Dunnville Home Show was a great success. Many people turned out that weekend with many questions and concerns. Many thanks to our customers for coming out. The winner of our draw for a 22″ LG LCD monitor was Margo Calvert from Dunnville. Way to Go Margo!!

It seems the phone scams are picking up again. If you get a phone call claiming to be from Microsoft this is a scam. These people call from foreign countries were it is legal and call us here were it is illegal but because they are in another country our laws do not effect them. These guys call you up saying they are from Microsoft and you have a PC problem or virus and they need to access your computer and try and get you to pay them. DO NOT let them onto your computer or give them any information they will steal your identity and access your accounts and crash your computer. You ask what do I do? Simply say no thanks and hang up. If you think there might be something wrong with your computer or if you have any questions at all call your Computer Troubleshooters and we would be more than glad to help you the best way we can.

It’s that time of year again when the Dunnville Lions Home And Garden Show April 20-21. It will be held at the new Dunnville Arena. So come on down and visit us and take in all the great booths and our new arena. It’s still free admission to get in. The store will be closed these two days but if you need anything just drop by the show and we will be glad to help you.

Here are the top rated Business Desktops as by PC World:

• HP Z210 CMT: Not everyone likes workstations. But if you need a powerful PC to work those heavy graphics and 3D tasks, and willing to pay more money for optimized hardwear, then the HP Z210 CMT is worth considering.
• DELL OPTIPLEX 990 SFF: The Dell optiplex 990 SFF manages to just squeeze past much of the rest of the business desktop category, offering strong general performance at a decent price.
• DELL VOSTRO 460: The Dell Vostro 460 offers great general performance, but it’s reliance on integrated graphics may limit it’s flexibility.
• LENOVO THINKCENTRE M91p: This desktop has the old school look ThinkPad, but you can get similar performance and better specs at a lower price.

The following is PC World’s Best 10 Phones for Business:

1. Samsung Epic Touch 4G: This phone is slim and speedy and is excellent for gaming, web browsing and watching video. The plasticky design makes it feel cheap. The price for this phone starts at $120.00
2. Samsung Galaxy S II (T Mobile): This phone is one of the best phones currently available hands down. The price for this phone starts at $589.00
3. Apple iPhone 4S 16GB: This phone might not be the most exciting update, but it is the most improved camera, faster performance and the addition of Siri make it a top-ranking smartphone.
4. Samsung Focus S: This phone is the best Windows phone available with smooth performance, a great camera and a gorgeous display. The price for this phone starts at $200.00
5. Motorola Droid Bionic: This long awaited phone is blazing fast and has a lot of great entertainment and business features. The price is a little high which makes it a hard sell. The price for this phone starts at $79.53
6. Samsung Galaxy S II (AT&T): This phone pretty much has it all: a dual core processor, HSPA+ speeds and a gorgeous display. The current security flaw with the lock screen causes some concern. The price for this phone starts at $9.99
7. Motorola  Photon 4G: This phone has a cool design and accessories, but photographers will dislike it’s camera. The price for this phone starts at $79.99
8. Motorola Droid X2: With a gorgeous display and dual-core power, gamers and multimedia addicts won’t be disappointed, but video capture is terrible and you don’t get 4G data speeds. The price for this phone starts at $.01
9. Motorola XPRT: This phone has the features and a keyboard to please any business or IT professional, but it’s small display will be a big turn off for multimedia junkies. The price for this phone starts at $200.00
10. Research in Motion BlackBerry Bold 9930: This phone gains a touchscreen, loses a few inches, and rocks an HD camcorder, but these features aren’t enough to sway Android and iPhone owners–especially at such a high price.

Here is PC World’s top ten laptops for business:

1. Dell latitude E6420 ATG: This computer delivers all the power you’d want in a business laptop plus great battery life, but it’s weight and higher price tag make it a bit much for the mainstream user. Price averaging from $1005.00
2. Dell Vostro V131: This computer is more affordable for a business laptop, it’s size and weight well that’s a different story. Price averaging from $709.00
3. HP Elitebook 2560p: This computer is tough and has easy access to components. Price averaging from $1100.00
4. Dell Latitude E6320: This computer can get the job done and business people that are always on the go and rushed this computer you would appreciate. Price averaging from $1305.00
5. Lenovo ThinkPad T420: This computer is outstanding in performance, reliability, and features. Price averaging from $903.00
6. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420: This computer is not to heavy and fans of thinkpad keyboards and input devices should welcome this laptop. Gamers and hard-core number crunchers should keep on looking for something else. Price averaging from $587.00
7. HP EliteBook 8560W: This computer has incredible worldbench performance and is backed up with excellent features. The 15.6″ display is small for it’s 1080p resolution. Price averaging from $1694.00
8. Dell latitude E5420: This computer offers standout battery life and lots of usability features. Price averaging from $735.00
9. HP EliteBook 8460P: This computer doesn’t have the greatest in the looks dept but it does come with a good display and keyboard for road warriors. Price averaging from $1100.00
10. HP ProBook 4430s: This computer is nice looking but lacks USB 3.0. Price average from $505.00

Due to the flood in Thailand there is a shortage of hard drives and all prices will be going up  in price.

The apple iPod turns 10 this month. The iPod and related products prompted Apple to change it’s name from “Apple Computer Inc” to “Apple Inc”. The First iPod was developed in less than a year and came out Oct 23,2001. Powered by a dual-core 90MHZ Arm based Portal player processor and a 5GB 4200rpm Toshiba HDD (10GB came later), the device only supported Mac computers as well as AAC, MP3 and Wav audio files. The 2nd generation came out July2002. This device came out less than a year after the original device and brought many refinements including a cover for the FireWire Port, an improved hold switch and double the storage capacity. It also got rid of it’s first generation scroll wheel in favor of the touch-sensitive wheel. This model introduced support for Windows via musicmatch. This generation came in a 10, 20GB. The 3rd generation came in a 10,15,20,30 and 40GB and came out April 2003. Apple did a total full redesign of the iPod. The first iPod mini came out Jan 2004 This new generation came in a 4GB and scaled down in size. The 4th generation of iPod & iPod Photo came out July 2004 with a 20,30,and 40GB. In Oct it introduced a premium version called the iPod Photo which had an improved battery life (15 hours versus 12) a color screen and support for common image formats. In Feb 2005 Apple replaced the 40GB iPod Photo with a thinner, cheaper 30GB model. By June it decided to merge the iPod Photo and iPod “Classic” lines.  The iPod Shuffle and 2nd Gen came out Jan2005 & Sept 2006. Shrinking it’s media player once again. Apple introduced the first iPod Shuffle in early 2005. It came in at an entry level with only 512MB or 1GB of storage and no display. The second generation came out well over a year later. It was roughly half the size of it’s predecessor with a belt clip and a more attractive aluminum case and held 1GB of storage. The first iPod Nano came out Sept 2005 and had 1,2,4GB of storage. The Nano offered an incredible battery life of 18 hours (the first only only lasted 8hrs). The mini line discounted later in 2005 when Apple shipped the first iPod Nano, which was essentially a smaller version of the mini. It had less maximum storage (4GB max versus 6GB) and a shorter 14 hour battery life. The 5th Generation iPod came out Oct 2005 with 30,60,80GB of storage. This was the year it got nicknamed “iPod Video”. It had a 2.5″320×240 screen, and support for common video formats such as MP4 and H.264. This was the year sales skyrocked 400%, dwarfing all previous years combined. The 2nd Generation of the iPod Nano came out Sept 2006 with 2,4,8GB of storage. This was the year they came out with more choice of colors and a scratch-resistant casing. with double the storage and a large boost in battery life from 14 to 24 hours. The first iPod touch came out Sept 2007 with 8,16,32GB of storage. It was the first iPod to feature a multitouch display and WiFi, which allowed users to browse the web via Safari as well as access the iTunes Store and You Tube. The 3rd Generation iPod Nano and iPod Classic came out Sept 2007 4,8GB/ 80,120,160GB of storage. The iPod Nano 4th Generation came out Sept 2008 with 4,8,16GB of storage and the 5th generation came out Sept 2009 with 8,16GB of storage. iPod gained a larger screen, camera, an FM radio, a speaker, a pedometer, a improved jack placement, and the ability to shuffle songs by shaking the device.  The iPod Touch 2nd generation came out Sept 2008 with 8,16,32GB of Storage and the 3rd generation came out Sept 2009 with a 32,64GB of storage. The second gen device came with a tampered chrome back, volume buttons and a built-in speaker. It was the first iPod to be shipped with Apples app Store. The 3rd gen mirrored the iPhones 3GS’ changes which was a quicker processor and graphics core, more ram, voice control support and a model with 64GB of flash. The iPod Shuffle 3rd Generation came out March 2009 with 2,4GB of storage. It came with a new interface  and a smaller body. Instead of hardware buttons on the device itself, Apple moved the volume and playback controls to the right earbud cable and introduced voice-over functionality for hands-free control. The 6th generation of the iPod Nano came out Sept 2010 with 8,16GB and the 4th generation iPod Shuffle came out Sept 2010 with 2GB of storage. The device features a 240×240 multi-touch display and given it’s 1.47×1.61″ dimensions. The 4th generation iPod Shuffle serves as an entry-level Nano without it’s touchscreen interface and accelerometer. The 4th generation iPod Touch came out Sept 9,2010 with 8,32,64GB of storage. IPod sales began a noticeable decline-a fate largely induced by the iPhone and competing Android handsets. The line between portable music players and smartphones (especially the iPod Touch and the iPhone) has grown incredibly blurred. This is Apples finest yet with a high-res “retina” display, Apples A4 SoC, as well as front and rear cameras for facetime. So with all the changes and hard work Happy Birthday 10th Birthday iPod.