This weekend I doubled my RAM on my laptop computer going for 1 GB to 2 GB.

I have a number of memory resource hog programs on my computer and I wanted to see if more RAM would improve the accuracy and speed of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9.  I’m writing this article right now using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9, and it’s the first time I’ve used Dragon since upgrading my RAM.

Here are some of my early first impressions:

1. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 put up time is a lot faster
2. fewer small word errors (such as an instead of and or in instead of an or and)
3. Much faster response time for commands like ‘wake up’ and ‘Go to Sleep’

I was worried that I would upgrade my computer and not see any benefit at all.  Fortunately, I am seeing a benefit.  For what it’s worth I didn’t upgrade my computer just for Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9.  Firefox and Dreamweaver and Outlook are bigger resource hogs in Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9.  Unfortunately, I use all of those programs the most and usually at the same time, that is why I upgraded my RAM.

I intend to create a new user profile and test the new user profile with the additional RAM.  I have been curious if my profile has picked up a few bad ~ less correct words lately.  I have a suspicion that I might improve my accuracy if I start fresh.

I will probably use this for a few months while I work at home and travel and then upgrade my RAM again to four gigs before too long.

Keep your eye open for a new speed typing test I am curious to see if I can do better on the speed typing tests with more RAM and a more responsive Dragon Naturally Speaking9!

Past Articles with Typing tests

1. Video Running Dragon Naturally Speaking in a Typing Test
2. Hit 130 - 150 Words Per Minute with Dragon Naturally Speaking!

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I attend several trade shows and I have a house full of promo pens from these shows. As a small business owner I am familiar with the cost of these promo pens, and I’m also familiar with the fact that the promotions do actually work. A free pen isn’t going to convince you to buy something, however it will remind you of several key ingredients that you may need to buy something. The name of the product, a phone number or web URL and maybe the name of the company.

This of course can backfire if you go out and purchase. She promo pens that only work for half a day and get thrown away your become extremely annoying. It is important to get good-quality promo’s.

Now at CES, a place where I receive zillions of promo pens each year, I saw an interesting gadget. It was a Bluetooth mouse that docs inside your laptop into the slot where you would normally put a wireless card, I apologize I suddenly have forgotten the name of that slot at my PMCIA, but I’m in a remote place without Internet connection today and I don’t have the ability to confirm that.

Regardless this was a cool little mouse it literally fits inside any laptop, and its Bluetooth. It is sexy design and all that good stuff, but as I was thinking about these promo pens I pick up from CES, and as I was thinking about all of the free flash drives I also receive (another great way to run a promotion at a trade show) it dawned on me that these Bluetooth mice might make excellent promotional gifts.

They are small and compact, the kind of cool looking, and there’s something that any traveler with a laptop could definitely benefit from having. Their only missing one key ingredient. I missing an ink pen.

As I do most of my work on a computer I rarely need an ink pen but every now and then I get a phone call and I need to take a note and I’ve got too many screens open on my computer and I just can’t find a screen with a blank space. So I dig around for a pen and usually jot something down with the pen.

It sure would be cool if the pen were built into one of these Bluetooth mice that can be stored in my laptop. Then I would always have a wireless mouse and any pen with me at all times because I’m never even be without my computer!

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If Santa gave you a new computer or laptop for Christmas, you might want to take a quick look at some other Antivirus besides those that automatically shipped with your machine.

Sometimes those trial offers are not the best fit, and you may want to remove them while you can and put in the Antivirus software of your choice.

AntiVirusDownload.com offers Norton AntiVirus 2007 download for download along with a number of other useful products that will help you port programs and files over to your new system with the least amount of hassle. PLus, they also offer Symantec PC PC anywhere and several other Norton utilities.

You can checkout AntiVirusDownload.com and checkout their useful FAQ section on antivirus tools as well.

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SanDisk released its new 32 Gigabyte hard drive in advance of the Consumer Electronics Show this year.  Their new solid state hard drive promises to be almost 100 times faster than conventional laptop hard drives, and it will consume about 0.4 watts of power during active use compared with regular hard drives sucking down a full 1.0 watts.

That will spell faster speeds and longer batter life for laptop users and possibly open the door for larger hard drives in mobile devices in the future from PDA’s to MP3 players. 

All that flash comes at a price and right now its expected that the drive will add a $600 premium to the price of any device lucky enough to have it.  So in the short term this is probably going to be a device targeted to people computing in high performance areas where speed is essential.  Secondary users will include heavy travelers that need more battery life and have a lot of pull with budget approving accountants back at the office.

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Microsoft has identified the minimum operating requirements for PC’s that might run Microsoft’s future Operating system ‘Windows Vista’ due out next January (2007).

“A ‘Vista Capable’ PC will require at least an 800MHz processor, 512MB of system memory, a DirectX 9 capable graphics card, a 40GB hard drive with at least 15GB of free space, a DVD drive, and audio and internet capabilities.
The only extra requirements for a ‘Vista Premium Ready’ PC are a 1GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor, 1GB of Ram and a graphics card with 128MB of onboard memory capable of supporting Windows Aero2.”
Several beta testers have indicated that these requirements for even the Premium Ready levels are currently not enough to prevent the OS from operating ’sluggishly’.

If history is a lesson, it will probably be necessary to read between the lines of these guidelines. Typically the minimum levels Microsoft has recommended in the past, would work with a stripped down machine and system, and were more useful for technology enthusiasts that were interested in trying it as an experiment, ‘just to see if it could be done.’ Therefore, these minimum recommendations will probably not be for everyone.
For the higher end recommendations, it has been typical for users to at least consider doubling up on memory and processor per the MS recommendations.
So if MS is recommending 512MB, users probably will need at least 1GB, If MS is recommending at least 1.32Ghz, then shoot for 2.6GHz. If the video card needs 128mb of on board memory, better bet that you’ll need and want 256 or better.

don’t get me wrong, people get lucky and sometimes can cram something into an old machine. I ran office 2000 on a 6 year old laptop with 16mb of ram, running a 1994 version of Windows. Strange things can be done, but don’t bet your job, business, education or career on it. Better safe than sorry, and from what I’ve seen of the new OS, you’ll probably be much happier if you upgrade when the time comes.

Side Note. Vista is due out in January 2007. Preloaded machines from Xmas won’t have the new OS unless a MS Christmas miracle occurs. Therefore, many of the retailers are probably going to go thin on PC/laptop inventory through Christmas expecting a big reset in the spring of 2007. I wouldn’t expect to many bundling options in January or February that make good bargains. However, once all those unsold and returned machines from Christmas get refurbed and put back on the market in February and March of 2007, there could be some interesting hard ware options that will show up.

Microsoft surprises with Vista hardware specs - vnunet.com

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