Hi. Acquired the AT&T connect card in December and found that it wasn't any faster than dial-up at first. The representative said sometime in January I should see a substantial increase in speed after the upgrades were made from their end. As recently as a few days ago I called and asked when it would get faster and they said "soon." Well for the past two days my download speeds have increased from 4 to 5 kb/sec to between 15 and 20kb per second. It isn't just my imagination either but the internet is MUCH faster now than when I had dial-up. That is with just a "good" connection as opposed to "very good" or "excellent" connections which I sometimes get. Even though it isn't as fast as DSL or cable yet I've been told that it is just a matter of time before those speeds will be available. Overall I am very happy with the service and only expect it to get better. After 15 years of dial-up this is like a million dollars to a blue collar worker. I don't believe you would be disappointed in getting the card. Regards.

Quote:Here is a question I'll throw out: Suppose you buy a preconfig Vista from the BBox store, but you are enamored with your XP OS and are in no hurry to switch to vista. Could you pick up an $80 copy of XP Pro, assuming it's still on sale out there, somewhere, delete the preconfigured Vista and install the XP? Just a thought. Oh and BTW, I now have Vista on my new Toshiba laptop (I don't love it or hate it, just trying to take it all in), and there is a option in the control panel that enables you to set it to the classic XP look, where the desktop and start menu will stay just as it is in XP. Quote The big problem people are finding now with laptops especially because of different drivers/manufacturers utilities, is not all drivers are avail when switching from XP to Vista. One would have to make sure the reverse also has been addressed with the newest laptops ie drivers for XP avail for those laptops that came with Vista. Alot of people are jumping with the change and not checking first. Shortly after, they are back on these forums complaining about this function not working, or that function.

Thought I would come back and update. Well, in the end, I decided to go with the Apple. :-) There were so many reasons I wanted to get one and quite a few reasons I didn't want to get another windows machine. Two of the issues that were keeping me from getting the Apple resolved at the last minute and I was very happy to see no obstacles to getting it. I have had a MacBookPro for two weeks now and loving it! Almost have everything moved over from the old computer and Monday got the new printer installed and connected. Tech support has been great as expected. There have been some issues with changing over from the windows system to the Mac. I was using MS Works on the old Dell and converting those to iWorks was not straightforward although in the end most of that is done. Going from MS Office is easier. Changing over from Windows Media Player to iTunes...if you are importing your music to WMPlayer in the wma format, well, come to find out it is a proprietary format to Windows and it is not easy to switch over to mp3 that will allow the iTunes to play it. I had to convert 800 songs to mp3 before moving it to the Apple which was not so great. Time consuming. Had to download four programs on Tuesday and only one of them actually made the conversion. Plus converting the files does lower the quality some. So, I am planning on getting as much off of CDs to replace them as I can, but they are fine for the time being. Just for your information, you can set your WindowsMediaPlayer to import into it in the mp3 format and that will make your life so much easier if/when you want to move them or use another player. Photos were a breeze to move and using iPhoto is just a treat! Such an improvement over my previous photo software for organizing photos. I have never used Photoshop software, so maybe that is as good at organizing as the iPhoto? I do plan on trying photoshop at some point. So that's my story. :-) Jane, I hope you have made the change over to whatever you liked the most and have a new machine that you are happy with. :-)

Regarding fading...Can organic_donna or anyone comment on how well Mirage Floors UV protection works? We have newly installed Mirage Walnut hardwood with a cashmere finish in the medium/dark Savanna color. We have large view windows in our Great Room that we cannot cover completely and prefer not to have window coverings anyway but we're a bit concerned about the possibility of the wood color fading as the room faces East and gets direct sunlight in the morning. Our windows are Low E and Mirage does have UV protection but we're wondering if that's enough protection over time. Can anyone give any feedback on their experience regarding Mirage and/or Low E glass? We do have friends who have Mirage Red Oak in a room with south facing French doors without window coverings, and after many years in place it's still impossible to see any difference in the floor color when comparing the rug covered areas to areas of exposed hardwood. This was so impressive to us that we went with Mirage in part for their UV protection. Now with our new flooring in place we're wondering if their experience was typical and if our Walnut will hold up as well, or if it's best we find some way to cover those windows, at least in times of direct sun. Any comments or advice anyone?