From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V6 #246 Reply-To: loud-fans@smoe.org Sender: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk loud-fans-digest Wednesday, December 6 2006 Volume 06 : Number 246 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [loud-fans] good (connection) advices [CertronC90@aol.com] Re: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices [John Swartzentruber ] Re: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices [John Swartzentruber ] Re: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices [CertronC90@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 11:31:58 EST From: CertronC90@aol.com Subject: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices I've decided to leave the nineties behind and get high speed internet. Trying to download a video about the making of The Beatles' LOVE album did it for me. It took literally hours. Loudfans is THE place to consult computer savvy people. So, which one is the best value? I thought about getting the cable tv/internet deal, but, I don't think that'll be worth the money because I don't watch tv (I found when I was 25 that it was influencing me too much, and I took Michael Stipe's advice and just quit watching). And, the last time I tried to watch cable tv, I had like, 120 channels, and I spent an entire half hour just surfing trying to find something to watch, but then it was the next half hour, and I had to do it all over again (too many choices, and I HAVE to see what they all are--there are some things that meds can't help--lol). It frustrated me and I just switched it off. So, going for a non-cable tv/internet bundle, what is the best way to go? My computer is quite modest. It was one of those AOL computers that Comp USA here had for 199 dollars last year (then they marked them down to 99 bucks like, a week after I bought mine--much to my dismay) where you got a computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers (which were promptly chunked--garbage--and replaced with nice Altec Lansings) and printer for a low price if you got AOL for a year. However, I'm thinking of getting rid of AOL (gasp!) because the news on the welcome screen has degraded to the quality and tone of the Weekly World News meets Seventeen. I fully expect to sign on and find "news" of "Bat Boy" to appear. I really don't give a rat's buttocks about Britney Spears' lack of underwear or who Paris Hilton (just WHO decided she was attractive and interesting anyway?--she's like a faux celeb--like Tori Spelling) is stroking. I DO wonder why so many people seem so fascinated with mediocrity. But anyway, enough bitching. I guess I'm just getting old. My processor is a Celeron D, which I think is about 2 gigahertz, and I put a CD burner in the thing, so you can imagine it's pretty spartan, and I don't need data mainlining, but something definitely faster. But, most importantly, I want the best value. I'm a pretty cheap bastard unless it's music. Muchos gracias, - --Mark, whose car will be ready tomorrow--yeah, really--unbelievable ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2006 11:58:17 -0500 From: John Swartzentruber Subject: Re: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices On 12/5/2006 11:31 AM CertronC90@aol.com wrote: > So, going for a non-cable tv/internet bundle, what is the best way to go? If you want to go cheap, go with DSL through your phone company and get the cheapest package. It's probably cheaper than AOL. You can also step up a bit before you hit cable prices. If you don't qualify for DSL (it is very dependent on where you live), then cable is your only reasonable choice. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 11:11:06 -0600 From: "Tom Galczynski" Subject: RE: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices In my experience, cable broadband has been the most reliable and fastest. It has also been the most expensive. I got the basic cable (really just the local networks plus all the shopping channels) plus high speed internet and it is $61/month from Comcast. You can get a deal on the internet, but it's usually only for the first 3 months. Sounds like you might need to go DSL through AT&T. It was pretty reliable for me and I have seen deals of $15/month for new customers and if I remember correctly it was for at least a year. Speed was pretty good. > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-loud-fans@smoe.org > [mailto:owner-loud-fans@smoe.org] On Behalf Of CertronC90@aol.com > Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 10:32 AM > To: loud-fans@smoe.org > Subject: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices > > I've decided to leave the nineties behind and get high speed > internet. > Trying to download a video about the making of The Beatles' > LOVE album did it for > me. It took literally hours. > > Loudfans is THE place to consult computer savvy people. So, > which one is > the best value? I thought about getting the cable > tv/internet deal, but, I > don't think that'll be worth the money because I don't watch > tv (I found when I > was 25 that it was influencing me too much, and I took > Michael Stipe's advice > and just quit watching). And, the last time I tried to watch > cable tv, I > had like, 120 channels, and I spent an entire half hour just > surfing trying to > find something to watch, but then it was the next half hour, > and I had to do > it all over again (too many choices, and I HAVE to see what they all > are--there are some things that meds can't help--lol). It > frustrated me and I just > switched it off. > > So, going for a non-cable tv/internet bundle, what is the > best way to go? > My computer is quite modest. It was one of those AOL > computers that Comp USA > here had for 199 dollars last year (then they marked them > down to 99 bucks > like, a week after I bought mine--much to my dismay) where > you got a computer, > monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers (which were promptly > chunked--garbage--and > replaced with nice Altec Lansings) and printer for a low > price if you got > AOL for a year. However, I'm thinking of getting rid of AOL > (gasp!) because > the news on the welcome screen has degraded to the quality > and tone of the > Weekly World News meets Seventeen. I fully expect to sign > on and find "news" of > "Bat Boy" to appear. I really don't give a rat's buttocks > about Britney > Spears' lack of underwear or who Paris Hilton (just WHO > decided she was > attractive and interesting anyway?--she's like a faux > celeb--like Tori Spelling) is > stroking. I DO wonder why so many people seem so fascinated > with mediocrity. > > But anyway, enough bitching. I guess I'm just getting old. > My processor is > a Celeron D, which I think is about 2 gigahertz, and I put a > CD burner in > the thing, so you can imagine it's pretty spartan, and I > don't need data > mainlining, but something definitely faster. But, most > importantly, I want the > best value. I'm a pretty cheap bastard unless it's music. > > Muchos gracias, > --Mark, whose car will be ready tomorrow--yeah, really--unbelievable > > ______________________________________________________________________ > This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. > For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email > ______________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 10:09:13 -0800 (PST) From: "Tim Walters" Subject: RE: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices At least where I live, you can cable internet without getting cable TV. I switched to that recently, and it's cheaper ($40), faster and more reliable than the DSL connection I had before. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 10:36:47 -0800 From: "Michael Mitton" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices As a general reminder to everyone, call your cable/dsl provider and ask for a lower rate. I recently called to complain about the late payment fees Comcast gave me because they screwed up. They gave me a credit for their screw-up, and then the lady volunteered, "Should I look to see if there are any specials in your area?" 5 minutes later, she had gotten me $25 off my cable bill, and $15 off my Internet, for the next 12 months. That dropped it from about $100 to $60 per month. On 12/5/06, Tim Walters wrote: > At least where I live, you can cable internet without getting cable TV. I > switched to that recently, and it's cheaper ($40), faster and more > reliable than the DSL connection I had before. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 14:20:44 -0500 From: "Larry Tucker" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices Throughout a lot of the Carolinas you can get Time Warner broadband without the cable TV for around $42 a month. I live in a too remote area for DSL. There's some distance limitation from some of the phone facilities. The TW cable has been very fast and reliable. Strangely, if I signed up through TWC it was $3 a month more than through Earthlink. - -Larry On 12/5/06, Tim Walters wrote: > > At least where I live, you can cable internet without getting cable TV. I > switched to that recently, and it's cheaper ($40), faster and more > reliable than the DSL connection I had before. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 18:09:47 -0600 From: 2fs Subject: Re: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices On 12/5/06, CertronC90@aol.com wrote: > > > So, going for a non-cable tv/internet bundle, what is the best way to go? > My computer is quite modest. > Mine's quite brazen: it struts around the house in front of wide-open Windows without a stitch on. Anyway: I have nothing to add to the general chorus recommending cable w/o the TV option or DSL - but I will chime in on the "ask for cheaper cable" thread: we realized that we really watch only a handful of channels and care not to proffer the hindquarters of the urban rodent about all the other channels - but the lowest advertised cable selection seemed excessively channel-full and expensive. So I called Time Warner, and said, look, all we want is a connection and yr regular network channels - can we do that? Sure enough there was a lower-priced, unadvertised "super-basic" selection - with like ten cable channels (all of them thrillingly mundane, such as the Weather Channel) and the networks - for about half of what the supposed low-price "basic" rates were. - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2006 19:56:30 -0500 From: John Swartzentruber Subject: Re: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices On 12/5/2006 7:09 PM 2fs wrote: > I called Time Warner, and said, look, all we > want is a connection and yr regular network channels - can we do that? Sure > enough there was a lower-priced, unadvertised "super-basic" selection - with > like ten cable channels (all of them thrillingly mundane, such as the > Weather Channel) and the networks - for about half of what the supposed > low-price "basic" rates were. I believe the "broadcast" package must be offered by law. That's what we've had for years. It costs about $15/month vs. over $40/month for "standard" cable. And we get three PBS stations. It is more than enough to keep our Tivo filled. Back to the DSL/Cable question -- I recommended the DSL because of the price, but didn't mention that I switched to cable for the speed and reliability. We are just too far from the switch to get fast reliable DSL service. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 19:37:55 -0800 (PST) From: Gil Ray Subject: [loud-fans] A real, purty song Right now, at this very moment, the most beautiful song in the world is Light Arriving Soon by the Swimming Pool Q's. It can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/theswimmingpoolqs Gil ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 01:35:43 EST From: CertronC90@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] good (connection) advices In a message dated 12/5/2006 7:25:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, jeffreyw2fs.j@gmail.com writes: Mine's quite brazen: it struts around the house in front of wide-open Windows without a stitch on. Showing her motherboard to anyone.... Thank you for this. It made my evening. Anyway: I have nothing to add to the general chorus recommending cable w/o the TV option or DSL I'm going to call tomorrow about DSL, and cable without the tv option (I wasn't sure you could do that) to see which is cheaper. I've been using dial-up because I live with me mum, and she just cannot go for the idea of using cellular phones exclusively and not having a land line. She's not comfortable with that. Cell phones are like toys to her. So, I figured that I might as well just use the free connection. I've just never really thought I needed it, but, I work so much nowadays that my time has become gold to me, and I want speed, dammit!! So, I'm willing to pay for this, and she can keep her land line. Thanks to all for your input! I wish I could just get VH1, The History Channel and The Discovery Channel, but I don't think it works that way. - --Mark np The Hidden Cameras AWOO ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V6 #246 *******************************