I've purchased several refurbished computers in the last 15 years. So far, all have performed as expected while saving me considerable money. A recent on-line article published by PC Magazine covers the pros and cons of buying refurbished computers, including where to find the best and safest deals on refurbs. The article suggests the Dell Outlet, the Apple Store, the HP Outlet, and particularly if you are looking for a ThinkPad notebook, the Lenovo Outlet Store. One of the downsides of refurbs is the inability to custom-configure your computer. However, the larger manufacturers outlets, such as the Dell Outlet, often have so many computers available that you can find one that meets your exact needs. Particularly for a home or secondary computer, refurbs are worth considering.

If you were lucky enough to receive a netbook for Christmas, or are considering picking one up for the New Year, there are two things you should consider doing as soon as possible: Upgrade RAM from the standard 1 GB to 2 GB's. Upgrade from Windows 7 Started to Windows 7 Home Premium. Hopefully the purchaser of your netbook took advantage of the $19.99 ($60 off) discounted upgrade from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium offered by most retailers (brick and mortar stores and on-line merchants). That is a small price to pay to dump a somewhat crippled operating system to one without far fewer restrictions. For $20, you receive a card with a PIN which can be exchanged on-line for a Windows Anytime Upgrade product key. With that key, you can upgrade to Home Premium via download. The process can take a long time if there are many Windows Updates to download and install. I tried it on a Toshiba netbook and it took about an hour (far beyond the 10 minutes suggested on the upgrade card). But to run Home Premium effectively, boosting RAM to the maximum (for most netbooks) of 2 GB, is necessary. That will usually mean opening a small slot on the bottom of the netbook, removing the 1 GB RAM module, and installing a 2 GB module that should cost anywhere from $25 to $40 depending on brand and where you shop. The process is fairly simple and takes only about 5 minutes. The most important part of the process is making sure you buy the right RAM module. Most web sites have a memory utility that lets you pinpoint the right part by entering your netbook's make and model number. Your new netbook will be a more useful and satisfying machine with Home Premium and the RAM upgrade.

Cordless mice have been around for years. Not having a cord to drag around can make using a mouse much more fluid and precise. But one downside of cordless mice has been the large receivers that plug into your computer's USB port. Especially with portable computers (notebooks and netbooks), it was inconvenient to have to remove the large receiver in order to put the computer into a briefcase or other bag for transport. That inconvenience ended with the development a couple of years ago of "nano" receivers that are not much larger than the USB plug itself. A nano receiver protrudes only slightly. In most cases, you can leave it in the USB port all of the time. This week Target has the Microsoft 3500 wireless mouse with nano receiver on sale for a ridiculously low $10. Even if you already have a cordless mouse for your portable computer, this is a good buy if your current mouse uses an old-style larger USB receiver. The 3500 at Target comes in a variety of colors if you are fashion conscious. It is available in Target stores only, not on their web site. If Logitech is more to your liking, Best Buy has the Logitech M305 Wireless Optical Mouse, also with nano receiver, on sale for $12.99, in a variety of colors. Portable USB hard drives are always nice to have for backup and other storage purposes. Best Buy has the Toshiba 500 GB Canvio portable hard drive for $59.99. An extra notebook computer charger is a great convenience. Keep one at home or the office, and one in your computer bag. Unfortunately, the manufacturer's charger often costs well over $100 and will be useless if you upgrade to a new notebook or netbook. Consider a universal compact charger like the Targus model on sale at Best Buy for $49.99. It comes with nine different tips for different notebook brands. Extra smart phone memory is also a great stocking stuffer. Some powerful phones come with stingy 2 GB microSD cards, limiting their ability to store a large number of documents (or music or videos). OfficeMax has a Toshiba 8 GB microSD card on sale for $24.99. Check page 3 of their weekly ad.

Wireless N wi-fi equipment is great. It is faster then the older G or B standards. But I would still not run a networked database (practice management or time/billing/accounting) or try to stream video content over most wireless network connection. Plus, wireless may have more security concerns than a wired network. It doesn't have to be that way, but many offices with wireless networks fail to adequately secure them. So what do you do in a temporary office situation or where you can't or don't want to run Ethernet cable? One technology I've used for the last year and a half in my home-based appellate practice is Powerline Networking. The signal runs through your electrical wiring. I've written previously about my use of the Linksys PLK300 kit. I actually have two PLK300 kits in my home. They virtually eliminate the need for Wi-Fi, except for connecting my Droid X cell phone or new Archos 70 tablet to the Internet or working outside on the lanai in nice weather. Currently the only room in the house not covered by Powerline networking is my daughter's room. She is away at college most of the time, but it might be time to spare her the inconsistencies of wi-fi when she is home on weekends and school breaks. This is a good time to buy a PLK300 kit. Of the two I have, one was purchased new and the other was refurbished. I could detect no difference between them other than packaging. Linksys has the refurbished two PLK300 adapter kit for $99.99. One adapter has a single ethernet port (typically used for connecting to your router or network switch). The other has four ports for connecting computers, printers, and other devices. Currently you can receive 10% off if you use the coupon code HSRM10. Shipping is free. Ordinarily this kit is sold for AV streaming, such as connecting a game console or media hub to your home network. But it works well anytime you want a network connection that is faster and more reliable (and potentially more secure) than wireless.

It's hard to believe, but 2010 is coming to an end. When it comes to your technology, the end of the calendar year is a great time to make investments in new computer hardware and software for a variety of reasons: Hardware manufacturers such as Dell always have their best prices of the year in November and December. Many software companies will offer significant discounts to purchase their products prior to year end. Right now you can take advantage of quite a few offers: -> Are you considering using a Lexis Nexis product such as Time Matters, or PCLaw and are you a member of your local bar? You can get a 10% discount off any purchase before December 31st. [click HERE for a list of participating Bars] -> Are you an Amicus user? Get a potential discount on new licenses purchased in November and an additional 2 months of maintenance. Upgrades are also 40% off. -> Do you have a current document management system but you're considering moving to Worldox? World Software will give you a discount if you upgrade before year end! Many business accountants recommend capital outlays at this time for tax benefits or "cash on hand" reasons. If you are thinking of making IT purchases, contact us! We can offer you specific recommendations for your office (for free) and help you get better prices than you could on your own. And for all the products we work with (hardware and software), we have experts who can assist you with implementation, training and on-going support. Don't wait until December to look at pieces of your technology that might need a "step up" - start planning today so that you can be ready to begin 2011 at your most efficient and most productive level. For more information please contact us TODAY!

OfficeMax has the versatile home office/small office Brother MFC-7840w laser all-in-one printer on sale for $229.99. I've relied on the predecessor to this model as my workhorse printer/scanner/fax machine in my solo appellate practice for several years. I don't use it for major scanning jobs such as trial transcripts (my ScanSnap S500 is much better for that - today you'd want to buy the newer S1500), but for a few pages or something that needs a flatbed scanning option, it is great. OfficeMax also have my favorite budget wireless mouse, Microsoft Mobile 3000 model, for just $12.99 Sunday and Monday only in a variety of colors. Video conferencing is becoming a great way for lawyers to save time and money when meeting with clients and co-counsel rather then physically traveling to the same site. Free applications like Skype now support HD (high definition) webcams. You can buy any of several Microsoft LifeCam HD webcams on sale now at Best Buy from $39.99 for a lower-end model to the very nice LifeCam Studio 1080p HD Webcam for $69.99. If you need a battery-operated portable printer, head over to Office Depot this week. The HP Office Jet Mobile Printer is on sale for $249.99, and this price actually includes the lithium ion battery. Making this deal even better is the offer to take another $50 off the price if you trade in any old printer. Most of use have an old inkjet printer laying around. If not, buy one at your local thrift shop for $10, trade it in, and still come out $40 ahead. That is what I may have to do, having recently donated a couple of decade-old inkjet printers to a local charity.

Staples is one of my favorite places to buy the tech products I need for my appellate practice. It is also my primary source for supplies such as paper, pens, etc. I have no affiliation with Staples other then my appreciation for the fact that they had the wisdom to open a store in the strip mall closest to my home/office. Now Staples is selling Amazon's market-leading Kindle ebook reader. The Wi-Fi only model is $139 while the Wi-Fi plus 3G model is $189 (a better value for the ability to download ebooks easily while traveling). It is available in-store only, so as not to compete with Amazon's on-line sales of the device. But this development gives you the chance for a hands-on test before you buy - something that was not possible when Amazon's web site was the only Kindle source. While I think the much more expensive Kindle DX (apparently not available at Staples stores) has more appeal to lawyers because its larger screen makes it easier to read PDF files (our format of choice for digital documents), the latest versions of the regular-sized Kindle also include native PDF reading capability. And it is possible to email PDF files to Amazon for conversion to Kindle's "text flow" format and then wireless download the converted document to your Kindle for easier reading.

If you've lusted after the sleek Apple iPad tablet computer, but were not sure your Windows-oriented psyche could handle the smug and superior atmosphere of an Apple store, you can now buy an iPad (or new iPod Touch) at your local non-pretentious Target store. The Wi-Fi only 16 GB iPad sells for $499.99 at Target. Or you could wait for the expected deluge of Android or even Windows 7-based tablets coming later this year or early next year. The very nice (although premium-priced) new iPod Touch 4G 8 GB version is $229.99 at Target. But if you are going to spend that much, the 32 GB version at $299.99 9s a better value for the additional music and video storage. If you visit Target to check out the iPad, consider picking up a Lexar 4 GB USB flash drive (in my view the smallest capacity you should buy today) for $12.99. It has a nice cap-less twist design. Best Buy has one the best home/home office/small office broadband routers on sale. The Linksys E3000 simultaneous dual-band "N" router is $40 off at $149.99. It has almost every imaginable router feature including a USB port to connect an external hard drive for instant NAS storage and remote access, the ability to create a guest wireless network for your clients and opposing counsel while keeping your primary office network secure, gigabit ethernet ports, and universal plug and play wireless AV media streaming to other devices. If you need backup or supplemental hard drive storage, head over to Office Depot. They have the Seagate 1 GB portable or 2 GB desktop external USB hard drives on sale for $119.99 each in their weekly circular.

If you have not been paying attention over the last few months. you may have missed how cheap external USB hard drive storage has become. Huge 2 TB external desktop hard drives now routinely go on sale for well under $150, with 1 TB models often less than $100. A good example of this is the OfficeMax sale circular for the week of September 5. The Seagate FreeAgent Desk 2 TB drive is $124.99 while the 1 TB model is $84.99. Comparable prices can be found at all major office supply superstores and big box electronics retailers. Drives of this type are excellent for backup storage or to hold large video, music, or image collections. At these prices, it makes sense to buy two drives and use software to mirror or sync their contents to provide the security of redundant backups. For many years I've used Second Copy software for this purpose, but there are other alternatives. In the alternative, two or more of these drives can be used in a system to rotate a backup drive off-site each night so there is always a recent backup available in the event of a fire or flood at the office. For off-site rotation, portable rather then desktop external drives make more sense because they are smaller and lighter. There has been a similar drop in portable external hard drive prices. Turning again to the OfficeMax sale circular only by way of example (since similar deals are common nearly everywhere), the Seagate FreeAgent Go portable external drive series is also on sale for $54.99 (250 GB), $69.99 (320 GB), $74.99 (500 GB, a good size for backup purposes), $104.99 (750 GB), and $124.99 (1 TB). What makes the Seagate FreeAgent Go series particularly nice for a multiple-drive off-site rotation scheme is the availability of a docking station (in the same OfficeMax sale circular) on sale for just $9.99. Just drop the drive into the station. No USB cables to plug and unplug. Of course, you have to remember to actually rotate the drives off-site and regularly run test restores to be certain the external drive backup is actually working. It is this human intervention requirement where most law firm backup schemes fail. My own personal view is that while this task can be left to a highly-trusted staff member, the firm owner (who obviously has the most at stake) should be the one to make sure this gets done - even if that means doing it himself/herself. The decent chance that this won't get done makes the addition of a fully automated on-line backup system even more important. Using one (or preferably more) external hard drives, combined with a wholly automatic on-line backup service, is the least you should do to protect the data and documents that are vital to your law firm's existence.

Over the years I've purchased several computers from the Dell Outlet. These machines are often returned equipment that can no longer be sold as new or canceled special orders that were never opened or used. If the Outlet has a PC in stock that is configured to meet your needs, you can save hundreds of dollars. In a PC Magazine TechSaver blog post, several coupon codes for the home/home office side of the Dell Outlet are provided: Enter the code XM7WLTGN53NTS5 to save 20 percent at checkout from any 14-inch Dell Outlet laptop. That's one-fifth of the price gone, just like that. Enter the code P6F8SRPGKP5292 to save 15 percent of any Dell Outlet home laptop or desktop. That could turn into big savings on a big machine. Finally, use the code Q90WKCQD5MRC2? to save 20 percent off any Dell Outlet refurbished inkjet printer. The computers home/home office side of the Outlet would be great for back-to-school student use or for use at home. There is also a business/education side of the Outlet that offers products more suited for law office use. The downside of the Dell Outlet is that computers often are available for only a short time before someone else snatches them up. So you need to know exactly what you want in advance and be sure it meets your needs in terms of screen size, processor speed, Windows OS variant (it is crucial to order a PC with a business/professional version of Windows to connect to most office networks), etc. With most outlet computers, you can add essential software, such as MS Office, at discount bundled prices. Before you visit the Outlet, you may want to check with your Affinity Consulting Group consultant to verify the configuration needs for your firm's network and applications. This is an area where you don't want to make an expensive mistake.

As a long-time advocate of dual monitor setups, I feel a bit strange writing this. Yesterday I replaced my dual monitor arrangement on my primary desktop PC with a single 25 inch LCD widescreen monitor. For the last several years I used a 19 inch standard format monitor along side a 15 inch standard format monitor with this PC. But the PC is located in a public area of the house and because of the counter/desk configuration, they were at different heights and presented a not-very-neat appearance. This week Staples has a Hanspree 25 inch widescreen LCD on sale for $199.99. It received stellar user reviews on the Staples site. So I was intrigued. Then, when I received an email coupon for 20% off any single item at Staples (excluding computers, but not monitors), that brought the price down to less than $160. I don't recall ever seeing a 25 inch monitor that cheap. My local store doesn't carry the monitor, but I stopped by and placed the order there (the coupon is good in-store only). The monitor was delivered by UPS the next day. Let me say that I am impressed with the quality of the image so far. Until now, I was using VGA analog connectors for each of my dual monitors. The new monitor connects to my PC's video card via HDMI cable. I am surprised at the improvement in sharpness. It could be that this is a better monitor (running at full 1080p resolution), or it could be that the digital connection is superior, or both. Managing this much screen real estate on a single monitor can be a challenge. I opted to treat it as if it were actually two smaller monitors side by side. This is easy to do with free software called WinSplit Revolution. It lets you divide a large monitor into what can could be called sub-screens. Presently, I have my email client open on the left half and my web browser on the right half. I find this dual screen within a single monitor setup very easy to use so far. The take-away is that if you don't have room for dual monitors or don't want to bother adding a dual-head or second video card to your PC, a large (25 inch or larger) widescreen monitor, when combined with WinSplit Revolution, is a viable option - and very cheap too!

Sometimes you find good tech deals in strange places. This week's Big Lots circular features a GatewayLT2016U netbook for $199.99. This Windows XP Home netbook is actually an Asus Aspire One D250 rebadged originally for sale by Verizon Wireless in the fall of 2009 bundled with its expensive 3G wireless data plan. It sold then for $149, but you had to sign a two-year service contract at $40 to $60 per month, making this standard netbook very costly over the long haul. But at $199.99 without a data plan, it is an acceptable price on a slightly-behind-the-times netbook, even if the 3G option is not used. What isn't clear from the Big Lots ad is whether Verizon left the 3G radio in these units operable when it dumped them for resale by Big Lots designated as refurbished. If so (the ad shows a 3G sticker prominently displayed on the netbook's right palm rest and a quick search of the web suggests the 3G capabilities are intact), this could be more of a bargain by allowing you to add it to your current Verizon plan or obtain 3G service on a month-to-month or even prepaid basis without the need for a long term contract. You will pay about $100 for a Verizon 3G USB modem tied to an expensive data plan for two years anyway, so this is like getting the netbook for only $100 and saving potentially hundreds by avoiding the tie-in to a two-year contract. While you are at your local Big Lots to check out this netbook, they have HP 4GB USB or SDHC flash memory devices on sale for $9. This is a good price for name-brand 4GB storage devices. If you decide to buy the Gateway netbook or already have a 10 inch netbook, Big Lots has a decent Icon netbook sleeve for $7 and a simple Travel Solutions corded optical mouse for $9. If the 3G option is of no interest to you, and you want a more current netbook, Best Buy has a member of the critically acclaimed Toshiba Mini series for $299.99 or bundled with a Toshiba external DVD burner for $349.98. If you are interested in a mobile broadband data plan and are convinced you will take full advantage of it each month for the duration of a two-year contract, Best Buy is offering a Verizon Wireless USB Mobile Broadband modem for just $1 with a two-year contract and giving you $100 off any notebook or netbook computer. You can also get $100 off a notebook or netbook if you spend $99.99 on the highly-regarded MiFi mobile hotspot device and sign a two year data plan contract. If you are a notebook or netbook user, Staples has the Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 6000 on sale for $29.99. It uses a blue laser to track on almost any surface, including carpet or rough unfinished wood (such as a park bench). The USB receiver is small enough to leave plugged into your computer at all times or you can stow it inside the bottom compartment of the mouse. The mouse also has an on-off switch to help preserve what should be ten-month battery life on a single alkaline AA. Getting back to the notion of strange places for tech deals, Kmart has the Android OS based Augen 7" Internet tablet (think smaller and much cheaper iPad) for $149.99, plus save another $5 with this PDF coupon. There is very little info on the Web concerning this device, which appears to be a brand new product. If it runs a version of Android that is fairly modern and access to the apps in the Android Market has not been blocked (although there are workarounds), this could be a true bargain of tablet computer. In general, Wi-Fi enabled touch-screen Android devices like this should be able to do just about anything one might do on a netbook, including web browsing, email, viewing videos, listening to music, editing documents, etc. Hopefully someone will take the plunge a post a report on its capabilities. Update: I was able to buy one at my local Kmart on Friday. It isn't much of a risk since Kmart has a 90 day return policy. In fact, they print the return deadline right on the receipt. Mine is October 27. That should give me plenty of time to decide if this is a keeper. So far, it is a pure Android experience with no overlays like Motoblur or HTC sense. That is the good part. But the resistive touch screen hard to get used to after using a capacitive touch screen phone. I do like running the Kindle app on it (sideloaded until the Android Market is functioning properly on the Gentouch) and having access to my ebooks. I also have it connected and working well with my Gmail and Exchange email accounts. It also plays .avi format movies (loaded to the microSD card) well (several episodes of 30 Rock, for example). More info in future posts.

Readers of my posts to this blog know that I am a netbook fan, having owned the machine that created this market segment (the original Asus Eeepc 701), and then graduated to a more useful 10" screen netbook (Toshiba NB205). Although you can buy low-end netbooks with Intel Pine Trail N450 processors, 160 GB hard drives, 1 GB of RAM, and Windows 7 Starter for about $300 (or occasional less if you find a sale), newer 10" to 12" screen Pine Trail netbooks can cost as much as $400 to $500. Is a $500 netbook really worth it? Perhaps not. As a member of B.J.'s Wholesale Club (similar to Costco and Sam's Club), yesterday I received one of my regular email's from B.J.'s listing their current coupons and sale prices. One of the items listed for web ordering with an instant coupon was the Toshiba PST3AU01N008 notebook PC with a 13.3" screen for just $479.99 (through 7-31-10). It shares the netbook characteristic of lacking an optical drive, but otherwise will outperform netbooks in almost every category. In addition to the larger screen and full-sized keyboard, this Toshiba has Windows 7 Home Premium instead of the feature-stripped Windows 7 Starter edition found on netbooks (although you will want to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional if you want a notebook to serve as your primary computer connected to a business network). It weighs 3.9 pounds, which is up to a pound heavier than a netbook, but still plenty light for travel. It's lack of an optical drive makes it as thin as a netbook, ranging from 0.9" at the thinnest point to 1.4" at its thickest. It even has netbook-like rated battery life of over 9 hours. This is not an endorsement of this particular model for a lawyer's travel use. Other manufacturers offer similar thin and light notebooks that occasionally go on sale in this price range. Buyers on the Toshiba site give it high marks, but I have no personal experience with it on which to make a recommendation. Still, the availability of thin and light notebooks featuring 13.3" screens and faster hardware than you will find in even high-end netbooks suggests that once your shopping takes you to the upper end of the netbook price range ($400 to $500), there may be better options.

The large-screen Amazon Kindle DX has the been the ebook reader for choice for lawyers to use in their practices. It's larger screen, higher-capacity storage, long battery life, and native PDF compatibility gave it an edge over other ebook readers. Then Apple released the iPad earlier this year. The iPad is not an ebook reader per se, although it can be used for that purpose. But it is really a slate computer that has too many compromises to make it an ideal ebook reader, such as a backlit screen instead of e-ink and much shorter battery life. Despite these shortcomings as an ebook reader, the iPad is a very cool device in other ways. However, if you don't already have an iPad, and your are interested in a slate computer as an alternative to a notebook or netbook, you may want to wait for the release later this year of Cisco's business-oriented Cius slate (aka tablet) computer that will run the Android operating system. Apple's iPad sparked a price war among traditional e-ink based ebook readers such as the Kindle. Last week Amazon dropped the price on its standard-sized Kindle to just $189, making it a true bargain. Even better, today only (July 1), you can buy a Kindle for only $150 (plus $5 shipping) on the Woot web site. Woot is now owned by Amazon. Well the price war has finally hit the "lawyer's Kindle" - the larger DX model. Amazon dropped the price by $110 to $379, making it substantially cheaper than the cheapest iPad. Of course, that is an apples and oranges comparison anyway, but if what you really want and need is an ebook reader, this price drop makes your decision much easier. Not only did the price drop, but Amazon now offers the DX in a more "lawyerly" graphite gray color and improved the contrast of its e-ink screen by 50% so it will be easier to read and display graphics (in gray-scale, of course) more realistically. How can a lawyer use the DX in his/her practice? Read our earlier blog post here. Now the original Kindle DX (which I have owned and used in my appellate practice since its release over a year ago) can be purchased refurbished from Amazon for $249.99. It has the standard warranty and Amazon's regular 30-day return policy. Also big news on the Kindle front is the release of a Kindle app for the Android operating system. Those of you with a Kindle account and an Android cell phone have not, until now, been able to read your book purchases on the high-res screens on your phones. Now you can. I installed the new (free) Android Kindle app on my Motorola Droid. It works very well. I have access to all of my ebooks and they are quire readable on the bright and crisp Droid screen. That will probably get better once I receive my pre-ordered Droid X with an even larger screen in mid-July.

The ebook reader price wars are heating up. Perhaps this is due to the popularity of Apple's iPad, which is really a slate computer, not an ebook reader. But whatever brings prices down is fine with me. The world's best-selling ebook reader is the Amazon Kindle, now selling for $189. Unfortunately, there was no price drop on the larger $489 Kindle DX, which is much more useful to lawyers with its larger screen. If you want to save $119 on the DX, you can opt for a refurbished unit directly from Amazon for $369.99. But for an avid reader of non-law materials, the standard Kindle is a very nice ebook reader at its new reduced price. As for the iPad, it is a very slick device, but I will wait for Windows 7 or even Android-powered slate computers to hit the market over the next few months. I am anxious to see if they avoid some of the shortcomings of the iPad such as no ability to expand data storage, lack of a web cam, the lack of peripheral connectivity options, the often anemic AT&T wireless data network, and the inability to display Adobe Flash content. Best Buy has the Verizon Wireless MiFi 2200 mobile hot spot on sale for $99.99 with a 2-year data plan contract. The MiFi is great for road warrior lawyers, especially those that work in a team where more than one person needs mobile Internet access. It functions as a Wi-Fi hot spot for up to five computers or Wi-Fi enable devices. Everyone I know who has a MiFi loves it, and that is consistent with the positive user reviews on the Best Buy site. But if you are in the market soon for a new cell phone, you might consider waiting for the Droid X scheduled for release by Verizon Wireless on July 15. It will have Wi-Fi hot spot capability similar to the MiFi built-in (but for an extra $20 per month, which is still far less than the data plan for a MiFi). The Droid X will be the largest smart phone available in the U.S. According to a review in PC Magazine, which gives it a rare prerelease Editors' Choice award, that size is put to good use with a huge and very readable screen plus the largest on-screen keyboard available on a smart phone. It will sell for $299.99 less a $100 mail-in rebate with a 2-year contract. The good news for current Verizon Wireless customers is that if you are eligible for an upgrade anytime in 2010, you can get the $299.99 price instead of the full-retail price (which is always hundred's more). Also at Best Buy this week is the LG External USB DVD reader/writer on sale for $74.99. This slim optical drive is intended primarily for use with netbooks, nearly all of which lack a built-in optical drive. Whether you need an external optical drive may depend on how you use your netbook. I have not purchased an external optical drive mostly because I connect my netbook to my home office network and access the DVD drive on my desktop computer shared over the network when I need to install software from a CD or DVD. Speaking of netbooks, retailer hhgregg continues to offer low prices on popular mainstream netbooks like the Acer Aspire One AO532H-2588 at $279.97. It is decent basic netbook with a 10.1 LED screen, Pine Trail N450 processor, and 8 hours of battery life. The downside is Windows 7 Starter Edition, as noted in an earlier post. One thing that has always mystified me is how many security-conscious lawyers will carry confidential client or firm data and documents on unencrypted and non-password protected USB flash drives despite the obvious risk that such a drive could be easily lost or stolen. This may be one of the top under-recognized law firm security risks. One answer is the Lexar 8GB Secure II Plus USB flash drive on sale this week at Office Depot for $19.99. That is a good price for any 8GB flash drive, but this model adds password and encryption software to protect data. It also has a file shredder function to thoroughly delete files. A nice capacity meter is also built-into the drive, allowing you to instantly see how much space you have used.