If you’re shopping for a new computer for school Apple has some great news for you. They are offering a pretty decent discount on all of their computers for College and University Students (and teachers). You simply need to head on over to their site and enter in your student information.

They are also giving away free iPods and printers!

Visit their Student Discount website here.

As many of you know Apple is close to releasing a new update to it’s much applauded Mac Operating System OS X. The update is called Snow Leopard and will introduce several low-level fixes to the Mac. It will also add a few nice new features.

Some of the improvements:

1) About 6GB stripped right out! The new OS is much much lighter.

2) Faster start-up and shutdown.

3) A new version of QuickTime (called QuickTime X) that adds many of the pro features to the free version. You can also now edit in Quicktime!

4) Up to 50% times faster Time Machine Backup.

5) Faster Wireless connectivity.

6) The brand spanking new Safari 4. Which is supposed to be much faster and much more stable then previous versions.

*Note: PowerPC Mac users are unable to install Snow Leopard. They have finally been dropped. Intel Macs only.*

So. How do you get all that and more for only $9.95? Well it’s simple. If you bought a Mac after June 8th that includes OS X Leopard but not Snow Leopard then all you need to do is go to this website: http://www.apple.com/ca/macosx/uptodate/. Fill out the form, mail it off, and your upgrade should come soon after that! You have until December 26th, 2009 to get your copy.

But what if you didn’t buy your Mac after June 8th? What then? Don’t fret. As long as you’re running Leopard you can buy the upgrade from Apple for the awesomely reasonable price of $29. If you’re running an older version (such as Tiger) you’ll need to shell out $169. However that price includes an upgrade to both Leopard and Snow Leopard.

Cheers!

If anyone out there wishes to upgrade to Windows Vista 64-bit I’ve got some great news for you! Microsoft will ship you a copy of the 64-bit version of Vista for free!

From the Microsoft Site:

32-bit CD
If your system features a CD drive but no DVD drive, you can order Windows Vista on CD-ROM. The installation files span multiple discs, so unattended installations are not possible.

64-bit DVD
If your system features a 64-bit processor, you can take advantage of its advanced design by ordering 64-bit software media. You’ll get the same interface, features, and functions, but you’ll get them in an operating system that takes advantage of access to vastly more memory. All installation files are on a single disc. Please note that 64-bit media is included in the box with the purchase of Windows Vista Ultimate.

The 64-bit version of Windows Vista is not for everyone. Please confirm that your system, applications, and devices are compatible with a 64-bit edition of Windows Vista before installing.

There are some caveats of course:

1. You’ll need to already own a copy of the 32-bit version of Windows Vista.
2. You’ll need to pay shipping and handling for the disc.
3. You’ll need to fill out a form (for real.)

Simply head on over to the Windows Vista Alternate Media site and enter your product key to get started.

Having problems with your computer? Simply scan your computer for free to identify problem areas and solutions. Click here to start a free scan.

If there is one site on the Internet that I both respect and hate at the same time it’s Consumerist.com. On one hand they give customers some pull in fighting consumer issues and on the other they post stories that damage reputations without actually researching the complaint!

From Consumerist:

“Randy tried to get new O and P keys for his HP laptop. The outsourced, English-is-not-his-first-language, customer service rep won’t sell or send him the keys and instead insists that Randy sit in for a $298 repair. Blithely indifferent to Randy’s increasing incredulity and rage, the customer service rep suggests that for that amount of money, Randy should just buy a new laptop for $400. That’s right, a new laptop because two of the keys are bad. The ridiculous chat transcript, inside…”

They then posted the transcript of the online chat that “Randy” (the Tipper) had with HP support.

So what’s wrong with this scenario? Well here’s the thing: the Consumerist doesn’t research their stories! They get their stories from these anonymous tippers and post the stories on their site without contacting the company being accused for their side of the story. I’m sorry but that’s just bad reporting.

But then again, no one can claim that the Consumerist has ever been about upholding journalistic integrity. It’s just a site where you can rage against “the corporations” that apparently do nothing but screw everyone around us (even though, you know, they employ thousand and give use the products that we consume and love). And don’t you dare disagree with a Consumerist story, as soon as you post a comment even slightly critical of the Tipper or of the site you get banned. Permanently.

So what should the Consumerist have done with this story? Well for starters they should have researched the nature of the replacement keyboard that the Tipper requires. They would have soon realized that the “English-is-not-his-first-language” tech support guy was right: you can’t just mail replacement keys for this specific keyboard, the entire thing needs to be replaced. That’s just the DESIGN!

Secondly, I agree that $298 is ridiculous for a keyboard repair when you can buy the keyboard itself for $25 (here) and then go down to your local Best Buy and have them install it for you for about $40. Or just do it yourself, it’s not hard. But what gets me about the Tippers attitude is this: He claims that he’s got warranty but he never offers to fax over his receipt! That’s all he has to do, fax over his proof of purchase. HP would take a look, apologize, correct their records, and replace the keyboard for no charge.

Consumerist should have called HP, got the full story and then worked with the Tipper to resolve the issue. Instead they hurriedly post another one-sided story (from a Tipper who sounds like a douche) that’s guaranteed to gain traffic and agreeable comments from the tech-illiterates that populate their comment section.

Sorry for the rant but websites like Consumerist just piss me off.

Windows 7 is less then a year away from final release (the current date everyone’s talking about is January 2010) and Microsoft has delivered an unexpected gift for users. Says the BBC:

“Anyone buying a PC with Windows 7 pre-installed will be able to swap it for XP or Vista.

Microsoft has confirmed that the licence conditions under which the software will be sold will allow people to downgrade.

The conditions will apply to both businesses that buy licences for Windows in bulk and consumers that get the operating system on a PC or laptop.”

This is certainly due to the blow back of bad press and word of mouth that Vista has received. It’s obvious that Microsoft is trying to improve its image and letting people downgrade to the OS of their choice is an excellent step.

The only potential headache deals with tech support. The BBC article states that anyone who purchases a new computer will be able to do a downgrade. This just increases the workload when it comes to supporting these customers, three versions of Windows to support instead of one.

Anybody out there encounter MacBook cracks? I’ve seen a few myself but apparently there is a large amount of people who have complained to Apple about these cracks forming seemingly spontaneously. Apple’s response: Too bad, we’re not gonna fix it.

Until now.

Apple Insider reports:

“The Cupertino-based Mac maker is said to have issued a bulletin to its authorized service providers in March that essentially reverses its stance on replacing the bottom casing of notebooks that may be experiencing these symptoms.

In the event that providers are unable to identify signs that the user is at fault for the cracks, they’re advise to escalate the notebook for coverage by Apple, regardless of whether its 1-year limited warranty has expired.”

So if you find  someone with this issue send them to Apple. The only caveat to keep in mind here is the nature of the announcement: it’s internal. That means the owner of the MacBook will have to rely on the support person they’re dealing with to interpret the crack correctly and authorize a repair. But if one denies you just move on to the next guy!

Here is a pic (from Apple Insider):

Cheers.

The new version of Wine has been released!

What’s new in the new version?

• Various bug fixes for Internet Explorer 7.
• Many crypt32 improvements, including new export wizard.
• Better support for windowless Richedit.
• Improvements to the print dialog.
• Many fixes to the regression tests on Windows.
• Various bug fixes.

Don’t know what WINE is? From Wikipedia:

“Wine is a free software application that aims to allow Unix-like computer operating systems on the x86 or x86-64 architecture to execute programs written for Microsoft Windows.”

It basically allows you to run many Windows programs on the Linux operating system.

Seagate has admitted that a hand full of it’s customer have experienced hard drive deaths after applying a new piece of firmware.

Says the company:

“Seagate has isolated a potential firmware issue in limited number of Barracuda 7200.11 hard drives and related SATA drives based on this product platform, manufactured through December 2008. In some unique circumstances, the data on the hard drives may become inaccessible to the user when the host system is powered on.”

After ignoring the outcries for weeks Seagate has finally created a help site here for the affected users and will even offer free data recovery for those with extreme cases. It’s great to see a company (especially in the current economic climate) showing some honesty and taking responsibility.

Good for you Seagate!

Apple has announced iLife ‘09 and has given current Mac owners the opportunity to upgrade to the new version.

From the site:

“iLife ’09, a significant upgrade to Apple’s digital lifestyle applications, features updates to iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, and iWeb. If you’ve purchased a qualifying computer on or after January 6, 2009, that does not include iLife ’09, you can upgrade to iLife ’09 for US$9.95 plus tax.”

For those you working at a retail store that sells Apple Computers please let your customers know about this offer as the Macs that you are selling will most likely still have the ‘08 version of iLife.

The link to the upgrade forms: http://www.apple.com/ca/ilife/uptodate/

Another article from the Consumerist today. A reader by the name of Robert sent in this tidbit after taking a look at a television display over at Best Buy,

“Thinking that something was not right, I took a further look at the demo and realized that the inferior tv on the left was turned to plain old ESPN, and the superior tv on the right was tuned to ESPN HD. What’s even worse is they had a box for their Black Tie TV Protection Plan strategically placed so that when looking at the display from most angles, it covered up the ESPN logo on the left tv as to disguise the fact that it was not an HD channel.”

When Robert went to ask some of the employees about this they tried to brush him off, at first saying that they could not find the remote to change both sets to the same channel and then trying to feed him some BS about how their calibration service cuts down on power consumption by 30%…so it’s okay that the display is completely deceptive. Obviously Robert was not impressed.

What do you guys think? It seems pretty slimy to pull this kind of practice off. Having worked for a large retail chain I understand that these practices are not condoned by the company but by individuals working at that particular store. However I do believe that this is the kind of atmosphere that Best Buy creates and maintains. They tell their employees to meet the weekly/monthly numbers and then try to brainwash them into believing that their BS services like “calibration” and computer “setups” are actually worth what they charge for them.

This issue was about televisions but it’s still important to the computer repair sector. How many managers across these stores train their inexperienced “techs” to sell and promote services that are not beneficial to the customer? How many use deceptive practices? The people who do these things have no pride in their work or what they are doing in life and that is sad.

For an independent look at calibration visit Crave’s post on the subject here.