Computer RAM Memory Prices 2007-2018

The prices for memory used in desktop computers has been relatively high for the past couple years and is now starting to come down.   I was curious what the longer term trend has been. 

I made a chart showing the prices of computer memory over the period 2007 to 2018.   Prices are in $ / MB.

Chart :

Note that the specific memory technology and speed has changed over time so the memory is also faster.    e.g. back in 2007 you might be buying DDR2-800 and today it is probably DDR4-2666

Data source : https://jcmit.net/memoryprice.htm 
'copyright 2001, 2017, 2018 John C. McCallum 
You can use the material here. Please acknowledge the source.'


--This article may contain referral links which pay this site a commission for purchases made at the sites.

Cheapskate Computer Project - June Update

For background see my original post Cheapskate Computer Project and the April update


EDIT :  Double OOOPS!!!    Looks like I forgot to hit submit when I was ordering that motherboard at Newegg.  Thats a bummer.   I went to the newegg site and the item was still in my shopping cart, i see no order in their records and theres no email confirmation of the order.   Sigh.


I haven't had any activity in my computer project since my last update in April.   I just haven't seen any particularly good deals worth doing.   But a good deal came up this week.  

Citibank had a Citiwallet promotion for $20 off of a purchase of $50 or more at Newegg.    By buying with Citiwallet via Masterpass and using CITIWALLET promo code at Newegg you'd get $20 off.   The deal ends July 12th.   [edit :   the Citiwallet promotion is closed now, as they used all the  available discounts]

None of the items on my computer project shopping list were over $50 individually.   I thought about getting the memory and motherboard combined which would run me roughly $70 and I'd save $20 but thats only about 28% savings.    

Instead to maximize the deal I used a free after rebate for a Refurbished battery for $11 with a $11 rebate (ends June 30th) plus the $40 motherboard to pad the purchase up to over $50.  

MSI H81M-P33  motherboard for $40
Refurbished battery for $11 + $2 shipping
CITIWALLET promo - 20
total spent $33

I should also then get that $11 rebate to give me a total net cost of about $22.   I have to buy a stamp to mail in that rebate form so its really more like $22.50 in the end.  

I still need to get a processor and memory.     I think my best shot at getting those at a discount rate is the kind of promo deals like the one I used today with the $20 off for using my Citibank card.

I neglected to use Ebates to make the purchase at Newegg so I lost out on their 1% cashback.   Opps.


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16% Cash Back at Lenovo from Ebates - $75 tablet, $167 laptop

One of the 16% cashback deals at Ebates today is Lenovo computers.   There are some potential good computer deals to be had.

Some example deals..

If you sign up for their email mailing list then you can get a coupon for $100 off of a computer purchase.   This is only good for first time users and the $100 coupon can't be combined with other coupons or it seems discount prices.


7" Android TAB 2 A7-10 Tablet for $90 with $14.4 cashback = $75.60 net

P190 gray headset for $10 after coupon  USP1MY356632 with $1.60 cashback = $8.40


S21e 11.6'' Micro-Sized and Maximum Power Laptop model 80M40015US for $199 with coupon USPS25US57 with 16% cashback of $31.84 = net $167.16

$10 off $50, $20 off $100, or $40 off $200 and Free shipping on Lenovo Branded Accessories.  using coupon  ACCSAVE.     That would be good to get a laptop docking station or similar for a reasonable discount.


Standard Ebates blurb:To get cash back from Ebates you need to be signed up with Ebates.  Then simply go to Ebates to get the referral to the store before you do your shopping.  I also get a referral bonus if you use my links to sign up with Ebates.  


-- This article may contain referral links which pay this site a commission for purchases made at the sites.

Please Stop Paying AOL for Dial-Up

Recently CNN covered news that AOL still has 2.1 million subscribers to their dialup service.    The AOL quarterly report says that the average user is paying $20.83 per month.    Thats over $500 million a year people are paying AOL for dialup.   Wow.

I am betting that a lot of those AOL users basically feel 'stuck' with AOL because they have an AOL email address that they don't want to change.    Maybe, I'm just guessing.   I know that was a problem some people had in the past, but its been so many years I don't know.   Seems from a quick look at the AOL site that you can get free email there with an @aol.com address.  

I'm sure other people are unfortunately not able to get hi speed internet so they only use dialup.   I'm guessing most of those people are covered by some form of cell phone service and would likely be better off just getting a cell phone plan to give them internet at home.          You can get a mobile hotspot from RedPocket for $23 and pay for $10 for 1GB of data.


But there are still homes without cell phone coverage as well.    If there are no cell or high speed internet options available then dialup may be the only cheap option.


Satellite internet should be available across most of the nation.   HughesNet and DISH offer satellite internet services.    If you want fast internet and can't get cable or DSL then this might be a reasonable option for you.   However they do cost $40-50 a month and may have expensive installation and equipment fees in the range of $250 or more.   

You can get free dialup or at least cheaper service.    Juno and Netzero both have free dialup for up to 10 hours a month.   They also have pay service for about $14 monthly which at least is cheaper than AOL.     I see no reason you can't sign up for both Juno and Netzero free plans and get 20 hours total between them.


So this gives a few options:

1. cell phone service from RedPocket for $10 / 1GB
2. satellite internet for $40-50 a month
3. free or cheaper dialup service from Juno or Netzero

Depending on your needs I am sure that one of these is a better option than paying $20 average monthly to AOL.

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Cheapskate Computer Project - April update

I outlined my Cheapskate Computer Project last month.     This is my first update on the project and my status so far.

My shopping list with base prices for the project is :

CPU ~ $48
Motherboard $43
Chassis $46
Memory 4GB $30
120GB HDD Drive $20
OS = $100
TOTAL = $287

I had a goal of getting under $100 w/o the OS.

So far I've only bought two items with one decent price success and a minor blunder.

I bought a chassis for $10 after rebate.   It was a $35 chassis with a $25 rebate.
The chassis does not come with a power supply so I'll have to keep an eye out for a good price on a decent PSU.    Tigerdirect has a HEC model for $20 which is OK but I'd like to get one cheaper.     I actually have a spare PSU that should work, so I might end up cheating on this item.  

I also got a $20 DVD read/write drive for free after rebate. Score!    Except then after I bought it I realized its the old PATA interface instead of SATA.   doh!   PATA is so old I didn't even think to check to make sure its SATA before I bought it.  Oh well, its free so I guess it wasn't that big of a mistake.   Anyone want a PATA DVD writer?

The two rebate forms I did took me a total of 25 minutes to fill out and I had to spend another $1 on the 2 stamps.  

I will also make 2% cash back from my Fidelity Amex which should amount to about $1.10 and I made 35¢ cash back from Ebates on the chassis purchase.    I think I forgot to use Ebates with the DVD purchase.

I passed up on a deal to get a 8GB DIMM + McAfee software bundle for free because it required signing up for McAfee auto-renewal and I just didn't wanna bother with it.   TigerDirect also has a similar deal for Windows 7 + Mcafee for $60 after rebate.    I'm passing on that too.   But those Mcafee rebate deals can be a good way to get a fairly high value part for free.   It does however require you to sign up for McAfee and then cancel auto-renewal at the right time.   So its a bit more hassle than just mailing in a rebate form.

All together I haven't made much progress and I haven't seen any good deals on most of the key parts I need.   A single $10 chassis isn't that much of a bargain.


--
Standard Ebates blurb:To get the cash back you need to be signed up with Ebates.  Then simply go to Ebates to get the referral to the the store before you do your shopping.  I also get a referral bonus if you use my links to sign up with Ebates.  

--

Cheapskate Computer Project

I occasionally see deals on computer parts like deep discounts or even free-after-rebate (FAR) promotions.   I figured if I was patient and collected parts one at a time via these deals that I might be able to build a computer for a deep discount.

Sample parts with prices from Newegg:

CPU - Intel Celeron G1820 Haswell = $46 +2
Motherboard - MSI H81M-P33 micro ATX = $40 +3
Chassis -   APEX PC-375 w/ 300W PSU = $40 +6
Memory - 4GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1600 = $30
Drive - Seagate 120GB SATA ST3120026AS = $20
OS - Windows 7 or 8 = $100
TOTAL = $287

That does not include a monitor.    Also note that I'm going with a dirt cheap 120GB drive there to cut cost and thats not much storage.  I could spend $30 more and get a 1TB drive though.
I'm not listing a CD/DVD drive here because you don't generally NEED them nowadays.   It would be handy to have one but its not a requirement, but installing software can be tricky without them.   I do have a USB portable unit at home I can use though. 

Dell basic desktops start at about $199 on sale.   So it would not make sense to build my own basic spec. system when I can just buy a Dell unit for less money.

I rarely if ever see deep discount or FAR sales on processor or the operating system.   Once I saw a sale for a processor & motherboard combo for $30 so there are deals out there but they are rare and I'd have to be patient and diligent to catch them.    The Windows operating system though doesn't seem to go on deep discounts or promotions.   Newegg happens to have Windows 7 on sale for ~$80 right now but thats about the best deal I recall seeing.     I see people selling versions of Windows 7 on eBay for about $50-70 range.     I'd be suspicious that those aren't legitimate copies of Windows but the ones I looked at didn't have any signs of being pirated.  (at least as far as I can tell).

I figure if I do it well and catch some good deals and FAR promotions I might get all the parts for something around $100 excluding the OS.    I could then use a free OS like Linux to build the system rather than Windows.   Or I could go up to about $150 and get one of those cheap Windows discs off of eBay.    Still thats only about $50 less than a fully equipped prebuilt system from Dell if I go for Windows which is hardly worth the effort.


How well this might succeed though all depends on what kind of discounts I might find.  If I can find a bunch of great FAR discounts on the parts then I might be able to build a PC for almost nothing in out of pocket cash.    Thats pretty unlikely since most parts don't get FAR deals.   But I should at least be able to do something pretty cheap.

This is mostly just an experiment for fun and we already have a good computer at home I built a bit ago.   I don't know what I'll do with the computer I will build with this project.  I might just donate it or I could probably sell it. 

So anyway... here's the plan :    I'll shop around and keep my eyes open for good deals on discounts and rebates on computer parts.   I'll then buy the parts as cheap as I can find them one at a time.   In the end I'll build a cheap computer.    I am not sure what OS I'll use on the computer at this point.


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DRAM Class Action Lawsuit Settlement

If you bought a computer, printer, memory module, graphic card, video game console, DVD player, PDA, MP3 player, Tivo/DVR, server or other DRAM product any time between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 2002?   If so then you're entitled to part of a lawsuit settlement by DRAM makers.


DRAMclaims.com is the website setup for the class action settlement.

The settlement is for $310 million total and the minimum recovery is $10.

Here is the link to : file a claim

No documentation is required to file, so you don't have go to dig up your 15 year old  receipts.


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Building a Cheap Computer Won't Save You Money

A while back I wrote an article discussing when it makes sense to build a computer.   My general conclusion that it makes sense for middle or higher end systems but not the cheaper ones.    Its now been over 4.5 years since I wrote that article so its a bit out of date.    I recently built my own computer and found that building my own made sense because I wanted a specific part (SSD drive) that are only used in the most expensive systems.   That however is kind of a rare situation.

I decided to go back and take another look to compare the cost of building your own cheap computer versus buying one off the shelf.    When I wrote that first article on the topic for low end systems I compared a Dell Inspiron 530S at $279 + $35 s/h or $314 total versus building a system from parts on Newegg totalling $333.50 s/h included.  

Again I'll compare buying a Dell versus buying decent quality parts off Newegg.   This isn't a strict apples to apples comparison though so I didn't get all the exact same parts.   I instead compared a cheap DIY entry level solution to a cheap Dell entry level solution.

DIY computer from Newegg parts

For my Newegg shopping list I looked for cheap basic parts but then filtered it to only consider the parts that had at least a 3.5 star average review.

Here is the parts list that I came up with :
Sentey Classic Series CS1-1399 Mid Tower Case w/ Power Supply SECC 0.5mm 2x USB/ Card Reader SD-MMC / ATX-MATX
LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
Seagate Barracuda ST250DM000 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive 
Mushkin Enhanced 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model 991573 
ECS H61H2-I3 (v1.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI Mini ITX Intel Motherboard 
Intel Celeron G540 Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80623G540 
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 32-bit - OEM 

 Total cost = $339.35

Off the Shelf from Dell

The cheapest desktop Dell I found is an Inspiron 660s for $349.99 with free shipping.
 
Winner = Off the Shelf system

If all you want is a basic entry level computer then I think you should simply buy a basic cheap desktop from Dell.  (or another decent name brand)

Technically the DIY computer is about $10 cheaper than the Dell.    However the Dell does have better specs. in several items like 4GB memory instead of 2GB on the DIY and a 500GB drive instead of just 250.    I also think that the labor and work involved in building the DIY system is not worth a mere $10 difference.

There are always exceptions

There are some situations where you can do better with the DIY system.    For example if you're like me and you have a particular desire to have an SSD drive in the system then you can absolutely build a cheaper basic computer with an SSD than you can find prebuilt.  

The operating system cost is a huge factor as well.   If you go DIY then you're spending about $100 just for a copy of Windows.    If you already have a copy of Windows or if you chose to use a free OS like a Linux build then that can make all the difference in the decision.   When I used to build computers more frequently I would simply reuse my XP disc on the new computer.   I don't believe that is allowed with Microsoft's current licensing rules however.

Another way you might make DIY more worth while is to bargain hunt for deals.   Newegg frequently has sales and discounts.    If you have some patience and wait for sales you should be able to cut $10-30 off the price of the Newegg items.   They have some deals like 10% off  your purchase up to $200 or something like that.   Newegg isn't always the cheapest either and you can shop around and find some better prices elsewhere.   You can also cash in a 1% rebate if you use Ebates for your Newegg purchases.   If you add all this up then your DIY total cost might be closer to $300 and saving $50 may be worth it.  

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Buying My Hard Drives and Flooding Two Years ago in Thailand

I mentioned recently that I'm building my a new computer.   I haven't yet entirely decided what to do about storage.   I did buy a SSD (solid state drive) for my primary operating system boot drive.    I got a Samsung 840 Series 120GB model MZ-7TD120BW for $90.   That 120GB will give me plenty of room for the OS and other normal applications and storage.   I will probably also then swap in an extra secondary HDD from our current system to give extra data storage for photos and videos.   WE also then use the external 500GB USB drive to do backups. 

In addition I also grabbed a 1TB USB drive + anti-virus software on a discount rebate deal that will end up costing me under $25 after rebates are processed.   The deal was through Tigerdirect and I found it on Fatwallet.  They seem to run occasional deals with a harddrive + Total Defense software as a bundle.   There are some hoops to jump through to get that rebate but its worth it for a 1TB drive for under $25.


When I bought my external 500GB drive a couple years ago I considered the question :
Should I buy a big hard drive or little hard drive

I decided to get the little drive and same some money, with the intention of later upgrading as necessary.   As it turns out not too long after I wrote that article in Sept. 2011 the cost of hard drives took an unexpected turn.   As the NYT reported in Nov. 2011 : Thailand Flooding Cripples Hard-Drive Suppliers

(2011 flooding in Thailand, not necessarily near HDD factories)

Turned out that a lot of harddrives are made in Thailand so when they were hit by flooding it severely cut the supply of drives available.   That caused the prices of hard drives to jump.

Here's a look at the recent price of drives : 

I got the data from Jcmit.com's disk drive archive and then added a new data point today for Sept. 2013 for a 3TB drive at $118 currently available at Newegg.

You can see the spike in prices at the start of 2012 which is a result of those floods in Thailand.     Back in 2011 you could get drives for about 4¢ per GB.   Only now are prices starting to return to that level overall.    Prices nearly doubled in 2012 with drives hitting at least 7.8¢ / GB. 

Luckily I don't really need more space today or that choice I made in 2011 to buy the smaller 500GB drive for $50 might have backfired. 

This doesn't  mean that I change would make a different decision in the future.  For high tech items where the prices drop steadily over time it makes sense to buy the cheaper part today and upgrade more frequently.  Things like floods in Thailand are exceptions to the norm and we shouldn't expect to see similar spikes in prices like that in the future.


Thailand flood photo by EU Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Some rights reserved
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Building a New Computer

Our primary computer is finally on its last legs.   I think the system is actually over 8 years old now.   Thats a long time to use a computer and its just not working all that well any more.  It seems to overheat and occasionally crashes.  I figure it is time to get a new one before this one completely dies on us.  

We decided to go retro and pretend like its 2004 and build a desktop computer.    Yes thats a desktop computer.  For you young 'uns out there a desktop computer is a large bulky box without a build in screen or keyboard that houses your computer components.  It is not designed to be portable.  Your great great great grandparents may have used them.


Kidding aside, we are getting a desktop for a few reasons.  First with a desktop I can upgrade it relatively easily.   I build my own computers so I can tinker with it and add drives,  memory or put in a better video card if necessary.  You can upgrade memory in laptops but usually thats about it.   Second reason I am building our own desktop is that I wanted an SSD drive in it.   It seems the price entry point for systems with SSDs is much higher and more often only seen in the $1000 level.  Third reason is that I thought I could get more power and features for less money by going with a desktop.  However in hindsight I'm not sure that really worked out.    Last reason that I decided to go with a desktop is my wife stated a preference for desktop systems. 

I thought about just buying a Dell system.    I'm building the system myself for a few reasons.   First the SSDs were only in the more expensive units and building one myself gives me more flexibility to pick the parts I want, second if I build it myself I know what quality of parts I'm getting and lastly for a system I build I wont have to bother with the excess software that OEMs usually put on systems.  

The system I'm building costs about $650 in total for the parts.   Through coupons, sales and promotions I was able to cut about $100 off that cost so I'm spending about $550.    I could have bought a cheap Dell desktop for around $300 and gone with lower performance build.   That would have met our needs right now but it wouldn't last as long.   We decided instead to spend the extra money and get a more powerful system that will hopefully last us longer.  Considering how much we use the computer its pretty worth it to spend a bit more for a better experience.

For most people I would recommend you get a basic laptop.   I think most peoples computing needs can easily be met by a basic $300 or $400 laptop.   If you do much of any gaming I would go for something with more power and often a desktop will be your best bet to get a good video card.

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Beware the High Markup Memory Upgrade Prices When Buying a PC

I'm shopping around for a new computer.  We're WAY past due for a new computer.   I'll likely build my own again but I figured I'd check Dells offerings to see what they have as far as prices.  When shopping around on Dells site I saw one system that had 8GB and offered an upgrade to 12GB for an additional $100.   Screen clip capture :

The system comes with  8GB originally with 2 DIMMS or 2 x 4GB parts.   To get to 12GB you'd add 2 more DIMMs of 2GB each.

Then Dell is charging you $100 to install 2 x 2GB DIMMs. 

If you're buying a higher end PC for $800 or $1000 or so then it may seem reasonable to spend another $100 to get a lot of extra memory.   But thats assuming $100 is a reasonable price for such an upgrade.  It isn't.

2 x 2GB DIMMS do not cost $100.  

Newegg has 2 x 2GB DDR 1600 memory parts for $35 to $50.   So even if we assume Dell is using the very best top grade memory that retails for $50 then they're still adding $50 above the memory cost.  I would assume that Dell is getting memory cheaper than retail.   I would also assume they are not using the very best blazing fast memory.    I bet Dell gets the memory they use for closer to $25-30 rather than $35-50.   Of course thats just educated guessing on my part, but one would hope Dell isn't paying more than retail for commodity computer parts and Dell makes no mention of their memory being super fast or having the best specs..

It certainly costs Dell some labor to install the extra 2 DIMMs.      I'm guessing it might be a whole 10-20¢ in labor..     Or if the thing is built in China then its more likely 3¢ of labor.  I'm serious about those labor costs.  It probably takes less than 30 seconds for the assembler to pop in 2 more DIMMs.

Between the actual cost of the memory and the marginal labor costs I'd assume Dell is paying no more than $30 for the memory and charging you $100 for it.  

Upgrade the memory yourself - Its actually quite easy

If you buy the very fast memory at $50 retail prices then do the upgrade yourself then you'll save $50.

To upgrade your memory on your own you first need to find and buy the right kind of memory.    Websites that sell memory tools and guides to help you do that.   Newegg has a Memory Finder.
Crucial has a memory advisor tool as well.   I don't have a direct link for Crucials tool but if you go to their front page they advertise it right there.   It took me less than a minute to go to Crucial.com, use their search tool and find a 2 x 2GB upgrade product for $42 with free shipping. 



Side Note :  I recommend Crucial.com and Newegg.com.    I've personally used both to buy computer products over many years and I'm happy with both companies.   Crucial is a brand of Micron memory company and they make quality memory at competitive prices.    Newegg has a wide selection of computer parts at good prices.   Neither company is compensating me in any way and I don't have any commission or affiliate links in this article.   [edited to cross off that last statement since I found the 5% link below which is through an affiliate deal ]

If you use Ebates to make a purchase with either merchant then you can save a bit more.  Crucial has a 6% rebate and Newegg is at 1%.  (I do get a referral bonus if you sign up with Ebates using my links)   Using Ebates would then save you 6% on that $45 or about $2.50   Or if you follow this link to Crucial you can get a discount : Get 5% off at Crucial

Its not hard to upgrade memory on a computer.   Crucial has a Youtube video How to Install Memory on a PC Desktop Computer  or How to Install Memory (RAM) in a Laptop / Notebook   I can usually do it in 5 minutes or less.   On a desktop  the steps are : 1. power down the computer and remove the electric cord.  2. open the case.  3. insert the memory DIMMs into the open sockets.  4. close case. 5. plug it in and power it up.     That may be more intimidating for some people but let me assure you it really isn't that hard or mystical.   You can't even plug the DIMMS in wrong, they're keyed to insert only one direction.   The computer probably has user documentation that walks you through the process.   If its still really not something you want to do then you probably have a family memory or friend who is the 'designated computer expert' that can help you out.

I would not recommend paying a company to do it for you.   3rd parties that do computer upgrades would likely charge you just as much as Dell.  $50 is what one site claims that Geek Squad charges for hardware updates.   I don't see Geek Squad prices online so it may vary and that $50 rate may be dated.  

Desktop versus Laptop

I've been talking about a desktop computer here, but most people tend to buy laptop computers now.   The basic idea here applies to laptops as well as desktops.  Upgrading memory on a laptop can be easier than a desktop since there is typically a user accessible opening.   One area where laptops may run into more trouble is the open number of memory slots.   Usually desktop computers are built with 2-4 memory slots where as laptops usually only have 1-2 slots.   If your laptop only has 1 slot then you'll have to remove the original memory and replace it with a new part.   So for example if your laptop came with 2GB and only has 1 slot then you'll have to set aside that 2GB part and buy a 4GB part to get to 4GB.  


-- This article may contain referral links which pay this site a commission for purchases made at the sites.

$650 in Dell Gift Cards for $450 Net

If you're thinking of a computer purchase from Dell here's one way to use your Amex card and Twitter to get $200 off..     Amex and Dell have a deal right now where you can get a $150 credit on your Amex if you spend $599 or more at Dell.com using your Amex card.   Theres also a 10% off coupon code you can use.


1. Synch your Amex card with the Dell deal via twitter and tweet the hashtag #AmexDellOffer following their instructions
2.   Buy a $500, $100 and $50 gift card and then apply the coupon code  VJ7$295NPV28MN to get 10% off the $500 card for a total cost of $600. 
3. You should get a $150 credit from Amex. 
4. Consolidate your gift cards online into one card if desired.

In the end you bought $650 of gift cards for $600 and got $150 back so the net cost is $450.   You can then turn around and use the $650 of gift cards to buy whatever you want at Dell.    Buying gift cards allows you to get $50 extra off via the coupon code. 

I saw this at Fatwallet and they have more details and discussion in the forum there.

I have not done this myself.   If you do it then I'd recommend you read up on all the details to make sure you're doing it right and not missing any details.
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Free* 4G Wireless Internet from NetZero

I just read some news recently that NetZero is going to get back into the 'free internet' game.   If you are unfamiliar with NetZero, they were popular at one time for offering free dialup internet.  Dialup has gradually become more and more obsolete so that now its not used much at all.    Now however NetZero is going to offer free high speed internet via a 4G wireless modem.  

I put an asterisk on the word free in the title since the free internet requires you to buy a modem and is limited to 12 months of free service.  The modem is $50 which seems like a reasonable price to me.   The free service they offer is limited at only 200MB per month of download bandwidth.   200MB is not a lot, but it should get you a fair amount of email use and some casual web surfing.  A couple years ago Google measured the average webpage at 320kb.  So you could download about 600 webpages with the 200MB limit.  For a lot of people a 200MB limit would not be nearly enough to meet their internet needs. The news article said you'd tear through that limit with just 30 minutes of full screen video.   So this won't serve you if you want to watch Netflix streaming or Hulu or if you have a Youtube habit.  

NetZero is using the same network that Sprint uses for 4G service.   PCWorld tested 4G speeds and they found that Sprints network was about 2.15mbps download and 0.61mpbs upload.  Thats reasonably fast for anything but online gaming.

After the 12 months of free service you could then sign up for their minimum $9.95 /month plan which gives you 500MB of bandwidth.   Thats still a reasonably cheap rate for a high speed internet connection.

Bottom Line:   While its not exactly free, this new NetZero 4G service could be a pretty decent deal if you only have light internet usage.


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Mega-PC For All Your Home Entertainment

I was poking around Newegg.com and found a combo deal that included all the parts to make a home media PC with a 4 x HDTV tuner, Blu-ray burner/player, i5-2600 processor, 8GB memory, 2TB harddrive, Radeon HD 6570 video card, an Xbox style wireless controller, and some other misc, bells and whistles.   The total price on the combo was about $1,370 plus a $20 rebate so you'd pay $1,350 after the rebate.   It didn't include an OS so you may have to put down another $100 for Windows or you could use Linux for free.   This "mega-PC" would provide about all the stuff you would want in your home entertainment center all in one box.

This single combo system would replace :
Desktop PC
Blu-ray player
HD Tivo / DVR

Xbox 360 or PS3 gaming unit

To buy all that stuff individually you'd be spending roughly $500 for a PC, $100 for Blu-ray player, $800 for a Tivo with lifetime, $200 for the Xbox 360.   Thats $1600 total.    Or if you don't buy a Tivo you could spend $800 on the hardware and another $10-20/month to rent a DVR from your cable/satellite company.

The mega-PC is potentially cheaper and better in many respects than buying the individual electronics.

Lets consider the pros/ cons of building such an all-in-one Mega PC :

Pros
- Potentially cheaper overall
- Easily more powerful
- Upgradeable
- One box with central control and location
- Flexible and customizable
- Smaller and less cluttered

Cons
- Requires building the system
- Could be more complex to use
- You may already own half the stuff

Of course if you're interested in such a "mega-PC" then you don't have to use the set of parts listed above.  You'd likely want to tailor and customize the system to meet your own needs.   For example if you aren't too interested in video games you could build a less powerful system and make do with a lower end video card. 

If you're not experienced or interested in building a computer then that can pretty much kill this idea for a lot of people.   The though of building a complex computer may be more than most people want to tackle.   Building this kind of computer is more complex than a basic system as you'd have to setup all the TV connections as well.    However, I think people shouldn't be too afraid of building computers or working on computers.   The basics are actually fairly simple and don't require any more skill than knowing how to use a phillips head screwdriver.   There are a lot of guides online to walk you through how things are done.  I am convinced most people could do it if they tried.

Personally I think the bigger reason why this kind of mega-PC system may not work for many people is the last con on the list which is that you may already have many of the components.   Many households already have a gaming system, DVR and a blu-ray player.   If you don't have all three then you probably have one or two.   It doesn't make sense to throw out a perfectly good PS3 or Tivo if you've already got one.    The benefit of the all-in-one home entertainment PC is its ability to replace several other electronics.  If you don't have any of those electronics currently then this can be a great way to go. 

What do you think?   Have you built a PC?   Would you consider building an all-in-one entertainment home PC like this?

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Should You Pay More for an Apple Computer?

Image source:  Mac Users Guide

A while back one of my relatives purchased an Apple laptop.   I asked her why she had bought the Apple and her answer was that "everyone says they're good" (or words to that effect).    She didn't have any experience with Apple laptops or any particular knowledge or specific reason to get an Apple laptop.  She had simply heard they are good and given the good reputation and good experiences she'd had with other Apple products like the ipod she decided to buy Apple instead of PC.


All the other computers in my relatives home are PCs.   I doubt she could tell me any specifics about the hardware in the Mac versus any other computer.   She had no specific requirement to use a Mac for school or work.   In fact I doubt they use the Mac for much more than light web surfing and her kids playing around with the built in webcam and other applications.   From what I know I would think if she'd bought a cheap $500-600 PC laptop such as a ASUS K53E-A1   then it would have served their needs just fine.

Apple makes some very good products and has significant success in recent years.   They were recently ranked the #8 brand name in the world.   There are a lot of good reasons to buy an Apple Mac laptop.   

However these great Apple products don't come cheap.    The least expensive Macbook is $999.  You can get a PC laptop of similar hardware specs for $600 to $800 range.   However its hard to do a true apples to apples comparison between the Mac and PC since the Macs have solid state drives and  PC laptops generally seem to only offer those on high end models.  The SSD would add about $50 to the actual costs so you are getting the benefit of a +$50 more expensive drive with the Apples that you dodn't see on PC laptops in similar price range.



Apple has some very enthusiastic fans.   I'm not about to try and convince an Apple fan that they should not buy an Apple.   If you already have a long list of reasons of why you want to buy an Apple or if you attend Apple conventions then this article is not targeted at you.    I'm trying to address the general consumer out there who doesn't really know too much about the differences between the PC and Mac platforms other than what they see in clever Apple commercials.    I'm talking about the people like my relative who bought an Apple on little more than general perception of the brands reputation.




Do you have a particular NEED for an Apple system?


When I say 'need' I mean a real specific, justifiable reason to buy an Apple rather than a PC.      This would be something along the lines of requiring specialized software for work or school that only runs on Apple.   If you're a graphics design artist then its quite common for people to use the Mac platform.   Or if you're already an Apple user and have been for some time then you may have a lot of files that are in Mac native formats and difficult and/or time consuming to transfer to PC.


Can you really afford it?


If you're barely getting by or you have consumer debts that are unpaid then you really should not be paying extra for a more expensive brand name.   Apple laptops are significantly more expensive.   If you can not absolutely afford that extra cost then it should not be something you spend the money on.   Generally unless you have a 'need' as discussed above then paying extra to buy an Apple is really a splurge or a luxury.  You should not rationalize it as a 'need' just because you 'need' a computer.    You may 'need' at minimum a $400 simple laptop but you 'want' to spend an extra $600 to get a $1000 Apple.


What will buying an Apple get you?


You should be able to list the benefits of buying an Apple or buying a PC. You may be buying an Apple because you like the ease of use or because you appreciate the styling or due to the higher reliability.   On the other hand buying an Apple may have some drawbacks such as poorer compatibility with the computers at your work or unfamiliarity with the Mac OS.



So what are your answers to these questions? 


1. Do you NEED an Apple for a specific purpose?
2. Can you easily afford the extra cost for an Apple?
3. Can you say specifically what the extra benefits of the Apple are?


If you didn't answer yes to any of those questions then you should not buy an Apple.    If you can afford to spend the extra money and you have a legitimate need or at least know the specific reasons you're spending more money then it may be worth it to you to spend the extra money.   


Generally I would argue that most people should not spend the extra money for an Apple laptop.   Most people can get all they need out of a more affordable PC laptop.   But if you really like apples or really know what you're paying extra for and you can afford it then that is OK too.


The bottom line here is that you need to know why you're paying more and make an informed decision and of course nobody should spend extra on a product when they can't really afford it.

You Need A Strong Password

[edit: sorry the formatting on this was all messed up somehow, so I've hopefully fixed it]

More and more all of our financial information is stored in computers.   Most of us access our banking statements, retirement accounts, mortgages, health insurance information and other financial data by websites.   All of these accounts and the financial information they contain are only as secure as the password you use to access the account.   Combine this with the fact that identity theft is growing and a real concern and you have very good reason to have a stronger password.

How easily someone can crack your password.

Computers are very good at cracking passwords.   The hackproject website has tables showing how long it can take to crack passwords of various lengths.

Your password is probably not as good as you think it is.   Lets say you have a fairly short password.   You're clever so you made up a pretend word of "skalsk".   Nobody would ever guess that right?    Well sorry to say but it would take a fairly standard computer about 31 seconds to crack that password.    If you simply threw some Numbers into that password to make it longer and used "s8k9a2ls0k" this would be a much stronger password.   It would take the same typical computer about 12 years to crack such a password.
So there you go... Time to crack :
weak password "skalsk" = 31 seconds
Strong password "s8k9a2ls0k" = 12 years

Furthermore those time estimates were written half a year ago and computers are now faster.  It will take a newer computer even less time.   By the time you read this article computers are even faster still.


In the time that you've been reading this article so far someone could have cracked a simple password.    

I don't wish to make you paranoid or unnecessarily scare you, instead I just want to make sure you understand how some passwords are really no protection and make sure you use a decent, strong password.   With 300 million people in the U.S. and over 6 billion people in the world it is not extremely likely that a random hacker will pick your computer accounts to hack.   Nobody knows your password is weak until they try to crack it.   However, its just a sensible measure to take security precautions that are effective.   You wouldn't leave your keys hanging in the lock on your door so why leave a virtual open door to electronic thieves with a weak and easily cracked password.

What constitutes a "weak" password?For a while I worked as a temp at UPS.   The password for one of their systems there was ... "ups".   That was not a good password.  I think that was an internal network system so it wouldn't be exposed to hackers from the outside and there wasn't anything really sensitive on that system that I know of.  But it constitutes a very good example of a truly awful password.

Obviously using a password like your own company name or "password" or your wife's name or any other simple words or easily guessed things is a bad idea.   But past that how do you know if your password has weaknesses that would make it a "weak" password.  

Examples of weak passwords from Wikipedia:

• Default passwords (as supplied by the system vendor and meant to be changed at installation time): password, default, admin, guest, etc. Lists of default passwords are widely available on the internet.
• Dictionary words: chameleon, RedSox, sandbags, bunnyhop!, IntenseCrabtree, etc., including words in non-English dictionaries.
• Words with numbers appended: password1, deer2000, john1234, etc., can be easily tested automatically with little lost time.
• Words with simple obfuscation: p@ssw0rd, l33th4x0r, g0ldf1sh, etc., can be tested automatically with little additional effort. For example a domain administrator password compromised in the DigiNotar attack was reportedly Pr0d@dm1n.^[24]
• Doubled words: crabcrab, stopstop, treetree, passpass, etc.
• Common sequences from a keyboard row: qwerty, 12345, asdfgh, fred, etc.
• Numeric sequences based on well known numbers such as 911 ^{(9-1-1, 9/11)}, 314159... ^(pi), or 27182... ^(e), etc.
• Identifiers: jsmith123, 1/1/1970, 555–1234, "your username", etc.
• Anything personally related to an individual: license plate number, Social Security number, current or past telephone number, student ID, address, birthday, sports team, relative's or pet's names/nicknames/birthdays/initials, etc., can easily be tested automatically after a simple investigation of person's details.

What qualifies as a "strong" password?

To have a strong password you want to make sure you don't do any of the things that make your password weak.

Length IS important.   The longer the password the harder it is to crack.    8 characters is a good start but 10 characters would be great.   Microsoft suggests 14 characters, (though I kinda think thats a little overboard).

The password on my work computer's harddrive is 24 characters long not counting spaces.


You want a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.

Test the Password

You can use a site like Password Meter or the Microsoft checker to help judge the strength of your password.    I don't think these simple tools really consider if you're using common words or number sequences so "password1234" may register as stronger on the meters then it is in reality.   Make sure your password doesn't have any of the traits that constitute weak passwords discussed above.

How do you Remember it?

One of the main reasons people avoid stronger passwords is that it can be difficult to remember a random string of numbers, letters and special characters.   Its so much easier to remember "ups" if you work at UPS.  

Write it down.   Sometimes people say that you shouldn't write down your password.  The fear is that a thief will find your password.  Don't write the username and the account on the same piece of paper but just write down the password.  If someone comes across a piece of paper with some gibberish characters on it they won't know who's it is or what its for.   You can secure this piece of paper just as easily as you can secure the $20 bill in your wallet or the credit card you carry around. 

Use things that mean something to you but aren't easily guessed.    Instead of using your street number maybe use the street number for a friend or the house you grew up in.   Try using a pronoun like the name of a friend.   You should avoid meaningful dates such as your birthday but someone elses birthday could make a good number.   An acronym used as a mnemonic memory device is also a good tactic.    For example lets say your gradmother lives on West 1834 main street.   You could use a mnemonic password of "Gl@1834WMs" for "Grandma lives at 1834 W Main street"

Should I buy a Big Hard Drive or a Little Hard Drive?

I mentioned the other day that I'm looking to buy an external hard drive for our home use.   I plan to setup the drive to automatically backup our primary computer.   My first inclination was to get a 500GB drive since that is more than enough for my current needs.   I found a Seagate model for $50.  However there are also 1TB drives for around $70.   If I bought that then I would get twice as much storage for just $20 more.   I also even found a sale deal for Seagate 2TB drives for $80.   That would give me 4 times as much storage for only $30 more.

So what drive should I buy?    Should I buy the cheapest drive that meets my immediate needs?    Or should I pay more and get the bigger drives and have a lot of room to expand for the future?

500GB - cheaper and meets my current needs:   The 500GB drive would be more than enough for now.   Our computer only has around 250GB in space on it so a 500GB drive would be double what I need for backup purposes.  I could upgrade our computer in the next year or two since its pretty old right now.  But I think the 500GB would still be good enough for a while even if I do upgrade the computer.  Our storage requirements aren't that high. 

500GB would be plenty for now.    I expect it should easily suffice for at least a couple years if not longer.

2TB - Better cost / size bargain and will meet our needs longer :  If I were to buy the 2TB drive (1TB = 1000GB) on sale then I would be getting an extra 1.5TB for just $30 more.   That is a very good bargain for that much additional storage.   The 500GB drive is 10¢ per GB and the 2TB drive is just 4¢ per GB.   The 2TB drive is a much better bargain in this respect.

Of course I wouldn't buy the 2TB if I will never need the extra 1.5TB of space.   But eventually I'm sure I can use that extra space in years down the road.   That will keep me from having to get yet another bigger drive 2, 3 or 5 years from now.    It would seem that paying 60% more to get 4 times as much storage is a great bargain so I was tempted to get the 2TB drive and declare it a great deal.   But then I looked closely at the cost of hard drives over time and reminded myself of just how fast the cost drops for this technology.

I'm now looking at these 2 options:

1) Spend $50 today and get 500GB which will last 2-3 years.   Then 2-3 years from now buy another drive to get 1TB or more to meet future needs.
2) Spend $80 today and get 2TB that should last 4+ years easily.

Essentially the question boils down to :
Do I buy a cheaper smaller drive every 2 years or a larger drive every 4 years?

If the price of the item were going up over time then it would make sense to buy the bigger one today I think.
Say for example that harddrives went up in cost 10% a year and so 2 years from now the 500GB drive was $60.50.   I'd then be spending    $50 and then $60 over 4 years instead of $80 today.  That would make the purchase of the larger drive now the clear winner.

However hard drives drop in price pretty fast over time.  The 120GB drive I bought a few years ago was $110.   If I had bought a 600GB+ external drive 3 years ago I'd have probably spent more like $175 or 200.
In hind sight if I'd bought a big drive with lots of extra storage then I'd have been spending more than the $110 I've spent plus the $50 I'm looking at now.

Since hard drives drop in cost so fast I think it makes a lot more sense to buy only what you need for the short term use rather than buying a LOT more than what you need just to get a bargain price.   The prices in 3-4 years will be a much better bargain then buying the extra capacity today.

There are some other key items that the cost drops significantly over time.   Most electronics are in that category in general.  Computers, televisions, smart phones, ipods, etc all tend to go down in price or at least give you much better product in future years for the same price.   Theres numerous examples of this and I'm sure you're familiar with the phenomenon.   That $800 computer you're thinking of buying today probably be sold for $250 in 2-3 years.    The ipod you get today will be half as good as the model sold in a couple years.   My 55" TV costs 50% more than a 60" TV would cost today.

Bottom Line : For hard drives and other electronics I think it generally makes sense to buy the cheaper option that will meet your needs today then upgrade in the future when you need more instead of buying the better and more expensive item today and upgrading less frequently.

History of Hard Drive Costs

I mentioned yesterday that I'm shopping for harddrives.    The current external harddrive that I have is an older 120GB model that cost me about $110 in Nov. 2005.   Today I'm looking at 1-2 TB models that run $70 or $80 range.  If I remember right around 15-18 years ago I spent something like $200 or $300 for a 300 MB harddrive.   The price of harddrives drops like a rock over time.

This nice article Cost of Hard Drive Space compiles a lot of data on the history of harddrive costs over the years.  

Here's a few data points to illustrate the history of hard drive costs over the decades.


1985 : 10 megabytes cost $710.    Today 10 megabytes of storage is nothing. Today you can get blank DVD discs in bulk for as cheap as 18¢ and those are over 4GB.    So today that 10MB of space is 0.045¢.  

1995 : 1 GB cost $849.   Ten years later you could get about 100 times the capacity for about 20% more.  Yet today that 1GB would easily fit on a 18¢ DVD with 3GB to spare.


2005 : 200 GB for $100.   Another 10 years later and you could get 200 times as much storage for almost 10% the cost.  

2011 : Today you can pretty easily find a 1 TB drive for $50 range.    In 6 years the cost has dropped in half and you get five times as much.

I took some of the data points from the Cost of Hard Drive Space page and plotted a chart.  I'm showing just the costs over the 2000 to 2010 period.    The yellow dotted line is the trend line.

In October 2000 you could get a drive for about $7.14 per GB.   By August 2010 the cost had dropped to just 8¢ per GB.    Over that time period thats a compound rate of -36% annually.   In general over the past decade hard drive costs have dropped approximately 36% each year on average.

Connect a Computer to Your TV

I have an older computer in my living room hooked up to our big screen TV.   The computer is hooked to the TV via an HDMI connector and its got a wireless internet connection.   I can stream TV via Hulu.com and watch videos via Netflix online.    I can surf the web, play video games and look at digital photos.  I've got a wireless keyboard with a built in mouse pointer so that I can control the computer from the comfort of the couch.   Since I already had the computer it didn't cost me anything to buy the system and I paid under $100 for the parts to hook it up.  If you have an older computer that you aren't using then setting it up in your living room to connect it to your TV can be a fairly inexpensive way to get internet video in your living room.

Note: Connecting your computer to your TV will require some basic computer know how.   This article isn't meant to be a complete guide but more of a basic idea.  

Hooking the computer to the TV takes a few connections. You need video, audio, internet plus a way to control the computer.

Video connection
If your computer and TV both have HDMI connectors then you've got it easy. You can just get an HDMI cable and plug it right into your HDTV.   Some computers like mine have what is called a DVI connector.  For those you can get a HDMI to DVI connector. Your TV might have a VGA connector and if it does then that also makes it easy as that is the standard video output from computers so you can just get a longish VGA-VGA cable.   If you don't have any connections on the computer that match your TV then you could get a new video card.  Cards nowadays seem to come with HDMI pretty standard and you can get a new card with HDMI for as little as $30.    The tricky part for me was getting the video resolution set at the right dimensions so it would display property on my TV. 

Audio connection
Generally HDMI can carry audio but the output from your computer likely doesn't carry the audio on the HDMI.    So you'll have to connect the audio separately.  If you have any other connector like DVI or VGA then you'll need to connect the audio too.   You can do that with a cable adapter that splits a 1/8" jack output on your computer to a red & black RCA connector pair.   I have the audio connected to my stereo system.   You may be able to route the audio straight to the TV.   This isn't the best quality audio in the world  but it works.   Newer computers than mine may have better audio connections built in.  Or if you really value higher quality audio signal you can spend a few bucks and get a sound card with an digital output port like an optical port.  Such cards are on Newegg for as little as $10.


Wireless internet
It is probably easiest to setup wireless internet.   A USB wireless network adapter plugs straight into a USB port on your computer and lets you get wireless network access.   The adapters can be bought for $20 or less nowadays.   If you don't have wireless internet or prefer to save some money you could also use a long ethernet cable.   A 50' cable is as little as $7 on Newegg.   However the wired cable may be a hassle depending on where your network hub is versus your TV setup.  I had a wired network connection for a while but I had to snake the cable across a couple rooms and kept tripping over it.

Keyboard & mouse

If you hook up a computer to your TV you could just use a standard old keyboard & mouse connected directly to your computer.  But you'll have to be able to put the keyboard and mouse on a surface that you can use them on.  In my front room theres no good spot for a computer setup with keyboard and mouse.   I prefer a wireless RF keyboard with built in mouse.   This lets me use the computer from the comfort of my couch.   I bought a wireless keyboard with built in joystick style mouse for around $40.  It connects via a USB and sues RF wireless.

Total cost to hook up a computer to TV to act as an entertainment server :  less than $75 or as little as $10.

To take my old computer and turn it into a media center to hook up to my big screen TV today I'd need just four items.   My shopping list on Newegg would be:
Wireless USB network adapter = $17
Wireless RF keyboard = $33
6' HDMI to DVI cable = $6
6' audio adapter cable = $4
With shipping & handling to my home the total cost comes out to $72 and change.

You could do without the wireless keyboard and wireless internet and get it set up with ethernet cable and standard keyboard & mouse plugged into the computer.   That would make your minimum costs at around $10-$15 for the audio & video cables.



Build a DVR

With the addition of a TV tuner for your computer you can also use your computer as a DVR.   A decent TV tuner like the Hauppage WinTV HVR-1250 can be bought for under $50.  (Note this particular card is PCI-Express and may not be compatible with older computers.)   With this kind of card you can watch and record live TV on your computer.   A computer TV tuner will handle over the air broadcasts or plain cable signals pretty handily, but it might be capable to decode new digital cable or satellite TV signals.


Other ways to get computer or internet feeds on your TV.

Maybe you don't have an old computer or maybe you just don't want a big old computer sitting in your living room.

Network media server

You can also serve video and audio from your computer via a accessory devices like the Hauppage mediaMVP.    The device connects to your network and then hooks to your TV.  Using it you can watch video and listen to music on your TV.   Cost is about $130.   I haven't used this device or anything like it myself  and this is just an example of such devices out there.  

Game consoles.    Xbox and PS3 let you stream Netflix to your TV.   This is an easy way to watch Netflix.     You can also get things like Youtube on Wii or PS3 consoles.

Mac Mini.   If you're going to buy a full fledged computer with the intention of hooking it to your TV then the Mac Mini may be a good choice.   You can get a mini for $600.   Here is a guide for connecting a mini to your TV.

The Cost of Computers over Time

The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks consumer price data. Computer equipment is one of the price categories that they track. Below is the trend in the price index of "personal computer and peripheral equipment" for the past 10 years

As you can see the price of computers has dropped drastically over the years. From 1999 to 2003 the index dropped over 20% every year. Lately the rate of price drop has slowed but the prices for computers are still dropping. The index has decreased at a rate of 11-12% annually for the last 3 years.

Remember this is an index of prices so its not directly related to a specific dollar amount for a specific item. They are looking at personal computers and peripheral equipment prices as a whole so its a combination of everything in that category: very expensive computers, cheap computers, monitors, printers, etc. So while the overall prices may have gone down from a 700 level to 100 level that doesn't mean that any individual computer part you buy today will cost 1/7th of what it cost 10 years ago. For example the cheapest Dell system today costs about $400 but the cheapest Dell 10 years ago was not 7 times that much.

Overall this kind of price trend does matches reality pretty well. I remember in the late 1980's that an IBM PC would cost in the ballpark of $3000. I remember spending about $1500 for my first real PC back around 1994. Today you can buy a decent Dell system for around $400. A printer today can be bought for as little as $25-$50 on sale but 10 years ago they'd easily run $150-$200 minimum.

From the index and from direct observation, its clear that personal computer prices have been steadily decreasing over the past decade.