In article ,
says...

On Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:14:07 -0400, Keyser Söze
wrote:

On 6/26/15 10:02 AM, Boating All Out wrote:
In article ,
says...

I have not jumped on the SSD bandwagon with Harry yet. I just don't
like the fact that they tell you these things have a finite life
(10,000 writes). On a system drive, that might happen pretty fast.
(something like the page files)

I've been running a SSD as my system disk for about a year and a half
without issue. Also have a 512 GB SSD for my games. No issues.
They're much faster, cooler, and use very little power.
Spinners will fail too.
For the average user who's happy to just chug along, they're pointless,
but for a so-called "power user" they're the cat's meow.
It gets down to expense.
So if you don't want to pay up, it's fine to do without.
I expect prices to keep coming down until they match spinners.



When I set up my Synology server, I bought four "premium" two terabyte
hard drives to put in it. I don't know why they were considered premium,
but they were "highly recommended" for servers. They weren't that much
more expensive than "ordinary" drives. So far, they've been running
without a hitch, knock on plastic.


Premium drives are supposed to be manufactured to higher specs and
have higher MTBF but I am not sure that is actually true.

I sell my desktop iMac every three years, when the AppleCare expires. My
current iMac has an SSD drive...so far, no problems. My laptop also has
an SSD that has operated so far without a hitch. Spinning drives are
pretty much obsolete for personal computers.

As long as they keep making spinners cheaper per GB, I doubt they will
be going away anytime soon. You do seem to give up reliability for
capacity. I have some old 40 GB Maxtor drives that have been running
24/7 for a decade. I do not expect my 1TB and larger drives to last
nearly that long. I always keep my C: on a small drive and put my
"data" on another drive that is easier to keep backed up. (a simple
"copy" vs the backup/restore process)

If you're storing massive files (music and vids, eg.) there's no point
in paying up at today's prices for a SSD unless you've got money to
spare.
But you can cheaply put your system on a 32 or 64 GB SSD.
Massive improvement in boot time in one benefit.
I won't go back to spinners for my system drive.
My experience with SSD's has been good so far.
You don't give up any reliability if MTBF figures are to be believed.
SSD's MTBF are about 150 years now. Long enough?
It's just the expense of larger drives working against SSD's.
You can get one to easily hold your system for under $40.

On 6/26/2015 7:22 AM, True North wrote:
As far as unbundling tv channels...they have been doing that here for a few years.
At one time you had to pay six to eight dollars a month on top of the basic bill for each bundle when maybe you only wanted one channel. Now you can pay three dollars for each individual channel....or as my sister just found out moving to a new provider... Ten cherry picked channels for twenty bucks.
Bugs me that local providers still charge a premium for HD channels.


What? You pay for local OTA HD programming.

--

Respectfully submitted by Justan

Laugh of the day from Krause

"I'm not to blame anymore for the atmosphere in here.
I've been "born again" as a nice guy."

Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/25/15 7:56 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 25 Jun 2015 18:53:54 -0400, Keyser Söze
wrote:

On 6/25/15 5:37 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 25 Jun 2015 17:11:47 -0400, Keyser Söze
wrote:



Really. Gee, I paid $0.00 out of pocket for my big new iPhone,
thanks to
a generous trade-in offer from Verizon. Of course, I had to renew my
contract, but I would have done that anyway. My wife has two iPhones,
neither of which required a cash outlay.

It makes you wonder how much Verison makes on those contracts doesn't
it?

It is the same theory as the ink jet printer. You get the phone for
free and they make their money when you actually want to use it.

My landline is virtually free too .. with the full boat option package
(free long distance, all the dialing options, voice mail and a bunch
of stuff I don't use). I just needed to buy the data and TV package
;-)


No, I don't wonder. Verizon makes a lot. I know what some of the
service
rates in other countries are, and they are a lot lower. Same with other
countries having faster and cheaper internet. Hey, we're 'Mericans,
sheep to be sheared by the corporationists.

We are too quick to believe anything is "free". They bury a lot in the
price of these things. I think the biggest problem is the internet, as
consumers have to access it is a monopoly virtually everywhere in the
US. When you talk about a monster like Comcast, they not only own the
last mile, they own the last 100 miles, a lot of the content and they
are only getting bigger.
I would break up Comcast into at least 5 companies, just like we did
Ma Bell. That created an environment that allowed the internet as we
know it.
For that matter, forcing IBM to unbundle software from hardware
created Microsoft and made the PC marketplace big enough for Dell,
Gateway, HP/Compaq and Apple.

.
BTW the internet in New Zealand sucks, so it isn't everywhere.
Access is slow and expensive.


I'd like to see Comcast unbundle its offerings. We don't watch very
many of the periphery channels, especially the "included" sports
channels.

We use our cell phones a *lot* and Verizon's coverage seems the best
where we go. I know that because I have friends and colleagues with
service from other providers, and several of them are always whining
about coverage lapses.


I'd like to see the US Government unbundle its offerings. Social
Security would be the first.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 25 Jun 2015 21:35:43 -0400, Keyser Söze
wrote:

We use our cell phones a *lot* and Verizon's coverage seems the best
where we go. I know that because I have friends and colleagues with
service from other providers, and several of them are always whining
about coverage lapses.

===

Verizon has good coverage in the US but their CDMA technology is
obsolete every where else in the world which is mostly GSM. In the US
AT&T and T-Mobile are already GSM and I predict that Verizon will
eventually be forced to follow.

Depends on the phone. My Samsung Galaxy s4 does GSM also.

Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/25/15 4:59 PM, Califbill wrote:
Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/25/15 12:29 PM, amdx wrote:
On 6/25/2015 11:23 AM, Wayne.B wrote:
For those who'd like to be able to trace their car or boat, I just got
this promotional offer in the mail.

http://findmespot.com/downloads/SPOT2015_FreeTraceJunePush_rebate.pdf?utm_source=B enchmarkEmail&utm_campaign=04_Taken__Get_It_Back_W ith_a_FREE_Trace&utm_medium=email


Caveat emptor: Even though the device is being offered free I'm sure
you'll be required to buy a subscription plan to activate it.


You won't get your rebate unless you have "Activate(d) your SPOT
device(s) at FindMeSPOT.com"
That's the second item under, "To be eligible for this rebate, you must:"
Mikek




Apple and others offer no extra cost software with their computers and
devices that provide location services. It's not a biggy.

You also pay 2x or ore for the apple device.



Really. Gee, I paid $0.00 out of pocket for my big new iPhone, thanks to
a generous trade-in offer from Verizon. Of course, I had to renew my
contract, but I would have done that anyway. My wife has two iPhones,
neither of which required a cash outlay.

The price is figured in to that phone contract.

On 6/28/15 1:30 PM, Califbill wrote:
Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/25/15 4:59 PM, Califbill wrote:
Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/25/15 12:29 PM, amdx wrote:
On 6/25/2015 11:23 AM, Wayne.B wrote:
For those who'd like to be able to trace their car or boat, I just got
this promotional offer in the mail.

http://findmespot.com/downloads/SPOT2015_FreeTraceJunePush_rebate.pdf?utm_source=B enchmarkEmail&utm_campaign=04_Taken__Get_It_Back_W ith_a_FREE_Trace&utm_medium=email


Caveat emptor: Even though the device is being offered free I'm sure
you'll be required to buy a subscription plan to activate it.


You won't get your rebate unless you have "Activate(d) your SPOT
device(s) at FindMeSPOT.com"
That's the second item under, "To be eligible for this rebate, you must:"
Mikek




Apple and others offer no extra cost software with their computers and
devices that provide location services. It's not a biggy.

You also pay 2x or ore for the apple device.



Really. Gee, I paid $0.00 out of pocket for my big new iPhone, thanks to
a generous trade-in offer from Verizon. Of course, I had to renew my
contract, but I would have done that anyway. My wife has two iPhones,
neither of which required a cash outlay.

The price is figured in to that phone contract.


Actually, my contract with Verizon has a fixed price per month for the
first phone that might be *any* smart phone. The minutes and texts are
"unlimited" under these plans. So it wouldn't matter which phone I
picked, even the one you have, if you have a smart phone.

I agree , Bill. I'm with version and it has really good coverage. Occasionally there'll be a dropped call or a dead service zone, but I'm happy with it.

Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/28/15 1:30 PM, Califbill wrote:
Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/25/15 4:59 PM, Califbill wrote:
Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/25/15 12:29 PM, amdx wrote:
On 6/25/2015 11:23 AM, Wayne.B wrote:
For those who'd like to be able to trace their car or boat, I just got
this promotional offer in the mail.

http://findmespot.com/downloads/SPOT2015_FreeTraceJunePush_rebate.pdf?utm_source=B enchmarkEmail&utm_campaign=04_Taken__Get_It_Back_W ith_a_FREE_Trace&utm_medium=email


Caveat emptor: Even though the device is being offered free I'm sure
you'll be required to buy a subscription plan to activate it.


You won't get your rebate unless you have "Activate(d) your SPOT
device(s) at FindMeSPOT.com"
That's the second item under, "To be eligible for this rebate, you must:"
Mikek




Apple and others offer no extra cost software with their computers and
devices that provide location services. It's not a biggy.

You also pay 2x or ore for the apple device.



Really. Gee, I paid $0.00 out of pocket for my big new iPhone, thanks to
a generous trade-in offer from Verizon. Of course, I had to renew my
contract, but I would have done that anyway. My wife has two iPhones,
neither of which required a cash outlay.

The price is figured in to that phone contract.


Actually, my contract with Verizon has a fixed price per month for the
first phone that might be *any* smart phone. The minutes and texts are
"unlimited" under these plans. So it wouldn't matter which phone I
picked, even the one you have, if you have a smart phone.

Yup, and that contract price is not cheap. I pay 2x what I paid ATT, but
ATT headquarters are in my city, and the coverage lacked.

On 6/28/15 9:41 PM, Califbill wrote:
Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/28/15 1:30 PM, Califbill wrote:
Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/25/15 4:59 PM, Califbill wrote:
Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/25/15 12:29 PM, amdx wrote:
On 6/25/2015 11:23 AM, Wayne.B wrote:
For those who'd like to be able to trace their car or boat, I just got
this promotional offer in the mail.

http://findmespot.com/downloads/SPOT2015_FreeTraceJunePush_rebate.pdf?utm_source=B enchmarkEmail&utm_campaign=04_Taken__Get_It_Back_W ith_a_FREE_Trace&utm_medium=email


Caveat emptor: Even though the device is being offered free I'm sure
you'll be required to buy a subscription plan to activate it.


You won't get your rebate unless you have "Activate(d) your SPOT
device(s) at FindMeSPOT.com"
That's the second item under, "To be eligible for this rebate, you must:"
Mikek




Apple and others offer no extra cost software with their computers and
devices that provide location services. It's not a biggy.

You also pay 2x or ore for the apple device.



Really. Gee, I paid $0.00 out of pocket for my big new iPhone, thanks to
a generous trade-in offer from Verizon. Of course, I had to renew my
contract, but I would have done that anyway. My wife has two iPhones,
neither of which required a cash outlay.

The price is figured in to that phone contract.


Actually, my contract with Verizon has a fixed price per month for the
first phone that might be *any* smart phone. The minutes and texts are
"unlimited" under these plans. So it wouldn't matter which phone I
picked, even the one you have, if you have a smart phone.

Yup, and that contract price is not cheap. I pay 2x what I paid ATT, but
ATT headquarters are in my city, and the coverage lacked.



Proof that competition doesn't bring down prices.

Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/28/15 9:41 PM, Califbill wrote:
Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/28/15 1:30 PM, Califbill wrote:
Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/25/15 4:59 PM, Califbill wrote:
Keyser Söze wrote:
On 6/25/15 12:29 PM, amdx wrote:
On 6/25/2015 11:23 AM, Wayne.B wrote:
For those who'd like to be able to trace their car or boat, I just got
this promotional offer in the mail.

http://findmespot.com/downloads/SPOT2015_FreeTraceJunePush_rebate.pdf?utm_source=B enchmarkEmail&utm_campaign=04_Taken__Get_It_Back_W ith_a_FREE_Trace&utm_medium=email


Caveat emptor: Even though the device is being offered free I'm sure
you'll be required to buy a subscription plan to activate it.


You won't get your rebate unless you have "Activate(d) your SPOT
device(s) at FindMeSPOT.com"
That's the second item under, "To be eligible for this rebate, you must:"
Mikek




Apple and others offer no extra cost software with their computers and
devices that provide location services. It's not a biggy.

You also pay 2x or ore for the apple device.



Really. Gee, I paid $0.00 out of pocket for my big new iPhone, thanks to
a generous trade-in offer from Verizon. Of course, I had to renew my
contract, but I would have done that anyway. My wife has two iPhones,
neither of which required a cash outlay.

The price is figured in to that phone contract.


Actually, my contract with Verizon has a fixed price per month for the
first phone that might be *any* smart phone. The minutes and texts are
"unlimited" under these plans. So it wouldn't matter which phone I
picked, even the one you have, if you have a smart phone.

Yup, and that contract price is not cheap. I pay 2x what I paid ATT, but
ATT headquarters are in my city, and the coverage lacked.



Proof that competition doesn't bring down prices.

What competition?