Archive for October, 2008
My Mini Dell Experience
Thursday, October 30th, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
That’s the experience with the Inspiron 910 Mini not the mini-experience! Well I am in web design and have been toying with the idea of getting a more portable laptop as my old Dell Inspiron from 2003 is as heavy as a brick. My step dad just bought a top of the range Toshiba Portege at around £1,200, but he’s at that time in life where 1,200 quid is affordable, where as I’m still in financial recovery from my last divorce (yes there was more than one!)! So I happened across the Dell Inspiron 910 Mini on the Dell website whilst looking at specs of normal laptops to use when out and about demonstrating our CMS system to potential clients, wow £299 inc VAT and delivery that is a bargain!
There I was credit card at the ready, wrist twitching, hang on I thought, why am I buying this, do I really need it? No, I don’t NEED it I just WANT ONE . [Puts credit card away]
The next day I happen to have to work on my step Dads’ ultra lightweight new laptop, wow this is lush, so light, I wish I could afford one.
The next day I had to go to a clients with my laptop, and about put my back out trying to put it in the car passenger foot well whilst sitting in the drivers’ seat, hmm decided I do have a NEED for the new dell Inspiron mini after all! It only weights around 1kg. So as I had a management meeting that afternoon I informed my finance manager I would be ordering one and that was that. So Friday October 3rd I placed the order on the Dell website, and on the 8th I got back from a client meeting at B-loony Promo the UK’s largest supplier of printed promotional giveaways to find a Dell cardboard box on my desk, I thought it couldn’t possibly be the new mini as the confirmation email I got said it would arrive on or around the 20th October, but sure enough it really had arrived.
Well I was ecstatic and got it out and started setting it up straight away, you know remove Dell Support Centre and install Avast Anti Virus, that kind of thing. As it has an integrated web cam I also downloaded Windows Live Messenger and had a quick video chat with my girlfriend whilst she was doing her ironing, fantastic!
So I googled ‘mobile broadband suppliers’ and toyed with ordering the USB dongle from Three, as their 5GB monthly allowance is only 15 quid a month so the best looking deal, providing those coverage stories you hear about Three Mobile are not really true!
Anyway, it was soon time to go and get my daughter from school so I thought yeah I’ll take it with me and even though I don’t have the mobile broadband dongle yet I can continue configuring it in car park if I’m early. I was early, so I turned it on, it said:
Windows could not start because of an error in the software.
Please report this problem as :
load needed DLLs for kernel.
Please contact your support person to report this problem
As we say in England “Computer says no…”
Ah dear, it was great fun whilst it lasted, then followed a 2 and a half hour telethon with Dell support in India 
Apparently they were so quick to ship it to me that my service tag isn’t on their system yet. They suggested I called back in 24-48 hours, well I told them exactly what I thought of their suggestion as I’m sure you can image, but to no avail. I did indeed have to call back today and they have agreed to send me a replacement unit as it is within 7 days of delivery.
I hope the replacement arrives as promptly as the original unit did…
So conclusion? Apart from the fact it doesn’t work (a faulty drive in my opinion) and for the life of me I can’t get it to boot from an external drive or USB key (it doesn’t have a CD or DVD drive you know) it feels really solid, looks lovely, and is nice to handle (sounds a bit like the ideal companion to an i-phone 2.0 doesn’t it!).
Like most reviewers have experienced, the keys are small (but blackberry users manage and they are larger than those keys) and the right shift key is tiny and means you can’t type an @ in the usual fashion. But the screen is nice, 3 USB slots, a monitor connector, Ethernet and earphones and mic connectors although it has both speakers and mic internally so you can Live Messenger without having to plug anything in.
On the whole, I would recommend it, providing you get one that isn’t broken ! I am also yet to try it with LogMeIn which is my preferred way of dealing with how to access emails, lots of passwords, specialist software and all that kind of thing when you are out and about. Possibly the screen is going to be too small to be able to work with for extended periods of time, but I’ll let you know when the replacement arrives and I have had chance to give it a proper testing, assuming that one doesn’t break on me as soon as I start urm ‘configuring’ it!
Will credit card debt reduction work for my financial situation?
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
What are the greatest available methods of credit card debt relief? Many people find themselves asking this question and don’t have much of a solution. Particularly with the way our economy is turning, so many consumers are getting laid off from their jobs and many are even losing their homes and they are all searching for a way to get out of debt.
A very common ploy many try and employ is to go out and get a debt consolidation loan. Thus allowing them the ability to pay only one monthly payment on the loan instead of multiple payments to their various creditors. And usually the APR will be brought down with a debt consolidation loan.
Another very trendy method of debt relief is credit card debt settlement. This is a debt solution in which you can realistically save funds on what you presently owe to the creditors, in most cases the savings can be up to fifty percent. Additionally the people can see that they will be debt free within two years, longest three years.
When looking for a debt settlement agency be sure to check out and see if the organization is registered with the Better Business Bureau and that they have a great track record of doing great things for their clients. This is a critical step in picking a organization to conduct business with regarding your debt problems. Also make sure you have a good gut feeling when talking with the sales person on the phone and make sure they know what they are discussing about.