |
| Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:40 am Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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| Dave, I've seen weekend ad supplents in Denver from the puter stores offering a 4GB flash drive. I believe the price was around $200 but can't say that for sure. Still, that approaches DVD storage capacity, and the size still is like a gum package. You could carry a shelf of encyclopedias in your shirt pocket. Ain't technology grand (when it works)? |
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| Dave Rathbun |
| Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:26 am Post subject: |
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CFO
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Hmmm, 4GB. Need a drooling smilie here.
I've read that in addition to convenience, flash drives are a major security concern on sites where high clearance is required. There are plenty of places to hide a thumb drive (the mind boggles  ) that you could not hide a burned cd or even a floppy. |
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| DKnightSr |
| Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:49 am Post subject: |
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Member of the Month
May
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My work provides a 4.6 gig "thumb drive" but they're bigger than I had thought they would be. About the size of a large pack of gum (You know, the $1.19 one). They are fantastic for keeping files backed up, and taking your work with you. (That's why the boss bought 'em, more work at home )
However, though my employer buys bulk, I gotta believe you can get that price down. We only paid $110.00 each, and knowing our discount, you should be able to find $150 or right in that area. |
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| Dave Rathbun |
| Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 1:02 pm Post subject: |
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CFO
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| I found this link at one of my favorite online e-tailers (www.ecost.com) and it shows the Sandisk 4GB flash drive for $142 and change. Not bad. |
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| goldguy2 |
| Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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Besides flash drives, another hardware change has made life easier. I write science fiction short stories, including some short enough to be called flash fiction (no pun intended), and my wrists were complaining after a couple hours of solid typing. Pecking away at chart settings is one thing, but writing thousands of words without a real pause is tiring and can actually harm your wrists. It's called carpal tunnel syndrome, and I know folks who required surgery to restore normal wrist function.
After switching to my iMac G5, I fussed and cussed about that tiny Apple keyboard that comes with the system. It works well, but I was going to bed every night with wrist complaints.
One day at Costco I spotted a Microsoft wireless optical ergonomic keyboard and wireless mouse. The board has keys arranged in a gentle "V" instead of straight across. I was leery of using a MS keyboard on a Mac system, but decided to try it. It let's you type with your wrists farther apart, just enough so they aren't crunching your nerves up. Wow, I was thrilled and have seldom used that standard Mac keyboard since then. Occasionally while editing images I find a command that won't work right on the MS keyboard, so I switch temporarily and then move back again when that project is finished. |
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| Dave Rathbun |
| Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 1:56 am Post subject: |
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CFO
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Can you please provide a link or part number? I have one of the original Microsoft Natural keyboards, and I keep moving it from system to system as I upgrade. I love the keyboard, but it's starting to fall apart. The F5 key keeps falling out (too many "forced refreshes" on web pages  ) and many of the letters on the keys have worn out. If I were not a touch-typist I would never be able to figure out what some of the letters are!
So if you can, please, a part number would be terrific. Thanks.  |
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| goldguy2 |
| Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 9:01 am Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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| Dave, the keyboard is Microsoft Wireless Comfort Keyboard 1.0A, Model 1027, and includes a cool zoom slider. The mouse came with it and is Wireless Optical Mouse 2.0. There's also a wireless transmitter that sends the keystrokes from keyboard or mouse to the puter. I've seen this same package with wires, but I prefer a neat desktop. I recall that the price was about $50 at Costco about a year ago, and I've seen it for less since then. Good luck. |
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| Dave Rathbun |
| Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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CFO
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Oh, well, I'm not as excited about a wireless model. I have a wired keyboard (it's ancient) and a wireless logitech mouse. I like the wireless part of the mouse, but I hate having to feed it batteries all the time. (It's a non-rechargable version.) What I do is donate all of the nearly dead batteries from the kids toys to it. I can generally get another month or two of use out of the AA batteries that no longer work in the kids' bull-dozers.
Thanks, I will definitely look into it.
Here's my latest dream device:
30" LCD Monitor
What monitor do you have hooked up to your G5? |
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| goldguy2 |
| Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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| Actually I have no monitor "hooked up to my G5." The iMac G5 IS the 17-inch monitor AND the speakers AND the CPU all in one piece of hardware on a stand. Everyone who sees it asks, "Where's the computer?" But I did check out your Dell 30-inch LCD monitor and it's awesome. For my stock researching and writing, I'd prefer the 2X 17-inch dual model so I could watch a price ticker updating while also banging out a short story on the other screen. That would be wondrous, but I'm still working on my first million bucks . . . A 30-inch separate screen is available for the G5, but it would empty my mad money account and then some -- over $2,000. |
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| Dave Rathbun |
| Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 6:35 am Post subject: |
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CFO
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My mistake. I thought the G5 was the big dual-cpu Mac that came out a few years ago. I seriously considered getting one for my new home server, but could not justify the cost.  But it would have been "sexy" to be able to say I had a dual-cpu box for a home server.
Ah, just pulled up the Apple web site. You have the iMac G5 and I was looking at (thinking of) the Power Mac G5. I didn't realize that the G5 was not specific enough. Now I see that they offer a two cpu box with a dual-core chip. Wow. Four CPUs are just the thing I need for playing Tetris. |
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| goldguy2 |
| Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:59 am Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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Boy, Dave, I have several items to toss you today. It's hard to keep up with technology.
!. The new Mac laptops coming out from now on have Intel chips in them, of all things. They don't flat out run Windows programs, but I suspect it won't be long for that. The new G5s or whatever they name them will even have dual Intel processors. I'm a little unconfident of my knowledge on all this chip stuff, so before you'd buy any you should go to the Apple.com site and check them out. I'm sure you would anyway, but the thing is, I'm not an expert on it.
2. You were right on flash drive prices. In today's Office Depot ad, they have a 4GB SANDISK Cruzer for $139.99. There's even a Swiss Army Knife on which one of the "blades" is a 1GB USB flash drive for $49.99.
3. The OfficeMax ad offers a MS Wireless Optical Desktop 3.0/4000 with matching optical mouse for $59.99. I don't know what the newer model does that mine doesn't; it looks the same. By the way, I forgot to mention that I had to figure out how to eject a CD with this keybd. There's no EJECT key on it. Dopey me, I can't recall how I did it, but I created an icon on the desktop that works perfectly. I think somehow I went to Utilities where the Eject Disk lives. Sheesh! If I recall how to do it, I'll pass it on. You're smart enough to figure it out, though. |
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| Dave Rathbun |
| Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:27 am Post subject: |
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CFO
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I know about the Intel chips, they announced that last year and started shipping this year. I'm an Apple shareholder. Rather than see Windows on Mac hardware I would rather see OS/X on my non-Apple box. I'm a unix guy, have linux running on my home server, and the server that hosts this site is running linux as well. Linux makes a great server, but I'm still not ready to make the jump to using it for a personal workstation. You can bet that Microsoft won't be releasing MS Office for Linux anytime soon, but they do have it (plus a five-year committment to continue supporting it) on OS/X. Wonder if the fine print says something about the hardware that OS/X is running on...
I have yet to run out of space on my 512MB thumb drive, so I'll probably skip the 4GB for now, although it is an attractive idea. The keyboard... I will go by OfficeMax and have a look later this week. Thanks for the input. |
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| acdawg712 |
| Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:51 am Post subject: |
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Investing Associate
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| Flash drives are very useful. However, I prefer the usage of an external hard drive. External hard drives have much more memory capability and also are just as easy to carry. |
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