As you can see there has been a bit of improvement to the site over the last few days. I managed time to get a Google Adsense account setup and installed the modules for both displaying the ads and injecting them into appropriate areas of the site. I'm going to try to get the Adsense search function integrated this evening. I know we sometimes get overwhelmed with the amount of ads on the Internet but it is important to this site as it will be the main source of funding. The great thing about Google is they only deliver directed advertising that is relevant to the page you are reading. I know while setting up the ads and reviewing the site layout I have already found several products I had to investigate further. Hopefully you and the rest of our readers will gain a benefit from our display of these ads and we will certainly keep them to a minimum.

The main reason you haven't seen more progress with this site over the last week is my free time has been spent searching for a new laptop. My current laptop, a Dell C610 is dying a slow death and I finally decided to replace it. I have had it for three years now but because it always seemed slower than the IBM ThinkPad A21p I got it to replace it has actually only been used for little over a year and a half. The Dell is certainly outdated with only a 1.0 Gigahertz Intel processor, 512 Megs of RAM and a 30 Gigabyte hard drive. But the main reason I'm buying a new laptop is because the Dell is simply falling apart. Since I have started actively using it I have replaced the hard drive once when it crashed and I lost all my data (I know - bad IT guy, backup your system) , the battery twice because it wouldn't hold a charge, the AC adapter at least 4 times, the keyboard 4 times and the touchpad once.

In fairness to DELL the AC adapter and keyboard problems were partially my fault. I have a tendency to move around a lot when I'm using my laptop while it is plugged in putting stress on the AC adapter where it connects to the laptop. Because the strain relief on the end of the power cord is minimal at best it causes the wire to break internally. You can't tell by looking at it but the wires actually pull apart under the insulation. With the keyboard I do have a heavy had but still think this one is just poorly constructed. The C610 is one of the dying breed of laptops that had both a pointer in the middle of the keyboard and a separate touchpad. I keep breaking off the pointer and busting the space bars.

The main problem however is the general construction of the laptop. I just don't think it was intended to be used seriously as a mobile computer. The CDROM has always had a problem fitting correctly and the right corner pops out causing the system to freeze. Fortunately a little push in the right corner reseats the unit and the system recovers. Now the hinges for the screen are failing causing the display connector to get stressed and the screen to develop lines or complete loss of video.

The new system I chose is an Acer Aspire 9810 model LX.AF60U.015 that I ordered thru Home Depot as no one carried it locally. This is actually the second Acer system I have ordered thru Home Depot recently, the other being a desktop system I purchased as a Christmas gift for my son. I had never owned an Acer system prior and actually had virtually no experience with them as they are pretty rare in corporate America. The desktop system seems to be very well constructed and runs well for a budget system so I was pleased with that purchase.

Acer support is another matter but I rarely ever need to call support unless it is for a piece of replacement hardware. My two calls to support were in attempt to get the free upgrade to Microsoft Windows Vista that support told me I was eligible to receive. The only thing they could do was direct me to a Microsoft website where they wanted to charge for the upgrade after I entered the system information. Emails to that Microsoft site were responded to automatically it appears as every time I would receive the same message back with slightly different links to follow depending on the manufacture of the PC they thought I owned. As a former Microsoft MCSE who excessively pushed their products I was very displeased with the experience from Microsoft and as a new Acer customer was surprised that the support team couldn't or wouldn't help and didn't seem to care that I was frustrated with the situation.

One of those companies still owes me a copy of Windows Vista Home Edition for my sons PC and I hope someone from one of the companies steps up to the plate and resolves this issue.

I’m going to purchase the extended warranty thru Home Depot so I can avoid dealing with Acer support in the future so this should eliminate the problem with their lack of wiliness to help resolve issues. A few years back I purchased a Ryobi 18 volt battery operated tool set from them and opted for the extended warranty which I almost never purchase. The second time I attempted to use the vacuum that was included the power button broke. I walked into home depot and 20 minutes later was back out the door with a new vacuum in hand. I know this won’t happen with the laptop because the local stores don’t even care them, they are online items only but I’m still hoping the level of service is the same.

I'm not looking forward to migrating my data over to the new system but am anxious to start taking advantage of the features in Windows Vista Ultimate and having a system that doesn't struggle to open a new browser window. The Acer also has a 20.1" widescreen, far larger than my current 15.4" Dell. In case you are wondering, here are the system specifications:

General Information
Manufacturer Acer, Inc
Manufacturer Part Number LX.AF60U.015
Product Line Aspire
Product Series 9810
Product Model 9810-6829
Product Name Aspire 9810-6829 Notebook

Processor & Chipset
Processor Installed Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2GHz
Processor Technology Enhanced SpeedStep Technology
Virtualization Technology
EM64T
Bus Speed 667MHz
Cache Level 2 4MB L2
Chipset Intel 945PM Express

Memory
Standard Memory 2GB
Maximum Memory 4GB
Memory Technology DDR2 SDRAM
Memory Standard DDR2-667/PC2-5300
Memory Slots 2 Total/0 Free

Storage
Hard Drive 320GB Serial ATA
Optical Drive HD DVD-Reader/DVD-Writer (Double-layer) - HD DVD-ROM/DVD-RAM/±R/±RW
Memory Cards Support MultiMedia Card (MMC)
Memory Stick
Memory Stick PRO
Secure Digital (SD) Card
xD-Picture Card

Display & Graphics
Display Screen 20.1" WSXGA+ Widescreen Active Matrix TFT Color LCD with CrystalBrite
Graphics Controller nVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 256MB VRAM
Display Resolution 1680 x 1050 (Internal)
Color Support 16.7 Million Colors 24-bit

Network & Communication
Network 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet IEEE 802.3ab
Modem 56Kbps V.92 Data/Fax Modem

I/O Expansions
Expansion Slots 1 x PC Card Type II
1 x ExpressCard/54

Input Devices
Keyboard 105-key
Pointing Device TouchPad

Interfaces/Ports
Ports 1 x Parallel
1 x VGA
1 x Mini-phone S/PDIF/Audio Out
1 x Mini-phone Microphone
1 x Mini-phone Audio In
1 x Audio/Video In
1 x mini-DIN S-Video Out
1 x Antenna In
1 x HDCP DVI-D (Digital)
1 x IEEE 1394 - FireWire
1 x IrDA Fast Infrared
1 x DC Power Input
4 x 4-pin Type A USB
1 x RJ-11 Modem
1 x RJ-45 Network
1 x Serial

Software
Operating System Windows Vista Ultimate
Software Included • Acer Arcade
• Acer GridVista
• Acer Launch Manager
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Cyberlink PowerProducer(OEM, not full-featured, version)
• NTI CD Maker(OEM, not full-featured, version)
• Norton AntiVirus(OEM, not full-featured, version)
• Acer Empowering Technology:
• eNet
• ePower
• ePresentation
• eDataSecurity
• eLock
• eRecovery
• eSettings
• ePerformance

Battery Information
Batteries 1 x 8-cell Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) Standard Battery
Battery Life 1.5 Hour(s)

Physical Characteristics
Dimensions 2.4" Height x 18.7" Width x 13.9" Depth

Miscellaneous
Package Contents • Aspire 9810-6829 Notebook
• Lithium Ion Battery
• AC Adapter

Warranty
Standard Warranty 1 Year(s) Limited - Worldwide

If you browsed thru the specifications you probably noticed the battery life is only 1.5 hours and the weight is a heafty 17.2 pounds. I almost didn't purchase because of this but the large screen and dual hard drives outweigh my need to be mobile. I typically use the laptop while seated at my couch or in the recliner since I quit working in the IT industry so weight isn't really an issue and a power plug is close at hand. On those occasions I might go truly mobile with it I have never been one that can stand to use a laptop on an airplane and I have an 800W AC inverter installed in my truck. The inverter has come in real handy while in the truck because with the Dell I had the Garmin GPS package and would also use the laptop to upload digital pictures from my camera when its memory was full. Not to forget is the hundreds of times I didn't hear "I'm bored" from my son because he was able to use his Microsoft XBOX on cross country trips.

I'll let you know how the laptop works out in a few days.