Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Should I buy an iPad 2 or save my money until I can afford the latest model?

Posted on August 28, 2013

Question from Adelle H.: Hi Rick. I really like your site and your tips, and I would love to have your opinion about something. I would really like to have an iPad just for Facebooking, checking email and watching an occasional movie, but at the moment I can’t afford the iPad 4.

Would it be a mistake to buy an iPad 2 instead of saving up for an iPad 4? If I wait it’ll be a good while before I can afford one and I’ve found a really great deal on a brand new iPad 2 still in the box.

Rick’s answer: Adelle, in my opinion there’s absolutely nothing wrong with buying a brand new iPad 2 instead of waiting until you can afford the latest model (the iPad 5 will be released very soon). The iPad 2 is a very capable device and I believe you’ll be quite happy with it. [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I upgrade a bootleg version of Windows 7 by buying the Windows 8 Pro upgrade?

Posted on August 25, 2013

Question from Aaron: The hard drive crashed on my Dell Inspiron 14z laptop so I took it to a guy I know who works on computers. He replaced the bad drive and installed a bootleg copy of Windows 7 since I didn’t have a set of recovery disks.

My question is if I buy a Windows 8 Pro upgrade will it make my Windows installation “legitimate”? I’m not out to rip off Microsoft, just get my laptop back “legal” with a fully working version of Windows.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Should I root my Samsung Galaxy S4 and install Titanium Backup to remove pre-installed apps?

Posted on August 24, 2013

Question from Marcia N.: After using nothing but iPhones for years, I recently decided to give the Samsung Galaxy S4 a try after hearing a friend rave on and on about how great it is. And you know what? He’s right. I really do love it.

That being said, there’s something that really bugs me about the Galaxy S4. It has a ton of pre-installed apps on it that I’ll never use and are just taking up space in the internal memory, yet they can’t be uninstalled! What’s up with that?

Anyway, my friend told me that he “rooted” his phone and installed an app called Titanium Backup which he was able to use to remove some of the pre-installed apps. I’ve heard horror stories about phones being totally destroyed by rooting them and I’m really nervous about it. Should I be?

Rick’s answer: Yes Marcia, you should be. Why? Because in almost all cases rooting a phone immediately voids the warranty, leaving you without any recourse whatsoever should the phone develop a hardware problem during the warranty period. [Read more…]

Get amazing deals on tech items with TigerDirect’s ‘Daily Deal’

Posted on August 23, 2013

If you enjoy getting great deals on tech items you should check out TigerDirect’s Daily Deal page every day. The items they offer there are usually overstock, closeout or refurbished items (the refurbs are always clearly marked as such), and it’s almost always great stuff!

These deals are only good for that day, and usually only for a few hours since they tend to sell out rather quickly. [Read more…]

Q&A: Why does my Samsung Android phone keep turning on Wi-Fi all by itself?

Posted on August 22, 2013

Question from Evan: I have a Sprint Samsung Galaxy S II Epic Touch 4G that keeps turning the Wi-Fi on all by itself. I can go into the settings and turn it off, but the next thing I know the Wi-Fi is enabled once again. I’ve had this phone for a long time and it only started doing this about a month ago. Can you tell me how to fix it? It’s driving me bonkers!

Rick’s answer: Evan, this is a fairly common problem among Sprint Android phones, and it isn’t limited to your particular model. The culprit is a pre-installed app called Sprint Connections Optimizer.

Sprint’s stated purpose for this app is to automatically connect your phone to any available Wi-Fi connection that you have used previously whenever it becomes available in order to speed up your data service. But I believe the real reason for it is to keep you off the Sprint data network as much as possible, freeing up available bandwidth for other users. [Read more…]