Message sent to Verizon Wireless about google voice app incurring minutes using WiFi

Side issue: I am logged in to my account yet I must enter ALL my info to send a message. Is this a way to discourage messages?

I have the Motorola Droid running Android 2.0. I loaded the google voice app. When I call with the google voice app using the Verizon Wireless 3G network I get charged minutes. OK, that makes some sense.

However, I also get charged when I call with the google voice app using a WiFi connection. This does not make sense. Here is a recent example that caught my attention:

12/04/2009 02:04 PM 5183149466 37 PLATTSBG

That phone number is used by the google voice app for all my outgoing calls.

I should NOT be charged voice minutes against my plan of 450 voice minutes per month when I call with the google voice app using a WiFi connection.

Google Voice for Droid

I finally found a substantive use for google voice. There's an app to run it from my Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid. I have tried it using WiFi. Next I'll try it using the Verizon Wireless 3G network. That should work, too.

When using the Verizon Wireless 3G network to make google voice calls, what will be increased:

1. voice plan minutes
2. data plan bytes?

If data plan bytes, it seems that one could use google voice all the time and not incur any voice plan minutes to make outgoing calls. That would be cool.

Droid

I bought the Motorola Droid for Verizon Wireless. Best feature, which is also totally under appreciated in formal reviews:

SYNC!

The damn thing does auto sync directly between the Droid and gmail contacts and calendar! No PC! That revolting iPod Touch that I tried for a day required a PC to get it started so that the evil Apple Computers, Inc. could force you to register with its money sucking iTunes software. That's just to get the iPod Touch started. If you simply wanted to connect to the Internet and not listen to music you could not!

Google's FREE syncing works well, although a contact's address is still a one field mess in gmail. In the Droid postal address, as it is known, is broken into discreet fields.

Sprint, the deceiver!

Yesterday I saw TV ads with the Sprint CEO promoting Sprint's new calling plan, which includes free calls to any mobile phone. I was tempted. I just checked the Sprint web site. This plan starts at $70! What the heck? That's because it requires the data plan with only 450 minutes to non-mobile phones. In other words, the same type of plan that I could get from ATT or Verizon. Since they have most of the mobile phones, it's not much of a plan.

It also appears to cover only outgoing calls, not incoming.

No thanks.

Wither a cool Verizon Wireless device?

My trusty three and half year old Palm Treo 700P died. The jack for the headset stopped working, preventing the mic from working. Who would have thought that? I tried using my old Motorola blue tooth head set (never liked its performance), figuring it would bypass the mic, but that thing would not come to life after not being used for years even though I kept the battery charged ... I thought.

I considered my wireless options: iPhone on ATT, Palm Pre on Sprint, G1 google phone on T-Mobile. I really wanted to stay with the Verizon Wireless network hoping that it would approve a cool device soon enough to reward my patience. Supposedly the Palm Pre will be on the Verizon Wireless network early in 2010.

I dusted off my previous phone, an LG, and switched my Verizon Wireless account back to it. It works fine! I still have the car charger, which also works. I set up my old Palm TX to sync with MS Outlook on my PC. Bingo, back to the future. This is what I used four years ago before I bought the Palm Treo 700P for $400. Now, however, I have the Verizon Wireless MiFi modem, which works well with the Palm TX via WiFi, connecting it to the web. The only uncool thing is the need to carry three items: LG phone, Palm TX, MiFi modem.

I will probably get whichever of the three smart phones becomes available on Verizon Wireless: iPhone, Palm Pre, (G1 or some other running the Android OS). Unless Verizon Wireless does something unexpected and introduces a device that the other service providers do not already have. It would require a significant change in corporate culture and is very unlikely. Verizon Wireless could also consider some creativity in its billing plans. ATT has rollover minutes. Verizon Wireless has a favorites option but it would require me to increase my monthly cost from $40 (plus tax and tip over 25%) to $60; it would increase my allowed minutes from 450 to 900.

When will a U.S. wireless service provider charge only for outgoing calls and not for incoming calls? I think that's how it is done in Europe. Here, both the caller and called are charged minutes.

Nokia renages.

Despite spending almost two hours on the phone Friday and having Nokia tell me that it would waive the 15% restocking charge, when I called today Monday to get a return authorization (RA) number Nokia acted like it had never heard of me and charged the 15%. I just took the RA and ended the call. You can't fight city hall or customer service.

Verzion Wireless, save me from all this! Get some good devices.

Nokia N810

I tried using it. Advertised softaware is not loaded but lised. The user can decide to load it. I had the N810 load Rhapsody.

Then I tried to have it load Skype. Error message indicated that I needed to upgrade the Nokia N810 software. More evidence that Nokia sent me an old device. I downloaded the required program but received another error message indicating that the N810 could not recognize the file type.

That was it. I removed the battery and packed it into its box. Monday I will call Nokia the get a return Authorization (RA) number.

Nokia N810 arrived: used, NOT new!

It is clearly used. Packaging makes that obvious. I paid for new and got used!

I am on hold with Nokia, which wants ME to pay to return it for a new device plus 15% restocking! Apple only hit me for 10% restocking when I returned the iPod Touch.

I asked Nokia to check its inventory system and determine whether the device had already been sold and returned. I'm waiting for the answer.

This sucks.

These companies do not deal with customers well at all.

Forty minutes on this call to Nokia and WAITING!

What will Nokia decide? The tension mounts. Plus, stupid Verizon Wireless cannot handle my switch to paperless billing. I called and its systems are down!

What the heck?

Nokia group to provide a return authorization (RA) number have all gone home. They are in Indiana.

I am on hold for the group that MAY be able to tell me if this device had been sold and returned before it was shipped to me.

Apple is starting to look good.

On hold with person looking up my Nokia device. One hour, three minutes. Thank goodness I'm using Skype.

74 minutes. I grow weak.

80 minutes.

90 minutes. Nokia will wave the 15% but charge me for shipping. I said no. They are checking again.

95 minutes.

100 minutes. They are sending me back to sales, which dumped onto some semi techie group. Nokia could not tell me whether I had to pay for shipping, the reason I was placed on hold.

I played with it while I was on hold. I think I will return it no matter what. It sucks.

Verizon Wireless, get something: Palm Prem G1, G2, even the damn iPhone! Something!

112 minutes. It's over. Nothing resolved. I must call back Monday.

Oh, the humanity!

Linux Ubuntu returns!

Yes and it is actually installed and working on my trusty four year old Dell eight pound laptop. I received the version 9.04 CD from The Netherlands in record time.

Initially, I ran it from the CD. Then in a bold move I had it create its own partition on my 40 gig hard drive and install. At start up I have the option to boot either Ubuntu or WindowsXP. It's working well.

However, it limited the size of the partition and there appears to be almost no free space. It presented me with a long list of program updates that cannot be installed because they need almost 400 meg of disk space and I seem to have less than 100 meg free. I tried removing some programs such as Open Office but that did not free nearly enough space.

Both the Update Manager and Add/Remove apps seem to have been created by some being from a nearby galaxy, not too far from our own but not too close either.

Hey, at least it's working.

Nokia N810 back ordered.

I ordered it directly from Nokia. Let's see if they produce and ship it. Price is $229, same as the iPod Touch from the hated and deservedly so Apple Computers.

Nokia has a real slide out keyboard. It's an Internet tablet, not a phone. This is the WiFi only version, no WiMax.

Acer supprt: still dense.

Response (Arun_GWSI663) - 07/20/2009 06:42 AM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you with this issue.

As per your Serial number we verified that your product is in Warranty.

I understand that you are unable to do recovery using the recovery partition, and also find out that there is no eRecovery program installed in the PC.

Could you please understand that you can install it from the recovery CD.

So could you please go though this link for purchase the recovery the recovery CD: https://secure.tx.acer.com/RCDB/Main.aspx?brand=acer.

_________________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 8:37 AM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident: 090711-000847]

How about letting me download it? If it fits on a CD, it must be no larger than about 650 meg, right?

The Acer eRecovery program is supposed to already be on my PC. Why should I pay for something that I am supposed to have?

Plus, my Acer netbook does NOT have a CD drive. You should know that, plus I have informed Acer support about that in this thread alone, MANY times.

Acer support: still crazy after all these years.

Response (Shelly_GWSI408) - 07/20/2009 12:42 AM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you.

I understand that you are unable to do recovery using the recovery partition. As per our records your computer is in warranty.

We would recommend you to purchase the recovery CD and do the recovery with the help of an external optical drive.

To order replacement recovery discs/media, please refer to Acer's online order form located at:

https://secure.tx.acer.com/RCDB/Main.aspx?brand=acer.

This can also be found under the eRecovery CD Purchase link at:

http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/forms/webpage.cfm?siteid=7293&areaid=7&website=AcerPanAm.com/us.

__________________________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 6:12 AM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident: 090711-000847]

Why?

Why would I pay any more money to Acer for something that is supposed to work but does not?

Go back and read the exchange of messages between Acer and me. You will find a consistent pattern of silly suggestions from Acer, which show that Acer support people do not use common sense.

Are you trying to make me hate Acer? Your eRecovery program is apparently not installed on my Acer PC and you do not want to admit

it.

I would not recommend Acer. This would not happen with Dell or HP.

Acer support: you cannot make up stuff like this.

Response (Hashim_GWSI667) - 07/19/2009 04:52 PM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you.

I am glad to inform you that as per our record your product is in warranty.

Having reviewed your email, I understand that your Netbook is having some issues with its performance and you need to know how to do recovery using eRecovery.

You could get complete eRecovery steps from the following link :-

http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/forms/portal20.cfm?recordid=1156&formid=3390&website=acerpanam.com&siteid=7117&words=all&keywords=&areaid=2

___________________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Sun, Jul 19, 2009 at 9:45 PM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident: 090711-000847]

"Immediately, press ALT on the keyboard and start tapping F10.

Continue holding ALT and tapping F10 as the unit boots up."

Screen stating "Starting Acer Erecovery" does NOT appear.

I tried it a couple of times. It does NOT work!

Acer support: the beat goes on.

Response (Akash PRamesh) - 07/18/2009 01:17 PM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you with this issue. I am glad to inform you that as per our record your product is in warranty.

Having reviewed your email, I understand that your netbook is having some issues with its performance and you need to know how to do recovery using partition.

Aaa, in order to do recovery using the recovery partition I would recommend you to click on start, click on all programs and select empowering technology.
_________________________________________
fromKenneth Matinale <matinale@gmail.com>toAcer Technical Support <acer1@mailwc.custhelp.com>
dateSun, Jul 19, 2009 at 3:37 PMsubjectRe: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident: 090711-000847]

"click on start, click on all programs and select empowering technology."

There is nothing like "empowering technology". Please provide more info. Thanks.

Apple iPod Touch returned ... ten percent charge.

I arrived at the mall about 9:45AM. The Apple store opens at 10AM and about half a dozen people were already waiting outside. This was odd because customers were already inside and an Apple employee (Applista) was coming out to see if any of us had early appointments.

At 10AM I entered and indicated that I was returning an Apple iPod Touch. There was some grumbling among Apple employees, apparently bracing for the day's onslaught. I was asked why I was returning it and stated that it did not function as a stand alone product, that when I turned it on I saw an image that wanted me to use iTunes. An Applista suggested that iTunes would enable it and I said that iTunes on my PC presented me with an agreement and that I would not declare my allegiance to iTunes.

OK, we were ready for the actual return:

Applista: There is a ten percent re-stocking charge.

Ken: I was not told that.

Applista: It's on the receipt.

Ken: The receipt was sent to me by e-mail.

Applista: Then you received it.

Ken: Not while I was in the store and could do something about it.

Applista: Well, there's nothing that I can do about it.

That cost me $23. I took the hit and left, never to return again. Apple has alienated me.

Acer support: the final insult, declaring the unsolved problem solved

Classic case of a company ignoring what the customer tells it.

**********************************

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 8:16 AM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident: 090711-000847]

Just tell me how "to do system recovery ... using the recovery

partition". Instructions in the pfd file have not worked.

_________________________________________

Response (Akash PRamesh) - 07/18/2009 08:10 AM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you with this issue.

I am glad to inform you that as per our record your product is in warranty.

Having reviewed your email, I understand that your netbook is having some issues with its performance and you need to know how to do recovery using partition.

Aaa, please go through the link for doing recovery using empowering technology http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/data/7117/documents/Acer%20eRecovery%20Management.pdf

There would be a data loss if you are using RCD. So please take back up of your data before you do a recovery. To take a back up, you can contact Answers by Acer which is a paid support or else you can take the system to any local store nearby.

Your service request has been updated, please make a note of the SR number:1-524JJQ for future references.

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site

http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/forms/webpage.cfm?website=acerpanam.com&siteid=7117&areaid=2

Thank you for contacting Acer,

Have a great day!

Respectfully,

Acer America

Online Technical Support

Customer (Aaa Ken) - 07/18/2009 07:25 AM

- Show quoted text ---

Last Updated: 07/18/2009 08:10 AM

Status: Solved

_________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 12:41 PM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident: 090711-000847]

http://techthoughtsmatinale.blogspot.com/

Hey, clown, check the blog above. The entire world knows how lousy Acer support is. I just wrote to Acer (again) that the Acer recovery pdf file did not have good info and you tell me to read it, then declare the problem SOLVED!?

That is terrible support.

Apple, the evil empire, adds a touch of evil.

Yesterday I bought an Apple iPod Touch. I will return it today.

When it is powered on it does not start up. It shows an image of a USB cable with an arrow pointing to an iTunes icon. It is crippled. When I attach it to my Windows PC an iTunes service agreement appears on my PC. I must agree to continue. I declined.

I bought it to access the web and run Skype. However, Apple will not let me do those things without buying into its insidious all encompassing iTunes world. No thanks.

Plus, where does it say that I must have a PC to use an iPod Touch?

What if my PC runs a non-iTunes OS: Linux, ChromeOS (future), whatever?

Acer support ... MORONIC!

Here are the messages exchanged between me and Acer support over six days regarding the very SLOW performance of my Acer netbook running WindowsXP. There are some common themes:

1. Acer does not respond directly to what a customer writes.

2. Acer does not know what PC I have.

3. Acer does not know whether my model PC is made by Acer or by one of its acquisitions such as Gateway.

4. Acer cannot provide solutions to its own problems, specifically, system recovery.

____________________________________

Customer (aaa Ken) - 07/11/2009 07:25 PM

Processors [Incident: 090709-000123]

Acer: Come on, come on! I sent this screen shot to you a day ago. It clearly shows TWO processors, both in device manager and in task manager.

Please explain the TWO processors.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Ken

Date: Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 9:08 AM

To: matinale@gmail.com

You are invited to view a photo from Ken's photo album: Tech View Photo

Message from Ken:

View the TWO processors in my Acer netbook. If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=matinale&target=PHOTO&id=5356816930879671810

&aid=5356816224913769969&authkey=Gv1sRgCIXasL-0sPrGuQE&invite=CLSdjMsD&feat=email

To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

____________________________________

Response (Rajesh P) - 07/11/2009 11:00 PM

Dear aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America.This is Rajesh. I’ll be happy to assist you in this issue.

It is extremely hard to determine the exact cause from the information you have provided.

With this in mind, could you please give more detailed information about the issue/error message if any or any other information that you think may help us to help you.

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site http://Acer.com/

Have a great day!

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 9:16 AM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

See attached file. It is a screen shot that clearly shows TWO processors in BOTH:

- device manager

- task manager.

Please explain why there are TWO processors and how TWO processors impact performance.

Thank you.

__________________________________

Response (Shefin) - 07/12/2009 08:54 AM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you.

I understand that you can see two processors in device manger and task manager.

Please note that, if you are using Hyperthreading processor with your computer, it will shows two processors in device manager. That means there is one physical processor and two logical processors, it works like two but there is only one processor.

We are sorry that we'll not be able to pull up your computer records without the serial number. In order to assist you better we would like to have the Serial number of your system. We would recommend you to verify the correct Serial Number which is 22 or 13 character alphanumeric or 11 digit SNID number before sending the same to us.

You could locate the serial number:

On the bottom of a notebook

On the back or side of a desktop

Under the front sliding door on a desktop

On the original computer box

We would also recommend you to confirm whether you bought the system from US or Canada.

I will do the needful after getting the required information. For further clarifications

please feel free to visit our web site http://Acerpanam.com/

Have a great day!

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 12:54 PM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

I sent all that info. I am away from the Acer netbook now.

I did not install hyperthreading. I never heard of it. Acer must have done it. Could that slow down my Acer pc?

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 3:20 PM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

nvoice# 553430140

SSCC# (00)047182358002188744

LoadID: U21868-005,113

MFSG.DATE:0811 AOA 110-1588

S/N: LUS030B0438482A2972536

SNID: 84817269525

On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 9:54 AM, Acer Technical

__________________________________

Response (Shefin) - 07/12/2009 02:40 PM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you.

I understand that the computer shows two processors in device manger and task manager. I have verified the serial number and found that the computer is in warranty.

Please note that Hyperthreading is an advanced technology for the Processors. If the computer is having a Processor with Hyperthreading, it will shows two processors in device manager. That means there is one physical processor and two logical processors, it works like two but there is only one processor. It will increase the ability of the Processor. There is nothing to worry about it.

I sincerely hope the above information will help you with the issue. Please make a note

of the service request number, 1-51GV7G for further assistance.

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site http://Acerpanam.com/

Have a great day!

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 4:05 PM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

1-51GV7G

OK, if two processors is not the problem, then why is it so slow? I added only a few new programs:

- google Chrome, Updater, Desktop

- Skype

- Norton Internet Security (turned off everything)

- VZ Manager (for mobile broadband) - not used

Removed MS Office

Deleted MS Works (would not uninstall)

On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 3:40 PM, Acer Technical

__________________________________

Response (Shefin) - 07/12/2009 04:27 PM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you with the system performance issue.

Please go to the link given below and follow the instructions to resolve the performance issue with your computer.

http://support.gateway.com/s/Checklists/Q42006/ck2006110918.shtml

I sincerely hope the above information will help you with the issue. Please make a note

of the service request number, 1-51GV7G for further assistance.

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site http://Acerpanam.com/

Have a great day!

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 5:45 PM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

1. It's an ACER, not a Gateway!

2. Don't you know how much RAM is installed? It's YOUR PC! One gig.

3. I do the rest. It's boiler plate junk.

This PC stinks. How do I return it?

RSVP

On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 5:27 PM, Acer Technical

__________________________________

Response (Praveen_GWSI407) - 07/12/2009 07:42 PM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I will be happy to assist you with the system performance issue.

After verifying your information, we found that your product is in warranty.

Please go through the provided the link to resolve the system performance issue.

Would you please provide us with more detailed information about the issue/error message if any or any other information that may you think would help us would be a welcome.

Your service request id is:- 1-51GV7G

It's been a pleasure assisting you.

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our website:- http://Acerpanam.com

Have a great day!

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 6:42 PM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

Refund!

I'm sick of this Acer!

How do I get my money back?

__________________________________

Response (Anoop_GWSI352) - 07/14/2009 08:44 PM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you with the system performance issue .

As per our records, your computer is in warranty .

I am really sorry for the inconvenience that you have experienced .

Please go to uninstall the Norton anti-virus and then check whether the issue is resolved or not. You could uninstall the Norton software by going into control panel- add or remove programs-click on Norton anti-virus and then click on remove .

Please do reply with the result .

The service request number for this issue is 1-51GV7G .

For further clarifications, please feel free to visit our web site http://acerpanam.com/

Have a great day !

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 10:01 PM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

I turned off Norton. I want a refund!

REFUND!

__________________________________

Response (Chaithra) - 07/15/2009 01:03 AM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you.

For resolving the issue you may please perform a system recovery.

For performing the issue you may go through the following link:

http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/data/7117/documents/Acer%20eRecovery%20Management.pdf

Note: Please note System recovery completely erases the C partition and reinstalls factory-shipped files from the recovery partition. All your personal data files and applications will be lost. Be sure that you have your data files backed up before performing this option.

Service Request: 1-524JJQ

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site

http://www.acerpanam.com/

Have a great day!

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 6:38 AM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

1-524JJQ

How can I set it up for dual boot with two partitions:

1. WindowsXP

2. Linux Ubuntu?

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 7:50 AM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

Service Request: 1-524JJQ

"burn the factory image (from the hidden partition) to an optical disk."

This is a NETbook. There is no optical disk!

__________________________________

Response (Alvin_GWSI662) - 07/15/2009 07:12 AM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you with the issue regarding your system.

While going through your system record in our database, we came to know that your system is in warranty.

You can also perform the system recovery using recovery CD.

You may use an external USB CD drive to perform the system recovery.

Below are the steps to rebuild your computer back to factory configuration. Please note that the instructions that appear on the screen when they start to reload the HDD have a small typo.

The instructions referenced Recovery CD 1.

They should have referenced Recovery CD 2.

1) Power up your system

2) Press the CD-ROM eject button and insert the System CD

3) Close the CD-ROM tray

4) Press CTRL-ALT-DEL to reboot the system.

5) Press F12 to select the boot drive option when you see the Acer splash screen

6) Select Boot from CD option

7) The system will boot from the System CD (CD 1)

8) Follow the on-screen instruction to restore your system.

9) When the restore from CD function is complete and the system is booted into Windows,

re-insert the System CD and let the CD auto-play.

10) Click the "Restore to factory default"

11) Remove the System CD and insert the "Applications CD". Re-install the desired applications from this CD.

You can restore your computer and operating system to factory settings using this recovery CD. It will install the Operating System, all the pre-installed Software and all the drivers of your system. Recovery disc configures your system to the factory defaults. There would be a data loss if you are using RCD. So please take back up of your data before you do a recovery.

Please make a note of your updated SR(Service request) No# mentioned below for further reference

SR No# : 1-524JJQ

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site http://Acerpanam.com/

Have a great day!

__________________________________

from Ken:

07/16/2009 01:18 PM

http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/data/7117/documents/Acer%20eRecovery%20Management.pdf

Using Acer eRecovery Management

"By pressing the hotkey Alt + F10 during the boot-up process, or at any time when you are running Microsoft® Windows®."

This does not work.

__________________________________

Response (Sumesh_GWSI673) - 07/16/2009 04:30 PM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. Ill be happy to assist you with this issue.

I understand from your mail that you have an issue with system.

In order to resolve the issue please perform system recovery using Recovery Disk. Please refer the previous mail to get steps for the same.

Below are the steps to rebuild your computer back to factory configuration. Please note that the instructions that appear on the screen when they start to reload the HDD have a small typo.

The instructions referenced Recovery CD 1.

They should have referenced Recovery CD 2.

1) Power up your system

2) Press the CD-ROM eject button and insert the System CD

3) Close the CD-ROM tray

4) Press CTRL-ALT-DEL to reboot the system.

5) Press F12 to select the boot drive option when you see the Acer splash screen

6) Select Boot from CD option

7) The system will boot from the System CD (CD 1)

8) Follow the on-screen instruction to restore your system.

9) When the restore from CD function is complete and the system is booted into Windows,

re-insert the System CD and let the CD auto-play.

10) Click the "Restore to factory default"

11) Remove the System CD and insert the "Applications CD". Re-install the desired applications from this CD.

You can restore your computer and operating system to factory settings using this recovery CD. It will install the Operating System, all the pre-installed Software and all the drivers of your system. Recovery disc configures your system to the factory defaults. There would be a data loss if you are using RCD. So please take back up of your data before you do a recovery. To take a back up, you can contact Answers by Acer which is a paid support or else you can take the system to any local store nearby.

Please make a note of the service request number:1-524JJQ

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site

http://www.acerpanam.com/

Have a great day!

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 5:08 AM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

I just told you that Alt F10 does NOT bring up recovery program. Are you sure that works on my netbook?

__________________________________

Response (Santo JohnE) - 07/17/2009 05:18 AM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you…

After verifying your email I came to understand that you are facing issues related to recovery.

If you dont have recovery cd please follow the steps below to purchase it.

You may restore your computer and operating system to factory settings using this recovery CD. It will install the Operating System, all the pre-installed Software and all the drivers of your system. You need to back up the entire data before using the RCD. You may either place an order for a recovery CD online or if you are interested we may send across one for you. If you need us to place an order for the CD, you will need to provide a method of payment. The Restore CD cost approximately $19.95 including shipping and handling on your Credit Card. FedEx would deliver the CD at your door steps and may take 7 - 14 business days to arrive, depending on the availability of the recovery disc. Recovery process resets your system to the factory defaults. Please be advised that there would be a data loss if you are using Recovery CD. So please take back up of your data. Acer disowns any kind liability in account of Data Loss.

Alternately, if you are skeptical on giving your credit card information, you may place an order for recovery online. Please visit the following link, which would help you purchase an RCD online.

https://secure.tx.acer.com/RCDB/Main.aspx?brand=acer

Below are the steps to rebuild your computer back to factory configuration. Please note that the instructions that appear on the screen when they start to reload the HDD have a small typo.

The instructions referenced Recovery CD 1.

They should have referenced Recovery CD 2.

1) Power up your system

2) Press the CD-ROM eject button and insert the System CD

3) Close the CD-ROM tray

4) Press CTRL-ALT-DEL to reboot the system.

5) Press F12 to select the boot drive option when you see the Acer splash screen

6) Select Boot from CD option

7) The system will boot from the System CD (CD 1)

8) Follow the on-screen instruction to restore your system.

9) When the restore from CD function is complete and the system is booted into Windows, re-insert the System CD and let the CD auto-play.

10) Click the "Restore to factory default"

11) Remove the System CD and insert the "Applications CD". Re-install the desired applications from this CD.

You can restore your computer and operating system to factory settings using this recovery CD. It will install the Operating System, all the pre-installed Software and all the drivers of your system. Recovery disc configures your system to the factory defaults. There would be a data loss if you are using RCD. So please take back up of your data before you do a recovery. To take a back up, you can contact Answers by Acer which is a paid support or else you can take the system to any local store nearby.

Please make a note of the service request number:1-524JJQ

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site

http://www.acerpanam.com/

Have a great day!

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 11:18 AM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

This Acer netbook does NOT have a CD drive. Do you want me to buy that too?

The Alt and F10 keys are supposed to start the recovery program, which is supposed to be stored on Acer solid state memory but that does not work as I have written TWICE before.

__________________________________

Response (Santo JohnE) - 07/17/2009 11:45 AM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you…

After verifying your email I came to understand that you are facing issue related to

recovery.

Please arrange an external optical drive and do the recovery as prescribed in the previous mail.

Please make a note of the service request number:1-524JJQ

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site

http://www.acerpanam.com/

Have a great day!

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 2:55 PM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

Arrange how? What happened to the recovery program that Acer is supposed to have on my PC?

__________________________________

Response (Vinay MV) - 07/17/2009 05:13 PM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I would be happy to assist you with the eRecovery management software cannot be loaded issue.

As per our records your system is in warranty.

Have you installed any other Operating system?

Have you deleted the Recovery partition, usually D:/ partition?

Please get back to us with the relevant information regarding the above questions.

We will do the needful after getting the information.

Your SR number for this issue is: 1-524JJQ

For further clarifications, please visit our website http://www.acerpanam.com/

Thank you for contacting Acer,

Have a nice day!

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 6:21 PM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

No other OS installed on Acer.

D drive is the SD card. You should know that.

Is the recovery partition something that I can see? I thought it was hidden.

__________________________________

Response (Chaithra) - 07/18/2009 12:16 AM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you with this issue.

Please try performing system recovery using recovery disks. For that you need to purchase external CD drive.

Service Request: 1-524JJQ

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site

http://www.acerpanam.com/

Have a great day!

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 6:49 AM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident:

090711-000847]

You want me to "purchase external CD drive"? This is not acceptable.

What happened to the recovery program that my Acer netbook is supposed to have on it? Please address that and do not ask me to spend any more money on this Acer PC. Thank you.

__________________________________

Response (Akash PRamesh) - 07/18/2009 07:08 AM

Dear Aaa Ken,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you with this issue.

I am glad to inform you that as per our record your product is in warranty.

Having reviewed your email, I understand that your netbook is having some issues with its performance.

Aaa, the only way to improve the system performance is to do system recovery. You can do it either using the recovery partition or CD. And about how to set it up for dual boot with two partition since this issue involves third party software, we fall short of resources with which we could better diagnose and resolve it for you. However Acer technicians are bound to support its customers with the removal or installation of any hardware or software shipped across with Acer machines. But they are not trained on all the advanced features of the software or hardware Acer sells.

Because this calls up on a higher level of expertise the advance troubleshooting, we only have support over the phone on these issues and it is chargeable. You may avail this support on 1-866-621-2237 at a rate of $2.95 per minute with the slots 30 minutes ($59.99), 90 minutes ($129.99), or 15 issues ($199.99) and the validity will be 1 year which can be billed to a credit card.

Note: Items from the Acer Accessory Store are fully supported by the manufacturer of the hardware or publisher of the software that you purchased.

I sincerely hope that one of these options provides a resolution for this issue.

Your service request has been updated, please make a note of the SR number:1-524JJQ for future references.

For further clarifications please feel free to visit our web site

http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/forms/webpage.cfm?website=acerpanam.com&siteid=7117&areaid=2

Thank you for contacting Acer,

Have a great day!

__________________________________

from Kenneth Matinale

to Acer Technical Support

date Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 8:16 AM

subject Re: Invitation to view a photo from Ken's Picasa Web Album - Tech [Incident: 090711-000847]

Just tell me how "to do system recovery ... using the recovery partition". Instructions in the pfd file have not worked.

__________________________________

Linux Ubuntu: not again!

OK, I must be an idiot for even considering installing the Linux Ubuntu operating system (OS) again after all the trouble I had with it already installed on my first netbook from Dell.

After returning the Dell netbook in January I finally received my free CD with Ubuntu 8.10. I put it aside. A couple of days ago I tried to run Ubuntu on my 3.5 year old 15.4 inch Dell laptop, two gig RAM. It booted from the CD and ran pretty efficiently after loading up. I am running Ubuntu now.

So, I figured it may save that stupid Acer netbook that runs Windows slower each day. However, the Acer has no CD drive. It has an SD slot and USB ports, which could accommodate my SanDisk four gig flash drive. The objective would be to make the flash drive bootable with Ubuntu. Seems simple enough.

Argh! Fear and loathing!

I went to Ubuntu land and found that in six short months the version of Ubuntu had gone from 8.10 to 9.4! What the heck? The version I had seemed ancient. I ordered a new free 9.4 CD, which will take 6-8 weeks, I'm sure to encourage you to pay for something approaching normal delivery time. Could these clowns make it available on a flash drive? Who the heck uses CDs any more?

I downloaded two versions of Ubuntu 9.4:

1. to my Dell
2. to my Acer; this version is optimized for the small screen of netbooks.

On the Dell when I tried to run an .ISO file it fired up Nero (to make it bootable and/or burnable, who remembers?), which stated that my trial period had ended and that I needed to pay $80 to even attempt to enter the vast underworld of creating an Ubuntu boot device.

I hit on the idea of removing Nero from the Dell, figuring that maybe I could start a new trial period. Nero ran a special un-install that took an hour.

Meanwhile I downloaded the netbook version of Ubuntu onto the Acer and encountered an image file that could not be executed.

I'll read through my previous posts and maybe I'll find a clue to making this Ubuntu portable and installable. What a joke. These feel good open system freebies never seem to work. Try some of the open system Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) programs. Good luck getting them to work. There's a reason that proprietary Skype dominates VoIP: it freakin' works!

Google's Chrome OS, announced four days ago, cannot arrive fast enough.

I also stumbled onto a site that provides instructions for running MacOS on x86 PCs.

Acer netbook: screen shot of TWO processors!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=matinale&target=PHOTO&id=5356816930879671810&aid=5356816224913769969&authkey=Gv1sRgCIXasL-0sPrGuQE&invite=CLSdjMsD&feat=email

Let's see how Acer support responds to this proof.

Acer responds and so do I.

from Acer Technical Support

reply-to Acer Technical Support

to ken@matinale.net

date Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 10:37 AM

subject Processors [Incident: 090709-000123]

signed-by mailwc.custhelp.com

Response (Arun_GWSI663) - 07/09/2009 09:37 AM

Dear Kenneth Matinale,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. I’ll be happy to assist you with this issue.

As per your Serial number we verified that your product is in Warranty.

I understand that you are facing an issue related to the processors.

We would like to inform you that there is only one processor in the system.In the task manager it shows the Central processing unit usage history and the page file usagehistory, it is not the two processors.

As per your mail we found that your system have an issue related to the slow performance.

Are any LEDs (lights) lit on the system and do you hear the power supply fan blowing?

Have recently changed anything? Have you installed more memory, a new hard drive, downloaded or installed new software etc…?

Since when are you facing this issue?

Did your system give any error message on virus earlier?

___________________________________________

Look, the task manager shows TWO processors side by side under CPU

Usage History. There is a third box under Page File Usage History.

I'm not an idiot. Plus, task manager view has two CPU History options:

- One Graph, All CPUs

- One Graph Per CPU.

My Dell laptop, also running XP, does not have that option.

Please read what I sent previously and which you ignored in your

response. Let's count the processors then deal with performance.

Device Manager also shows two processors.

Below is info copied from its system info:

Acer Device Manager

Computer - ACPI Multiprocessor PC

Disk drives - SSDPAMM0008G1

Processors

Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz

Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz

WindowsXP service pack 3

Intel AtomCPU N270 @1.60GHz1.60GHz, 0.98 GB of RAM

Gianfranco alerted.

from Ken Matinale <ken@matinale.net>
to Gianfranco.Lanci@acer.com
dateThu, Jul 9, 2009 at 8:38 AM
subjectAcer support
mailed-bygmail.com

Gianfranco,

http://techthoughtsmatinale.blogspot.com/

Ken

E-mail from Acer Technical Support

from Acer Technical Support <acer1@mailwc.custhelp.com>reply-toAcer Technical Support <acer1@mailwc.custhelp.com>
token@matinale.net
dateThu, Jul 9, 2009 at 7:15 AMsubjectProcessors [Incident: 090709-000123]signed-bymailwc.custhelp.com
hide details 7:15 AM (1 hour ago) Reply

Your question has been received. Messages are answered in the orderreceived.

Question Reference #090709-000123---------------------------------------------------------------
Summary: Processors
Product Level 1: Netbook
Product Level 2: Aspire One AOA110
Category Level 1: Others
Date Created: 07/09/2009 06:15 AM
Last Updated: 07/09/2009 06:15 AM
Status: New Operating System: Windows XP
Serial Number---------------------------------------------------------------
Discussion Thread---------------------------------------------------------------
Customer (Kenneth Matinale) - 07/09/2009 06:15 AM

Below is info copied from its system info:

Acer Device Manager
Computer - ACPI Multiprocessor PC
Disk drives - SSDPAMM0008G1
Processors
Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz
Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz
WindowsXP service pack 3
Intel AtomCPU N270 @1.60GHz1.60GHz, 0.98 GB of RAM
__________________
ACA AOA1101588 Netbook with WindowsXP.

Note the two processors from system info device manager:

Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz
Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz

Two processors are also shown in task manager. Why are there two? Doesn't that cost more than one? Are the two working at cross purposes? Are they using the operating system inefficiently. Can the OS even handle two processors? What about the apps?
System performance is SLOW!

1. How many processors are there?
2. If one, why are TWO shown?

Auto-Response - 07/09/2009 06:15 AM

Acer netbook: how many processors?

Your Question has been Submitted
The reference number for your question is '090709-000123'.
You will receive an acknowledgement Email from us within the next few hours verifying that we have received your question. The Email will come from Acer Technical Support. If you don't receive the comfirmation Email it is probably going to your Spam folder, or the Email Address that you supplied is incorrect.
Messages are answered in the order they are received.
If you need to add information to or cancel your question, you can do so by updating it from the 'My Question History' tab.

___________________________________

That's what I received when I submitted info on the two supposed processors in my SLOW Acer netbook. I asked two basic questions:

1. How many processors are there?
2. If one, why are two shown?

Let's see what Acer support does with this.

Acer netbook: more annoying stuff.

Rather than provide a two minute warning when the battery is getting low the stupid Acer netbook simply closes down. Sometimes in reviving it after it's been connected to an electrical outlet, Acer remains dormant for minutes, sometimes the cursor cannot be moved for minutes.

Hey, Gianfranco, what the heck it that!?

Acer web site slow, too.

To: Gianfranco Lanci, the chief executive of Acer

Hey, even your damn web site is SLOW! Performance on my Acer netbook 110 has become unacceptable. I'm ready to throw it out the window.

Acer netbook details. Why is it so SLOW?

Below is info copied from its system info:

Acer Device Manager

Computer - ACPI Multiprocessor PC

Disk drives - SSDPAMM0008G1

Processors

Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz

Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz

WindowsXP service pack 3

Intel Atom

CPU N270 @1.60GHz

1.60GHz, 0.98 GB of RAM

_________________

Unmentioned but needed to find PC info on the Acer web site is its model: 110. The closest thing to that is: ACA AOA1101588 Netbook with WindowsXP.

It has solid state memory instead of a hard drive. That's one reason that I bought it, I figured that this memory would be more stable physically and would work considerably faster. Note: Acer presented this as 16 gig. It's 8 gig, plus an 8 gig SD card, which I usually do not have inserted.

I monitor CPU usage in task manager, when the system is not locked up for maybe 10-30 seconds doing who knows what. I also check CPU usage in Norton Internet Security. I suspected Norton as the problem but turned off LiveUpdate and everything else but the Acer is still SLOW.

Note the two processors from system info device manager:

Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz

Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz

Two processors are also shown in task manager. Why are there two? Doesn't that cost more than one? Are the two working at cross purposes? Are they using the operating system inefficiently. Can the OS even handle two processors? What about the apps?

The OS is Windows XP, which was first released on October 25 , 2001. Hey, it's almost EIGHT years old! If you cruise back on my posts you can trace my unsuccessful attempt to use a netbook running Linux, flavor Ubuntu. The thought of Ubuntu still makes my teeth hurt. I chose Windows XP as an unwanted default. According to wikipedia.com:

As of the end of May 2009, Windows XP is the most widely used operating system in the world with a 61.54% market share, having peaked at 85% in December 2006.

Microsoft is scheduled to release Windows 7 on October 22, 2009. It is a better version of Windows Vista. Will Acer provide an upgrade to Windows 7? Will it be free?

Both netbooks (Dell/Linus v. Acer/Windows) that I have had shared a common problem: the cursor runs amok. Often. It must have something to do with the small screen and high screen resolution. Why do I need to deal with this junk?

The New York Times June 27, 2009 article about Acer:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/technology/companies/28acer.html?_r=1&em

This year, Acer appears poised to overtake Dell as the world’s second-largest seller of personal computers, which would put a real dent into one of America’s favorite dorm-to-empire business stories. And if this comes to pass, Acer would trail only Hewlett-Packard; no computer company based outside the United States has ever climbed so high.

As far as I could find on the Acer web site I cannot order more RAM to try to improve performance. Something like that can be done easily with Dell and probably also with HP.

Gianfranco Lanci is the chief executive of Acer. Maybe I'll send him this message.

Symantec's Norton Internet Security on Acer netbook.

Symantec has been sending me e-mail messages to determine whether they can close a trouble ticket that I had submitted. Below is my most recent comment to Symantec.

1. Several times have have gotten error 8504, unable to open Norton Internet Security. I followed the instructions, which include restarting, and eventually got the program to open. How unusual is this error condition? 2. How can I determine if Norton Internet Security is running something in the background, possibly slowing down my PC? I have turned off whatever I could find and run LiveUpdate when I first turn on the PC so that I can control when it runs. Symantec should provide more options like prompting before running (background stuff) and provide clear indications of what is running and its effect on system performance.

Thanks.

Acer netbook problems

Just sent this to Acer about my netbook AOA110:

1. Skype 4.0.0.226 - neither built in, nor external mic/speaker work; they did work but stopped. Windows Sound Recorder works OK with all.

2. SLOW! I checked everything and simply loading a program can take a long time. Turned off auto run of Norton Internet Security LiveUpdate but problem persists. Acer netbook becoming unusable.

After submission Acer showed this:

Our technical support team provides system level support for hardware and pre-installed software only.

E-mail requests are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

I forgot to mention the colossally annoying cursor run amok and screen/font size suddenly changing and inability to page up/down. Gee, I'm starting to really hate this netbook. I'm so annoyed that I'm thinking about dumping both my Windows PCs and paying an outrageous amount plus $300 for an Apple MacBook and dumping problems at the nearby Apple store.

I'm really tired of having to know a bunch of junk to do the simplest of tasks: access the Internet. That's all I'm doing with this stupid Acer netbook.

Technical Difficlties

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radicalbaseball

My Internet radio program was messed up. I'm not sure how but one possibility is stupid Norton Internet Security. When I started my PC I purposely started that stupid LiveUpdate that seems to give no indication that it is running and no way to end it.

LiveUpdate ran and finished. I checked the Norton Internet Security program.

About 45 minutes later I had lots of problems: blogtalkradio.com crashed, my Skype call ended. Later I noticed that LiveUpdate had ended two minutes before. The stupid thing must have started again. It probably did not crash blogtalkradio but it didn't help with Skype, which had terrible audio quality.

Another possible culprit was Verizon Wireless mobile broadband MiFi modem/router. This was the first time I tried it for an Internet radio program. It never crashed but it may have caused or contributed to the problems.

Most likely cause: blogtalkradio.com crashed on its own. I had two tabs open to it, one for my dashboard to run the program, another to monitor my page there. Both crashed.

Technology's great except when it sucks.

My way or the highway: tyranny by the wireless companies.

My one month trail period for Verizon Wireless MiFi mobile broadband service expires in a couple of days. Performance is good, although I've had an annoying inability to know when the MiFi mobile broadband modem/router is connected to the Internet.

Apple is introducing it's third version of its iPhone a day AFTER I must decide about the Verizon MiFi. If I can get the current iPhone for $100 WITHOUT a service contract with ATT Wireless I can use it with my little MiFi modem/router and a Skype iPhone app and have the best of both worlds: iPhone on the Verizon Wireless network.

Unfortunately, I would still need to carry my Palm Treo 700P to make the more reliable voice calls; don't trust Skye enough to fly it solo. My three year old service voice only plan with Verizon Wireless for my Palm Treo 700P smartphone is one of the few that does not require that the customer pay not just for voice service but also for data, i.e., Internet access. I can even ask Verizon Wireless to turn its Internet service on and off any time, although I must speak to someone at Verizon Wireless; I cannot do it online. Once I change my Verizon Wireless service plan there is no going back. That plan was retired long ago.

Even if I buy a new iPhone, Blackberry, G1, whatever, ... and pay some outrageous amount for the smartphone without a service contract, Verizon Wireless and ATT Wireless (probably the others, too) insist that I may not get voice service only but must pay an additional minimum of $30 (plus 25% tax and tip) per month for Internet service even though I prefer to get access to the Internet by using the WiFi built into the smartphone connected to my Verizon Wireless MiFi mobile broadband modem/router.

Ed (Honeymooners), not Peter, Norton should handle Internet security.

Is there worse version control than that done by Symantec with Norton Internet Security?

I am convinced that the slow performance of my PCs is because of Norton Internet Security taking over and running who knows what in the background.  A friend suggested that the 2009 version was better.  Better than the previous versions for which I had paid?

OK, so I decided to check my version.  I tried by logging in to my account.  Nothing explicit there.

I stared at the non-Windows interface of the Windows Norton Internet Security software.  Finally I tried clicking "Help & Support", then About.  I have version 165.5.0.135.  Is that version 2009?  Beats me.  The copyright is 1997-2008.

I stumbled onto the download area in the Symantec web site and it wanted to know what version I had.  Doesn't Symantec know what version its registered users have?  Symantec presented a drop down list with options for Norton Internet Security of 2009, 2008, 2007, etc.  No mention of 165.5.0.135.  Other than the copyright, nothing on, in or near the software indicates a year.

I clicked 2009, figuring that there might be some small improvements on its most recent version and that maybe I had it since my renewal was in mid November 2008.

Symantec presented me with a file to download to update my Windows Norton Internet Security software.  I did it.  First it wanted to delete the old version.  I said OK.  That was it.  It never tried to install a new version.  I did that myself.  When it finally finished I checked the version.  Still 165.5.0.135.  Still copyright 1997-2008.

You can't make up stuff like this.

Aside from my natural suspicion of companies that make money by selling you protection (against them?), it bugs me that Symantec makes money with such lousy version control.

Verizon Mobile Broadband MiFi

I have been using the MiFi2200 wireless modem/WiFi router for about a week.  Very nice.  It's really small.  So far the only negative is that it gets warm to the touch.

Speed is about the same as Verizon FIOS, which never impressed me.  I have been packing the MiFi2200 into a fanny pack along with my Skype WiFi phone and five year old Palm TX, which has WiFi and provides connectivity to the web.  That's more than I want to lug, especially since I still need to carry my three year old Palm Treo 700P for Verizon Wireless voice service.

The ideal would be to have one phone/web device plus the MiFi2200 for use with my 2.2 pound Acer netbook.  However, I do not yet have enough confidence in Skype that I am willing to cancel my main voice service, which includes call waiting and easy access to voice mail.  When Apple introduces the third iPhone maybe I'll consider buying a used iPhone two since it runs a Skype app that only works with WiFi and not with the ATT Wireless network, which is inferior to the Verizon Wireless network.

The real rub is price.  I could save $5 per month if I cancelled my Verizon FIOS Internet service at home and also cancel Verizon Wireless voice service, replacing them with the 5 gig $60 ($75 including tax and tip) but I'm relectant to rely on Skype and to rely on that little MiFi2200 for ALL connectivity, including voice.

I will probably keep the Verizon Mobile Broadband MiFi service at the new 250 meg rate for $40 ($50 including tax and tip) and add it to my other services for an increase of $50 per month.  Simply cancelling Verizon FIOS Internet ($45, NO tax) does not make sense because I would lose $15 off the Verizon flex bundle for Verizon FIOS video ($40, plus $8 tax), Internet ($45) and Verizon Wireless voice service ($40, plus $10 tax).  

If I replace FIOS Internet with Verizon Mobile Broadband:

Save $45 FIOS Internet

Lose $15 flex bundle discount

Pay $75 Verizon Mobile Broadband MiFi

Net increase of $45.  If I also cancelled Verizon Wireless voice service ($50) I'd save $5 per month, lose some voice functionality but increase Internet mobility.

Since getting Verizon Mobile Broadband MiFi May 18 I have mentioned to multiple Verizon people that Verizon needs to bundle its three Internet services (FIOS, Mobile Broadband, data on smart phones) and offer discounts.

Personal mobile hot spot - this may be the one for me!

Apparently Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband service will have the MiFi 2200 made for Verizon by Novatel,  a mobile modem and WiFi router all in one device.  Cool.  I will definitely try it when it is available.

I read about in David Pogue's article in The New York Times.  See my e-mail to David below.  David mistakenly wrote this, which I corrected in the e-mail:

Cellular wireless routers, as they’re called, have been available for years...  the real deal-killer is that they have to be plugged into a power outlet.

_________________________________

to pogue@nytimes.com

date Thu, May 7, 2009 at 9:21 AM

subject Wi-Fi to Go, No Cafe Needed

mailed-by gmail.com

hide details 9:21 AM (2 minutes ago)

David,

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/technology/personaltech/07pogue.html?_r=1

Interesting.  I will check it out.  However, I wrote about this concept months ago in my blog (OK, nobody reads it but it exists).

http://techthoughtsmatinale.blogspot.com/

Please note:

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2008

Personal mobile Internet connection

special router (Cradlepoint Personal Hot Spot - PHS300 Battery Powered EVDO Router ...

The modem plugs into the router. That provides the router with a connection to the Internet from wherever it is. The router also has Wi-Fi. That means that I have my own hot spot wherever I am. I can connect a PC but I could have done that by simply plugging the modem into the PC. I can connect multiple PCs. I can connect a PC and a Wi-Fi enabled device such as a non-Verizon smartphone, Palm, iPod Touch, iPhone, Skype Wi-Fi phone, which I have, etc. Ah, now you get it.

Ken

google's gmail wins.

I now use gmail, not Yahoo, for my web based e-mail.  I was trying both in parallel, forwarding e-mail sent to my domain e-mail ID to both.  I still forward to both, figuring that if gmail is down I can get my messages at Yahoo.

I just drifted to gmail.  Not sure why, other than I use lots of other google freebies and Yahoo is generally in decline.  Gmail threads can still be confusing but I think that I have even become comfortable with that.  Once syncing between my trusty old Palm Treo and Yahoo finally ceased, Yahoo lost its one big advantage.

My main use of Yahoo now is its groups.  I "own" multiple Yahoo groups.  I still do not understand the advantages, if any, of newer flashier group functions such as facebook.  I have an ... account, membership, whatever ... in facebook but do not use it other than to respond to an occasional message from someone who found me.

RAM is installed and working!

Figuring out how to remove the old RAM was the biggest challenge.  There was no help in the instructions, which were generic even to the point of including desktops.

However, the 2 gig of RAM is working.  Let's see how my big Dell PC performs now.

RAM is inexpensive

I just ordered two gig of RAM for my Dell laptop.  $35, free same day shipping.  Amazing.

Reviews on the Dell web site were generally positive, most saying that the extra RAM speeded up the PC, a few saying that it did not.  At that price, what the heck.  Try it.

I tried checking the Acer web site just in case I wanted to buy extra RAM for my new netbook but I could not breech security.  Hope that is not a problem down the road.

I also downloaded drivers from Dell and installed them.  Hey, you never know.  Maybe that will help.

System performance: fear and loathing.

My mother ship is a three year old Dell laptop, too big to really use on my lap:

Inspiron ME051
Intel Celeron M processor
1.40GHz1.40 GHz, 504 MB of RAM
WindowsXP home version 2002Service Pack 3

Nothing fancy. It has been sluggish so against all my better judgement and instincts I decided to check some stuff. I have long since abandoned any inclination to really understand this stuff. I just want it to work. Is that asking too much?

I had been using the Google Chrome browser and suspected that it may have been a factor so today I used good old Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0.5730.11IC Cipher Strength: 128-bit. That certainly inspires, if not confidence, at least a sense of fear and loathing that only Microsoft could accomplish.

Windows Task Manager Processes shows iexplore.exe Mem Usage at 335meg! That's way more than half my RAM.

There are five tabs open, none doing anything unusual.

Who knew that a browser would take up that much RAM? I did not.

Windows Task Manager Performance shows that 88meg of Kernal Memory is paged and
27meg nonpaged. I didn't even know there was Kernal Memory and would not have expected that it would be paged. I thought that the kernal was inviolable and that it was none of my concern. No wonder things grind to a halt if I run google earth along with a browser.

I had deleted and defragged a few months ago in anticipation of establishing a dual boot for Windows or Linux.

I really don't want to do more than determine if I can buy more RAM from Dell and see if that does the trick. I understand that personal computers are not appliances and that I am running a seven year old operating system. But there must be something simpler. Almost all of what I do is online. I am not running Photoshop. I am not editing video. I just want to do e-mail and browse. That's why I bought that Acer netbook. It has twice the RAM of my large Dell laptop and no moving parts, only solid state memory for the hard drive function. I would much rather have more RAM than one of those obscenely over sized hard drives.

There was an old joke about when a Cadillac ran out of gas that you bought a new one. The personal computer is much closer to that than people want to admit.