Holiday electronics buying guide
Hi there-
Just a quick email before Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
I recently found a werbpage by Mozilla, the foundation behind Mozilla Firefox, that most excellent of web browsers. They ranked various connected ‘smart’ devices according to their security and privacy, indeed…according to their ‘creepiness’! Which is to say, the possibility of them spying on you or hackers breaking into them and doing the same. Here’s the list for your perusal:
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/
A new computer?
Beyond that, if you are going to buy a new computer (perhaps because yours has Windows 7, which is soon to be out of date), here’re some pointers:
1) Get one with an SSD (solid-state drive). Do not buy a computer without an SSD. Period. This component will dramatically improve the performance of the computer yet cost almost the same amount.
2) I offer hardware recommendations as a free service, so it doesn’t hurt to ask. I want to make sure you don’t buy something that I have to pretend to like instead of actually like. I don’t want you to get less than you could.
3) When buying a computer, don’t buy the extended warranty, unless it covers physical damage such as drops and water damage and you are prone to such mishaps.
4) Do not be talked into buying any additional software with the computer unless we’ve discussed it first. They’ll usually try to sell you Microsoft Office and an antivirus. I’d rather recommend a specific antivirus, and we should make sure you actually need to pay for a new MS Office license instead of using one you have or an alternate solution. Talk to me first!
5) Computer hardware is such a tight market that Black Friday deals and such usually aren’t that much better than everyday prices. Don’t feel like you need to get trampled in line at the store this Friday unless you enjoy that sort of thing.
Let me know if I can help further and have a Happy Thanksgiving.
-Chris
Happy to help
Let me know how I can help!
chris@watchdogtechnology.com
952-681-8325