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Tech News & Commentary
Seth in Nashville, Tennessee listening on “Super Talk” WTN 99.7 FM asked: “I’m trying to find a cheap way to get into the iPhone. I don’t have a Smartphone now and I’m looking at Smartphones. I’ve been looking on Craigslist but was wondering if there was a better way of getting one. Also trying to find the best way to get on a plan. I don’t think I can afford an AT&T or a Sprint plan, but was looking at either the AT&T Go Phone plans or the Walmart family talk.”
If you don’t want a contract Seth, there’s no magic way to get a cheap iPhone, just pretty much stick to what you’re doing and add a few other sites that sell used items like eBay and see what’s out there, finding a decent used iPhone will involve the same process that you’d apply to finding a used violin, or a used TV, or a used anything else … just look for them wherever used electronics are sold and try to find one in good shape.
As for cheap plans, most prepaid companies are offering some kind of smartphone plan that you can get for half or less of what conventional plans would cost you, Cricket has plans starting at just $25/month, as long as you’re ok with just 300 minutes and they go as high as $45 a month for 1000 minutes. Virigin has plans ranging from $35/month to $55, which will get you unlimited everything, and Straight Talk has plans ranging from $35/month to $60 a month and will give you discounts if you buy several months in advance.
Your biggest problem will likely be finding the phone, after that you should be able to find plenty of companies willing to provide the service for you for much, much less than AT&T or Sprint.
Also, Seth, you might be able to try auction sites, such as Quibids.com, These are penny auctions sites, that give consumers the opportunity to buy expensive electronics at a discounted price. However if you are not familiar with these websites make SURE you do your research and understand how they work. If you have more questions, please feel free to call back, and we will be happy to assist you.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
“Into
Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
David in Nashville, Tennessee listens on “Super Talk” WTN 99.7 and is calling in via the App and asks: “I have a desktop computer as well as a laptop and sometimes I bring home work and without having to go out and buy a second monitor I would like to know how to hook up my laptop to my desk and share the monitor between the two. Both are running Windows 7 Professional. My laptop is a 64 bit, my desktop is a 32 bit, so if you could suggest how I could connect the both of them together so I could use the laptop as a second monitor, that would be great.”
David, there are some programs that will let you extend your monitor onto your laptop, if that’s what you’re set on doing. We can’t tell you how good they are, we haven’t actually tried any, but they’re out there.
You can try ShareKMC or Synergy, both free, or MaxiVista which will cost you about $40 and also has an iPad version, they all install onto your laptop and let you use it as an extension of your desktop.
A more standard solution though, would be to use a KVM switch to let you access your desktop’s monitor from your laptop, you can even buy one that will let you use your keyboard and mouse as well, and when you want to go back to using your desktop, you just flip a switch and they all go back to controlling your desktop.
KVM switches have been around for a while and work very well, so we can recommend those with confidence, if you’re set on using your laptop to extend your desktop though, give those programs a try, at the very least you can see how the free ones work before spending any money on a switch.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
Josh in Tupelo, Mississippi listening on Supertalk 94.3 FM sends the following email : “I dabble in graphic design. I’m in need of a program comparable to Adobe Photoshop buttttttt need something that is anywhere from free to much cheaper than Photoshop. Any ideas?Thanks, Josh”
Josh, you have several options. GIMP is great, a little rough around the edges, and with more of a Linux feel to it, but it’s totally free and it does a lot of what Photoshop does, and does it very well, there’s a version of it called “GIMPShop” that tries to mimic the Photoshop user interface as well, so you could look at that one if you’re really looking for more of a Photoshop clone.
Pixlr is another free option, it’s not as full featured as Photoshop or even GIMP and it’s web based, but it is pretty powerful, especially for a cloud-based tool. If you’re good at image editing already, just make sure you’re not on Basic mode.
Photoshop Express is Adobe’s own free online editor, again, fewer features than real Photoshop, but it will look similar and perform some basic functions.
You can look at Photoshop Elements for a paid but cheaper, less powerful version of Photoshop, it will cost considerably less at around $80, but it will also do considerably less, so it all depends on what your aspirations are.
Paintshop Pro will also cost around $80, it’s has plenty of useful features and it may be enough to satisfy you, if you don’t need the most advanced Photoshop functions.
Another great free alternative is PhotoScape. PhotoScape has all of the basic image editing tools you might want, as well as some advanced features that let you add text and other objects to your images. It is far simpler than Photoshop, although admittedly doesn’t do nearly as much, but it’s free, and for someone looking to touch up their digital photos, PhotoScape is a great tool. Windows only, so Mac users will have to find something else.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
Guests in this hour:
Bob Meighan, Lead CPA, American Tax & Financial Center – Turbo Tax
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
Better guidance for drivers is an old dream. Already at IFA in 1973, a new technology was shown, ARI “Auto Radio Information”. When the broadcasters introduced the service one year later, car radios identified stations with traffic information with a yellow light. In 1981 the car radio got station identification and at IFA 1983, Travel ARI was introduced, which informed the driver that travel information was available even if he was listening to another station without such information.
Carol in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania listening on News Talk Radio WDEL 1150called us and asked: “What is the best Bluetooth player for an older car? I have a regular cassette player and of course a cigarette lighter. I have a 96 Jeep. I wanted to play from my Android phone, my MP3 music or use TuneIn.”
Carol, your best, and maybe the only inexpensive option, will probably be to buy a Bluetooth cassette adapter. They’re fairly rare, but if you can find them, you can get one for about $25.
You can also look at replacing your radio. You can find some Bluetooth enabled radios for $60 or so, but they’re usually more expensive and will look nothing like your Jeep’s original radio.
The plus side of a new radio is that you will usually get the Bluetooth connection that you want as well and wired inputs, or the ability to play MP3 from flash drives, so you’re not just limited to your phone.
A new radio will also leave the 12V lighter jack unused and available for charging your phone, as Bluetooth use and Internet streaming over long drives will drain your phone if it’s not plugged in.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
John calling in via the FREE “Into Tomorrow” App asked: “I’m calling in regards to my iMac. Do I need antivirus for it?”
Well John, need … maybe not. There aren’t a lot of threats out there for Macs, but you may want one anyway for when one of those rare threats does pop up. And, they have been known to do so.
The thing about Mac anti-viruses is that they rarely ever even require updates and you can get a fairly decent free one. It will rarely bother you, and when one of those threats does pop up, at least you’ll be protected.
The two most highly regarded free antivirus programs for your Mac are Sophos Free Antivirus for Mac or ClamXav (Clam Antivirus for Mac OS X). Both are reliable name brands and either one would protect your Mac well, should you feel the need to protect it.
However, unless you spend a lot of time surfing websites you wouldn’t tell your grandmother about or you like clicking links in random emails to see where they take you, you’re probably okay without one.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
Lisa in Fairbanks, Alaska listening on “News Radio” KFBX 970 and sends us this email: “I lost everything on my iPhone trying to “sync” it to my laptop. Now I want a tablet, primarily for a bigger screen. Should I just take it to a technician with the phone and laptop to get it set up and all synced together correctly?”
Lisa, not really… syncing a tablet should be pretty simple, if you’re not comfortable doing it yourself after what happened with your phone, maybe you can find a tech savvy friend or relative, but it’s really not something that would merit paying an expert to do.
Normally, assuming your tablet is an iPad, plugging it in and following on screen prompts should do, the easiest way to make sure you don’t lose anything is to not put anything on it before you sync it, if you do that, you really don’t have much to worry about.
Also, if you end up getting something other than an iPad, you can always CALL us back with the exact model, and we will be happy to help you out, so you will be sure you won’t lose any more important data.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
Janet in Bristol, Connecticut listens to the podcast and calling in via the App said : “I would like to buy a WiFi radio and I was wondering which one you’d recommend.
Well Janet, we’ve heard good things about the Logitech Squeezebox Radio, it’s portable, has good sound and a lot of sources to choose from, but the optional battery and remote will cost you an incredible $50 on top of the $130 price.
You can check out the CC WiFi radio from C.Crane for $100, it comes with 3 quick-access preset buttons on the front of the radio, but using the remote, you can save up to 100 presets for quick access to stations but stations come pre-programmed.
If you want something more high end, the Sonos Play:5 will stream radio, let you play media files from your computers or network storage devices, and can be controlled by a smartphone, but it will cost you about $400.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. Just click the red arrow in the upper right column on this page.
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info, please email us here.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners:
Special prize for our APP Callers …
Street by 50 headphones from SMS Audio valued at $250. All callers — using our FREE “Into Tomorrow” App, joining us now thru the end of March — will qualify to win!
Sennheiser: CX 980 Earphones — Metal crafted, high fidelity earbuds for natural, balanced sound and high noise-isolation.
Covington Creations: Earbud yo-yo – A simple solution to tangled earbuds.
Tiffen: Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 & 4S – shoot smooth videos and sharp still pictures anywhere.
Iolo: System Mechanic – Fix and speed up your PC… Automatically.