Refresh Computers Tech Talk
Help and advice are given on a range of technical issues from computers to everything internet-related.
Refresh Computers Tech Talk
Stop Overpaying For Your Next Laptop
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The fastest way to waste money on a laptop is to shop like you’re buying a status symbol instead of a tool. We walk through a simple, real-world method for choosing the right laptop without overpaying, starting with the one question that actually matters: what are you going to do with it day to day? From there, we translate the jargon into practical guidance, including why an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 class system is the best fit for most people, and why 16GB of RAM has become the true Windows 11 sweet spot for smooth browsing, office work, school tasks, and multitasking.
We also get specific about storage and upgrades, because the best deal is sometimes the computer you already own. We explain when 256GB vs 512GB SSD capacity makes sense, where old-school hard drives still shine for backups, and how “refreshing” a Windows 11 capable laptop from 2019 or newer can save you hundreds while adding years of usable life. Then we shift to one of the most underrated upgrades: monitors. We cover the connections to look for (HDMI, DisplayPort, USB-C with video), why IPS screens are worth it for clarity and brightness, and how a second monitor can instantly improve productivity.
Finally, we tackle practical cybersecurity: what a VPN really does, when it’s a must-have on public Wi-Fi, and what it absolutely does not protect you from. We connect the dots to common threats like phishing emails, fake antivirus notifications, and the growing wave of fake QR codes on parking signs, mailers, and menus, plus quick ways to verify URLs before you click or pay. If you find this helpful, subscribe, share the show with a friend who’s laptop shopping, and leave a review with the security question you want us to answer next.
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Welcome And How To Reach Us
SPEAKER_01Hey there and welcome to a Sunday edition of Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580 Orlando's News and Talk. I'm Greg Rhodes sitting here with senior technician Mike from the Refresh Computer Superstore. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200. Or if we have a comment during the show, we'd love to hear it. Use that open mic feature inside the WDBO app. Don't forget to 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. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. And welcome back on the Sunday, Mike. Good morning. And I know that we've had a great episode on Saturday. If you missed any of it, head over to the Refresh Computer Superstore website there at refreshcomputers.net. Look for that podcast tab. You can listen back to our full episode from yesterday. You can listen back to our full catalog of episodes that we've recorded here over the last couple of years. There's a lot of great information in there. The evolution of AI, you can almost track it throughout the Refresh Computer Podcast, starting from the very beginning there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's going back a couple of years now. It's it surprised even me the rapid evolution of this software, this the the the deals that are being made, the hardware, the the news media can't even keep up. I don't think the guys making it can keep up. Definitely not. And the legislatures around the country are just backfooted. But yeah, that's a that's a definitely it's gonna be an ongoing conversation for all of us going forward.
SPEAKER_01That's gonna be a little bit of a part
Buy A Laptop Based On Tasks
SPEAKER_01of our first conversation here where we're gonna be talking about how to buy a laptop these days without overpaying. More consumers are more conscious about that than ever just because you've seen the you've seen the prices going up there in the store for retail items. Imagine that back on the consumer as well. What really are consumers really needing to look for for what they pay? That's really what we're gonna kind of break down here for you here this morning on this Sunday edition of Tech Talk. And first up, really the most important question, and it's not really about the specs of all at all. It's really what you're gonna be doing with the laptop, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so that's one of the questions that we ask when someone walks in the door. And I need to reiterate this to all of our audience. We do not expect you guys to be experts in computers or laymen or anything. Most of our customers don't know anything about them. And that's fine because we look at computers as tools, and that's it. So when you walk in, the first questions we're gonna ask is what tasks do you use it for and why? Is it just office? Is it school? Is it something more uh more substantial? Do you do you actually do some sort of video editing with it or thing things like that? So we're gonna ask to better gauge where we can place you with a comp with a system that you with that you need and not with full full of bells and whistles that you're never gonna use.
SPEAKER_01Right. Because yeah, if you're if you're just someone that's gonna go home and open up your email and maybe watch a YouTube video, you're not necessarily gonna need something that somebody that's doing CAD work is gonna need at home or anybody that's doing photo editing, things like that. There's big differences in the types of machines that you're gonna be looking for at that point.
SPEAKER_00Right. And so it comes down to again what you're gonna use it for and the ideal spec for everyday computer use. And we do have an idea of what that is. So for most people, it's an i5 processor that's the system's running Windows 11 and it has 16 gig of RAM in it. That would be the ideal system for most people. I'd say 80% of our customers, that wouldn't suit them just fine. The the secondary sticking point is how much storage you actually need as far as like if you're gonna have a lot of uh data that you're gonna transfer over to that computer, or if it's just the operating system and some programs, the browsing that you're gonna need. That will also dictate the price. So the more storage you need, unfortunately, the higher the price.
SPEAKER_01Oh, especially right now, as after what we've seen
16GB RAM And Windows 11 Load
SPEAKER_01here over the last couple of years. Now, I know that like so Windows 11 has the their minimum requirements, and that's set at eight gigs of RAM, but you said 16 gigs of RAM for is really kind of the sweet spot. Why why do you why do you make that distinction?
SPEAKER_00Well, at least for right now, and I'll get into why that might change here in the future. Windows 11 uses a lot of memory. There isn't a lot of RAM left over once if it's only at 8 gig once the computer boots up for anything else other than the OS and maybe a browser window or two. In idle, it'll use six gig doing nothing. Yep. So if you're at eight, you don't have a whole lot of extra RAM. The result of that is that it acts like a traffic jam. The more stuff you try to open when there's not enough RAM to mitigate that, it creates a traffic jam to where it'll have to finish one process before it goes to the next process. What what it looks like for you is that lovely blue swirling circle you see all the time. You'll see that more often with less RAM. Uh so more RAM means you can have more cars on the highway to turn off and turn left and go forward than say a two or four-lane highway where you know the the the traffic just starts to build up and you can't get any tasks done. So we usually recommend 16. The reason why I say that that may change in the future is there's an initiative at Microsoft that's going on right now to try to get Windows 11 to run on eight gigs of RAM. And that is because of the storage and RAM issue. So they are trying to render that maybe the the improper technical word, but they're trying to render Windows down to something more manageable back way back when Windows first came out and it was running on 256 megs of RAM back in those days, or even a gig of RAM. It was definitely possible, and it did that. So they're they're currently trying to find a way to get it down to eight gig because that because at least for the foreseeable future, we're we're hearing 2030 before RAM prices come down in price.
SPEAKER_01So we're talking like Windows 11 light.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I think that's a great move. I think you've seen they've seen the then there used to be options when you had your uh Windows installation that would allow you to run at a lower level or a higher level, depending on your system requirements and what you had. They've lost that, they don't have that anymore. Windows 10 was a really good system that ran really well on some of these requirements, and now they've forced Windows 11 down people's throats and they're having some issues.
SPEAKER_00Because of the security and a lot of the way Windows 11 is built, which wasn't done very effectively, hence all the feature updates we're getting. Uh because of that, they they have now recognized that this is a problem and they're the powers that be at Microsoft are working towards correcting that. But until they do, we definitely recommend systems with at least 16 gig of RAM when you purchase from us.
SPEAKER_01And then you also mentioned an Intel i5 processor. What would be the AMD equivalent to an i5?
SPEAKER_00So that would be the Ryzen line. So there's the Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7, and there's also Ryzen 9, just like there's i5, i7, and i9 on Intel. Those all have to do with the amount of interstate lanes that is available for your processor to do more work. So an i7 typically has eight to 16 or even 24 on some of the newer ones. And the same thing with Ryzen. The Ryzen 5 is typically a f a four or six core SIP system with uh additional cores that are what's called hyper threaded, and that has to do with uh like logical stuff. But then there's the the higher end ones like the seven and the nines that can do more. We do have both systems, but primarily we we sell Intel.
SPEAKER_01That's usually what you see out there mostly is Intel for a lot of those items, especially with some of the brands that you guys deal with, right?
SPEAKER_00Right. A lot of the gaming systems we sell are AMD based. That's true. And that's another topic, but essentially, at least for the short term, AMD is running winning the race on better performing CPUs on gaming platforms.
SPEAKER_01They and they've uh extended that lead here uh over the last couple of years.
SPEAKER_00Yes, matter of fact, they they they have cornered the market both on handheld and on console. So those of you that are Xbox PlayStation users, you're running AMD.
SPEAKER_01Now, I guess the next step after figuring out those requirements, it would also be kind of what kind of drive that you need to use for your system. We've
SSD vs HDD And Right Storage
SPEAKER_01seen the shift over to solid state from a hard disk drive. Talk a little bit about really what you're looking for when it comes to someone that needs that solid state drive, or there are circumstances where that hard disk drive still works out okay for some people.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so there's definitely a use for the old platter drives that are still running around, the mechanical drives, as we call them. For data storage, backup, large picture storage, stuff that you're not accessing on the daily is fine for a hard drive.
SPEAKER_01So even maybe as like a backup drive inside that machine. We talked about backups in the last episode.
SPEAKER_00Cheaper to get, we sell them refurbished. You can get a one or two terabyte for $20 to $40 from us. You can even buy a drive enclosure that has a USB attachment for another $20 or $30. And now you've got your backup drive, and not having to spend $150 for the same drive you can get from us for only a $40-50 investment.
SPEAKER_01Now, I know a lot of the newer laptops only come with those solid state drives because of how small they've made these laptops moving forward, things like that. What is your recommended size for a drive on a lot of those PCs? What do what do what do you find people mostly need?
SPEAKER_00Well, ideally, most people want to get a 512, and we understand that. But again, because of drive limitations, sales and stuff like that, 256 will get by with most people. Again, if you're not doing a lot of storage and we and if you need the storage locally, we will definitely recommend uh getting a mechanical drive. And if you do have the funds necessary, you can up always upgrade. We do have stock available to upgrade those systems to 250 to 512 or one terabyte if needed. But there is a premium on that.
SPEAKER_01Now, there are things that come with the purchase of a refurbished or even a new laptop that people they get fixated on, but they don't necessarily need big screens, large keyboards, things like that. What are some of those things that you found that people are it's kind of frivolous that they don't really need? It's a want, not necessarily the need when you buy that laptop.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so the the definite needs are webcam, good audio, brightness of the screen. A lot of a lot of folks come in and they can't see it too well. So they want to be able to, you know, get a nice brightness coming out of the backlit of the screen, all things that we test before they go to the floor, of course. And use and feel of the keyboard. Well, if those those of you that are buying a 15-inch screen can look forward to a 10-key, that's where it's got the full-size keyboard and the and your 10 digits on the right side to make it feel like a full keyboard. For others, it's a touch screen. They want to be able to have the the flexibility of touching the screen. And we do have several models that we sell that do that.
SPEAKER_01You've talked about being the senior tech. How many of those touch screens have you had issues with, though?
SPEAKER_00Very few. Once in a great while, we'll have a situation where the touch screen fails for some reason, and we worked our best to get a get it with our suppliers and get a replacement touch screen.
SPEAKER_01That's the and that's the best way to do it, is if you're able to get that replacement done. And again, that is a big portion of what Refresh Computer Superstore does right there in shop.
SPEAKER_00Yep. Yeah, we are one of the few full service repair stores in Central Florida uh that can do everything in a timely manner, I might add. And we're still willing to help other people. Like we get people's repair options coming from Best Buy or other local areas that just wasn't able to do the job, and we're happy to take it over if we need to.
SPEAKER_01We've even heard about you guys getting referenced uh from the Apple store to work on some products that they would won't necessarily take back in to fix for customers as well.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah. Well, and it's obvious because of their corporate environment and what they're able to do. Hopefully, sometimes with our suppliers, we're able to do a little more than they can with older
Refreshing Older Laptops For Savings
SPEAKER_00devices.
SPEAKER_01And that's the thing. If you've got one of these older devices, it doesn't necessarily mean that you need a new laptop. If you do have something, it'd be a great product to bring into the refresh computer superstore. Have them take a look at it. Maybe it's something that they A, you could get upgraded, B needs to be repaired, or C, they can let you know that, yeah, no, you do need an upgrade. You can't get Windows 11 if you're stuck on Windows 10 if on some devices, things like that.
SPEAKER_00Right. And there's the same true with Apple. There are some case bases where people bring in 207, 2018 apples that cannot be upgraded to the latest Tacoma OS that's available. But they only use it for certain software, and maybe they just want a bigger hard drive. And they're okay with not being able to upgrade it to a bigger system. They just need the drive orando or speed of RAM can do it. I think Dave's talked about this too. The newer apples, for example, cannot be upgraded. They're all soldered RAM and solder drives. So whatever you bought is what you're stuck with. But on the older systems, we can still do something, but we may not necessarily be able to upgrade the operating system.
SPEAKER_01And talk a little bit about I I brought it up that you could come in and get your own PC refreshed here at the Superstore. What are some of the things that you as a technician go through and typically see when you go to refresh some of these laptops?
SPEAKER_00If it's someone bringing in something in that's you know fairly recent, a lot of times we can do something, especially if it's Windows 11 capable. Windows 11 for folks that it's been around for almost five and a half years. Yep. It's halfway through its life cycle. So those devices have also been around for several years too. So if someone brought something in 2021 and maybe didn't have enough RAM in it or another another drive, we can obviously upgrade both of those and make it a more robust, faster system.
SPEAKER_01And those are options too that will help you save money refreshing that that PC that you've already got in that you've already got in hand and just kind of adding those pieces. And that's something that if is appropriate, you guys would recommend.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. A system, especially if a system that the person brings in is from 2019 or newer, even if that system's four years old, it's running Windows 11. That's a plus. That means that CPU is compatible. So you've already saved yourself three, four hundred dollars right there. So if you if you dump another 150 to 250 into that system, you're still ahead of the game because now you've made a more powerful computer that's able to run Windows 11 and you get a lot more life out of it.
SPEAKER_01Get another five years out of that PC as it can as the Windows 11 lifespan seems to probably be extended here as before we see the next Windows 12.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Windows 12 has all but dropped from Microsoft's Ecosphere because they're solely focused on making Windows 11 work for everything at this point.
SPEAKER_01But if you've got more questions about maybe you want to refresh your PC or you want to come in and check out some of the refresh PCs available for sale, give them a call, 8407-478-8200, or you can always stop in at the Refresh Computer Superstore there in Longwood at 820 East State Road 434, three and a half miles east of i-4. Don't forget you can check out the entire stock available on refreshcomputers.net. Coming up next, we're going to talk a little bit about monitors available at Refresh. It's not just PCs, they sell the monitors that go with them as well. What's the best upgrade that makes the most sense for you? We'll talk about that next coming up on Tech Talk right here on WDBO1073FM and AM580. And you can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore
Monitor Upgrades For Work And Play
SPEAKER_01by calling their free tech support hotline, 407-478-8200. And if you have a comment during the show, we'd love to hear it. Use that open mic feature inside the WDBO app. And now, Mike, we're going to talk about that ever important piece to your computer, how to actually look at everything that you're working on, the monitor.
SPEAKER_00Right. So monitors are super important. For those of us that are eye-challenged. So I I I myself have two 32s at home that are side by side. And then I have a smaller one, a 24 that's uh vertical for documents and stuff like that. But having a monitor with an extra monitor with your desktop allows for multitasking where you can have email up at one time while you're working on something else, or a letter you're working on while you're doing something else, or a or anything like a video that you're watching while you're doing something else. It just allows for more productivity and allows you to keep tabs on what you're doing more often.
SPEAKER_01I use them all the time. I have a setup in my office here at WDBO, especially when I'm writing articles for the website or editing podcasts down and referencing different sheets that I have going on. It's so important to be able to have that duality because it it really restricts you if you're just stuck on the one screen, especially if it's a tiny screen.
SPEAKER_00It's funny because I have I have a tablet. Yep. I have a really robust laptop, but I prefer to work in my office with my screens. I just do because I because of the the freedom of having different all these screens to do all the work I need to get done.
SPEAKER_01And Windows has made it really easy to be able to connect and use multiple monitors these days. It's not uh I feel like it used to be a little bit more difficult to try and get those set up correctly with Windows, but now it seems to have been really easy to get that set up.
SPEAKER_00Yes. So everything's plug and play these days. Yeah. With refresh computers, a lot of the monitors that we sell all have the latest technology, where they're USB-C or their display port or H new minds, some of those terms that we've flown around that can connect to different types of computers to get you going on what you need to get done.
SPEAKER_01Now, I think that there is, especially if you're someone new that's trying to buy a monitor, you've never really bought a monitor, it's just always kind of maybe come with the PC that you've bought. If you're looking to upgrade, what are some of the things that you think people should really pay attention to the most if they're looking to upgrade their monitor?
SPEAKER_00There's a couple things you need to pay attention to when you're upgrading a monitor when you're upgrading a monitor for your computer. One is you need to pay attention to what kind of connections your computer can accept, whether it's display port, which looks like HDMI, but it's got a slant to one side, or if it's the newer stuff like USB-C that has Thunderbolt connectivity, which allows you to pass video over a USB-C port.
SPEAKER_01And if it's VGA, you might want to update your computer.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, if it's that blue, if it's that blue cable with the spiny things that you have to turn on both sides to get into the back of the computer, that's what we call old. And you don't you don't want old anymore. There are some system some monitors that we do sell, quite a lot of them, have both the new and the old ability on there. And for those of you that are in a pension, you can't do something with that. We do sell adapters starting around $14 to $20 to get you to get around those limitations.
SPEAKER_01And I know, like, especially if you're someone that's going to start getting into gaming, things like that, a lot of people want to look into like refresh rate, and they also want to look at like pixel depth. What is what is your general recommendation? Maybe a little bit light gaming on this, but also mainly you can do good, just regular work on this monitor. What would be your quick?
SPEAKER_00So let's look, so now that we've talked about some the the definites that you need, like connect and type, let's look at the once. The once are you want a clear screen. So that means what's called an IPS level screen. So IPS technology is a different kind of monitor technology that's come up for the last 10 years. It's a brighter screen, it allows for what's great, a greater contrast, contrast being the measure of white to black with gray inside of it. It's a it's a long range. TVs, newer TVs have that. The bigger that number, the better clearer your screen your pictures are going to look. So that's one thing. And then the other thing would be screen size, something to take advantage of. I mean, a lot of people have hutches, so they that's a that's a limitation for them as to how big the screen can be. But for those of you that don't have that have like an open desk, bigger is always better. It just is. We we sell monitors as big as 32 inches. There are some out there that are way bigger than that. If you have a specific request, we can certainly order it for you at Refresh Computers. Gets you whatever size you need.
SPEAKER_01Check it out. Go ahead and head over to the Refresh Computer Superstore there in Longwood. They've got a great selection of monitors, and they'll be happy to help you try and find the best one for your setup. Coming up next, we're going to talk a little bit about VPNs, what that means, if you actually need one. We'll talk about it coming up next right here on Tech Talk on WDBO 1073FM and AM580.
VPN Basics For Public Wi-Fi
SPEAKER_01Hey there and welcome back to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580, Orlando's news and talk. I'm Greg Rhodes, sitting here with Senior Tech Mike from the Refresh Computer Superstore. 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 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, that's three and a half miles east of I-4. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. And Mike, before we head into break, I tease that we're going to talk a little bit about VPNs. But a lot of people are probably just scratching their head and saying, what is a VPN? Can you break that down a little bit for us?
SPEAKER_00So it stands for virtual private network. It creates a tunnel. If you think of a tunnel going from one side of a river to another and you're driving underneath it, it is that. It creates a network tunnel between you and a server, which then shields your mailing address for your computer, which is also known as a public address, from being seen from the outside. So the benefit of that is that you appear to be from somewhere else when you're on another connection. That is essentially what it does. So what it's good for is if you're at a hotel, if you're at the airport, you and you happen to have a VPN service, you you can enable it, whether it's on your phone or your laptop. And now on that public Wi-Fi you're connected, if you have to check a bank account or something like that, it's if someone's running municipal malicious software that scans ports, and that's technical too, but they can see what you're doing, but they can't see it if you're on a VPN.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, the ports that you're talking about, that's kind of like where the information comes back and forth, that sh that handshake of information that goes back and forth with those.
SPEAKER_00And on a public exactly on a public Wi-Fi system, if someone's being malicious, they can see where that though those data packets are going. So but on a VPN, you they can't. You're shielded, you're protected.
SPEAKER_01Now you mentioned specifically for public Wi-Fi. Is that really the best use for a VPN? Is that really where you're getting the most advantageous use out of that? If you're someone that's traveling all the time and you're always doing work from a coffee shop or from the library or wherever hotel room that you're in, yes. Is that the best option for you?
SPEAKER_00It is the best option, and it should be. That's actually almost the mandatory. option because while you're on the if you're on the public guest wifi your phone and devices are open if they're on if they're your wifi enabled. If you're not too sure or you're not if you're not if you don't have vpn service then I usually recommend just take turning off the Wi-Fi on your phone or device and using a cellular connection that's a lot more security embedded. But you don't want to you don't want to be on a public Wi-Fi just willy-nilly you know where they put you punch in your room code and you're on the Wi-Fi. Everybody in that hotel could potentially see what you're doing. Right. If they have this the right software.
SPEAKER_01And there's other reasons that people might use it outside of just like we mentioned work or even personal while you're on a public Wi-Fi. You might even want to use it while you're doing other things on the internet.
SPEAKER_00Sure. Banking you know looking at maybe some personal data there or project that you're working on that just becomes an open if you have the right tools the uh perpetrator could technically get into that computer because you have an open public access connection to the Wi-Fi. But the VPN stops all that we can talk about what VPN doesn't do for example, which is it doesn't stop someone from trying to scheme you into clicking a link. Like if you get an email and you let's say you happen to be on VPN and you answer an email and the email says oh it's McAfee and you owe $500 to something you've never paid for. Well if you click the link and sign in the VPN doesn't stop whatever horribleness is on the other side of that. You've you've connected a new way and the VPN doesn't stop that it also doesn't stop viruses or trojans or anything else that's malicious. All it does is is put you in a non-visible space but if you initiate the content connection from a bad link or something like that unfortunately the VPN does nothing to protect you from that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah no and I think that's a part of sometimes you see these advertisements where you see some of these VPNs being advertised online or even on like some of these local broadcast channels as well where they're they act like this is the end all be all fix all for some of these concerns but it's really not that's not really what it's used for.
SPEAKER_00That's a good point. So keep in mind folks that the VPN is there and those commercials are there to get subscriptions because it is subscription based. There are ones that are out there where you can buy on an annual basis and those are usually fine. So I myself use a vast secure line because it has some features on it that I particularly use. NordVPN is a popular one that does really well ExpressVPN less so but that's out there they all have some benefits and cons to them. If you have a specific recommendation or if you have some concerns of which ones to use come into the Refresh computer superstore on all of our techs are very versed on this and they can help you get into one that you would be more comfortable for you. Now if you're someone that's just mainly doing work on your home internet, what are some in instances where you would need to use a VPN maybe if you're you've you've got you're you're at home you're on your already private setup network what are some things that you might want to be using your VPN for well the only thing I can think of if is if you're
VPN Myths And Speed Tradeoffs
SPEAKER_00let's if you're not confident with your own home networking situation, let's say you're on a Spectrum router but there's nothing between you and that router. What I mean by that Spectrum and all the other ISPs will give you a modem and a lot of them have a modem router combination where that device hands out IP addresses to your phone, your laptop, your television it all comes from the same device. What you can do is you can get a you can get a separate Wi-Fi router that sits in between that and that will add security for your network to allow you to go to those websites without being worried. But if you're on the public spectrum modem you may not get as robust security as you would from having your own router. So in those instances if you just have the spectrum you just have the ATT but you don't have your own private router between them VPN is a nice thing to have because that gives you a layer of protection that you wouldn't otherwise have.
SPEAKER_01I'm glad you brought up ATT ATT does offer a VPN program with their home internet and with their phone plans. Right. That's probably a fine one for the example that we're going to use but there are people that offer free VPNs and companies that offer free VPNs do you would you hesitate to recommend one of those?
SPEAKER_00I would because I honestly there's no knowledge or information that I can I can gauge that would allow me to recommend them with any source source of uh confidentiality or anything like that. I just I don't have the confidence to recommend those at the moment. Yeah. And I like I personally I'm on ATT fiber optic. Right. The store is on WoW communications so for fiber as well. And we have our own separate routers. Aaron Ross Powell Apart from that. Right. Even though these are robust companies and they do have their own security but we feel we have to do extra protection so we have a separate router from like Netgear or something like that as do I so that what I'm behind my own firewalls and stuff. So I don't really use VPM at home except for very very specific needs.
SPEAKER_01I guess my my main concern that I was getting at with the free VPNs is oftentimes these kinds of companies and plans and programs they need to make money somehow we talk about all these different nefarious things when it comes to like social media. Yes you have a free Facebook account but you're the product if something is free it's usually because you're the product. So keep in mind when you're using some of these free kinds of programs that sometimes maybe maybe they're not being as upfront with the data that they're collecting with you as they might often be.
SPEAKER_00So you're referring to trackers. So okay so essentially when you're on any of these social media sites you're being tracked. And that's why you get if someone says the word bookshelf and you're near a phone the next thing you know you're getting bookshelf ads all over your Facebook. Right exactly because because you mentioned because it's listening and I heard that the same thing happens on your computer and yes if you happen to be on a VPN while you're on Facebook for example or X or any of these other platforms and you say a product it is less likely to localize it to you because it can't see where you are because a lot of these ads are region based. So and they just know where they are. Now there are some browsers out there like DuckDuckGo that for example that propens to be privacy blocking browsers but I'm here to tell you that's a that's a half truth because Amazon and the rest of them already have trackers on your computer that go above and beyond what the ducked up browser can shield you from and you are being tracked. It's just a it's a given you've got trackers on your PC even right now. So it's a good thing if you don't want if you want the freedom to communicate through social media and not have annoying ads and stuff like that, it's good to launch a VPN while you're on social media and then shut it down when you're done.
SPEAKER_01Now we've mentioned a couple of times that the VPN is not really the end all be all when it comes to the security aspect of your computer. If you don't have a proper antivirus if you don't if you're not using proper social phishing skills that you're maintaining yourself there's you're still at susceptible to being hacked. I know at Refresh Computer Superstore you guys do offer a program with malware bytes the program can you talk a little bit about malware bytes and how that helps you with your privacy and browsing as well.
SPEAKER_00So malware bites has a thing called browsing guard which helps with malicious websites. It helps identify them and block them which is nice that also will the not the premium version acts as a real-time engine versus the home version and the difference between the two is the home version will wait for a data packet that's bad to hit your computer and then goes oh something bad happened to your PC we got to fix that the premium one that we sell for 31499 a year will see the packet coming down as it's happening and block it. That's the biggest difference is that it's a real-time engine versus one that waits to hit the hard drive before it does it reacts it does I think there is a VPN option with that it does it it does its job right it's part of the subscription and there there's a dashboard that you can use from the application to easily turn it on and turn it off as needed. Why wouldn't you use the VPN all the time? There are certain applications and websites that you're going to go to which they're going to detect that you're talking to them from Norway when you're not and it will block you because it doesn't know realize you're not you're not in the United States. So when you're on the VPN a lot of times it'll say you're from another country that's what it's designed to do. So keep in mind there are some websites you're going to have to be off the VPN to use them because it will the they will block you because they think you're coming from another country.
SPEAKER_01And there are programs especially if you're like a school student and you're utilizing some of those lockdown browsers and things like that they do restrict the use of VPNs on a lot of those as well. But I think that there's a there's a there's a proper time to use these like we said a lot of it's when it's traveling and you're on public Wi-Fi if you're headed up to the coffee shop and things like that. But there's also good business uses for them as well. Like I know I know we utilize a VPN if I'm heading to the Orlando Magic stadium to cover a game and things like that. You don't want to have full act you don't want to and it all comes back down to those port sniffers and things like that that are trying to find access and backdoors into your programming. And we utilize them when I go when I go out for reporting and things like that for some of our computers and PCs but you do notice a little bit sometimes it does slow down the PC a little bit. It slows down here because it is kind of rerouting your signal as well too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah and one of the things that VPN does with certain with most of them not all of them but most of them the the connection is encrypted. That encryption does slow down the throughput bandwidth of what you're using. Now the one I use for example I the reason I use that one is because it doesn't impact my throughput that much but there are ones that slow it to a crawl. So like for example there's ones out there like I think Express PVPN that has a bandwidth service where if you're just checking email it's perfectly fine. But if you're trying to do any kind of real browsing with any amount of speed it may not be the best option for you because although you're encrypted your speed drops. So you may have incredible speed at home but once you're on the VPN it like it's like taking a water hose and putting a kink into it it's not able to provide you the bandwidth that you're used to. So it's good it's good to research that those things before you decide on getting one.
SPEAKER_01And that's the biggest thing do your research if you are someone that's interested in utilizing one of these VPN products you can also contact the Refresh Computer Superstore as you mentioned the technicians there all are happy to help recommend a good product for you again depending on your needs. And hey maybe ask them a little bit about malware bites as well since it does have that built in for the $3499 a year. That's a great deal for all
Phishing Emails And Notification Scams
SPEAKER_01that you get with the malware with the malware bites program. Absolutely so wrapping up our conversation about VPNs Mike what are some of the things that people can do to really help protect them we mentioned that these don't really protect you against phishing emails what are some things that people can do to help protect themselves from those it's a good question to bring it up because there is a lot of technology out there and software to help you protect you from viruses.
SPEAKER_00But these days it's not viruses that are affecting a lot of our audience or those out there in the world it's somebody maliciously sending you something to make you click on it whether it's an email or sometimes it's a notification that comes in from a website. What do I mean by that? A lot of times you go to a website and there's a box that comes up that asks you if you want to be notified if there's any changes to the website. It'll show up as a box on both Google Chrome and on Google Microsoft Edge. But that box will literally tell you if anything changes on the website including ads. So what ends up happening is the next time you log into your computer on the right side you'll start noticing ads pop up and it's coming through the notification center and those ads are always full of malicious stuff. And it's usually antivirus ads that are fake and you go to click on the link and it tells you you have to buy something or you need or something's infected your PC when it's not true. The next thing you know it says call this number and you you've been hooked. It's important to know that the VPN software that we just talked about and other things like malware bytes will not protect you from these incidents. It's important to know what to look for. So let's just say it's an email you can always tell if it's not an official email by looking at the header. Go look at the two line and you can tell if it's really from Amazon or if it's really from Best Buy because it won't have a lot of gobbledygook in front of their email address. It'll literally say Amazon.com with the with the with like customer support or something on the two line of the email read the whole thing. If you don't see the proper at Amazon.com at Microsoft.com or whichever if it says something else even though if it's got logos and stuff on it it's not real it's important to be able to recognize both of those as you're computing out there.
SPEAKER_01And we've talked about that multiple times here on the show. If you want to listen back to some of those episodes about even more detailed tips about how to protect yourself from these phishing attacks go ahead and head over to the refresh computers refreshcomputers.net website go to that podcast tab and you can find all of those episodes we've done in the past on that specific topic. You've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO1073FM and AM580 and welcome back to Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073 FM and AM580 Orlando's news and talk. I'm Greg Rhodes sitting here with Senior Tech Mike on a special Sunday edition of Tech Talk you can always contact the Refresh Computers Superstore by calling
Fake QR Codes And Safe Payments
SPEAKER_01their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200. And don't forget to check out the website at RefreshComputers.net and Mike we've been talking a lot about some of those scams we talked about using utilizing VPNs in our last segment if you missed any of that talk you can head back over to the RefreshComputers.net website check out that podcast tab and you can listen back to all of our segments from today's episode in a little bit more detail about those VPN how to utilize those VPNs and what they do and don't protect you from this is one of those things that it won't protect you from those fake QR codes.
SPEAKER_00They are absolutely everywhere and now they're part of our everyday devices with the form of pass keys. Yep because you use a QR code to sign in securely to your computer. No what we're talking about are fake QR codes that are on mail and people get mailers all the time particularly from credit card companies so you should watch that because they're sharing your information too. So as a good rule of thumb you can always go to the direct website if you happen to get an offer that you want to explore uh open up the envelope and look at it and go to the site and avoid the QR code if you're not sure. If you're out there in public there are restaurant menus out there that have some of the mom pops use them now to get menus. It's a great idea but you don't always trust where they come from and it is true that is a new thing scammers are doing now is they're putting fake QR code stickers on top of legitimate ones. How can you tell look to see if it's a sticker.
SPEAKER_01Which can be really hard sometimes it's gotten so difficult. I know that uh a lot of these like if you go downtown they've they've they've tried to go cashless on all these different things. So you see the signs everywhere that say scan this QR code so you can pay for your parking meter things like that. You have to really get up on these signs to really see if there's some kind of different taping or it's it's it can be really really difficult to tell these things sometimes.
SPEAKER_00So we so if you're in the car especially like you're talking about downtown land or even I drive where some of the hotels now have also have paid parking in the hotel parking lots and they are QR code based, what you can do is when you put your camera on the QR code it's going to spit out a website. If the website doesn't match the parking thing that you're looking at which hopefully the the name of the parking company that's taking in the revenue is listed if they don't match don't do it. Park somewhere else if they do match then you're usually in a good place to be able to go ahead and go forward with the QR code and pay as you need to a lot of these also have apps. Most of the parking stuff downtown including the ones I just mentioned on iDrive they have their own app and the QR code will automatically prompt you to either the Google Play store or the Apple store to download the app appropriate for parking that will allow you to pay for it on a legitimate basis.
SPEAKER_01And I think that's the best step is to really go to directly to those apps and websites as opposed to maybe trusting these QR codes. If it's you they utilize a lot of the same apps across these different parking locations. So you only have to download that one app one time probably and you'll be able to reutilize it throughout those locations. Look for those signs that have the parking number and the information that specifies where you're parking at and then put it manually unfortunately I know the QR codes can feel really convenient because it autofills everything for you and you're all set to go. But it's a real risk especially as these continue to become more popular.
SPEAKER_00Be patient. Take the time to re to recognize where you are and what you're looking at and take the extra 30 seconds that's all it takes to verify if it's real or not real and it'll save you a lot of headache in the future if something is looks scandalous or is improperly wrong you can at least be able to identify quickly if it's bad or good for you just to just by taking the time to make sure everything matches up.
SPEAKER_01Well
Final Tips And Podcast Links
SPEAKER_01Mike thanks for joining us this weekend really enjoyed having you on the show here in Dave and Adam's absence. You've been listening to Tech Talk here this weekend we'll have a whole brand new set of episodes for you available next weekend. If you missed any of this weekend's set of shows you can always listen back to them. Go ahead and head over to that refreshcomputers.net website tap that podcast tab you'll be able to see all these episodes and all of our previous episodes over the last few years and while you're there why not check on some of the great pricing that they have available on those Refreshed Computers if you wanted to stop in at the superstore go ahead and head over there at Longwood 820 East State Road 434 again just three and a half miles east of I4 score hours Monday through Saturday 9 a.m until 7 p.m for Mike I'm Greg you've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO1073FM and AM580
