You can even use your computer to tell you when to spray (it doesn't sound like it would be much of a stretch to have the computer turn the sprayer on and off! Here is a link that might be useful: Development of a disease risk prediction model for downy mildew

you are absolutely correct, I did want the MSI wind and it is an excellent netbook, I ended up getting the acer because I found it for a very good price and after reading many reviews felt it was also a good choice. I had to make a fairly quick decision and purchase since I needed to have it for my house search and use it while on the road, I found the pink acer that I bought on walmart.com the price was right and it would accomplish what I was needing at that time. I have not regretted my purchase. I am using it right now in fact sitting in my recliner. Since I have not tried any other brand all I can offer is my personal experience with mine. I have the 3 hr battery which has not been a problem for me because I usually have it plugged in to an outlet, and I got a cigarette lighter adapter to use in the car. I do let it run on battery and discharge on occasion to keep the battery fresh. My only complaints so far with mine is the touch pad which I can not manage so I have a usb mini wireless mouse that I use, I have loss of feeling in my right hand which complicates my using a touchpad of any type. The other complaint which I know is a common complaint on most netbooks is the volume of the speaker, it is minimal at best. In a noisy room I can not hear it so carrying a little set of earbuds is a good idea, of course it can be hooked up to an external speaker or headset also. My personal specs I was looking for were that it have the Intel Atom processor, plenty of memory, a nice size hard drive, and have good user reviews. MSI wind would have been my first choice the Acer second but price had to come into play and being able to get a better price on the Acer made the decision for me. Having an AMD processor that would have been my number one spec since I am a huge AMD fan. I know that AMD is now getting into the netbook realm but I have not checked into it and I know the price point would have been more than what I was wanting to pay because I really did not know how much I would be using my netbook. Now that AMD has put out netbooks with an athalon procesor in them I would most definitely be looking at those. Here is the info on the one from Acer/Gateway. Gateway LT3103u AMD Netbook most of the netbooks are fairly similar, the thing to look at is what operating system it uses and what one do you want to use> the type of processor> the type of hard drive, some use solid state hard drives so will have much less capacity than the regular type hard drives> memory> connectivity some come with various extras like antivirus trials or office trials, none of that was important to me since I wiped that out and put on AVAST and open office. Just determine the amount you want to spend and if it will do what you want it to do, in how you will be using it. I have to say I am surprised that I am using mine as much as I am. Over all have been happy with my choice.

Thanks, I went to my "other" set top and TV, the one with the upscale set top I figured I no longer needed as I no longer purchase on-demand and other stuff it supports... but as the tech support told me that box could tune the HD I decided to try it... indeed I can turn in the channels in the 800 band and some of them come through to my standard definition TV. There may be a mismatch on the aspect ration - but the pictures are quit useable. Seems that TV set (a vacuum tube picture tube) is HD compatible. I'll check my bill to see if I am paying the extra HD ST Box fee, if so I'll send the box back, maybe after I change to satellite TV.

I'd agree that it probably is related to the internet connection, but I won't rush to blame the ISP just yet. It could be what I call a "dirty" connection. Essentially static on the phone line. Has this just started since moving to the new apartment? If so, I'd try a couple things. First, try a different phone jack. Then try a different phone cord. Do you have any noticeable static on your telephone? If so, that's probably it. If not, it could still be an issue, just not enough that you could hear. Another thing to try is to go to another phone jack. Do you have a community room with a phone jack available to try? Phone cords and phone jacks can get corroded, or the tiny wires in there get bent or otherwise damaged. If you don't have another phone cord handy, you could even try switching it around, that is the end that's plugged into the wall - plug that into the computer and vice versa. Another thing to try is unplug all other phones, answering machine, etc and try it. There could be an issue caused by one of them, although I' more apt to think it's related to the phone jack and line in the apartment. Another possibility, is there an alternate dial up number to try? Sometimes that makes a big difference.