All Discussions - Van IT Computers Kelowna Support Forums http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussions/feed.rss Sun, 20 May 12 21:15:39 -0400 All Discussions - Van IT Computers Kelowna Support Forums en-CA Free Phone calls to Landlines from Google! http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/25/free-phone-calls-to-landlines-from-google Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:58:55 -0500 VanIT 25@/forums/discussions
Well for awhile now Gmail actually has a phone call feature in it that enables you to call from within your browser to any landline, anywhere, for free. It works great with any headset and is ridiculously easy to set up.

To access the feature signup/login to a Gmail email account and look on the left hand side of the screen towards the bottom, you'll see a little phone icon. Click on this icon and your dialpad will pop up on the bottom right where you simply type in the number and press dial.

Its unknown when they will start charging for this service but for now take advantage!



]]> Intel Core 2 2.0GHZ Laptop / 2GB / 120GB HD $375 http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/24/intel-core-2-2.0ghz-laptop-2gb-120gb-hd-375 Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:18:56 -0400 VanIT 24@/forums/discussions Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 @ 2.00 GHz
2.00 GB Memory
120 GB Hard Drive
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 Video
15.4" Diagonal Widescreen Display
SoundMax Integrated Digital HD Audio
HP #RQ555AV
Intel 82566MM Gigabit Ethernet
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG
DVD-RW
4 USB Ports
HDMI Port
SmartCard Reader
AuthenTec Fingerprint Reader
8 CELL BATTERY (5hrs+)
Windows Vista Business is loaded,activated and COA is present but no discs are included
Includes power adapter

1-250-300-7454

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]]> Intel Dual Core 2.3GHZ Laptop / 4GB DDR3 / 320GB HD / 15.6" High Def Screen $400 http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/23/intel-dual-core-2.3ghz-laptop-4gb-ddr3-320gb-hd-15.6-high-def-screen-400 Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:45:38 -0400 VanIT 23@/forums/discussions Dell Inspiron N5030 Laptop
Intel Dual Core T4500 2.3GHZ Processor
4GB DDR3 Memory
320GB Hard Drive
Intel GMA4500 High Def Graphics
15.6" High Definition Display
Wireless N Card
Built-in WebCam
6-Cell Battery
Windows 7 64BIT

Barely Used. Comes with Carrying Case.

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]]> Free Stuff http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/21/free-stuff Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:20:58 -0400 VanIT 21@/forums/discussions
White Case w/No Psu, AMD Motherboard w/Processor and DDR Ram, ATI Radeon 9600 Pro AGP
White Case w/No Psu, AMD Motherboard w/Processor, Socket 939
White Case W/No Psu, AMD Motherboard w/Processor, Socket 754 Sempron 2800+, AGP, DDR Ram
White Case W/No Psu

Some of the cases have DVDR/CDRW combo drives and other random components like hard drives, etc.

First come first serve.

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]]> AMD Sempron 3000+ 64Bit / 1GB DDR / 80GB HD $75 http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/20/amd-sempron-3000-64bit-1gb-ddr-80gb-hd-75 Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:39:27 -0400 VanIT 20@/forums/discussions ECS ATI RS-754 Motherboard w/PCI-Express, On-Board ATI X200 Video, Sata, HD Audio
1GB DDR Memory
2x 40GB Harddrives
20X DVD-RW W/Lightscribe CD Labeling
DVD / CD-RW Combo Drive

This machine is used and comes with a 30 Day Warranty. Currently runs Windows 7 64Bit just fine and is perfect for browsing the web and doing office work. It does have a PCI-Express slot for upgrading the video card and 4 SATA Ports for newer harddrives.

Only $75 for a great machine.]]> AMD XP 3000+ / 1.25GBDDR / 80GB HD USED $50 http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/19/amd-xp-3000-1.25gbddr-80gb-hd-used-50 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:37:55 -0400 VanIT 19@/forums/discussions 1.25GB DDR Memory
ASUS Nvidia Nforce2 Motherboard w/Vga Out
Geforce 4 MX 4000 64MB AGP Video Card
80GB Harddrive
CD-RW + DVD Drive (Seperate Drives)
1.44mb Floppy Drive
Built-In Wireless G Network Card

This is an old HP Pavillion machine that was assembled using used parts at the shop. It has genuine Windows XP Home Edition 2002 on it as well as Photoshop and Office software.

This machine has no problem browsing the web, emailing, doing office work, etc.

30 Day Warranty. Free Delivery.
]]> Access your files anywhere from a computer or smartphone! http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/18/access-your-files-anywhere-from-a-computer-or-smartphone Sat, 08 Oct 2011 13:45:19 -0400 VanIT 18@/forums/discussions
Head over to http://www.dropbox.com and watch the quick video on the front page. It's totally free and very user friendly.

This is a great way to backup important files and photos in case your computer has issues.]]> Play the 64 Player Caspian Borders Map in the Battlefield 3 Open Beta!! http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/17/play-the-64-player-caspian-borders-map-in-the-battlefield-3-open-beta Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:53:36 -0400 VanIT 17@/forums/discussions http://store.origin.com right now and download the Origin software. If you're used to Steam this is the same but EA is now using it's own proprietary system for game distribution.

After you create your account click on 'Store' at the top of the screen and click on Battlefield 3 Beta. Let it download, the system is pretty quick actually (we were getting 900k-1mb per second).

Now, once you're into the game look for a server hosting the Caspian Border Map and check this page:
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/battlefield-3-how-to-get-access-to-caspian-border-map/
for the newest password to the servers.

This is a much better BF3 experience compared to the close quarters Metro map, just have some patience getting in.

]]> AMD 2.6GHZ / 2GB DDR3 / 500GB HD - $285 http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/16/amd-2.6ghz-2gb-ddr3-500gb-hd-285 Mon, 26 Sep 2011 22:05:54 -0400 VanIT 16@/forums/discussions Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 Pro Heatsink Fan
2GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600 Memory
BIOSTAR N68S3 AM3 NVIDIA MCP68S Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
LG 22x DVD-RW SATA II
Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATAIII Hard drive
Apex SK-386 Mid Tower ATX Case 400W 4 X Front USB 2 X Front Audio

$285.00

This is a great starter machine which offers good performance with tons of room for upgrades!

info@vanit.net or 1-250-486-3025

http://vanit1.netfirms.com/store/page2.html]]> The best way to manage your finances online! http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/15/the-best-way-to-manage-your-finances-online Sat, 24 Sep 2011 12:02:23 -0400 VanIT 15@/forums/discussions http://www.mint.com

Mint.com is a website owned by Intuit, the makers of Quicken accounting and tax software. Instead of having to login seperately at each of your financial institutions websites you simply put in all your different account information.

Mint can then bring all of your different bank transactions and account balances into one place so you have a realtime snapshot of your whole financial picture. It can also hook in to investment accounts and credit cards so everything can be viewed in one place.

The most beneficial part of the site is under the 'trends' tab. This allows to quickly see your spending on different categories across all accounts and also your total income coming from all sources. As the Mint software can automatically figure out what most transactions are there isn't a whole lot of manual work that has to be done to classify them.

By using this site for the last year I can now easily see where my money goes and where I can save as well as see my assets growing and debts reducing slowly but surely.

This is by far the easiest way to get a handle on your finances as most home based software requires you to download the transactions from each website manually. Give it a try and see where your money's going!]]> Use the Internet to get Fit! http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/14/use-the-internet-to-get-fit Sat, 24 Sep 2011 11:52:23 -0400 VanIT 14@/forums/discussions
http://www.fitday.com
Fitday is a great free website that allows you to keep track of what you eat during the day. It also allows you to keep track of your diet and monitor your progress towards your goals. The biggest reason I use this site is it has a huge database of foods and their calorie content. Simply do a quick search for the item you consumed during the day and it brings up all the protein,fat,carbs,sodium,etc. that you took in for that meal. It's great to have a visual of just how much fat a Big Mac contains.

http://www.bodybuilding.com
Bodybuilding.com is a great website to use to track your progress and get motivated. First they have something called Bodyspace where you can keep track of your lifts, weight, and also upload progress photos so you can compare your unfit to fit body. It also has a great resource in the forums section where you can get new training programs, diet programs, reviews for supplements, and also get motivated seeing the amazing results other people have accomplished. Their are tons of professional fitness experts that regularly post in the forums as well.


]]> Windows 8 Developer Preview is out! Download and try out the next big O/S http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/13/windows-8-developer-preview-is-out-download-and-try-out-the-next-big-os Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:58:34 -0400 VanIT 13@/forums/discussions
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516

Be warned it is still in development and things will change before retail release, don't use this on any machine that you couldn't handle wiping clean again.

]]> Use the Internet for TV/Movies instead of Cable/Internet and save money! http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/12/use-the-internet-for-tvmovies-instead-of-cableinternet-and-save-money Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:53:16 -0400 VanIT 12@/forums/discussions
Boxee:
Boxee is a free front end that taps into all of the internet streams on the net that are showing TV shows. You simply download the software to your computer, sign up and click on TV Shows and it does the rest. The system works easily with a mouse or keyboard but is also designed to work with a remote. Boxee will also organize the movies you already have on your machine as well as integrate with tons of different websites such as funnyordie, justin.tv, etc. Ours currently runs on the flatscreen in the shop and has a built-in Super Nintendo emulator... but we're overly nerdy.

Netflix:
Netflix is by far the easiest way to access a ton of movies in HD for around $10 a month. You can run netflix through a PS3, Wii(no hd), Xbox360 or PC. Theres alot of older movies but it's sometimes suprising to see the new releases come out so fast on the system.

By using both of these options instead of cable/satellite you can save hundreds of dollars over the year. Call us at Vanit to discuss building a Home Theater PC which is a small computer that hooks up to your High Def television and provides all of the content to you for cheap.

]]> How to find the cheapest place to buy something online? Try Shopbot.ca http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/11/how-to-find-the-cheapest-place-to-buy-something-onlines-try-shopbot.ca Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:50:00 -0400 VanIT 11@/forums/discussions
Go to www.shopbot.ca and type in what you're thinking of buying. It will search a ton of online sites and tell you where to get the best deal.

I never, ever buy something without checking shopbot.ca first.]]> Actual Easy, Free, Online Music that works! http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/10/actual-easy-free-online-music-that-works Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:40:51 -0400 VanIT 10@/forums/discussions
Go to grooveshark.com, type in a name of a song, press play. It is by far the simplest way to have some background music at a party or listen to some music at work. You can create playlists and save them for later as easy as itunes.]]> Why pay for Antivirus Subscriptions? http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/9/why-pay-for-antivirus-subscriptionss Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:36:30 -0400 VanIT 9@/forums/discussions
To be honest the first thing our techs do when they see Norton installed on machine is convince the client to remove it. It takes up way too much memory and slows down most machines.

Want to save a couple bucks? Try these guys instead:

Microsoft Security Essentials: Free Antivirus software from Microsoft, not much of a reason to pay for bloatware anymore.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/security_essentials/default.aspx
(Make sure you have a legitimate license before installing!)

AVG 2011: AVG Has been free for years. Careful as they still tend to push you paying for the full super security version but you don't need it.
http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition-2012/3000-2239_4-10320142.html?part=dl-avg_free_us&subj=dl&tag=button&cdlPid=11014801

Choose one of the Free options above and stop wasting money on Antivirus subscriptions!

]]> Want to try out Google+? http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/8/want-to-try-out-google-s Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:40:31 -0400 VanIT 8@/forums/discussions Why do games run so poorly on my computer? http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/7/why-do-games-run-so-poorly-on-my-computers Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:41:23 -0400 VanIT 7@/forums/discussions
You go out and buy your brand new HP/ACER/Emachine Hexacore super computer with 12GB of DDR3 Memory and a 5TB Harddrive, buy the latest and greatest PC game, Call of Duty 18 and pop in the disc and eagerly await the install to be finished.

Once it's done you double-click the icon and watch as your brand new machine stutters and chokes trying to display the 3D picture on your screen. What happened??

Here's what's going on. There are two pieces of the computer puzzle that generally define the machines ability to show a 3D game at a silky smooth 60 frames per second, CPU Clock Speed and your Video Card.

CPU Clock speed is easy, the higher the mhz (ie 3.0GHZ, 4.2GHZ) the better. Having more than two cores is starting to have a bigger impact as well.

The video card is a little harder to explain. NVIDIA and AMD(ATI) are the two major video card manufacturers on the market today, NVIDIA currently has a line up which starts with 5XX (ie 550, 560, 570) and AMD(ATI) is at the 6XXX level.

Nvidia's current line up: http://www.nvidia.com/object/graphics_cards_buy_now.html
AMD's current line up: http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-radeon-hd-6000/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-6000.aspx

Now when you look at a video card there are two parts to it as well just like a computer, the GPU (graphics processor) and the memory. Now a common scam out there is for a video card manufacturer to take a horrible GPU such as the AMD 6450 or the Nvidia Geforce 210, pair it with 1GB of memory and put really cool looking pictures on the box of spaceships or army guys fighting. This looks like a pretty blatant device for playing computer games from the outside but once you put this into a computer it won't run anything released in the last 4 years acceptably.

What matters with video cards is the GPU, the higher the number the better. On the AMD side the minimum for a quality gaming experience starts at the 67XX mark and the 69XX GPU's are pretty much overkill for 90% of the population. For Nvidia the minimum is the GTS 450 with the 580 and 590 being overkill.

So while it looks great to have 6 CPU Cores and a ton of DDR3 memory in your machine what is really going to make a difference is the power in your video card. Cut back on the CPU and the Memory and put a quality video card in your machine and you'll have a much better gaming experience.

Check the buy and sell for some great base systems and then call one of the sales staff at Van IT for current deals on video cards to bundle in.

1-250-486-3025 or info@vanit.net

]]> Common fixes to a Slow Computer http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/6/common-fixes-to-a-slow-computer Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:24:03 -0400 VanIT 6@/forums/discussions
The first thing to do is run a complete scan of your computer with a program called MalWare Bytes. Its is completely free and is powerful enough to remove most malware software.

Download the program from CNet Here: http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html?part=dl-10804572&subj=dl&tag=button

Once downloaded install the program and run a complete scan, if it finds anything it will give you the option to remove the bad software and your machine should be much better after a reboot.

If this doesn't work give one of our techs a call at 1-250-486-3025 or post your situation below for more help.]]> AMD X4 2.8GHZ / 8GB DDR3 / 500GB HD $425.00 http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/5/amd-x4-2.8ghz-8gb-ddr3-500gb-hd-425.00 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:02:15 -0400 VanIT 5@/forums/discussions Biostar NVIDIA 7025 Motherboard w/HD Audio
8GB Corsair DDR3 1333MHZ Memory
Seagate 500GB 7200RPM Harddrive
Samsung 22XDVD Writer
Diablotek Case w/450w Power Supply

$425.00 Call 250-486-3025 or email info@vanit.net

http://vanit1.netfirms.com/store/page2.html
]]> AMD x4 2.8GHZ / 8GB DDR3 / 1.5TB HD $500 http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/4/amd-x4-2.8ghz-8gb-ddr3-1.5tb-hd-500 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:01:11 -0400 VanIT 4@/forums/discussions Zalman High Performance CPU Fan
Gigabyte M68MT-SP AM3 Motherboard w/ NVIDIA 7025 256mb Graphics, HD Audio
8GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333MHZ Ram
Seagate 1.5TB (1500GB) 5900RPM SATA II HD
24X DVD-RW SATA II
Diablotek Mid-Tower Case w/450W PSU Front USB/Audio
Full One-Year Warranty. Free Delivery. All Taxes and Shipping Included.

$500.00 Call 250-486-3025 or email info@vanit.net
http://vanit1.netfirms.com/store/page2.html]]> AMD X3 2.4GHZ / 4GB DDR3 / 500GB HD $385 http://www.vanit.net/forums/discussion/3/amd-x3-2.4ghz-4gb-ddr3-500gb-hd-385 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 22:59:56 -0400 VanIT 3@/forums/discussions Zotac GF6100-F-E PCI-Express AM3 Motherboard w/ NVIDIA Video and HD Audio
4GB Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3 1333MHZ
Seagate 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA II HD
24X DVD-RW SATA II
Diablotek Mid-Tower Case w/Front USB/Audio 400W PSU
Full One-Year Warranty. All taxes and shipping included. Free Delivery.

$385.00 Call 250-486-3025

info@vanit.net]]>