The Topic:
Join Just Jaimee, Jennifer Wilson and the Digi Show gang on this week’s episode of The Digi Show, where they are talking about what digi scrappers should look for in a computer. Breaking it all down and making it easy to understand
Joining the Discussion:
Jennifer Wilson (Simple Scrapper • Before Your Story)
Jaimee Kaiser (Just Jaimee @ The-Lilypad)
Peppermint Granberg
Katie Nelson
Steph
Show Notes:
Picks of the Week:
Jennifer: Lightroom’s Auto Import feature
Jaimee: Art Class Workshop with Wilna Furstenberg
Peppermint: 5 Free eBooks Every Graphic Designer Should Read
Katie: The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
Steph: Cindy’s Layered Templates
Sponsors:
For the best deal in digital scrapbooking, become a member at TheDailyDigi.com.
I thought this Pinterest for Professionals class might interest some of you; even if the main audience is knitting/crochet designers
and links are nice! its’ at http://www.makeloops.com/classes/pinterestforpros/" Pinterest for Professionals
make that http://www.makeloops.com/classes/
I have been known to type in “thedashlilypad.com” into my address bar on occasion. I can’t say anything about The Lilypad in my house with my husband interrupting me to correct me by saying “you mean The DASH Lilypad” thanks to The Digi Show.
I have to agree with Katie that the Dell Inspiration is just not a great machine overall. Sure, it has the power, but since getting mine in 2012, it has always had annoying issues. I shouldn’t complain too much because for the most part it does work for me. I’ve just accepted that every so often I will have to spend the day fixing whatever it decided to break. Previously I had an HP Notebook (I think that’s what it’s called). While it didn’t have the power to PSE, PSP and some other big programs all at once and was a bit slower in general, I never had one issue with it. I was flawless companion for 2 years.
I’ve no plans to replace the Inspiron anytime soon, but if I could go back in time I would pass on it.
At Get It Scrapped, we have recently had a computer discussion which anyone looking for a computer may want to check out after listening to this episode: http://www.debbiehodge.com/gisforum/index.php?showtopic=8772
Also, any chance you link that site that you talked about that told Steph (I think) if she could add RAM to her computer?
I’m glad to know it isn’t just me with the Dell Inspiron, but I do feel bad that someone else has had to go through that same frustration. You are right – it isn’t a terrible machine, but it’s just kind of irritating with all the wonky quirks!
We bought a Dell Inspiron back in 2007. It started as my husband’s laptop, but became mine when my Dell just wasn’t working anymore. I used it for about 2 years, but it drove me nuts whenever I tried to use PSE. I didn’t want to just toss it, so it has found new life: as my toddler’s computer. It works great for those old CD Rom games, and it does great with the internet for his flash games. So, the Inspiron is great for that. Haha.
I’m pretty sure it was crucial. This link:
http://www.crucial.com/support/howmuch.aspx
One more: If you don’t know that info, this is the download tool: http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/
Steph-
I have a 2011 MacBook Pro and I just upgraded my RAM to 16GB even though it said I could only max out at 8. Works fine and I LOVE it! A huge difference….
Laura, I know virtually nothing (I should stop right there!) about Apple stuff, but in the PC world there have been times/machines/combinations that user-installed RAM exceeded manufacturers’ limitations – but they did no good. Are you sure you machine is accessing those last 8 GB of RAM or are they just sitting there? If you upgraded from less than 8 you may only be benefiting from the upgrade to 8 GB or if you were at 8GB, perhaps your new RAM is speedier and you are benefiting from that. My main thought here is to not give false hope to other potential upgraders.
Very good thing to point out Joyce. I did quite a bit of research before I upgraded and found very little negative. If you search in the apple support community there is a lot of info as well as macpro and cnet. I linked one article that I thought was good.
http://m.cnet.com/news/add-16gb-ram-to-your-macbook-pro/20125391?ds=1
Laura!!! Thank you!!! My MacBook Pro was on that list! I installed 16gb of RAM yesterday (by myself) and I am in LOVE!!! It should be against Mac law to sell a Mac with only 4gb!
Yay! Way to go Steph!
Awesome! I can’t believe the difference it made in my machine. I am glad you were able to upgrade as well!
I just listened again to the podcast this summer in which Wendi addressed some of the ram issues. I decided this might be a good place to ask my question because of the Flickr Challenge that begins this month. I recently started putting my photos on Flickr – downloading them directly from iPhoto. I intended to use that as extra protection (I can link to them wherever I am). Besides my ED, I have made DVD’s as back-ups. I have thousands of photos like Katie. I was concerned this morning when I went to delete a set of 2012 photos from my computer and received a warning that these photos would also be deleted from Flickr and Facebook. To make a long question shorter: would this happen with a Pro Account? Thanks for the help.
I’m confused as to how your computer knows to delete them from Flickr and Facebook? I’m never received that error. I uploaded photos from an old computer, and have since deleted them, but never received that notice.
What operating system are you using? How did you upload them?
Jackie are you publishing them to FB/Flickr through iPhoto?
Katie, my 10 year old already thinks you’re the coolest because you love LEGO and Harry Potter. When you brought up Studio C, I immediately stopped the podcast and went to find her so she could listen. She absolutely adores Studio C and your reference to them has completely cemented your rock star status in her mind.
That is so cool! I actually get along great with 10 year olds – they are the best!
Just wanted to say thanks for coming to the dentist with me today. I hate the dentist and so I plugged you in and listened while they worked. So not just cleaning house but cleaning teeth!
Wow! Well I’m glad we could be there for you, Ronnie. The dentist is one of my biggest anxieties ever.
I kind of felt bad for a bit there that I’m getting my house cleaning done while listening, and you all aren’t!
It got me thinking, though…do you all have favorite podcasts that you listen to so you can get your houses clean too?? I’d love to hear what’s on your podcast playlists! ~Tiffany in NH
Here’s the link to the song I sang for Jaimee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwcXX1WVtGE&feature=youtu.be
I had one of those “did I really do that on a podcast?” moments when we finished recording. So silly!
With the CPU vs Video card usage in PSE that Jennifer mentioned, I thought I’d just jump in and back her up!
From my research, PSE is still making minimal use of the GPU (graphics processing unit) that comes with modern graphics cards
http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72793
The Mac version of PSE is 64bit and the Windows version is still 32-bit so that means on Windows, PSE can’t actually use as much RAM as it can on the Mac version. So I may run slower/differently.
Adobe moved Premiere Elements over to 64bit last year, so here’s hoping that they can move PSE over soon too!
PS If you are buying a new computer and are an Elements user, I still would not scrimp on the graphics card as the software should catch up to use the GPU soon!
A quick thought on Macs and RAM… the newest laptops now have the ram soldered onto the motherboard to make them thinner and lighter. The unfortunately side effect is that you can no longer update your ram. So, when I bought my newest laptop last year, I had to invest in the highest ram available from the get go. I also opted for the solid state drive. It’s a smaller drive than I would have like (500gb) but I really love it. I bought a portable hard drive to keep a working copy of my scrap supplies on, but I still press up against the hard drive space. The solid state drive was still worth it though!
Oh no!! Wendy, that is one reason why I love my desktop. I can’t hack the annoyance of not being able to upgrade laptops! But I guess when the children start using computers I could always hand them down!
Thanks for sharing this Wendy! It looks like the latest 21″ iMacs have this too (but not the 27″), so it is important to check.
On my Ultrabook the original 4GB of RAM is soldered onto the motherboard, but it has one additional slot that can accept up to an 8GB stick.
That being said, all my previous laptops had nice little hatches on the back with a couple of screws that you could undo and upgrade the RAM. I never had to take an entire machine apart. This Ultrabook was very hard to get apart because they really went to great lengths to keep it thin. Had I not watched the YouTube video I would have struggled to remove the back from it for a long time. But I did have to take the entire back off it, which felt like it might break a few times while I was trying to pry it off, and then all the “guts” are packed into it like a Tetris game. There wasn’t a ton of room to maneuver.
I have an AMD processor. It’s a A10-4600M 3.20-GHz processor. Bought at Costco ;). LOL. It works just fine for me. I use PSE11, and haven’t had any problems with it running, nor with the internet. My husband has the same computer, only his has the touchscreen and Intel processor (all other specs are the same). We haven’t noticed a difference between them. Actually, we have. Mine holds the internet connection better than his.
I like Windows 8. I jumped from XP to 8. I took about 30 minutes to learn the quirks, and now I really enjoy it. This is the article I used: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/11/windows-8-basics-tips-tricks-and-cures/
The biggest trick I learned was to pull the window down from the top and it’ll close it. DO NOT take your computer to Best Buy if you can avoid it. My mom took hers 4 times (SLC and Orem). Every single time, no matter the issue, they wiped it clean. They weren’t supposed to, but they did. One time it was for a simple RAM upgrade. One time, they reinstalled someone else’s hard drive to her computer. Katie, there are lots of great computer shops in Utah. I’m more familiar with the Utah County ones, but go local. My brother was able to have his motherboard installed on his computer for $20 locally.
My desktop computer – otherwise known as the One Little Bird Command Center – is an AMD processor. It’s a quad core .. something or other. It’s about 3 years old now and could stand to be upgraded, but it’s been a great machine. I do prefer Intel, though. That computer wasn’t purchased to be my work computer, it just wound up that way.
Came across this today
http://diana212m.blogspot.com/2014/02/grounding.html
I’m going to try this … in June. When the ground finally thaws here. I need all the stress relief I can get.
Regarding routine maintenance on a mac . . .
About a year ago, my mac was getting really slow, and tried everything to figure out what was going on. Finally, I came across a blog post (which I totally can’t find right now — argh!! wish I could give proper credit!) that really did the trick. Apparently, if you are a heavy photo user (which all of us scrappers are . . .) you need to periodically “secure delete” your trash. When we empty our trash the usual way, the mac doesn’t really erase anything — it just erases the “markers” that tell it where to find the data. So if you are like me and you are always downloading pictures, moving them around, scrapping stuff, and then at some point archiving and deleting things, etc — you will be left with a hard drive that may have available “space” but it is really bogged down with thousands and thousands of pictures. So what you have to do us use the disk utility to basically overwrite zeros over everything that is “empty.” You’ll find this under “Applications”, “Utilities”, and “Disk Utility”. Click on your hard drive on the left sidebar, and then select the “Erase” tab. (don’t worry — we’re not erasing yet!) Now, you’ll see a button towards the bottom of the window that says “Erase Free Space.” You will be given several options for how securely it will erase — and how long that will take. I did this and it was like magic — faster mac!! Also, when I was looking for the abovementioned blog post, I found this one from Cnet that talks about several ways to speed up your mac: http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57408131-285/five-tips-for-cleaning-and-speeding-up-your-mac/
Happy scrapping everyone!!
Hi All!
I love your tech-focused shows. It’s funny that in this day and age, the places where women “talk tech” are few and far between. I’m pretty geeky myself (though not quite at the level of Peppermint’s husband), and I’ve heard some great tips from you gals and your guests.
I wanted to comment on using local tech people vs. large corporate geeks in Volkswagens (LCGVs). In my experience as an older and very tech-savvy woman, I get an icky vibe from the LCGVs as if they don’t believe I have a brain in my head. The sexist attitude makes my blood boil and the attitude hasn’t improved over the years.
I recently had to replace the hard drive and keyboard in my daughter’s laptop when she spilled ice cream on it and didn’t tell me about it for 3 months. I had all the components, successfully assembled everything, but couldn’t get Windows to install because I needed a controller file that was devilishly hard to find.
With many deadlines and time conflicts, I decided to take everything over to a new local tech shop. They listened with respect, asked me a lot of detailed questions. They were able to find the controller and do the operating system installation for me at a reasonable price. Plus no icky feeling for me.
I’ll definitely go back to this shop the next time I get stuck, and have already recommended them to a number of friends, male and female, that need tech help. Local shops rock!
You guys rock too. Thanks for all you do.
Carol Anne
I just learned a new word today called “mansplaining”. It’s my new favorite word – and it’s how I feel whenever I ask someone at Best Buy (or OfficeMax, or any big box store) a very simple question. Then I have to sit through a “mansplaination” of things I totally. already. know.
I like the “LCGVs” … I’m going to hang on to that, too.
Several months ago you had a guy on talking about tech stuff (I’m not sure which one, but you probably know since guys aren’t on too ofter
)
Anyway, I was encourage to add more ram after listening to that show. I ordered through crucial.com and watched the video. I was totally nervous, but was able to get it done and it was worth every bead of sweat! I also felt like I earned my “geeky” status by doing it. I’d encourage anyone thinking about it to give it a try.
Thanks for these geeky shows and for giving me the courage to try!
That was Wes Joyce! He’s been our only man guest since I’ve been on the show.
This episode was very timely for me to listen to (I listened to it a while ago), and I even had my husband listen to it, too! I just bought myself a new computer on Thursday night, and the advice from this episode was invaluable– I made notes when I originally listened, and I pulled them out for reference! Even though I don’t do much digital scrapbooking (I do dabble occasionally, with my good old PSE7), I am a heavy user of Lightroom. It was great to hear ladies who have the same “technology values” as me weigh in on what is important to have in a computer. So thank you!!