Still haven't got the new computer but....
... my sister in Campbell River, BC on Vancouver Island does. Nice shiny new Compaq (well refurbished, which is why it only cost $279.00) with 19" LCD monitor, nice set of speakers with jack to use earphones - only two speakers, I later bought a three speaker set by Logitech also with earphone jack but has woofer, too - plus Brother inkjet printer which printed 8.5X11 photos on standard paper OK but failed when printing on glossy 4X6 paper so I got to take the paper back to Edmonton. Works fine in the HP printer I bought later so I could print directly on the surface of special CD/DVD media giving a professional look to the ones included with the book.
The computer/monitor cost about $500.00 or so with all the extra charges including recycling fees, the monitor was about $179.00. Later bought the printer and that was about $130.00. She got the Telus internet on a pay-as-you-go basis which means she won't own the modem after a year like the contract would have allowed so she has to return the modem if she cancels. I thought the cable companies made a big deal about the fact the telephone companies ONLY allowed their internet service by contract. Obviously it was hurting the telcos and they have responded to competitive pressures. I love the free market.
It took about a week for Telus to finally do the right thing on their end so we could connect to the internet but she got an extra months free service above the free month that came with the order. I had to add special filters to the jacks for the two phones she had (no filter on the internet connection) but things worked swimmingly after the frustrating wait. Others would have just thrown up their hands in the air and cancelled the service but she had decided not to pay the extra $100.00 that Campbell River Cable TV wanted to join their "co-op-like" service which was in the process of being taken over by Shaw cable. Telus internet cost $35.00/month.
I had taken my 1 TB Iomega hard drive so had some software I could install so ran PAF genealogy database with photos and several other specialty applications. I was able to use the internet connection to update the Windows Media Player library with album art, etc. Neat.
I replaced my Siemens monochrome display phone with nice, new Nokia 3500 with color display and all the toys besides the basic address book - mp3 player, 2 megapixel camera , photo and video (can't play the videos on the computer), instant messaging (could do that on the Siemens), Organizer with calendar, To-do list and notes , Alarm clock, Countdown timer (normal and interval timer) , Stereo FM radio and music player (radio required antenne not included and not available locally), Combo memory with 32 MB flash and 16 MB RAM – 8.5 MB user memory, Micro SD memory card slot (up to 2GB) and Lithium-ion battery. I was getting four or five days out of each charge until I started taking pictures.
Then I discovered the included memory only allowed me to take four pictures before I had to remove them from the camera and take four more. That was not going to work. Downtown and bought a 2 GB micro SD card and now could take pictures until the cows come home. However, eventually on one of those sessions the battery ran out so discovered I had to start out with a fully charged battery. As well, I could include all kinds of extra info with name/phone number like email address, picture, notes, etc. That was cute.
Got a Bluetooth adapter so move pictures from the camera to the computer but though that worked the first time and most other times, there were problems because Bluetooth had a limitation of the size of file it could move. Downtown to the Rogers store (Rogers owns Fido and there is no Fido store closer than Nanaimo) and got an expensive mini-USB cable so I didn't have to crack open the phone to remove the SD card and use the computer card reader to move photos to the computer. That worked much better and now had the Noki Suite program so could install it at home where I don't yet have internet access.
I eventually got a new ring tone, chose "Africa" by Toto, the first one after scrolling through many I had no interest in and basicaly about to give up altogether. Cost about $4.00-5.00 but I save a copy on my computer so can move it around as needed. Tried surfing the interent and did something pretty simple and then checked the account balance and realized it had cost $10.00 so won't do that any more. Tried to send email and discovered the key I thought was the space bar wasn't and the space bar is actually the "zero" key pressed twice. Then still couldn't follow the instructions for sending email so called tech support and the agent seemed to kinda know what I was talking about but not how to solve my problem. After being put on hold several times and consulting with the "experts" she came back with:
in the message window enter:
mail_sp__email-address_(_subject_ _sp_ _msg_) leave out the spaces between _sp_ & _email-address_, etc. ; the editor here doesn't like the angle brackets I had used
in the To: window enter:
3436
click send
That's all there is to it. Limited to about 140 characters including the required text above but at least you can send/receive email. I showed a fellow Fido user and he was amazed. Somewhat different than the FAQ on the Fido site, which is why I included it here.
Enjoy.
Got to Courtney where my collaborator for the book on the Whidden/Fisher lines, B. Page, lived and had an enjoyable afternoon after taking the bus from Campbell River to Courtney. Did some shopping trying to find something for Lois besides the computer for a Christmas present and since she's a long time Elvis fan it was easy when I found a CD in Wal-Mart (they don't have one in CR) with interviews and other stuff I'm sure she wouldn't have. She loved it.
BP gave me some updates for the book and then she took me back to the bus depot to catch the bus home. A great day. They have a monkey pod tree in CR so took some more pics of that plus the sequoia tree and many examples of the Haida art around town. Went to the museum where more Haida art is available plus fascinating displays on the salmon fishing around town, which at one time was the heart of the sport fishing activity also known as the 'Salmon Capital of the World'. Also found out what the meaning of the name for the plaza downtown was - a large salmon was called a tyee so the plaza is Tyee Plaza. Walked out on the large warf and looked at the displays about the many kinds of fish found in the area. The museum had a movie of the second largest non-nuclear explosion after the Halifax explosion of 1917. Rocks underwater in the passage in the straits on the east side of Vancouver Island had been causing ship wrecks for years so it was decided to remove the hazard by blowing it up. It was filmed and documented like no other project before it. Also went to a marine museum which featured the fishing boat that was depicted on the $5.00 bill that was in circulation when I was a kid. It was at a wharf in Vancouver for Expo '86 but later was in a bad state of disrepair. They moved it to Campbell River, built a facility to house it out of the water and set about restoring it by volunteer help. Nobody else was there when I took the tour so I had a personalized account by a very knowledgeable person. I took a few pictures and after almost three hours was on my way.
On the trip back on the ferry again sat up front and after spending so much time at sea I was beginning to think we wouldn't see any sea life a few dolphins made a brief appearance. What a great trip.
Ray Aug 2009
The computer/monitor cost about $500.00 or so with all the extra charges including recycling fees, the monitor was about $179.00. Later bought the printer and that was about $130.00. She got the Telus internet on a pay-as-you-go basis which means she won't own the modem after a year like the contract would have allowed so she has to return the modem if she cancels. I thought the cable companies made a big deal about the fact the telephone companies ONLY allowed their internet service by contract. Obviously it was hurting the telcos and they have responded to competitive pressures. I love the free market.
It took about a week for Telus to finally do the right thing on their end so we could connect to the internet but she got an extra months free service above the free month that came with the order. I had to add special filters to the jacks for the two phones she had (no filter on the internet connection) but things worked swimmingly after the frustrating wait. Others would have just thrown up their hands in the air and cancelled the service but she had decided not to pay the extra $100.00 that Campbell River Cable TV wanted to join their "co-op-like" service which was in the process of being taken over by Shaw cable. Telus internet cost $35.00/month.
I had taken my 1 TB Iomega hard drive so had some software I could install so ran PAF genealogy database with photos and several other specialty applications. I was able to use the internet connection to update the Windows Media Player library with album art, etc. Neat.
I replaced my Siemens monochrome display phone with nice, new Nokia 3500 with color display and all the toys besides the basic address book - mp3 player, 2 megapixel camera , photo and video (can't play the videos on the computer), instant messaging (could do that on the Siemens), Organizer with calendar, To-do list and notes , Alarm clock, Countdown timer (normal and interval timer) , Stereo FM radio and music player (radio required antenne not included and not available locally), Combo memory with 32 MB flash and 16 MB RAM – 8.5 MB user memory, Micro SD memory card slot (up to 2GB) and Lithium-ion battery. I was getting four or five days out of each charge until I started taking pictures.
Then I discovered the included memory only allowed me to take four pictures before I had to remove them from the camera and take four more. That was not going to work. Downtown and bought a 2 GB micro SD card and now could take pictures until the cows come home. However, eventually on one of those sessions the battery ran out so discovered I had to start out with a fully charged battery. As well, I could include all kinds of extra info with name/phone number like email address, picture, notes, etc. That was cute.
Got a Bluetooth adapter so move pictures from the camera to the computer but though that worked the first time and most other times, there were problems because Bluetooth had a limitation of the size of file it could move. Downtown to the Rogers store (Rogers owns Fido and there is no Fido store closer than Nanaimo) and got an expensive mini-USB cable so I didn't have to crack open the phone to remove the SD card and use the computer card reader to move photos to the computer. That worked much better and now had the Noki Suite program so could install it at home where I don't yet have internet access.
I eventually got a new ring tone, chose "Africa" by Toto, the first one after scrolling through many I had no interest in and basicaly about to give up altogether. Cost about $4.00-5.00 but I save a copy on my computer so can move it around as needed. Tried surfing the interent and did something pretty simple and then checked the account balance and realized it had cost $10.00 so won't do that any more. Tried to send email and discovered the key I thought was the space bar wasn't and the space bar is actually the "zero" key pressed twice. Then still couldn't follow the instructions for sending email so called tech support and the agent seemed to kinda know what I was talking about but not how to solve my problem. After being put on hold several times and consulting with the "experts" she came back with:
in the message window enter:
mail_sp_
in the To: window enter:
3436
click send
That's all there is to it. Limited to about 140 characters including the required text above but at least you can send/receive email. I showed a fellow Fido user and he was amazed. Somewhat different than the FAQ on the Fido site, which is why I included it here.
Enjoy.
Got to Courtney where my collaborator for the book on the Whidden/Fisher lines, B. Page, lived and had an enjoyable afternoon after taking the bus from Campbell River to Courtney. Did some shopping trying to find something for Lois besides the computer for a Christmas present and since she's a long time Elvis fan it was easy when I found a CD in Wal-Mart (they don't have one in CR) with interviews and other stuff I'm sure she wouldn't have. She loved it.
BP gave me some updates for the book and then she took me back to the bus depot to catch the bus home. A great day. They have a monkey pod tree in CR so took some more pics of that plus the sequoia tree and many examples of the Haida art around town. Went to the museum where more Haida art is available plus fascinating displays on the salmon fishing around town, which at one time was the heart of the sport fishing activity also known as the 'Salmon Capital of the World'. Also found out what the meaning of the name for the plaza downtown was - a large salmon was called a tyee so the plaza is Tyee Plaza. Walked out on the large warf and looked at the displays about the many kinds of fish found in the area. The museum had a movie of the second largest non-nuclear explosion after the Halifax explosion of 1917. Rocks underwater in the passage in the straits on the east side of Vancouver Island had been causing ship wrecks for years so it was decided to remove the hazard by blowing it up. It was filmed and documented like no other project before it. Also went to a marine museum which featured the fishing boat that was depicted on the $5.00 bill that was in circulation when I was a kid. It was at a wharf in Vancouver for Expo '86 but later was in a bad state of disrepair. They moved it to Campbell River, built a facility to house it out of the water and set about restoring it by volunteer help. Nobody else was there when I took the tour so I had a personalized account by a very knowledgeable person. I took a few pictures and after almost three hours was on my way.
On the trip back on the ferry again sat up front and after spending so much time at sea I was beginning to think we wouldn't see any sea life a few dolphins made a brief appearance. What a great trip.
Ray Aug 2009
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11:23 AM
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