Monday, March 23, 2015

Laptop Criteria


Dell Inspiron 3000 Intel Core i7-4790 Quad-Core Desktop (16GB/1TB) $629.99

Dell Home has the Dell Inspiron 3000 Intel Core i7-4790 Quad-Core Haswell Desktop Computer for a low $629.99 Free Shipping after 10% off Coupon Code: "?4ZG11G3WRVBT3" (Exp Soon). Tax in most states. Normally sells for $970.

Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz (Turbo Boost to 4GHz) Quad-Core HASWELL; 16GB RAM; 1TB HDD; DVD burner; 802.11n + gigabit + bluetooth 4.0; Windows 8.1; 1yr warranty; keyboard/mouse.

. . .

That's a really good price, but it is missing two things you'd want for video editing.

1. A dedicated video card. You'd want something like a NVIDIA GeForce® card with dedicated video memory.

2. A better power supply. The power supply in the Dell 3000 is just 300 watts, and can barely handle the demands of the RAM and peripherials. Add a video card and you'll exceed it's capabilities.

Dell does have something better in their XPS 8700 performance model. Similar specs and dedicated video card. Currently on sale at Dell - 
http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-8700/pd?oc=ddcwgp107s&model_id=xps-8700

B&H Photo has the Dell XPS 8700 for $749 - 
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&sku=1059534&Q=&is=REG&A=details

While the Dell 3000 you linked to would be a very fast computer, the power supply and lack of video card would concern me.


 . . . conclusion:
Lenovo is a top brand, formerly manufacturer of IBM laptops.

If price doesn't matter, get something like:

Dell Inspiron 15 - 5000
Processor: Intel Core 4th Generation i7-4510U processor (4M Cache, up to 3.1 GHz)
Windows 8.1
1 TB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
8 GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (8GBx2) Memory
15.6 inch LED Backlit Touch Display with IPS and FHD resolution (1920 x 1080)
Intel HD Graphics

Normally $1049. Currently on sale for $649 at http://www.dell.com/us/p/laptops.aspx?ref=tile2#!facets=55846~0~5930680,226291~0~16387360&p=1

Before you order the Inspiron 15 5000 stop by Office Depot or other computer store and test the keyboard to make sure you like the way it feels.


Friday, March 6, 2015

For online transactions, a decent choice is Wells Fargo Online. Fees will vary depending on volume.

In addition to a merchant account, you'll need a payment gateway. We use authorize.net.

For offline transactions, you could use https://squareup.com/. Read about it at http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/square-vs-intuit-gopayment-vs-paypal-here-mobile-credit-card-processors/3/

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Good Video on How to Create a Brochure
Get other ideas from this YouTube page.

Maybe one more:

This one here was the best: