Rick's Daily Tips

Keep your emails private and secure by encrypting them with Hushmail

Posted on August 28, 2016

The inherent insecurity of sending email messages over standard, unencrypted email systems has been dominating the news of late thanks to the baffling actions of a certain Presidential candidate.

As you probably already know, any information that’s transmitted over an unencrypted email system is wide open to anyone who might happen to intercept it while it’s on its way to the recipient’s computer or mobile device. And trust me, it happens all the time.

While maintaining our own personal email server and using it to encrypt our emails is probably not a realistic option for most folks, you can still easily send your emails to their intended recipients in secure encrypted form. [Read more…]

Q&A: Which is better for gaming, a more powerful CPU or a discrete video card?

Posted on August 26, 2016

(#ad)

Question from Eric P.: My dad is going to help me build a gaming PC. He’s already built one before so he knows what he’s doing, but we’re both confused about something.

The money I’ve saved is just enough to buy one of the following:

1 – An Intel Core i5 CPU (#ad) and a discrete video card

2 – A Core i7 CPU (#ad) with no video card

Basically, if I go with the i7 I’ll have to use the motherboard’s integrated video.

My question is which CPU should I buy for the best gaming performance given the fact that if I go with the i5 I’ll be able to add a stand-alone video card?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Review: Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E545 20B20011US 15.6-Inch Laptop

Posted on August 26, 2016

I’m often asked if it’s still possible to buy a new PC that comes with Windows 7, and the answer is yes. A perfect example is the excellent Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E545 20B20011US (#ad) laptop.

Actually, this laptop gives you a choice between two operating systems: Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

It comes with Windows 7 Pro pre-installed, but it also comes with a Windows 8 installation DVD and license. You can always replace Windows 7 with Windows 8 at no additional charge, then update Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 for free.

But the flexibility you get in terms of the operating system isn’t the only great thing about this machine. The hardware is quite capable (and expandable) as well. In a nutshell, this is what you get: [Read more…]

Q&A: Should I buy an external USB Solid State Drive or an external USB Hard Drive?

Posted on August 25, 2016

External USB Solid State Drive (SSD) — (#ad)

Question from Calvin T.: I use a Gateway DX4860-UB20P desktop computer at work and I just purchased a brand new Dell Ultrabook to use at home and while I’m out on the road.

I’d like your opinion on the best way to transfer large files between these two PCs.

I’d rather not use a large USB flash drive because I’ve had a lot of trouble with files getting corrupted on them in the past, and I really need something that’s more reliable.

I was planning to buy a 1TB external USB hard drive, but I happened to stop in at Office Depot yesterday and noticed that they now sell external USB Solid State Drives.

It seems to me like an external SSD would be the perfect solution. Do you agree, or is there some reason why you’d recommend an external hard drive instead?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]