ShareThisBy JAMES DERK
Friday, October 27, 2006
Letters fill the space this week as readers have some thoughts and comments about recent columns.
Q: Your column about the TomTom One was pretty enthusiastic. I am in the market for a GPS for my car. How are map updates handled when new roads are added and things like that? Or are you stuck with what comes with the unit?
A: You periodically connect the TomTom One to your computer and download map updates to the memory card in the unit. Already I have seen some roads so new that my TomTom doesn't have them (just completed Interstate spurs for example). But updates are released relatively regularly. Still, after a month with my $499 TomTom One I could not be more pleased.
Q: Your column saying that office suites were heading in different directions didn't make that much sense to me. My new computer came with Microsoft Works and a trial version of Microsoft Office 2003 Small Business Edition that I uninstalled because it nagged me every time I opened it. What more do I need?
A: That was kind of my point. With the price of a cheap PC at $299, it's getting harder to justify spending $400 on Microsoft Office. So some people are making do with Works, which is less than $100 retail and usually free with a new PC (and probably will be available free for download sometime in 2007 would be my guess) or something like the Corel suite or the excellent Open Office suite which is completely free for the download at www.openoffice.org.
The vast majority of users don't use 90 percent of the tools in office suites...they don't mail merge; they don't concatenate. They open a word processor and write a letter or open a spreadsheet and run some numbers. That's it. Any suite can do that, including Works or a free one. There's no need to pony up $300 or $400 for this whole package that you will never need.
Q: You mentioned in your column to be wary of music rental packages versus buying songs by the download. It seems much cheaper to have a monthly fee if you plan to download lots of songs.
A: OK, but keep in mind that if you ever quit paying that monthly lease fee on that music ever, ever, ever (when you're old and gray) then the music becomes unplayable. So what you're doing is the musical equivalent of a 50-year lease on a 99-cent commodity. You can pay a buck to own the rights to it or a flat rate a month for the rights to listen to it.
I'd rather pay the buck and have it on my hard drive, my Ipod, back it up to CD and have a physical aspect to the ownership. That's just me though. I don't lease cars, either.
Q: How long to DVDs and CDs that you burn at home last? I keep reading that they may not last as long as we think they will.
A: There is some ongoing debate and study about this now. But it is safe to say if stored well you can get years of storage out of these. Some say 50 years or more. Keep them in a cool dark spot and back up the ones that are sacred to you to the "next" technology. (I just sent off all of my 8mm tapes to be transferred to digital.)
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: Time for the Hunger Site. One click a day and you can feed the world. (www.hungersite.com)
(James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair company, and a computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim(at)cyberdads.com.)
