Welcome to the Pink Sheet, v.2
Your Place for Mr. Pink’s News and Very Own Hot Tips!

  Look Familiar? Top Reasons Why NOT
  to Buy a Clearance Sale Computer.

  Don't get fooled into obsolescence!

 

With the economy the way it is, computer companies are trying to provide consumers with systems at ultra reduced pricing. The problem is, however, often times these systems, regrettably, end up being bad purchases.

Here is a quick and easy way to tell if a desktop or laptop PC or Mac is well on its way to obsolescence: Does the system have an Intel "i" Series (i3, i5 or i7) or equivalent AMD processor?

  • If yes, then the system has a processor designed to work with Windows 7

  • If not, the system has processor that was designed to work with the (now out dated) Windows XP or Vista operating systems

If you’re in the market for a new computer, call Mr. Pink Computer Shrink at (805) 966-2966 for a free consultation before you buy! If you don’t call us, please take a look at the list and make sure you aren’t buying a computer that is ready to be retired and recycled.

Best

  • Intel Core i7 / i7 Mobile

  • AMD Phenom II X6

Good

  • Intel Core i5/ i5 Mobile

  • AMD Phenom II X4

OK

  • Intel Core i3 / i3 Mobile

  • AMD Phenom II X3 & X2

  • Intel Core 2 Quad

  • Intel Core 2 Extreme

  • Intel Core 2 Duo

  • AMD Phenom I X3 & Phenom I X4

Obsolete

  • Intel Pentium Dual Core

  • AMD Turion II Ultra / AMD Turion II

  • Intel Core Duo / Intel Core Solo

  • AMD Athlon II X2

  • Intel Centrino/Centrino Duo

  • AMD Sempron

  • Intel Atom (except for use in NetBook systems)

  • AMD Athlon Neo / Neo X2

Very Very Obsolete

  • Intel Pentium

  • Intel Celeron

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   Alternatives to Microsoft Office

   Two FREE Office Suite Solutions

If you are in the market for a new computer and don’t want to pay extra for Office 2010, or, you already have Office 2007 or 2010 on your system and can’t stand it, there are now viable options to using Microsoft Office software for your computer:

  • Google Docs - a great online solution that is Microsoft compatible

  • OpenOffice 3 - an office software suite that can be downloaded and installed on a PC

. . . . . .

Google docs

With any Google account (free) you can sign in and begin using Google Docs with your favorite browser (Internet Explorer, FireFox, Chrome, Safari, AOL etc.). With Google Docs you can create edit save and print documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms and drawings.  The amazing part is these can be done in Microsoft Office compatible formats (i.e. .doc, .xls, & .ppt) as well as Adobe’s format (.pdf).

Because documents are saved online, they are accessible from any internet-ready computer. Items can be uploaded to Google Docs for editing. Items in Google Docs can be downloaded to, emailed from and printed on your computer. You can also access and use Google Docs with your smart phone (iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, etc.).

One huge advantage is the ability to share items with others. In the office environment, more than one person can work on a document or spreadsheet at a time. Changes are essentially saved in real time so others can see your work as it is happening.

The only downside to Google Docs is a good internet connection is necessary in order to use it.


. . . . . .

OpenOffice 3

With OpenOffice 3, users can create edit save and print documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings and more. The software, installed on the computer of choice, looks and feels a lot like Office 2003. Once set, OpenOffice will use the standard Microsoft Office file types. This means no worries about compatibility.

Those with OpenOffice installed can create and edit documents on their designated computers with or without and internet connection. In combination with Google Docs, these users get the best of both worlds without having to spend any money.

Both Google Docs and OpenOffice use the standard pull-down style menus.

Google Docs Demo

Get a Google Account

Download OpenOffice 3.3


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   Catastrophic Failure 101

   Two Options for Online Backup Needs.

In recent months, we have had more than 10 customers come to us with crashed hard drives and no backups. A lucky few got all data back, a couple were able to get some of data back and the rest only had the option of sending crashed drives to a professional data recovery company - at a cost of $800 to $2,000 and no guarantees that data would be retrieved.

Both Mozy and Carbonite provide online backup solutions for both Mac's and PC's. Many Mr. Pink customers are extremely satisfied using these easy, online backup solutions.

Mozy offers 2GB of free backup. 2GB may not sound like a lot but many users can store all word documents and all their pdf's in 2GB of space. If more space is needed, unlimited backup is available for $5.99 per month. Click Here to check out Mozy.

Carbonite offers a fully functional 30-day trial of their online backup system. After 30-days, users can purchase Carbonite Online Backup for $54.95 per year. Click here to check out Carbonite.

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  avast! Our Fav`orite Free Antivirus

  AVG Got Too Big for Their Britches.

Over the years our recommendations for antivirus programs and other tools have changed many times. This is because we are constantly familiarizing ourselves with the most current utilities in order to judge which will best fit the needs of our customers. For instance, former favorite Spybot became too invasive, Ad-Aware started adversely effecting email, other programs we liked for their affordability factor weren't free anymore. And our longtime pal, AVG, dramatically started slowing down computers, along with standards Norton and McAfee.

avast! Free Antivirus has more than130 million users and is growing fast. In our tests, we found avast! Free Antivirus uses about one third of the resources that AVG 9 rree was requiring. This makes a huge difference and is one of the leading reasons why we now recommend it as our number one choice for systems still running AVG, particularly those that are three years old or older.

If you have AVG on your system, it is time for a tune-up. We can have AVG out, avast! in and fine-tune your system in about an hour. Call us for an appointment.

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  Why is My Ol' Computer So Slow?

  10 reasons you may have waited too long.

Here is a little list of reasons why your computer may be crawling along at a snail's pace. Read on to learn a few things you can do about it.

1. Your system no longer has enough memory for everything that is loaded up when you start Windows.

2. Your CPU isn't powerful enough to process all the data efficiently.

3. Your hard drive speed has always been slow or is getting slower.

4. Your internet connection is too slow.

5. Your system is overheating because it is clogged with dust.

6. Your antivirus software is bloated.

7. You have an active virus or malware on your system that is using resources as it does it's dirty work.

8. Your hard drive is completely disorganized and needs a few rounds of "defragmentation."

9. There is one piece of bad or broken software using more than its normal share of CPU time or memory.

10. You may be suffering from the Windows Vista operating system.

For #1-3; It's probably time to think about getting a new system that is up-to-date and able to handle Windows 7 along with the amount of data moving between your computer and the internet.

For #4; if you have COX internet service, you are probably paying for their slowest "Essential" internet service at 3Mb speed. This is not enough for some websites and streaming video. Call COX and upgrade. If you have Verizon or some other service, switch to COX.

For #5-9; a Mr. Pink service call is in order. You can try to fix these things yourself, but it is usually a combination of problems that will take a regular computer user many hours or days to sort out.

For #10 We should talk about your computer and determine if it has the guts to be upgraded to Windows 7. We have performed this upgrade on about 50 systems and every customer has been much happier with Windows 7!

 

  Friend us on Facebook

  News, Tips, Free Stuff, Specials

Every couple of days we read or hear about something we think our customers should know about. Our Facebook page is our main portal for dispersing these goodies. All our Facebook friends have the latest information. So if you're not already, become our friend on Facebook.

If you're already on Facebook, click here to
friend Mr. Pink Computer Shrink.

If you are not on Facebook... Um... Well... Call us?

In This Issue:

Credit Where
Credit is Due

Mr. Pink accepts payment via all major credit cards. We can accept credit card payment on the spot at the time of your service call, or offer you a Pay Now by credit card link on your emailed invoice. Just ask and we're happy to oblige.

Please note that Mr. Pink's policy is that payment is due at the time of service, unless prior arrangements have been made.

Your Two Cents

If there's a subject you'd like included in our newsletter, just let us know and we're happy to comply. CLICK HERE to email us your ideas.

Less Acne,
More Experience

We've been working with computers for more than 25 years.  Call us at:
(805) 966-2966 if you'd like to ask us anything under the sun. :-)

Mom & Pop
Know Best

Mr. Pink Computer Shrink is a home-based and locally-owned business.

This means competitive & reasonable rates for you!

CLICK HERE to check out our fees & services.
 

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