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From Kindergarten to
College
Tech Support Friday:
Gadgets for Back to School
Fast Forward's Rob Pegoraro
Friday, Aug. 17, 2001; 2 p.m. EDT
This week, Post columnist Rob Pegoraro hosts a special "Back to School" special on the newest gadgets to have for college. Where do you go and what do you need to know about visors, MP3 players, the best and worst of laptops or desktops, and connectivity in your dorm room. Whether you are a freshman, a parent of a college kid, or a techno-gadget geek,
Problems with your hard drive? Take your question to the Fast Forward instead! It's a repeat engagement of "Tech Support Friday," in which Rob Pegoraro takes your queries, scrambles madly to get answers to them from the collective Fast Forward brain trust and replies within mere minutes.
Below is the transcript.
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Rob Pegoraro: Hey gang - welcome back to our (somewhat) regularly scheduled tech talk.
I usually spend the whole time trying to provide answers to your computing problems here, but I'd like to switch things around for a moment: I have two questions of my own.
1) Netscape 6.1 insists on putting its own icon into Windows 2000's system tray. Is there any way to shut this off? (Short of uninstalling Netscape, which I am considering.)
2) Can you use Palm Desktop 4.0 with a Clie handheld, if you install Sony's HotSync Manager over the Palm software? I ask this because Sony bundles the old version of Palm Desktop with its handheld, which I'd rather not revert to.
If anybody has answers to those queries, please let me know. But enough about me already... on with the show.
Arlington, Va.:
Does my 19-year-old really need an MP3 player for college? Won't that be distracting from his studies?
Rob Pegoraro: "Need"? No. "Want"? No doubt. Either way, no, it won't be distracting, any more than a stereo or a computer itself is. Heck, the right music seems to produce better term papers sometimes. (FWIW, four years of writing in a college newspaper office have left me unable to write *unless* there's some kind of commotion and noise around.)
Washington, D.C.:
Mr. Pegoraro,
You're talking about computers and back-to-school, and I wanted to ask you about these back-to-school sales tax holidays. I think both Maryland and D.C. had them for clothing recently. Since I'm saving up for a new computer, which definitely will help me in school, why not have a sales tax holiday for computers? The sales tax on a computer system amounts to a lot more than clothing anyway. I saw an article in the Washington Post about the clothing sales tax holidays, but not computers. Do you think something like this will happen soon?
Thank you.
Rob Pegoraro: I doubt it, for the very reason you outlined. It's easy for Md. or DC to give up 5 percent of $100 worth of clothing (the upper limit on purchases eligible for these sales-tax holidays, if I remember correctly). But 5 percent of $1,500 is real money.
Plus, you can always give yourself a sales-tax holiday on a computer by buying online from a store that doesn't operate in your state. (Don't tell your state tax commissioner I said this :)
Arlington, Va.:
Is a laptop or desktop a better purchase for a first year college student? Wouldn't a laptop take less room?
Rob Pegoraro: Absolutely, a laptop takes up less room and is much easier to tote to the library, lecture hall, study session, whatever. But a laptop is also much easier to steal. You should get a security cable with the computer, so you can fasten it to something that doesn't move so easy--a table, a bed, a particularly inert roommmate.
Washington, D.C.:
I got cable Internet service and its the best money I've spent. I came to the decision backwards. At first, I upgraded our three old PCs with 56K dial up modems. That's $200 wasted now. I decided against dial up when I saw DSL. I had a hassle with Verizon and went looking for alternatives. I discovered cable, thankfully. Now I want to share the cable via home networking. I want the convience of wireless. How does performance differ between wireless and wired home networks? What quality points would you want to have in a wireless network? Would you recommend a top two or three for home use? Thanks for your help.
Rob Pegoraro: Here's a non-back-to-school question, but interesting anyway. Wireless networks should run just about as fast as 10Base-T Ethernet (which isn't feasible in most homes unless you want to string Cat 5 cable through walls) and phoneline and powerline networking options--that is, approaching 10 Mbps. The one problem, and it is a big one, is that the encryption that's supposed to secure 802.11 wireless networks (the leading kind these days) turns out to be extremely weak. The manufacturers can and must get their act together to fix this encryption.
Rosslyn, Va.:
What's the single most helpful gadget (excluding computers) that my child can use in college?
Rob Pegoraro: A Palm handheld or a cell phone. I'd rate the Palm over the cell phone, actually.
Washington, D.C.:
Is there any computer I can buy that will last me -- ably -- through four to five years of college?
Rob Pegoraro: One way to making a computer last that long is upgradability. For that, you don't want a laptop; you need a desktop that's designed for easy replacement of components like the processor, video card and hard drives.
Another is getting a deal like Gateway's computer trade-in, where you can trade up for a new machine at a substantial discount.
A third is paying a bit more for a fast machine with a lot of capacity, then making do and accepting that it will be slow by the time you graduate. That's the cheapest and easiest overall, and what most people on collegiate budgets seem to end up doing.
Rockville, Md.:
Rob,
Handspring Visor vs. Palm? Which one is better? Visors seem cheaper.
Rob Pegoraro: Dunno. Ask me in three weeks, when both are supposed to have new models out :)
Right now, they're pretty equivalent--both have good, solid $200 handhelds available, with $100-and-change models available that sacrifice some storage space (2 MB of memory versus 8 on their siblings). At that price level, I usually tell people to get a Handspring if they have a Mac, and therefore require a USB cradle, and to get a Palm if they use Win NT or Win 95, which require a serial cradle. Don't fit in either group? I'd say go with a Handspring, just because of the Springboard expansion slot.
wiredog:
Hmm. Netscape 6.1 (posting with it now) didn't throw a bunch of stuff in my system tray. Maybe you missed something in the setup? Have you tried deleting the items from Start menu and the "run=" lines in the ini files? There's something in the registry that handles start up too. Maybe you can delete some reg keys.
Rob Pegoraro: Pardon me, rant approaching:
ARRGGHHH!!! Edit the registry to make this stupid program behave? Any programmer who releases a mass-market Windows app that requires reg editing or .ini twiddling in 2001 should get the death penalty.
I'll try this, I suppose. But Netscape should be ashamed of itself for making any user have to resort to such a thing. It's just pathetic.
Arlington, Va. (again):
So does this mean that I need to get my kid both a laptop and desktop? One to carry around in the library and one in the dorm? Can he go around campus and get online from the library, etc.?
Rob Pegoraro: No! One laptop is quite enough. Having two computers is in many ways worse than having one--you have to keep an enormous number of files and settings synchronized, from e-mail to word processing documents, to use both computers effectively.
Cerritos, California:
What do you think about the new Apple
iMAC Computers? Do you remoend them
for students? And, if so for wat age group
do you recomend them for?
Rob Pegoraro: I'm more of a fan of the iBook than of the iMac--the iBook is such a well-built, effective laptop, and at some terrific prices. That said, the iMac is still cheaper. And either one would work well for a student.
Washington, D.C.:
Where's the best place to shop for tech gadgets? How do I know if I'm getting the right one?
Rob Pegoraro: If you know exactly what kind of gadget you want, you're usually best shopping online. The prices are almost always better, as is the selection.
If you don't know what you need, you're best off going to a store with a friend who knows the technology. You can't count on the help in stores to steer you right, unfortunately.
As for your second question: You got the right one if you're happy to use it after the fact and aren't consumed with what else you could have spent the money on. That doesn't mean you couldn't have gotten something slightly better with more research--but c'mon, you can't beat yourself up about this :)
RE: Washington, D.C.:
The person from Washington asked about sales tax holidays for computers. Two states have these already - Pennsylvania and South Carolina. I don't have the link for SC, but here's the link to the State of PA's info:
www.taxfreepc.state.pa.us
Also, I found additional information on an industry Website (they noted a bill this year that would create a computer sales tax holiday for Maryland): www.ce.org/taxholiday
Hope this helps.
Rob Pegoraro: I'll try out those links--thanks!
I bet the holiday in Pa. has a lot to do with the year-round sales tax holiday across the border in Delaware...
Virginia:
My daughter tried Hotmail at her new dorm. Why is the control-F features not working (both IE and Netscape) in Hotmail?
Rob Pegoraro: I'm not sure what you mean about "Ctrl-F" functions--is this something related to Hotmail's new interface? (If so, I've got a writer who would like to talk to you--e-mail me later on.)
Arlington, Va.:
There is an option for internet explorer in the tools to get it off of your desk top, maybe netscape has something like that.
Palms and visors are identical until you get to expandability which few college students that I know would take advantage of. I have a visor, like the palm's better,especially the small one, but now handspring has the visor edge.
The way to go is probably the Compaq PDA for the college student.
Rob Pegoraro: I've been able to scrub Netscape off of everywhere but the Start Menu, which is where I keep all my program shortcuts in the first place. Actually [light bulb goes on over head]... I did enable this "quick launch" option. I bet that also put this shortcut in my system tray--which would have been fine if they'd told me in the first place, but they didn't.
Good point about expandability. I know lots of people with Visors who have never stuck anything in the Springboard slot. But there are more expansion modules coming out all the time.
I must disagree with you about the Compaq iPaq PDA. Nice hardware, terrible operating system. Windows CE/Pocket PC is better than Microsoft's earlier attempts, but it's still atrocious compared to the Palm OS.
Rob Pegoraro: To address my own second question (hot-syncing a Sony Clie handheld with Palm Desktop 4.0), as it happens I got a call from a Sony PR guy during this chat. He tells me you can't really do it--the Clie needs some specialized drivers to work. If true, that's unfortunate.
Alexandria, Va.:
The Control + F feature simply brings up a find screen. Nothing to write home about!
Rob Pegoraro: Duh! Oh, yeah, that.
Well, Ctrl-F does work on my computer when I log into Hotmail. Not that that proves anything by itself...
wiredog:
Did you know that IE 5.5 and later doesn't use the plug-ins? Apparently installing it disables Quick Time.
Rob Pegoraro: Hey, wiredog--yes, we ran a short item on this in the Get Info column in today's section. To be exact, it's IE 5.5 when updated with the "Service Pack 2" update; this ends IE's support for plug-ins written according to an older standard developed by Netscape. Microsoft wants plug-ins to be written according to its own architecture, which other developers are already doing and Apple is supposedly working on now.
Bethesda, Md.:
Rob, what's the most popular gadget for college kids these days?
Rob Pegoraro: The number one most popular? I'm too old--I mean, I'm not quite sure :) Probably the cell phone, if it even counts as a "gadget" anymore.
Kalamazoo, Mich.:
What gagets do you recommend for someone who is hearing impaired for success in college?
Rob Pegoraro: This is a really good question--I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know the answer to it. I feel that I ought to. Can any chatters suggest some accessibility options for a hearing-impaired student?
Stick to the essentials?:
Ok Rob. When I was in college, I just wanted a television and cd player. So, now college kids want more on top of this? I think I survived college just fine with the boombox, television and regular phone. Don't you think it's ridiculous to equip a kid with a cell phone (which they'll call their friends across the hallway), PDA, mp3, electronic highlighter, etc.?
Rob Pegoraro: I didn't even own a TV in college! (With the lousy reception in Georgetown--and with no cable in the dorms back then--a TV was a pretty low priority.)
Some of the gadgetry is ridiculous--just like the nonsense "grownups" buy for themselves. But a lot of it just replaces other gadgetry. In a lot of dorms, the compurer and the MP3 player have replaced the boombox entirely.
Reston, Va. 20190:
Industry Standard goes under, be sold to Palm. The collapse continues.
Rob Pegoraro: The Standard (a tech magazine beloved by the digerati in NYC, SF, elsewhere, once swollen by advertising to 400-page issues) is the extraordinary news. I have to admit to a certain amount of schadenfreude at seeing it fold.
I feel real regret at seeing Be taken over by Palm, though. They had some great technology, but they could never find a home in the market for their operating system. Hope Palm puts that, and Be's people, to some good use.
Falls Church, Va.:
What do you think of using a Palm or other handheld with a fold-out keyboard for notetaking in class? How easy is it to transfer the notes to a desktop? Seems a lot lighter than lugging a notebook around.
Rob Pegoraro: Transferring notes is no harder than hotsyncing the Palm to the desktop, then perhaps copying the notes from Palm Desktop into a word processing program. You can also use some word processing programs on the Palm itself, which sync back to Word documents automatically. I know a bunch of people who are really fond of Blue Nomad's WordSmith, for instance.
Vienna, Va.:
Rob is there a product where the t.v. and radio are somehow made together? I'm trying to figure out what the best thing is for my college kid without taking too much room in a small dorm. Also, what do you think about video game play stations? Too distracting from the studies?
Rob Pegoraro: I'm sure that such a TV/FM combo thing exists, but I haven't seen one lately. But a radio by itself takes up very little space anyway--don't sweat this one.
Correct: A PlayStation *will* be distracting from studies.
Computer access?:
Don't most colleges have a computer lab in their library and resident buildings?
Rob Pegoraro: Indeed they do--and what do you think the odds are of getting onto one of those computers around term-paper deadlines? It's not something you want to rely on.
Arlington, Va.:
I'd recommend laptops for college students (except where cost is the major issue). I saw way too many people transporting their CPUs (and sometimes monitors & keyboards) back and forth over Thanksgiving and Winter holidays --- and you don't want to jostle computers any more than you have to. Oh, and take a look at the college's website... most have some specific recommendations for people buying new computers to bring to school.
On to a question: How do you know when your computer is at the end of its upgradable life? Isn't it always possible for manufacturers to come up with different parts to swap in, so even if it appears all expansion slots are full now, an advance in technology could provide something else to upgrade?
Rob Pegoraro: I'd forgotten about the computer-transportation issue--although I'm not sure how many people schlep their entire computers home for the winter breaks. If Mom and Dad own a computer, wouldn't taking a Zip disk or a floppy home with your work be a little easier?
Re: your question, the computer's at the end of its upgradable life in anywhere from three to six years. It depends on the model, its interior design, the user's proficiency with fixing things on the inside and what it would cost to buy a brand-new computer. (Or a brand-new used computer.) At a certain point, every old machine is no longer worth upgrading--there gets to be too many old components on the inside that are no longer supported by current operating systems or hardware components.
Fairfax, Va.:
Are colleges equipped enough with high speed internet connections? What if the student is being offered off-campus housing as an alternative to the dorms (no space)?
Rob Pegoraro: A lot of them are--which is why any college-use computer absolutely needs an Ethernet port, or an easy way of adding one (via a PC Card or PCI slot). Thanks for raising this point!
wiredog:
There's a plug in card for the pc that does TV+FM radio. From ATI or Hauppage,IIRC.
Rob Pegoraro: There's a bunch of video cards that do TV, but I didn't know some handled FM as well. Good tip...
Olney, Md.:
Rob, I can't believe you had the Quick Start enabled! Really, haven't you learned from RealPlayer and Acrobat and Corel Office that these little "launchers" are only worth it for programs you start MANY TIMES per session? If then? Their main purpose is to make THEIR PROGRAM quicker and/or more convenient, and to hell with everything else!
I just got rid of all of the above from my Startup group, and my little system resource meter is much happier now!
MH in MD
Rob Pegoraro: You're right, you're right. (Well, if this QuickStart thing really is the culprit. It will take a logout/login cycle to know for sure.)
Beverly Hills, Calif. 90210:
Don't you think we are idealizing our use of PDAs for college kids? Note taking? Hotsyncing etc is easy and all, but the most anyone I know used PDAs for was games and occasional calendar and to do lists. For students, it is hard to replace the paper organizer.
Rob Pegoraro: I'd say a PDA is superior to the paper organizer--you can back up your data, you can run a bunch of other applications, and you can take notes on it as well. Basically, for $100, why not? It's not as if those paper organizers are free anyway--four years of DayRunner supplies can add up too.
Reston, Va. 20190:
I had a friend who started out with an IBM XT and kept upgrading it. She finally got rid of it in 95 when she could no longer find a power supply that would fit in the case. I remember going over to her place and seeing the box with the big red switch and laughing. She lifted the hood and it was like seeing a 351 v-8 in a Ford Pinto.
She could also tell, just from the sound, how fast a modem was trying to connect, what protocol it was using, and any errors it encountered. Impressive lady.
Rob Pegoraro: Where did she put this machine when she retired it? The Smithsonian ?
Annandale, Va.:
Geez, when I was in college a stereo was the best technology we could hope for.The pay phone was down the hall and there were only two oe three TVs on the whole campus (Rutgers).
Rob Pegoraro: And you had to walk uphill through the snow, both ways, to reach those TVs : )
No, things have definitely changed. It all seemed to happen within a year or two after I graduated--suddenly my alma mater was wiring every dorm with Ethernet and giving every student an e-mail account and Web server space. Not that I'm bitter or anything...
Math Degree with no computer:
Just want to mention to all that there is no reason that a freshman will NEED a computer for college. I was able with just a note pad and pen to complete a degree in Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science.
More toys does not mean a better education.
Rob Pegoraro: Computers are tools, not toys. They can be used only as toys--but as somebody who writes for a living, there's no way I could be as productive with a manual typewriter, even with all the BS that computers put me through.
Arlington, Va.:
Virginia entertained the idea of a sales tax holiday for computers (up to $1500) this year. Here's a link to the bill:
HB 2511 Sales tax exemption; school-related items
And I hear that one of the candidates for Virginia governor (Earley, I believe) supports a computer sales tax holiday for PCs and computer-related products.
Also of interest - South Carolina's sales tax holiday includes Palm Pilots (and any other PDA)! See:
www.sctax.org/tax/salestaxhol/Rab01-3.pdf
Rob Pegoraro: More on the sales-tax holiday issue...
Word to Big Bird.:
The most evil thing invented is Playstation. I knew many a man who wasted away, playing for hours straight, eating only pizza and barely sleeping, let alone studying! But they are fun and everyone deals in their own way, just wait until sophomore year.
Rob Pegoraro: Heh. But, hey, a PlayStation is healthier than orbiting a keg every weekend night
College Park, Md.:
Will students get an orientation to using the Internet and using online campus resources?
Rob Pegoraro: Almost always--although I suspect most incoming freshmen won't need the help.
Reston, Va.20190:
Well, by the time the machine was retired the only original parts were the case and power switch. I don't know what she did with it. Bits 'n' Bytes, a computer store in St. George UT, has an old Altair on a shelf.
Rob Pegoraro: That store sounds like a good stop on a cross-country road trip. Well, sort of...
About PDA keyboards:
Where can I find a good bargain for the fold out keyboards for handspring visors?
Rob Pegoraro: I'd go bargain-shopping at the price-comparison sites: BizRate.com, MySimon.com, DealTime.com. There's always one sale or another going on somewhere.
Rob Pegoraro: Wow, didn't think I'd see so many questions on a Friday in August! Great stuff. Hope I was able to help; e-mail me if I didn't get to you.
Now get away from that computer and go swimming or biking, OK? :)
- R
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