Cindy is back and she bought a new Laptop

My daughter Cindy is back in Everett Washington with her ship the USS Abraham Lincoln. Cindy called last night and wanted to buy a new laptop for herself. The one she ended up buying was the Toshiba Satellite A305-S6898. She spent some time last night taking off Norton 360 and installing AVG. Cindy was happy to be back in the states and sounded good. Welcome home Cindy.

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• Picture of my daughter on the USS Abraham Lincoln
• More e-mails from my Daughter Cindy on the Abe Lincoln

Windows Vista

I talked to my son John a few weeks ago and he was telling me that he was thinking about getting a new more powerful laptop computer for himself. Right now he has an almost one year old laptop running Windows Vista Home Premium and it just doesn't have the power that he wants. It has two gigs memory and a 383mb video card, and a 160gb hard drive. He also has two external hard drives that he uses for additional storage and an ipod. You can click here to see what he has now. I can understand him wanting a new one. John is a computer nut so to speak. He uses it for everything, music, movies, television, phone calls, programming, work and so on. Before John joined the Navy he was in college majoring in Computer Science and doing some tech support on the side. Usually he is doing several things with his computer at once and needs allot of power. "John is a power user".

Now, getting to my point, I have two desktop computers myself and my wife has one. My computers run Windows XP and Linux and my wife is using XP. I get allot of calls asking me for help with other peoples computers and since I don't have Vista I really can't help others that use that OS. John said that when he buys a new computer for himself that he would give me his current laptop. That will enable me to use and learn Vista. I am really excited by the prospect of owning a laptop with Vista. That would enable me to learn the OS and the flexibility to do work from other places besides my computer room/office. It will be nice to be able to sit in my living room in the recliner with my knees up instead of sitting here in my computer chair every time I want to do something with the computer. At the very least I'm sure that my blog will be updated more often when I get a laptop..... I'll let you know what he decides on when he finally buys a new computer, and thanks in advance John. :)

As a side note, I called my daughter Cindy but she was working and couldn't talk at the time. At least I know that she made it to Washington ok. :) I'm sure she will call me later when she has the time and I'll try to let you know what she is up to then.

Kara, Sheila, John, and Cindy

Cindy's new Laptop

New $5.00 Bill

New $5.00 Bill

Good afternoon all. We are just waiting for Kara & Sheila to get here. They are Vickis friends from Arkansas. Vicki called them and they are in Joplin, MO ( about 2hrs away ). They are going to stay here until Sunday. I went to the store and got a few things that we needed so now we are ready. :)

My daughter Cindy commented on another blog post of mine today. Here is what she said.

"Good Morning Dad and Vicki. We took the BITE (built in test equipment) test yesterday. Marsac and I both got 96, the rest of the class got 92 and below, lol. I still have the highest grade. Today is my mid term. Wish me luck. Keep Chris in your prayers he just left for Iraq last night. Love ya "

"OMG have u seen the new 5 dollar bill? its purpleish kinda pink reminds me of canadian money lol."

She then sent some pictures of the new $5.00 bill and her Laptop.

Cindy we are so proud of you. Good luck on your mid-terms and we will keep Chris in our prayers. Love, Dad & Vicki

We talked to our son John last night and today. He was on duty on his ship in Mayport, FL. John was getting sick and went to medical last night and got some meds. This morning he went back to medical and was given a penicillin shot for strept throat and was put in SIQ ( sick in quarters ) in his barracks on base. He will go back to medial tomorrow morning to get checked out again.

Protect Your Laptop Keyboard from Liquid Spills ( Video )

Preventing this from happening is easy. You could simply not drink near the computer, or keep a lid/cap on your beverages. You can also get a keyboard skin (cover) specifically made to protect your particular model.

It's been a slow day so far

It's been a slow day so far. I went and sent my son John at Great lakes Naval Base a package UPS with his 320GB external hard drive ( now fully loaded with his music and videos ) and also his digital camera, speakers, his mail and a few other things in the box. I also went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and went to Wal-Mart to get some over the counter meds that we needed.

The above picture is a screen shot using google earth of John's ship ( building ) on base at Great Lakes Naval Base. His building is marked with a yellow tack. Click image for larger view.

My son John called during his lunch today and sounded good. He is having some problems with Windows Vista on his new Laptop. One of the problems is easily fixed. What happened was that he tried to put some software on that was not fully compatible with Vista and his computer completely froze. He was finally able to do a system restore and everything is working fine now. He cant get the Laptop to recognize his cell phone via Bluetooth but it does find everyone else's Bluetooth enabled devices. Go figure. :) John said that he also can't get the built in webcam to work and he is going to call HP about that when he gets a chance. He thinks it might be a Vista compatibility problem also. Those issues not withstanding he likes the Laptop overall. He said that it is allot better that what he initially expected. He had a busy day yesterday on Watch with several people causing minor problems. I will talk to him tonight online when he is done with his classes. He is still working on his own Blog and will continue to update it as time allows. ( mostly on weekends ). That's all the news from here.

My son John got started on his own Blog yesterday

My son John got started on his own Blog yesterday with two post. He will be posting regularly from now on. He didn't get the Best of The Best award at OS-A school last week, that was given to a Fleet Returnee. The Fleet Returnees always get first shot at it. I guess they want to show their support for the guys that have been out in the Fleet and then came back to school. I understand that. Yesterday I picked up a 320GB external hard drive that John had ordered from Wal-Mart and spent most of the day putting all his music and programs on it. The first thing I did with the Hard Drive was to format it with the NTFS file system instead of the Fat32 system that it was formatted with from the factory. For more information read "NTFS vs. FAT: Which Is Right for You?" from Microsoft. I will mail him the hard drive, his digital camera, extra speakers, and some shirts that he wanted Tuesday by UPS. Hopefully he will have everything by Friday.




John saw the Lt. Dan Band perform at Great Lakes Naval Station Friday evening. He got to sit in the front row and had his picture taken allot and was recorded on video. If we find the pictures I will post them later. The Lt. Dan Band is a cover band founded by Kimo Williams and Gary Sinise. The band is named after the character Lieutenant Dan Taylor, whom Sinise portrayed in the film Forrest Gump. He also saw Jim Lovell. Jim Lovell is a former NASA astronaut, most famous as the commander of Apollo 13, which suffered an explosion enroute to the Moon but was brought back safely to Earth by the efforts of the crew and mission control. Lovell was also the command module pilot of Apollo 8, the first Apollo mission to enter lunar orbit. Lovell is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Now that your done reading here go over to http://navygeek.blogspot.com/ and read my sons new Blog.

Another phone call

My son John called again last night, his laptop is fine. It works great. John also got a remote control for his computer that he didn't order so that was nice. He ordered internet through comcast cable and they are supposed to come out either this weekend or next weekend at the latest. He managed to get online last night through the Navy's internet on base but it was too slow for him, he was connected at 32kbps LOL Really slow. When he gets comcast he will have 6 meg download. I mailed a box of his stuff out to him Monday and he should get that today UPS so he will have most of his software and his flash drive and such. I know he will be happy to get that. He said that as soon as he can he will sinc his Laptop and his cell phone and send several more pictures that he has.

John also said that after he did so well on the radar test yesterday he got to help teach some of the classes and he is in the running for the "Best of The Best" again this week. That's about all the news from here... Hope you have a Great Day.

John just called from his OS-A School

My son John just called from his OS-A School at Great Lakes Naval Base and he had a test today on Radar that he had been really worried about. He got the highest score ever on the new test. ( They changed the test several months ago ) John's overall score was a 93.7%. He was so worried that he would not pass it, several other people that took the test before him got scores in the 50% range. I asked him how he did so well and he said "I studied my ass off" :) His score on the test was equal to the Chiefs that teaches that class. He was very happy.

John also received his Laptop today in the mail but has to wait until 7pm tonight to open it during mail call. He said that the box has some scratches on it and is dented in in one place so he really hoping that his Laptop is ok. That's all the news from here...

So Far Happy with HP

My sons Laptop that we ordered a week and a half ago was supposed to have been shipped from Shanghai China on the 25th of this month. I got an e-mail that day with a Fed-EX tracking number saying "Your Laptop has shipped". Since then I have been trying to track the laptop through the Fed-Ex website and the tracking number I had didn't show any shipment. After three calls to HP it was finally shipped out today and I can see that on the Fed-EX website. The first two people that I talked to at HP ( in India ) assured me that the Laptop had shipped out on the 25th and it just wasn't in the system yet. I know it takes a few hrs to get into the system but not several days... Today I talked to a gentleman in the United States and he promised me that he would find out what was happening and call me back. True to his word he just called and said that the Laptop was left on a pallet in China because of a storm. He was able to get it onto a plane and my son should have his Laptop by next Wednesday. The person in the U.S. at HP also credited my sons credit card back $50.00 for the trouble we went through. That's how customer service is supposed to work. Thank you HP

Sep 29, 2007

8:28 PM

In transit

SHANGHAI CN

Sep 28, 2007

11:54 PM

Picked up

SHANGHAI CN

Package received after FedEx cutoff

Good morning everyone

Good morning everyone. I am just looking out at the thunderstorm and drinking my 4th cup of coffee. :) My son John called me last night to wish me a Happy Birthday. Today is my 43rd birthday and he won't be able to call, he is having 4 teeth pulled under anesthesia today so he will be kinda out of it after that. He told me that he took his oral boards at OS-A School at Great Lakes Naval Base yesterday evening and passed. He is now on Phase 2 Liberty. That means that he doesn't have to muster anymore at 21:45 with the other guys and he can stay out until midnight on weekends. He is currently studying radar systems. His shin splints are all better and he has no more leg pain. His laptop that he ordered shipped today. I have the Fed X tracking number and will give that to him tomorrow when I talk to him. He will be excited about that. He is going to buy an external hard drive this weekend and have it shipped here so I can put all of our music on it, we have 78.3 GB of music. No we didn't download the music in case you were thinking that. It all came from our CD's. We have everything from the 40s - through today. :) That's all the news from here. Hope you have a great day.

I talked to John ( My son in the Navy at Great Lakes ) today

I talked to John ( My son in the Navy at Great Lakes ) today. He is doing great. He will get some dental work done Sept 25th at a hospital off base. He will have several teeth ( I think he said 4 ) extracted under anesthesia. They will give him a driver and take him there and bring him back and then have someone assigned to watch him over night.

He is doing well in class and might even get the "Best of the Best award" this week. His last test score " yesterday" was a 99.7% in Morris code and on the test before that he got a 97%.. He said that unless someone gets a 100% he will get the award this week. He will get to wear a special badge in recognition of this. He said that he would get a picture. (UPDATE on 9-21-07 John did not get the Best of the Best this week, they gave it to a fleet-returnee, he was kinda bummed about that but I can understand ) His laptop that he ordered is scheduled to ship on Sept 25th too so he is happy about that. He sounded exhausted this evening when he called us and was falling asleep while talking on the phone. He had a busy day will Navy Drill Team practice ( he is on the Navy Drill Team ) and school. I asked him what time he had to get up in the morning and he said 4am. He called at 7pm. I told him to get some sleep. It's kinda fun to hear him talk to the other guys. He kept calling this one guy "Hea New Guy" go do this or that. LOL. I asked John what his name was and he said that the guy was just a Bootie, just came from boot camp ( like John is a veteran now ) I got a kick out of that.

His friend Heather is going to come back up to see him again in three weeks ( John is on duty the next two weekends. ) He said they had a great time in Chicago and then he took her to the base and they played pool and just hung out together Saturday. John said that she was surprised at how big the base was. We have met her several times when she was staying out here with a cousin of hers last year. She is really nice.

My son John ordered his Laptop today

Here is what he is getting.

HP Pavilion dv6500t customizable Notebook PC Click there to Read the review at Laptop Magazine

* Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)

* Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7700 (2.40 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)

* 15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)

* 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)!

* 383MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

* HP Imprint Finish (Radiance) + Webcam + Microphone

* Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection and Bluetooth(TM)

* 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive

* SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support

* 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

* System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)

* Microsoft(R) Works 8.0

* HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

Grand total with tax was $1,247.12

Read a review of this Laptop at notebookreview.com

I bet the first program he puts on his computer is PC Decrapifier to get rid of all the preloaded garbage that comes on most new computers these days. :)

Just waitiing for a Call and relaxing

I talked to my son John this morning. If you don't already know it, John is in his OS-"A" School with the Navy at Great Lakes. He was in Chicago today waiting for a friend that he met out here in ( S.E. Kansas ) last year. Her name is Heather and and she lives in Wisconsin, they are going to spend the day together today. John is going to try to get some pictures so hopefully I will have some to post later tonight or tomorrow.

John is also planning on buying a laptop tonight. He is either going to buy the HP dv2500t or the HP dv9500t. He will get a military discount thanks to HP. He is going to call me when he gets back to his room and we will order it then. I will post the specs after he decides which one he wants to buy. Until then we are just relaxing with the Heat turned on for the first time since last winter. Last night it got down to 47 degrees and this morning it was 59 degrees in our house. Right now it's only 52 degrees outside. I love this weather. :)

Dell CEO Blames Laptop Delays on Poor Planning

Dell Inc.'s CEO this week blamed too-conservative sales forecasting for the long delays in getting new notebooks to consumers, but he said nothing about problems in painting the laptops, the main reason other executives have given customers.

Read the rest at PC World

This is exactly why I am reluctant to ever buy a Dell again after the problem my son had with trying to order the XPS M1330 a few weeks ago.

My son is going to Start his own Blog

My son John is going to start his own Blog. The address is going to be navygeek.blogspot.com. He said that he has about 30 post ready to put up as soon as he gets a chance. He still has to buy a Laptop computer and really wanted a Dell but after going to their site and building several laptops to his specifications, all the ship dates are a month away. If anyone has a good suggestion for a laptop with the following minimum specifications let me know.

* $1700.00 max Price, that's with tax and shipping.

* 160 gig 7200rpm hard drive ( he would go down to a 5400rpm if needed )
* 256meg dedicated graphics card
* 2 megs system memory
* Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 (2MB cache/1.8GHz/800Mhz FSB)
* Windows Vista Ultimate
* Wireless 802.11a/g/Draft n
* CD/DVD burner
* Bluetooth
* Webcam
* Built In microphone and Speakers

* A reasonable build and shipping time. ( 1-2 Weeks at the most )

I found several at HP well within the specifications and price that he wants but I would love to hear what other people have to say. He wants to use it for school and some gaming. This will be his only computer and he will be using it all over the world. John was majoring in Computer Science in College before joining the Navy.

This post is a reply to Neal from Dell Inc.

This post is a reply to Neal from Dell, Inc. I first posted it as a follow-up comment to his comment to an earlier Post ( you can click here to read that Post ) and then thought it deserved it's own Post on my Blog so here it is. If you want to follow the whole story just click on "Dell" in the Labels section under this post.

Replying to Neal from Dell Corp, First of all thanks for taking the time to read and respond to my Blog post. I'll start with what you said last. I don't know your e-mail address or phone number so there is no way for me to contact you. If you want to give me that info you can by signing my guestbook privately ( so everyone doesn't call and e-mail you ). I have looked the the entire picture and I just got off the phone with my son and he told me that one of his room-mates just bought a Toshiba Laptop and had it within TWO days of placing the order. That's what I call service. By the way he configured it himself.

I have been dealing with Dell for years and have personally been involved in helping people order well over 50 Dell computers and all of them, with the exception of one was over $1000.00 . Until "recently" I never had a "major problem" with your company. The sales person that my son talked to was in Malaysia and didn't even know what the U.S. Navy was. I find that to be incredible in itself. I will tell you that I wouldn't mind paying a little more for a computer that has all North American sales and tech support. I hate calling India and having the support person telling me their name is Tom. That is laughable. I could relate a few other horror stories about Dell that have happened recently but I won't ..."Yet". I think the problem is that Dell is trying to compete with Wal-Mart and such places. Too bad... I don't buy my computers from Wal-Mart for a reason, but you are taking that away.

My son John said today that when he orders a computer he "HAS" to have it fast! If there is a long delay he might not even be at the same address. Remember he is in the United States Navy. He will be going on a Ship soon and I don't think you will deliver to the middle of the ocean. Will you? I look forward to your response.

Again, I am typing this Blog post on a Dell computer and I love it. Hope the company can get itself back up to par, I would love my next computer to be a Dell also.

P.S. It's nice to know that Dell cares enough to read my Blog. I am getting allot of hits on my Blog from an internal Dell website
http://fusion.us.dell.com/Fusion/Core/update.aspx?id=7478160

More on Dell and how things are playing out.

I talked to "Thomas", a Business Controls Manager from Dell today. He contacted me last week after I posted about my sons bad experience with trying to order a Dell XPS M1330 Laptop and subsequent cancellation of that order. Dell made us an offer that I think is kinda fare ( They would match a competitor's price on a laptop with similar components, and he would also work on getting it shipped quickly ). I would think with all that we went through last week that the offer would be better than that for someone serving in the military, but I digress. I will have to talk to my son and find out if this is the route he wants to take. He really had his heart set on a Dell XPS but the bad experience left a bad taste in his mouth, and mine.

After talking to "Thomas" from Dell today I talked to my Father ( a retired Physicist ) and he was telling me that a friend of his just got a new Dell Desktop and the LCD monitor didn't work when he set it up. After 45min on the phone Dell agreed to send him a new monitor. My Dad said to me "I thought they "Dell" would have tested the monitor before it was shipped". He also conveyed that another of his friends had spent 4 hrs on the phone with Dell tech support trying to get another problem resolved. This is really sad for a company that was always a leader in their filed of Direct to consumer sales. Hopefully Dell can pull itself out of this slump and come out on top again. I currently own two Dell computers and have had others before these. With the exception of a few minor problems in the past I have been very happy with them. By the way, Dad has two Dell computers also...

I am hesitant on recommending Dell to my friends and family at the current time but hopefully that will change in the near future. I will let you know how this all plays out.

Dude, Your Not Getting a Dell

My son John ( in the Navy ) ordered a Dell XPS M1330 laptop Saturday over the phone. He told the Dell Sales Rep the items that he wanted ( the specifications ) for the laptop and placed his order. He was given a total and he told the sales rep that he wanted it fast and the Dell Rep promised he would have it within a week ( he paid for quick shipping ). Sunday I checked his order online and found out that he was not getting the parts in the Laptop that he had told me the night before and the price was $200.00 higher than he had told me, also they had his address wrong. I e-mailed John Sunday morning and luckily he used a computer on base and checked his e-mail and he was very upset and asked me to cancel his order so I did. They had already debited his bank account for the purchase. The estimated shipping date was September 25 with a delivery date of October 2nd, not a week later as he was told. When I called Dell I was told that he would get his money back within 10-15 business days. I advised John to go to his Bank ( The Navy Federal Credit Union ) and tell them what happened, he did that yesterday ( Monday ) and the banker told John that if Dell has not refunded his money to his account that they would take care of it with the help of the Navy Legal Department. I guess he should have known that something was going to happen when the Dell Sales Rep ( this one in The USA ) did not know what the "United States Navy" was. :)

I have been buying Dells for years now and have never had a problem with them. John said Sunday " I loved Dell computers but now I don't know if I will ever buy from them again". I feel the same way.

Once he is refunded his money I am going to help him buy a laptop and I will get a cheaper and better one for him. Just one piece of advice. DON'T order over the phone. Order online, that way you can see what components you are going to get before you pay the company the money. He didn't know that the Dell XPS M1330 has been having build and shipping problems when he placed his order ( he was out of the loop while in Boot Camp ) and couldn't read the latest tech news and the Sales Rep did not tell him.

When we get him his laptop I will let you know what he gets. I can tell you one thing ( It won't be a Dell ).
Read more about the Delays on the Dell XPS M1330 at these links from Dell.

From the Dell Blog Link 1

From the Dell Blog Link 2

Another article about the Dell Shipping Delays

UPDATE: His money was refunded back to him today. :) ( August 23, 2007 )

UPDATE: Dell also blames Inspiron delays on inability to paint stuff

Update: Friday, September 07, 2007

Dell CEO Blames Laptop Delays on Poor Planning

Another Call From My Son In The Navy

My son John called again last night at 12am. He had just got off duty. He is planning on buying a laptop computer this weekend. He is leaning towards the Lenovo ThinkPad T61p He wants Windows Vista Ultimate, at least 2 gigs memory, and a 7200 speed hard drive. It is also Powered by NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M video card and comes with Intel Core 2 Duo processors. The Lenovo can accommodate all that and has built-in speakers and is very reasonably priced starting at about $1200.00 It also received good reviews from www.notebookreview.com and is an Editors Choice at PC Magazine with a 4.5 out of 5 star rating and an Editors Choice at laptopmag.com. John was majoring in computer science in College and had completed 37 credits before joining the Navy.

Now for the Navy News, John said that he was picked to be on the "Navy Drill Team" but couldn't tell me much more about that until he gets all the details himself. He was exhausted when he called and was falling asleep while talking on the phone. Today is his day off so he plans on buying some food for his room and making a dental appt to get his teeth worked on along with several other things. I am still trying to get my daughter Cindy ( also in the Navy at Great Lakes ) to send me pictures that she took last weekend when she spent the weekend with her brother. Cindy is suffering from stress fractures from all the running and marching and is on light duty right now. As you can tell I am very Proud of both of my children that are serving our country with the United States Navy. :)

Dell designs a "desknote" Desktop / Notebook

Dell's new XPS M2010, which starts at $3,500, includes two hard drives with up to 120GB capacity each, a Core Duo processor and 4GB of dual-channel (667MHz) memory.

The Dell XPS M2010 comes with a detachable wireless Bluetooth-enabled keyboard. A remote acts as a mouse. At nearly 20 pounds, the new Dell XPS M2010 is almost twice the size of compact laptops. In addition to executing expected computer functions, the XPS M2010 is designed to be a multimedia device. It sports a combination DVD+RW drive, a built-in video camera and digital microphone, and a 256MB video card for DVDs, 2D gaming and most high-end 3D gaming. For easy transport, the Dell XPS M2010 features a handle attached to the case. Attached to the flat horizontal PC, which remains on the desk, is a 20.1-inch wide-screen monitor

The concept behind Dell's luggable XPS M2010 harkens back to the early days of the PC era, when just about anything smaller than a mainframe could be considered a portable computer. The original Compaq Portable, seen here, even matched up to the new Dell in price ($3,590, according to Oldcomputers.net) and weight (OK, at 28 pounds, it was still a little chunkier).


For that price, back in 1983, you got this: a 4.77MHz Intel 8088 processor, 128K of RAM, two floppy drives, a 9-inch monochrome monitor and MS-DOS.

See more at Cnet

Read Cnets Review of the XPS M2010