Happy Holidays

Enjoy the holidays! I will update the blog in 2009.

DisplayPort for Monitors

More monitors are starting to appear with a new port called the DisplayPort. What is it? A competitor to the HDMI port that is now common on most higher end monitors. Be warned HDMI and DisplayPort signals are not compatible with each other. The cables are slimmer and easier to connect. The connector pins will not bend like VGA. This should be a lower cost alternative to HDMI.
Currently the Dell UltraSharp 3008WFP has the DisplayPort.
The ATI FirePro V5700 is one graphics card that has the DisplayPort connection.
Pricing on video cards with the DisplayPort should start to drop after the first quarter as more of these appear in the market.

iPod vs. MP3 Players

A friend of mine came up to me and asked why he should buy an iPod when the MP3 player he saw at the local store was priced considerably less. He asked what was the difference.
It is true that both were MP3 players. The iPod was a brand that was made by Apple. In my experiences, the iPod is vastly superior to any other MP3 player on the market. My nephew bought an MP3 player that was a generic brand name and it stopped working after a few months. He was smart enough to get the extended warranty to get it fixed. He took it into the retail box store and they looked at it and just gave him a new unit because it was under warranty.
I have had issues with my iPod but I was always able to get the answers to my problems from the Apple web site. I have worked via email with a tech at Apple and they were very helpful in resolving problems. You will not get this with a generic MP3 player.
Service still ranks supreme! The iPod may cost more but it is worth it in the long run.

Let IT snow

Last night the midwest got pounded with another snow storm. A major IT reseller located in IL has only two warehouses, one in Chicago and one in Las Vegas. This should be interesting to see how they ship product out over the next few days.
It is important to stress the need to have several vendors to supply IT products in critical times. If you live outside of the snow ridden areas and are in need of a hard drive for the CEO's laptop, be sure to safeguard yourself and your company by using an IT supplier who has many warehouses and can work around the weather.

Getting IT Products in Bad Weather

The midwest is about to be pounded with a nasty snowstorm and Chicago will be right in the middle of it. Most major carriers use Chicago as a hub. If it is shut down, your overnight order that absolutely had to get there overnight, will not make it. The best way to make sure you get your IT products delivered in bad weather is to use a company that has multiple warehouses. MNJ Technologies uses 44 different warehouses in 21 states. A simple call to your MNJ Account Manager can have your order shipped from any one of those locations to avoid a bad weather delay.

Microsoft has quick fix for Internet Explorer

Microsoft is due to issue a patch to fix a security flaw believed to have affected as many as 10,000 websites.
The emergency patch should be available from 1800 GMT on 17 December, Microsoft has said.
The flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser could allow criminals to take control of people's computers and steal passwords.
Internet Explorer is used by the vast majority of computer users and the flaw could affect all versions of it.
So far the vulnerability has affected only machines running Internet Explorer 7.

HP 5% toner pricing increase

HP will be increasing its toner cost by 5% starting January 1. If you have any budget left for this year, you may want to stock up on toner cartridges. They usually have a shelf life of 2-2.5 years.