Refresh Computers Tech Talk
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Refresh Computers Tech Talk
Florida Lightning Season Tech Survival Guide For Homes And Small Businesses
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One lightning flash down the street can quietly take out a TV, a router, and the computer you rely on for work and you won’t always know why it happened. We live in Florida, where thunderstorms are frequent and the power grid is constantly fluctuating, so we decided to get practical: what actually hurts electronics, what protects them, and what mistakes people keep making without realizing it.
We break down the three big culprits: nearby lightning strikes that send surges through power, cable, and older phone lines; everyday grid spikes and dips that slowly degrade sensitive parts; and the surge that can hit when power comes back after an outage. We also talk about how heat and humidity shorten the life of laptops and phones, why swollen batteries are a serious safety issue, and why a cheap power strip is not the same thing as a surge protector. If you want better uptime, fewer fried components, and less risk of corrupted storage, we explain when a UPS battery backup makes sense and why you should never daisy chain power strips or surge protectors.
Then we tackle a wallet-drainer: printer ink. We dig into why ink can cost absurd amounts, how some manufacturers block third-party cartridges, and what actually saves money long term, including laser printers with toner and tank style inkjet printers like EcoTank and MegaTank. We close with a simple tip that could genuinely save your life: setting up Medical ID on iPhone or Android so first responders can see critical information from your lock screen.
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Welcome And How To Reach Us
SPEAKER_00Hey there and welcome to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580 Orlando's News and Talk. I'm Greg Rhodes here with David Levitt, President and Founder of Refresh Computer Superstore, and technician Adam Littlefield. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200. Or if you have a comment during the show, go ahead and use that open mic feature inside the WDBO app. You can also check out the website over at Refresh Computers.net, or you can stop in at the Refresh Computer Superstore in Longwood at 820 East State Road 434, just three and a half miles east of I-4 in Longwood. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. And now for David Levitt and Adam Littlefield.
SPEAKER_01All right. Thanks, Craig. And thanks everybody for listening to a Sunday morning edition of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. We have a fresh show for you to listen to this morning. We're going to talk about a lot of cool techie things. I hope that you're geared up to listen to.
Florida Lightning Threats Explained
SPEAKER_01We're going to be starting off talking about the Florida summer, you know, how brutal it is on your electronics, lightning surges, and heat. We're right in the thick of Florida summer storm season. So if you haven't noticed, and there's a fact every one of us should take seriously that Florida is the lightning capital of the United States. This state gets more than a million cloud-to-ground lightning strikes a year, and the Orlando area alone, we can get up to a hundred thunderstorm days annually. So a hundred days out of the year, thunderstorms roll right through our area. That sure doesn't sound like the sunshine state to me. I know. Fortunately, they usually last an hour or something. Sometimes they're sun showers.
SPEAKER_02The sun's still out while it's thundering.
SPEAKER_01Well, and every one of those afternoon storms is a chance to fry the expensive electronics sitting in your home or business. And the danger is bigger than just a direct hit. We're going to get into some more details about that. And then a little later, we're going to talk about how we can recover data and keep your business running. So a lot of times these storms that come through, they have a disruption of your data. They cause a disruption of your data, which, you know, basically can zap the data in your drive, and that happens. We see this all the time, especially with the new solid state drives that are out there. You know, they're they're much more prone to static electricity, lightning strikes, and these kinds of errant electrical issues that can happen around your home or business. And your data is more likely to be fried on a solid state drive than it would be like the old hard drives. And we see that all the time at Refresh Computers. And we're going to talk about how you can help, we can help recover that data if you happen to lose any of that. And then a little later, we're going to talk about why printer ink is costing more than champagne these days, right? It's bad. It's bad. And we're going to get into that and we're going to talk about how to stop overpaying for that as well. And then we're going to finish the show today with another quick Windows tip that could save a life. You know, set up medical ID on your phone, and we're going to talk about how to do that. And so you want to listen out for that. So back to the segment that we started the show off with is the Florida summers.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Right. This heat has been brutal, these uh these this last week or so. I know the heat index, at least I've been seeing, has been over a hundred degrees. 110.
SPEAKER_01110 back on Thursday. Oh wow. So it's yeah. So it's, you know, it's and it's so it's not just the the heat, it's the lightning, it's the humidity. Yeah. It's all these things that play a threat. It's the hurricanes. Well, the hurricanes, tropical.
SPEAKER_02Even even though, you know, we've been broadcasted to have a mild season, like we talked about last show, mild season does not mean easy storms. You know?
SPEAKER_01Well, we can always count on some very heavy-duty thunderstorms here in Central Florida every single year, and lots of them, and a lot of times they last 10 minutes, 15 minutes, less than an hour. Right. But they're real and they happen, and that's when your electronics are going to get fried. So, you know, it's a real threat to your TVs, your computers, and your appliances. So don't forget your appliances as well. So there's three ways a storm will kill your electronics. This is the three a nearby strike, a nearby lightning strike. So, in other words, lightning doesn't have to hit your house. You know, I've been in the electronics industry for forever, for a long time, 40 plus years, and then most of those right here in Central Florida. And I have seen some really odd things occur, odd outages, electronics getting fried due to near miss electrical strikes or lightning strikes. Right. And and so there's some things that I've seen holes blown right through a roof to hit a ground rod in an equipment room, and and then just melting the wiring inside there. I've seen that happen right here in Central Florida. So it's a thing that that's real. So you know, and a strike down the street, guess what? If it hits down the street, if you can see it, it can send a surge through the power lines, your cable lines, uh, even your old phone lines, if you still have those connected, and it's right into your gear. So whatever you have plugged into the internet, it's is accessible to these kinds of damages caused by lightning strikes, whether it's direct nearby, right, or direct.
SPEAKER_00Rest in peace, multiple PlayStation 3s at my house. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So there's
Grid Surges And Power Return Spikes
SPEAKER_01another way a storm can kill your electronics, is well, everyday grid surges. So small spikes travel through your wiring constantly. It's always happening on AC, you know, alternating current. And so it's never a steady, simple, easy flow of current going to whatever you have plugged into it. So what happens is it will surge. So it'll spike up, it'll spike down also. So not only is it upward spikes that are harmful to your electronics, it's the downward spikes that also are harmful to your electronics. So say there's a sudden power surge in your neighborhood, and and then so there's a spike almost immediately following that, almost every time, immediately following a huge spike or surge into your home with electronics is a big dip follows that. Yes. And the reason is is all these uh these devices that may have taken a temporary blip in your neighborhood. I mean, all over your business, businesses, homes, wherever the power is being used at, it it has a uh a recovery period that's very short and it takes a very big dip right as well. And so it's these differences that can cause and degrade your electronics over time.
SPEAKER_02It's almost like you know, waves on the ocean. You have a big wave come up and then it'll pull back and it'll pull that water line back, but you know it's gonna come back again. Don't move your tent up. But you know, with electricity, it's it's way more instant. And a major thing I've always noticed, actually, that I can I can point out is sometimes you'll you'll just be you know in a room and you'll see all of the lights just get very just bright, just get a little brighter, just a little bit for like a split second, or maybe you'll see them just drop out for a split second. It is instantaneous, but those are you know little symptoms of power spikes. That is power surges.
SPEAKER_01And and you know, and so when it recovers from those, it's when you get the dips. Exactly. You know, you don't sometimes you see you do see the lights dim.
SPEAKER_02Just a little bit, but it's it's so fast, most people don't pay attention to it.
SPEAKER_01It's easier to spot the surge where it brightens the light for a split second. But sometimes if you if you you may recall seeing your lights dim a little bit too, that's the downward side of that. And both are equally dangerous or degrading to your electronics in your home or business. And and and this is happening all the time. As a matter of fact, you can't even see it sometimes. You can't even see it most of the time. I would say 99% of the time, this is going on in your electric. Yeah, inside your electric where it's it's going up, it's going down, but it's just enough where it's not dimming your light, you don't notice it, but it's happening. And this is called a death by a thousand cuts. Yes. So in other words, it's up and down, up and down, up and down all the time. And this eventually can wear out the electronics, especially sensitive electronics in your in your home, laptops, computer, motherboards. We see this. And again, don't forget that solid state drive is very successful to these kinds of damages, right? You know, damaging occurrences that happen. So we talked about two ways that the storm kills your electronics. There's a third way. So we talked about you know nearby strikes. We talked about every everyday grid surges up and not just surges up, but surges down or downward surges, I guess. And then there's another thing called, you know, which when the power comes back on.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Right. That that breath of fresh air you get in the middle of a hurricane, you your your power kicks back on, all your lights come on. Well, that's another, you know, time that maybe something could get damaged. Then you heard a weird pop near your TV. Yes. Yep. And then you think that's going to be an expensive $500 fix after the storm. Right.
SPEAKER_01Well, so you know, so the bigger danger isn't necessarily the outage that happened. It's when the power comes back on, that surge, that spike of voltage when the power is restored coming in and hitting all your devices. So, you know, we talked earlier about heat and humidity.
Heat Damage And Swollen Batteries
SPEAKER_01I want to make sure we get into that because that matters also. So Florida heat is very hard on laptops and phones and the batteries that are inside them, especially. They overheat and they shut down. And, you know, and like the heat shortens the battery life over time. So if you're storing your laptop in your hot car thinking, well, it's going to be fine, that's not a good idea because you're actually degrading your battery every day it sits inside a hot car.
SPEAKER_02Batteries have an optimal temperature that they like to be kept at. They don't like being kept too cold. They don't like being kept too hot. And that can damage the battery, like you were saying, Dave. And the main thing actually with the heat is over time it causes the cells to accelerate their chemical reaction. And expand. And expand, exactly. So if you're if you pick your phone up and it's really, you know, you left it on charge and it just got really, really warm or it's sitting out in the sun, you know, you may notice, you know, months down the road, your your screen start popping out because the battery's just starting to expand.
SPEAKER_00What did you call them before, Adam? Danger pillows? Yes, yes, spicy pillows. Spicy pillows, there we go. That's right.
SPEAKER_01And and there's really nothing more dangerous in consumer electronics than a swollen laptop battery. Yes. Just not. I mean, because they can explode. They can. And and and they they have exploded. Yes. And so, you know, think about you know how lucky we are. And and and and I'm not sure why the detection isn't there, but you know, you bring your you know your laptop on an airplane, you know, you scan it through as it goes through, and and you're allowed to bring your laptop in, and that's just fine. But you know, that that that could be a potentially very dangerous and serious situation if you have a swollen laptop.
SPEAKER_00Well, you remember what happened with the uh Galaxy Note 7s. Yes, where those were banned on flights.
SPEAKER_02I had a uh an iPhone 5. I took a flight over to California once and I knew the battery and it was already bad. Like it did not hold a charge for more than an hour or two. Right. But flying over there, you know, I fall asleep on the flight, I wake up and I look down at my phone and the screen's almost entirely off. The battery has pushed the screen all the way out of the casing. Oh, wow. Just because of the pressure difference. It does happen.
SPEAKER_01We've seen keyboards and laptops, right? Just popping up, you know, because the battery inside is swollen. The whole case just starts bowing. Okay, so let's get into
Real Surge Protection And UPS Options
SPEAKER_01what you should do. Yes. Right? Not what you can do, but what you should be doing. So, first of all, don't rely on a cheap power strip. Right. Because you see these power strips, don't think that because it's a power strip, that it's a surge protector. You know, we we ask people all the time. They come in and they're in their hard drive or their solid-see drive is fried or you know, something. Oh, it's just not reading data anymore. And we always ask the question, are you plugged into a surge protector? Right. And a lot of times they say yes. And I wish we could say, can you bring that in so we can make sure? Because you know, a lot of people think that they buy a power strip that it's also a surge protector, and that's not the case. No, it's not. So surge protectors, you know, it's will be labeled surge protector. And so make sure whatever you buy, it is a surge protector, not a ten dollar power strip is not a surge protector.
SPEAKER_00Expower strips are great for Christmas trees, not so much for your laptops.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01And so, and you know, make sure you use one that's rated for the device that you're plugging into it. So at Refresh Computers, by the way, we do sell some really nice search protector power strips. Yes. So basically they're power strip with search protection built in. And we have one in particular, I think it's what, 15 bucks? It's a that that's a gosh, it has six or seven outlets on it. Yep. And just the power cord on that, I think it's a 15-foot power cord.
SPEAKER_02It's a 15-foot. I have two of those now at home because I have cheap strips. Yes.
SPEAKER_01It's a very heavy-duty power cord, which would that's a good sign, by the way, that you have a good power strip. Yes. Because it has a heavy-duty power cord to handle the load that's going through it that's protecting your computer that's plugged into it.
SPEAKER_02And better yet, you know, if you don't want to just get a surge protector, look into getting a battery backup, you know, also called a UPS, an uninterrupted power source. Those are good for, you know, you should never lose power on a device, right? Your computer or maybe, you know, your internet or something like that. You don't want to lose instant power on it. Most uh UPSs have built-in surge protectors along with their battery backups.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and that's a good point. So that would be another option. And we sell refurbished. Yes, we do. UPS systems, battery backup systems that refresh computers. I think they start around $40. They refurbished it's all the electronics with brand new batteries. Yes.
SPEAKER_02The one part that's replaceable and needs to be replaced. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So they all have brand new batteries right there. So, anyhow, so if a storm already got you, don't panic, don't toss it. Just remember a surge damaged computer very often still has all your photos and files on the drive, and that could be recoverable. And that's what Refresh Computers is there for, right there in Longwood.
SPEAKER_00Don't forget to check out the website at refreshcomputers.net to see their supply of surge protectors and UPSs available. Or if you have a comment during the show, we'd love to hear it. Use that open mic
Stop Daisy Chaining Power Strips
SPEAKER_00feature inside the WDBO app. And now back to David and Adam.
SPEAKER_01All right. Thanks, Greg, and thanks, Adam, for being here. And thanks, everybody, for listening to Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. If you missed our last segment, we talked about the importance of search protection, among other things, with all the things that you need to be wary of because of Florida's summer season is here and you know the 100 thunderstorms we get every year and how to protect your electronics at the home in the office. We talked a lot about that. One of the things we talked about was surge protectors. Make sure that you're using a real surge protector, not a simple power strip. Because power strips can look like they are a surge protector, but unless it says surge protector, it's not a surge protector.
SPEAKER_02No, it's very easy to get the two confused because the names, you know, have always been used synonymously. That's right. A power strip is not a surge protector. A surge protector, I guess you could say, is a power protector.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But and you know, well, on the break, we were talking too, and we uh we came across a very good point. Don't daisy chain those power strips.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes, we came across one.
SPEAKER_01Yes. So so here's the rule of thumb for a power strip. One power strip plugs into an electrical outlet in your home or office. A power strip, you should never plug into what? Another power strip or another search protector. So if you have a search protector, it's one search protector per AC outlet in your home. If you happen to have a dual outlet, right? So you have two plugs there basically, like most outlets are, right? There's two places to plug. You can plug a search protector into each one of those. That's fine. But never plug a search protector into another search protector because guess what you just did when you did that?
SPEAKER_02You caused yourself way more problems than you're gonna save yourself from.
SPEAKER_01You just negated the whole darn purpose of having that search protector. So, yeah, you have reduced its its dependability and reliability and its function. So never plug a search protector into another search protector, just plug that search protector directly into the AC outlet on the wall. Adam's taking additional notes on that search. Just writing them down here as we go. So, anyway, so what happens if you lost your data?
Data Recovery After A Surge
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And well, you know, you need to keep your business running, right? So there's the, you know, we see this all the time, almost daily. Well, well, I would say daily, yeah, more than once daily, in the refresh computer superstore there in Longwood, where people bring in their old laptop or or new laptop or their computer that got fried. Right. Something got fried in it, and it's not turning on anymore, and they're really nervous because they have all their data. Well, you know, in most cases, we're gonna be able to recover that data for you at refresh computers. In most cases. And you know, we also have a partner in the data recovery world that if we can't do it right there at Refresh Computers, there's like a 99% chance that they can that they are going to be able to get it for you. So, you know, we can be your source first, and if we can't do it, we have a partner that you know they use forensic, that's basically that's uh it's a lab environment where your device goes. It could be a thumb drive, it could be a solid state drive, it could be a hard drive, a regular hard drive, it could be anything that's got almost data on it. Even those we can get data off of for you if they if you've lost your data. You know, we see a lot of micro SD cards that that the data is lost because especially people using them in in like security systems and and maybe dash cams and stuff like that where they're constantly being overwritten so they get a lot of use. And a lot of times, well, they go bad. And so we can help you with that data recovery also. And so and we'll let you know too, you know, if sometimes it's something like a fried motherboard, which we can replace motherboards by the way, on just about any device, but sometimes it's worth fixing, sometimes it's not worth fixing, and we'll give you the straight poop on that. We'll let you know, you know, hey, you know what? Maybe it would be worthwhile to go ahead and do the hardware repair on this particular device as opposed to buying a new one, or maybe it's time to buy another one because the the cost of repair far would far exceed you know the value of what we're trying to repair.
SPEAKER_02It might not be worth fixing that old computer, but it would definitely be worth it to recover those old uh photos that might have been on that computer.
SPEAKER_01That's true. So stay tuned, folks. In the next segment after the break, we're gonna talk about why printer ink is now costing more than champagne.
SPEAKER_00You've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. Welcome to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580, Orlando's News and Talk. I'm Greg Rhodes here with David Levitt, President and Founder of Refresh Computer Superstore, and technician Adam Littlefield. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200. Or if you have a comment during the show, go ahead and use that open mic feature inside the WDBO app. You can also check out the website over at Refresh Computers.net or stop in at the Refresh Computer Superstore in Longwood at 820 East State Road 434, is three and a half miles east of I-4
Why Printer Ink Costs So Much
SPEAKER_00in Longwood. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. till 7 p.m. And now to David Levitt and Adam Littlefield.
SPEAKER_01All right. Thanks, Greg. And thanks everybody for listening to Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. We had a we have another tech-filled show today. We're halfway through today's show.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01And if you miss anything in the first couple of segments, you might want to go to refreshcomputers.net, look at the upper right hand corner, click on that podcast link up there, and you can listen to this show in its entirety. We talked a lot about how to protect your computer and your laptop through the Florida storm season that's we're that we're in. We're in the heat of it. No pun intended. Yes, we are. And you know, there's some things that you may not have been aware of that we talked about, so you might want to listen to that. And you can also subscribe to these podcast versions of the show by going to the bottom of any page at refreshingpeters.net. Put your email address in there, click submit. That's all we asked for. Just your email address. We don't need your name, we don't need your phone number, we don't need any of that stuff, just your email. And then you will be notified via email, of course, whenever a new radio show turned podcast is ready to be listened to. And what's really cool now is you know, in the email, there's bullet points. With all the topics that we talked about. And so, and when you click on the podcast link, you'll be directed to an even larger version, text version of what we talked about there. And right there on our refreshcomputers.net website. So when you click on that link in the email, it goes to refreshcomputers.net to the podcast page of the podcast that you want to listen to or catch up on. So in this segment, you know, why printer ink is costing more than champagne.
SPEAKER_00So can printer ink only be grown in a certain region of France, just like champagne, or is it California sparkling ink?
SPEAKER_02I think it has to be aged for 20 years before it goes into those little cartridges.
SPEAKER_01Maybe, maybe, maybe, you know, and it's, you know, maybe that's where the reds, right? Come on. And I don't know.
SPEAKER_02Those nice deep blues.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But but you know, this makes just, I think, everybody's blood boil, right? It's just like, come on, you're crazy. But because manufacturers typically, you know, they practically give away the printers. Yes. You know, they're they're because they're making all their money on ink. And drop for drop the ink in your printer can definitely cost more than fine champagne.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Or a nice steak. Or a nice steak, top-notch, top shelf scotch, maybe designer perfume. So buy weight, some printer ink works out to over $400 a pound.
SPEAKER_02Whoa. Now I don't know who's printing printing pages by the pound of ink. However, that's still a lot of money to, you know, have to be putting into this device that you're only printing out of. You know, me, myself, I'm printing a couple pages a month, maybe at that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, and we're going to tell you how you can save on that. Yes. We are going to tell you how you can save on that. In fact, you know, the the biggest maker of printers, HP, right? They're currently fighting a class action lawsuit over the software it uses to what?
SPEAKER_02It blocks the cheaper off-brand ink from working. I've I've even seen HP able to lock an entire printer for the use of third-party ink. So it's it's something that they they were caught red-handed and now they're having to deal with it because, you know, it's like Dave said at the beginning of this segment, this is where these printer makers are making their money, is is in this ink. And it's almost a waste, I would say, because a lot of us this in this day and age, we don't print a lot of pages. At least I don't personally.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And over time, those those ink cartridges, what do they do? They dry up.
SPEAKER_01They do dry up.
SPEAKER_02And they they you know become a nice little $400 by the pound paperweight because you didn't use your printer for six months.
SPEAKER_01That's right. And that not only does the cartridge, the ink dries up, but they cause the ink on the receptor inside. The print head. The print head to also be get dry and need to be cleaned. And sometimes you can't clean them. And so a lot of times you end up throwing your printer away because it just doesn't work anymore because you haven't used it in a while. And there's a reason to throw away a printer is because you haven't used it in a while. I mean, so there's some alternatives.
Toner And Tank Printers That Save
SPEAKER_01So instead of ink, consider toner. Yes. There's a big difference between ink and toner. Ink is wet. Yes. Right? It's just wet.
SPEAKER_02It precisely puts it on the page when it prints. That's what it does.
SPEAKER_01It literally spits it on the page. Yeah. And so it does that through these tiny little jets. And so the and it dries real fast. So it's it's a liquid that dries fast. That's pretty much what ink is. And although you can if you switch to a toner-based printer, so toner is is more of a dry material, it's a rusty, powdery material that's heated up and transferred to the page in that way. And and it is much more cost effective using laser printers than it is inkjet printers. But there's a big price differential between the cost of a laser printer than an inkjet printer. And for a good reason, you get so many more pages, thousands of more pages printable through a laser printer than you do an inkjet printer. The toner lasts longer as well. It lasts a lot longer. And to your point, Adam, because toner is a dry material, right? Right. It can sit for quite a long time. And you don't have to worry about it drying up because it's already dry. Right? You don't have to worry about it causing some kind of blockage or damage because it's just it's not going to do that. Right. Or inkjet printers, they dry up, they get hard, and it's hard to sometimes it's impossible to get them clean enough to print. And so you just have to toss them away. So again, you know, printer companies practically give the printer away. I'm talking about mostly inkjet printers when they make their money on ink. That's been going on for many years now. So you know, a printer might cost under a hundred bucks, but you can spend a lot more than that on the ink in a single year of normal use. Right.
SPEAKER_02And, you know, the the main thing with uh ink-based printers that, again, really is just difficult right now, like HP, you know, got caught with is third-party ink. You know, it is cheaper, it's you know, manufactured, the cartridges are made for the printer, they fit in, they slot in just fine. But I have seen some third-party ink actually damage print heads because you know, of incompatibilities or just very cheaply made ink. So, what I always suggest, because what I always have customers all the time coming in asking, you know, what printer should I buy? I don't, I don't need a big printer, I don't need a big toner printer, but what is something that I can get? And I always, always, always point them to the tank style printers that have been coming out.
SPEAKER_01Tank style, if you're going to use inkjet printers, the tank style is would be the way to go. And why is that, Adam?
SPEAKER_02So with those tank style printers, you know, you've got the Epson Inco tank eco tank, which is one of my favorites. You've got the Canon Mega Tank, you know, similar, similar brands all have a tank printer now. They are just cheaper to refill over time. Instead of having a cartridge, you have a bottle of ink. And with that bottle of ink, you know, there's no programmable chip like HP was doing that tells the printer what kind of ink it is. You just put it into the spill-proof spout and it fills the tank. That's it. Just don't get it on your hand. Exactly. Yeah. Impossible to get out. Yeah. That's the thing, is a lot of these eco, a lot of these tank printers, you know, that we I have always been scared of, you know, a spill. And my personal experience, at least with the Epson Inco tank, I have not been able so far, you know, knock on wood here to get the ink on myself because the bottles are designed in a certain way, the tanks are designed in a certain way to not allow drippage, not allow leaks. So you can't get it everywhere. But, you know, again, we're humans. We always find a way to make it happen.
SPEAKER_01So true, true. And you know, and one thing that you can do also to save on your ink is uh, you know, printing black and white as much as possible.
SPEAKER_02Color isn't always needed. It's nice to have, you know, your your documents in color, but really is it is it gonna matter to a job you're applying to that you handed them a resume in nice, pretty colors, or is black and white gonna get you by? I would say either or, but black and white.
SPEAKER_01Either or and and and and another consumer tip if you are using the inkjet printers because that's what you have and that's what you you know it was the least expensive, most cost effective at the moment, right? Purchase for you because you know you can buy these printers right for under a hundred bucks, right? But just the ink is gonna cost you a lot of money. Just make a calendar event on your calendar, print a page every two weeks. Yeah, but just print something, you know, and that keeps the nozzles clean, that keeps everything from drying up in there. Because if it gets beyond much beyond a two-week period, that's when the ink will start really crusting.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. It settles, it it clogs up those really fine uh tubes it runs through, the print heads. I know actually a lot of uh inkjet printers and the tank printers, they have a cleaning mode that you can go into the settings and print a cleaning page. Right. It'll use a considerable amount of ink. I'm not gonna say it's it's a negligible amount, but if you haven't used that printer for months and it's saying, you know, there's an error, try running a clean on the printheads first. That's sometimes all it needs.
SPEAKER_01That will work 5% of the time.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02It's better than throwing it away, Dave.
SPEAKER_01It will work sometimes, but you're right. That is something, and actually, maybe it's something also to put in your calendar event, just to do that every once in
Beating Cartridge Lockouts And Clogs
SPEAKER_01a while.
SPEAKER_00Anyway, it doesn't hurt to do it, you know? But if you're someone who's looking to hold on to that inkjet printer, that cheap one that you got, what are some alternatives that you can do instead of just buying the regular cartridge from the company?
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, you can go with the off-brand, but then you're gonna have to fight possible the possibility of you know HP locking out that that cartridge off.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, right. I know there are some companies that do the re the remanufactured cartridges too, right? The recycling program.
SPEAKER_01That was the the next thing I was gonna mention is that. Thank you for bringing it up. But you go for the remanufactured cartridges. Yeah, they already have the chip in there, right? And maybe if if as far as that is concerned, if you're using a toner-based printer, like a laser printer, laser jet printer, then you know there's they also block you know the off-brand toner cartridges. But there are in a lot of these printers, there's a little chip. You can see it when you pull out the the cartridge, there's a little chip on the side, little green thing with contacts on it. Yes, it almost looks like a like the size of a SIM card or something, about that size. It's it's little it's right there, and it usually just slides right into a slot. And a lot of times you can just slide that right out, and then the off-brand, the third party, the third party cartridge will have a place for that little chip to go in. You can slide that chip right back in there, put it in there, and you just faked out your HP printer. And guess what? That cartridge will work now.
SPEAKER_02There's a lot of third-party cartridges that will actually, when they they come out, they send it to you. The in the book, most people don't read the book, but in the book, there are instructions and steps on how to remove that chip. Some of them even are providing tools to remove it without damaging the chip now.
SPEAKER_01Because, you know, that that that chip, well, a few years ago, you was it just an easy slide in, slide out. Right. But you know, HP and other manufacturers caught on, so they're making it a little bit more difficult.
SPEAKER_00That just tells you how much of a joke the program is, right? Yeah. So it is.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I mean, they literally made it more difficult to get to that chip and take it out to swap it out. The newer the printer, the more difficult it is to do that method of saving on your toner.
SPEAKER_00I remember a few years ago uh when the uh cure eggs first came out and the craze really kind of took over, and then you started seeing third-party pods coming out, and cure egg kind of took a similar stance and tried to make it where you had to scan your pods and things like that. That kind of went by the wayside too, because people got fed up with that.
SPEAKER_02So and it's it's to me, it's interesting to think how much RD goes into preventing third parties from being able to be used in printers like this, you know? Companies are wasting a lot of time designing their printers to reject third-party ink so they can make more money. But and us as consumers, we kind of get the the bad end of the stick on that one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you know what? And if you just do a printout every six months or something, why bother with the printer? Right. Take it to your local print shop, take it to FedEx Kinkos or one of these places that yeah, I think uh Walgreens, I mean all these places now will print a page for you, yeah, you know, for I don't know what the cost is, but pennies fairly layer, 25 cents in some places. Yeah. So you know, so if you don't really need a printer, yeah, don't don't waste your time and and money and effort on one. And if you need help trying to figure out what kind of printer you might need, or if you need one at all, you know, go ahead and use that free tech support hotline, 407-478-8200. Our technicians are standing by during business hours, which are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. We are closed on Sundays, and we can help you, we can guide you through what kind of printer to get. Maybe you want a Wi-Fi printer. We can help you with that setup as well. So don't forget that with that free tech support hotline, 407-478-8200. And if you want to recap anything that we just talked about, go to refreshcomputers.net, click on that podcast link in the upper right-hand corner, and you'll be able to hear this show in its entirety. We're gonna take a break, and when we come back, we're gonna talk about setting up your medical ID on your phone, and which is could be a life-saving event for you.
SPEAKER_00We've got some horror stories about setting up Wi-Fi printers. My goodness. You can listen to Tech Talk right here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline, 407-478-8200. You can also check out their website at refreshcomputers.net. And now back to David and Adam.
Set Up Medical ID On Your Phone
SPEAKER_01All right. Thanks, Greg, and thanks everybody for listening to a Sunday morning edition of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. This morning we talked about all kinds of cool things, how to protect your home electronics, your business electronics during the during the busy Florida summer lightning storm season.
SPEAKER_02We also talked about, you know, what printer is and is not the best for you. You know, there's there's tons of different printers out there laserjet and inkjet and tanks. And if you have any questions or if you want to listen back to those actually, go to our website, refreshcomputers.net, click that podcast link in the top right corner. You can listen to this show in its entirety and all of our other shows going back. How many years now?
SPEAKER_01Four years we've been putting well, we've been on the radio for 16 years now. But we've converted the radio show into a podcast version about four years ago. So you can you can watch or listen to all those shows right there at refreshcomputers.net.
SPEAKER_02There's lots of good stuff there, but this one might be the most important one I can think of that we have talked about yet. And that is your medical ID on your phone.
SPEAKER_01That's right. And the importance of setting that up. I don't care if you have an Android-based phone or if you have an iPhone, you know, if you have a smartphone, please just set up your medical ID. It's pretty simple, and I'm going to tell you some reasons why you should do it. That's maybe beyond the obvious, right? Right. So, and most people have this feature. They don't even set it up. They don't even know it's there. A lot of people don't even know. So, what is it? Medical ID is a little emergency profile that maybe a paramedic or a good Samaritan can see without unlocking your phone. Right. Right. So it's not giving away all your secrets, it's not giving away all your conditions, it's not giving away all you know everything on your phone. But without unlocking your phone right from the lock screen, they can see your medical ID profile where you will put some very important information that may be needed to save your own life. Right.
SPEAKER_02And I'm I'm looking at it here on my phone right now because I didn't set this up. I didn't even know it was in my phone. You can do things like your name, medical conditions, your blood type. That's a major one for someone to know. Yeah. Your allergies, medications you might take, your date of birth, your weight and your height. You can even put in your address. You can put in emergency contacts, your organ donor status. Yeah. You know, there's all these different things that you can list. And, you know, say you're in the middle of a medical emergency, you're not conscious. You know, if you need a blood transfusion, there's no waking you up and hey, hey, what uh what blood type are you? There's there's it's it's not that simple.
SPEAKER_01No, so you know, so setting this up is very important for everybody. Right. How old you are or or how young you are, or you know, where you are. I mean, it's setting up medical ID in your smartphone is just a very smart thing to do and could one day save your life because you know, like you said, Adam, you could be in a car accident, yeah, right? And you get knocked out. You know, you don't know. You and and so you you may need some blood right away, but what's his blood type? I don't know. We have to go through all these tests. Well, no, you got it right there on your phone. You are you're already stored it up, stored it. So, how to set it up on an iPhone, you open the health app. It's really as simple as that. Go to the health app. So you you tap your picture in the corner, tap medical ID, and just fill in the blanks. And then make sure that you select show when locked. Make sure that is turned on. Yeah, because that's what's gonna that's kind of defeats the purpose if that's not enabled. The the part that's gonna save your life. And on an Android phone, it's most of these phones, it's a settings and go in settings and search for emergency or medical info. Under and often it's under safety and emergency. So fill in your details and turn on, turn it on, also, showing them on your lock screen, making sure that people can see this on your lock screen. And then you know what? Go around, do this for your whole family. Make sure your whole family has their medical ID turned on. Maybe you have an elderly uh parent or grandparent or somebody, and and make sure you can call them up and tell them, hey, look, let's I heard this on tech talk with refresh computers, and we should set up your medical ID in case there's an emergency. And then, you know, if maybe you're not awake, right? This emergency is happening. So just uh do that. You know, that that's not that's a smart move that anybody
Final Reminders And Closing
SPEAKER_01can do. And so, folks, that's about all we're gonna have time for today. I want to remind you that we are located at 820 East State Road, 434, three and a half miles east of I4, right there in Longwood. And don't forget that free tech support hotline 407 478 8200. This is David Levitt with Refresh Computers. We'll be talking to you again next week.
