Sorry for the vast number of deal posts recently. When the economy hits the skids - it’s your time to take advantage. Need a new computer? Kids hogging the family PC? Check out this hot deal - powerful enough for home or office. Free shipping (select 3 to 5 day shipping to get the freebie) and 2GB of included RAM make it an even better buy. Sorry, Dell has expired this deal (details of what you missed moved to the next page.

Continue Reading

This morning I found a 40% off coupon code that reduces the cost of a Microsoft Technet subscription from $ 349 to $ 209. This is a pretty good deal for those of us who perpetually are in need of an evaluation license to re-load the latest Microsoft OS or Office version to whatever hardware we are testing.

The license this provides is for a non-expiring evaluation version of most Microsoft Operating Systems as well as Office 2007.

With my prior Microsoft  Action Pack subscription, when I dropped the subscription the licenses continued to work (although they were no longer legal to use). I do not know if that still applies (or continues to apply to Technet). So - YMMV on whether you have to continue to pay in order to use the software. I am assuming your renewal is the regular renewal of $249 as listed on the site.

Previously I would have obtained most of this software through the Microsoft Action Pack, however they’ve changed the terms of that program so you have to pass a test. Keep reading for the coupon code, link and complete list of what Microsoft Technet gets you.

Continue Reading

Several year ago, one of my Sunday morning rituals was relaxing on the couch, kicking back with a cup of coffee and reviewing the big box circulars from Staples, Circuit City or Best Buy. I would flip through and fantasize about the expensive laptops pictured in the ads, thinking that one day in the far off future that prices have got to fall. Thankfully today, it’s not uncommon to find budget-based laptops starting at $499 and up.

Fast forward to the holiday season of 07-08 and there are some good mid-priced mainstream models available including the Toshiba Satellite M205-S7452.

Let’s unbox this Toshiba laptop and see what is included…

Continue Reading

I fully admit that Microsoft Surface has completely captured my attention! This use-to-be-sci-fi way of computing is going to revolutionize how we interact with technology and I so cannot wait to actually get to play with this thing.

Microsoft has released a series of Press images of Surface in action and I’ve posted them up at Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! for your viewing pleasure.

The full press release follows after the jump…

Continue Reading

Then head over to Chris Leckness‘ blog, because he is giving away a retail packaged, full version of each. For those of you that weren’t aware, full versions of Windows Vista Ultimate carry an MSRP of $399, and Windows Office 2007 Ultimate will set you back $680(!!!).

Okay, so obviously you can find them for less on the web, but why spend even a dime when you might win one of them for free?

Check out the rules for the give-away here.

Continue Reading

Tonight, after I finish the Don’t Bug Me Insect Repellent Patch review, I am going to reformat my T4215’s drive and reinstall XP. I’m not sure which problem it was that tipped the scale in XP’s favor exactly, maybe it was the…

1. Loss of my keyboard function buttons.
2. Loss of my tablet function buttons
3. Loss of the “eraser” on my tablet’s digital pen
4. Loss of the fingerprint scanner & software
5. I’ve not been able to get the printer to work properly (drivers still aren’t Vista approved)
6. I am sick of being told (as an administrator and the sole user of this laptop) that I don’t have permission to access a particular folder. I mean…come on!

Those are just the issues I can think of off the top of my head!

The fact of the matter is that nothing has worked properly since before this post, and I am tired of fooling with it. I’ll miss Vista Ultimate, but I will not miss the hassle of a crippled Tablet PC.

For those of you out their slaving away at the slow process of converting your video files to H.264 for playback on your PSP, iPod or other compatible device, this may very well interest you. Ian Chiu over at EverythingUSB has just reviewed the ADS Instant Video To Go H.264 Encoder, a thumbdrive-sized USB hardware encoder for the rather intense H.264 format. The included software, ArcSoft Media Converter, accepts a wide variety of source formats like DivX, WMV and even VOB files, and also supports batch encoding which is great for doing some overnight conversions.

Unfortunately the hardware acceleration is limited to only H.264, so it won’t help you encode DivX or MPEG-2 files, but software however does support conversion to other formats.

In all they were very impressed with the USB Encoder’s performance, and the amazing boost that it gave to slower PCs. Available for as low as $65 on Amazon, this looks to be a great way to speed up those encoding times!

[via SlashGear]

A little over a month ago, I noticed that there were these odd rainbow colored streaks showing up on some of my review pictures, and I couldn’t figure out why! Everything was otherwise working perfectly on my T4215, which I had recently updated to Vista Ultimate and had basically configured to perfection.

Continue Reading

I am not using Windows Vista yet, but today I learned that Microsoft did include some pretty neato enhancements to the operation system. One of those enhancements is called “ReadyBoost”. What is that you say? Well, it is the easy and low cost way to upgrade your computer operating RAM without opening your computer up and messing with memory boards (the more RAM you have, the faster Windows will run, as Windows wont have to swap to the hard drive as much). “Impossible!” and “No way!” you say? It is… all you need is a USB flash drive or reader with a SD card plugged into it and of course a USB port.

Right-clicking on the USB flash drive icon and choosing properties from the menu will open a window with several tabs… one of those is ReadyBoost and clicking on that tab will give a view similar to the one in the below pic.

photo courtesy of Microsoft

Continue Reading

With apologies to Bob Dylan, have you ever felt like you were stuck in PowerPoint prison with the presentation blues again?* Most us have seen the overabundance of slides, with 9 point type, variable mix of fonts, sound effects and motivational video clips to fly like an eagle?

Then again, for every 100 misuses of PowerPoint, there is that one person who understands their audience and is all about conveying their PowerPoint message in a clear, concise and compelling manner. These presentation warriors in the old days (post Kodak Carousel slide tray era) used to trudge through airports carrying the heavy laptop bag, a projector with a box of promotional catalogs and suitcase of wrinkled clothes. Upon arrival, it�s no surprise that these presentation warriors find out that the venue has a 13� TV and a VCR that eats tapes at their ready disposal. And the venue went the extra mile to tape to the wall a 4 by 10 foot presentation screen made up of white trash bags.

Oh my, times have changed over the past six months (your experience may vary!) There are resources on the web to build a great presentation � such as Garr Reynolds�s Presentation Zen and the cool techno gear to show your passion and connect with your audience.

MobileEdge has produced a accessory line of credit card remote controls for the express purpose of controlling your PC remotely for flexibility and mobility with the Slim-Line Presenter PLUS.

Photo courtesy of Mobile Edge

Continue Reading