Pogue: n. David Pogue, the tech columnist for the New York Times
Plug in: v. Connect
David Pogue is the puckish tech guy whose column has come to substitute for my attachment to PC Magazine. I don’t always catch his columns, but whenever I do, they ignite my inner geek’s acquisitive nature.
His most recent column is about “saving” money on your tech devices. Now I know that even if you buy something at 80% off, you have not saved money; you’ve spent 20% more than nothing. (OK I know my math is incorrect, but you get the idea…).
His first suggestions – I’ll give him credit for this – really are about saving money: by letting go of your cable TV contract (a good one for me, since I watch about an hour a month and can watch many shows and reruns on the computer); letting go of your land line (thinking about that as we speak…); and eliminating your cell phone contract and going on a monthly plan (can’t do that till my contract runs out in July).
If I stop paying Comcast for my land line ($22/mo) and my basic cable service ($13/mo) I’m $35 a month to the good = $420 a year.
$420…. to spend (!) on Pogue’s final suggestion: buying computer gear that’s been refurbished.
Ahhh. I am SO ready for a new laptop. My current one is four years old and sounds like it’s digesting an entire Thanksgiving dinner when I ask it to do certain things. I’ve been eying the Dell XPS 1530 for a year, and refurbished I can get one for about $700.
DOWN GIRL!!!! I have to snap myself out of geek lust. What I really need to do is back up the laptop, reformat the drive and reload just the few programs I use on it. Only if that doesn’t solve the problem, do I have the right to think about replacing it.
I HATE reloading software. I just went through this a few months ago with my desktop.
Sigh.
