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
New Computer Setup That Actually Lasts
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
A “brand new” computer can still be behind on critical updates, packed with bloatware, and one bad setup choice away from becoming slow and frustrating. We sit down with Greg Rhodes and Adam Littlefield from Refresh Computer Superstore to lay out a practical, real-world new computer setup plan that prioritizes speed, security, and fewer headaches later.
We start with the part most people skip: deciding what you actually need to move from the old machine. Beyond photos and documents, we talk through the overlooked stuff that makes a computer feel familiar again, like browser bookmarks and saved passwords, plus the simplest ways to keep backups safe using external storage and cloud sync like OneDrive. Then we get blunt about updates: Windows and macOS need to be patched immediately, especially if a device has been sitting on a shelf. We also cover how to spot and remove trial software and adware, and what security options make sense for most users without turning your PC into a pop-up factory.
From there, we shift into buying advice: why refurbished business class desktops and laptops (think Dell Optiplex, Latitude, Precision, HP ProDesk, and EliteBook lines) can be the best value for everyday home computing, and what “professionally refurbished” should actually include. We close with two listener-friendly segments: how to stay safe while buying or selling on Facebook Marketplace, eBay, and Craigslist (cash, public meetups, police station exchanges, and scam red flags), plus a tech tip that’s gotten dramatically better: voice dictation on your phone and computer, including the Windows key + H shortcut.
If this helped, subscribe, share it with a friend who just bought a laptop, and leave us a review so more people can find the show.
Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RefreshComputers/
Track us on X at https://x.com/RefreshStores
Welcome And How To Reach Us
SPEAKER_01Hey then, welcome to a Sunday edition of Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580 Orlando's news and talk. I'm Greg Rhodes here with Adam Littlefield, a technician 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 refreshcomputers.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.
SPEAKER_00And now for Adam Littlefield. Well, thank you, Greg, and thank you, our Sunday crew, for tuning into this episode of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. We've got a lot that we're going to be talking about today, a lot of good stuff. But before we get into it, I do want to just make a mention that, of course, it is Sunday. So if you have any questions during the broadcast, you aren't able to call in store today. We are closed. We open up on Monday at 9 a.m. So any questions you have, give us a call that morning. If there's anything interesting that you're interested in as well that we have, check out our website, refreshcomputers.net, today. Our whole inventory is available on there as well as all of our different services that we provide. So if there's anything that you're looking to get maybe for this upcoming holiday season in the next coming months, or if you've just got some begging questions, check it out and contact us on Monday and we'll be able to help out. So today we're going to be talking about quite a few different things. We're going to be talking about the how you know you can make your computer the best it's going to be as you first set it up. So making sure that you take that extra five minutes, 10, 15, however may long you want to take first setting up a computer. That's going to make the next years easier for you. We're also going to be talking about the time, the types of computers that we sell at Refresh Computers. We have very, very good professionally refurbished machines. So I'll be talking a little bit about that. We'll also talk about how you yourself can actually kind of protect yourself for selling things online. You know, we live in a world now where it's as easy as posting something on Facebook Marketplace. So we'll be talking about how you can protect yourself, and we'll end off our show today with our good old tech tip that we do.
First Steps When You Unbox
SPEAKER_00So, starting off uh for today, the first thing you should do when you get a new computer, and this goes for any type of computer. You know, it goes for a refurbished one that you buy from refresh computers or one that you get from a big box store. Although the big box stores tend to put a lot more into the computers than we do at refresh. There may be a few more steps that you'll have to take. Right. So something I do want to just kind of get up front and and out of the way. A lot of new computers that you can buy from big box stores now, a lot of times bundle in things like software, like antivirus for a year, like say McAfee or Norton.
Remove Bloatware And Trial Software
SPEAKER_00Those kinds of deals, while they do look good on the surface, I can say from my personal experience that those may not be the best deals you want to go for. Those big box stores, new computers now can be running anywhere from you know $1,500, $2,000 sometimes. And as uh as Dave always likes to say on the the show, when you buy big box, the first thing you have is a big box you got to throw away. And it's a big expensive box you're throwing away, too. Those computers sometimes do come with bloatware as well from big box stores. So they they may hit you with an advertisement a month into owning it. So going through and just kind of doing an audit of first what's installed on the computer through the settings area in the installed apps will help you in the long run, just removing everything that you know you're not gonna need. Any computer that you buy from refresh computers, we already take care of that pretty much. We have some pre-installed programs, but they're usability ones. Things like VLC Media Player, Google Chrome, Adobe Acrobat Reader, free programs just to get it, get you a little started. So, one thing I do want to do want to mention, whether you're buying from us or from somewhere else, you got to know what stuff you want to take off your old computer and put onto that new one.
Backups Before You Move Anything
SPEAKER_01That's the hardest part. You gotta do that step first. Make sure you're getting your backup all ready and prepped. You don't want to forget something, you don't want to misplace something. Right. Get those cleaned up backups all ready and ready to go.
SPEAKER_00We live in a very digitized age now. A lot of our photos, documents are saved onto our computers. But there are other things that you don't think about that you may want to bring over to that new computer. Things like your bookmarks, for example. Some browsers that allow you to save your login passwords through it. You can actually export those and import them to a new computer. That is a service we offer at Refresh Computers. So if you have a new computer, you're getting a new one, give us a call Monday morning and ask us a little bit about our data transfer options. We can kind of detail that doing it for you. But you know, it doesn't hurt to even have an idea of what you might want to move. I know me generally with moving files, whenever I move files from an old computer to a new one, even if the owner of that old computer is wanting to get rid of it, I still hand over the hard drive because the hard drive has all of your data that's on it. So you throw out your old computer, there's gonna be a lot of that data that's on that drive that as long as you have it, you now have a copy. So you have a backup. It's something as simple as that, you know, photos in two places, documents, whatever it may be. Or better yet, look into maybe moving some stuff onto an external drive, you know, backing up photos before you go to that new computer, or through the cloud. If
Cloud Sync With OneDrive Basics
SPEAKER_00you have a Windows computer, it's just as easy as setting up OneDrive and that'll sync everything to the cloud. When you go onto another Windows computer and sign on to OneDrive, all of those files will be accessible right there.
SPEAKER_01And you can either leave them in the cloud to access them or you can make them locally available. It's all up to you, all at your fingertips then. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00And the nice thing too with cloud storage as well is if you intend to keep your old machine and still want to use it locally off offline, however it may be, with OneDrive, you do need to be connected online. But the nice thing with it is the files there are live. So any changes you make to them on one computer, you will be able to see those changes on another computer.
Run Updates Before Everything Else
SPEAKER_00So, one thing I do want to mention about the computers from big box stores. This is something that I can tell you without a doubt in my mind that you can buy a brand new computer from a big box store right now, and there will be an update that has to be ran on. Oh, immediately. Immediately. That's something with our computers. We we tend to always run them before we push them out the door just because we want to make sure that, you know, nothing's gonna happen to it. And I can't tell you the amount of times I've had a brand new computer that somebody bought from a big box store come in. They said all I did was I got a home, I turned it on, and I ran updates, and now it will not turn back on. And sometimes, you know, that's all it takes. One update can cause problems. It can. It doesn't always happen, but unfortunately, technology is a very un unpredictable zone. So you really don't know what update will or will not cause you a problem. So kind of getting started with those updates, especially, you know, with it being a new computer, that is in a box on a shelf for months at these big box stores.
SPEAKER_01Oftentimes misses some major security updates, can miss those big big time Windows Microsoft patches, things like that. So, yeah, no, definitely a great idea. First thing you do, log in, get that internet set up, and check the updates. Update, update, update.
SPEAKER_00And that goes for whether it's a Windows computer, a Mac computer, any computer, even as far as to say phones. On Windows, you can just go into the settings area and just click on Windows Update. Big blue check updates button, and it'll handle everything. On Mac, you just have to check the system settings for a software update. That's it. Just let it do its thing, might rec restart a couple times, but as long as it just gets through those updates, you know you're current and you're protected. You're not going to go through setting up everything else and then realize, oh, well, this computer is three years out of date on Windows updates. It's so out of date it says it can't update, which unfortunately I've seen as well with brand new computers. They've sat on shelves for so many months that they had an install of Windows 11 on it that is no longer receiving update support. And what that means is the very first versions of Windows 11, you can't update to the newest version of Windows 11. It just will not allow that update to be pulled. So if that's something that you may fall into, either take the computer back to the big box store because that is an old system, or bring it by refresh, and that's something that you know we are able to kind of push through and fix without having to wipe the computer, especially if it's something that you've already gotten set up and you never thought about updates. I know me myself, I never think about updates when I buy something brand new. And it's never the first thought because in my head it's oh, brand new device. It's brand new. Brand new from the factory. Everything is good and ready to go. It's not. Software is a living being and it has to be updated. A lot of these devices aren't constantly connected to internet where they're being sold at.
SPEAKER_01Well, shoot, you can't even buy a video game anymore without it needing a 50G update after it.
SPEAKER_00So, and that's a that's a really, really funny point to put on it, too, is video games going that direction. So I did mention with you know, brand new computers, they do come bundled with trial software, or you know, they may say a year of this antivirus included. And a lot of this stuff, you know, is gonna be bloatware. It's going to be adware, it's things that clutters up the hard drive, taking up valuable space. And honestly, and I mean this honestly, sometimes can even slow the machine down right out of the box. You know, the difference between a extreme clean install of Windows 11, I'm talking Microsoft Edge on the desktop, and that's it, compared to some of these big box stores where you've got seven, eight, ten icons on your desktop of all different things, you've got no idea of what they're for. Half the time those things are antiviruses or games that they've preloaded or toolbar programs that are going to cause you more problems down the road when they start saying, hey, you need to buy this driver updater when you already have one built in with Windows. So that is something to keep a lookout for. I know a lot of our machines that, all of our machines from refresh computers, we don't put any of that bloatware on them. You know, it saves you the headache, it saves us the headache from just going back and forth about it. I personally, as a consumer, I hate adware. I hate bloatware. You mean there's not a Yahoo search bar automatically installed on the top of all the refresh computer computers? Absolutely not. No, we don't put any bloatware like that because, you know, end of the day, all of us working at the store, we're consumers as well. And we have our own opinions on things like that. And I'll tell you, everybody there hates buying something new and then getting hit with ads a week later. Yep. It it is it is all of us, it runs through our blood and it makes our blood boil if that happens. So it is something that we really do kind of keep an eye out for.
Security Choices Beyond The Bundles
SPEAKER_00So once you go through and finally, you know, get updates ran and the device is finally up to date, go through and set up some sort of protection. The Windows system will have Windows Security already installed and set up. That's good for 90% of users. Go through and set up a schedule if you want to. It already has its own pre-setup schedule, but setting that up on something that works more for you would be even better. If you do want additional antivirus, a couple names I would suggest and recommend are antiviruses like Mauer Bites, which we directly do sell if you're interested in, or Bit Defender, which is also part of one of our uh services that we provide, Refresh Plus. If you have any questions about either of those services, you can check them out on our website and give us a call Monday morning. And myself or any of our technicians will be able to explain further.
SPEAKER_01But you made mention earlier of a lot of these computers come pre-bundled with McAfee or Norton or any of their offers. What are what are your thoughts on those?
SPEAKER_00Well, me personally, I don't like McAfee and Norton. Truthfully, I feel that sometimes when they are installed, that their their scans just tend to run the computer slower. And they can be a little annoying to uninstall. I do know that with McAfee, they have a removal tool that you can download and it specifically goes through and removes it more than the uninstaller does. To me, I don't know. That just looks a little odd. Not not sketchy, but just why should I have to download a second program to uninstall one program? Yep. It raises that question for
Sign In And Set Expectations
SPEAKER_00me. And of course, the final thing, the big thing when you get your whether it's a new computer or one of our refurbished computers, sign into your accounts and make it yours. Sign into your email accounts, Wi-Fi, Microsoft, Apple, Google accounts. Actually get it set up and going with those accounts. Because that is really your first step to getting everything going. Once you have your accounts logged in, you start using it day to day, then maybe you you realize you're missing a document or you you realize there's a program that you just you need to install. It'll it'll it'll come through eventually. Setting up a new computer is, and I will say this honestly, it is not something that is 100% done the first day you get it. There is always something that comes up. So just be wary of that. Computers, you know, it's something that we just have to work with them. So we're gonna be going to a break here, but when we get back, I'm gonna talk a little bit about more of the computers we have at Refresh Computers and kind of how they might be the best money that you can spend right now.
SPEAKER_01You've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO 1073 FM and AM580. Hey then, welcome back to a Sunday Tech Talk here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580, Orlando's
Refurbished Business Class Value
SPEAKER_01news and talk. I'm Greg Rhodes, sitting here with Adam Littlefield, a technician from the Refresh Computer Superstore. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200, but maybe wait until Monday. Or if you have a comment during the show, go and use that open mic feature inside the WDBO app. And now back to Adam.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you, Greg. And again, thank you, Sunday crew, for tuning into this episode. If you missed anything from our first segment, we talked a lot about, you know, what first steps you can really take to set up a computer and make it yours and make it yours right. Go to our website, refreshcomputers.net, click the podcast link, and listen back to the beginning of the show. You can listen to this whole show in its entirety as well. We'll have a bunch of notes there uh listing out stuff. And while you're on the website, you can view our inventory there as well. Our entire inventory of refurbished desktop and laptop computers are on there, cables, screens, all different types of stuff that we have at our store. So it'll be really good to take a look at that catalog and really see what we have. We have really nice refurbished business class units. A lot of them are models like the Dell Optiplex or HP Pro Desk. We have laptop models as well, like the Dell Latitude, Precision, HP Z Books, Elite Books, Pro Books. Have you ever seen the XPS coming in yet? We've had we've had a couple XPSs come through. We have. And they they're just as good machines. Yeah. So these, you know, all of those machines are are a part of what we always keep at our store because it's very difficult as an end consumer, just as myself, to get my hands on a good business class computer. And I can't think of any place in the local Orlando area where I can get a computer like one of these. The laptops specifically that we have, and desktops too, I'll really say, being business class computers, they are built better than any computer that you'll be able to get in one of the big box stores today that we were talking about in the previous in our previous topic. You know, these systems, we test them. We replace anything that's worn out. So battery, thermal paste, we replace that. We put new solid states in them as well. So it's not like there's some trace of the computer or from where the computer came from. It's actually a brand new solid state. We load them with a fresh installation of Windows, a deep loaded installation of Windows as well. So that's uh, I just want to give that mention because our website, it's got our live inventory there. So something as soon as we get it in and we get it in our system, it's live on the website. So if you see it there, it's something that you can come in Monday morning and ask to see and have hands on and kind of talk about, you know, what you're looking for, what you're not looking for. A lot of these computers you can get now at big box stores, and I hate to say it, again, are brand new, you know, anywhere from $1,200 to $2,000. And 90% of computer users right now for everyday home use do not need the performance that one of those new computers are going to be giving you. A computer that you can get at refresh computers for four, you know, five hundred dollars, even in the three hundred dollar range, is more than capable of typing out Word documents, sending emails, checking your bank accounts online. These systems are going to be saving you a lot of money. And that's something that I know we focus on is really just what's a smart buy rather than, you know, just that gut feeling buy. Brand new purchases, I have seen failures in those more often than not than any business class computer that I've ever worked on. So much so that I've even entirely switched out my own personal laptop I carry every day with a Dell Precision laptop because I have now knowledge of working in these machines. And realistically, how little precisions I've seen come in to our store for repairs, it gave me just enough confidence to buy a refurbished precision. And furthermore, we even back our machines with a 90-day warranty. So anything you buy from us gets a 90-day hardware warranty, and that's extendable as well based on the cost of the computer. So, you know, we we have a lot of confidence in these machines, and me personally, I can even say I'm so confident that I'm switching my consumer devices over to business class models.
SPEAKER_01Sorry, you caught me off guard. I was checking out the inventory there on the refreshcomputers.net website. You guys do have some great deals on those precisions, and I saw an XPS in there. Yeah. Might have to talk to you a little bit about that off the air. Coming up next, we're gonna continue our talk here as we continue more on the safety of utilizing Facebook Marketplace and eBay. How to score deals, but to keep your information and self safe all at the same time. You've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO 1073FM and AM580. I'm Greg Rhodes here with Adam Littlefield, a technician over at 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 refreshcomputers.net or 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 now for Adam Littlefield.
Marketplace Deals Without Getting Burned
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you, Greg, and hey, again, thank you, Sunday crew, for tuning tuning into this episode of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. On this topic, we're going to be talking about, you know, some online safety, but not in the way that we've always talked about, I would say. Definitely still we'll be touching on the idea of scams because this kind of does have the unfortunate side effect that there are scams, like there is everything else in today's day. But before we get into that, we are closed today Sunday. We open up at nine to Monday on 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. So if you get any questions during the show, anything you might want to ask us about, give us a call Monday morning and we can go ahead and answer any of those questions for you. For this segment, we are going to be talking about the uh the the biggest thing I would say the internet has now birthed for us, and that is the online marketplace.
SPEAKER_01What a way to put it.
SPEAKER_00It is a way to put it. But you know, even going back to things like uh Craigslist, you know, all the way back then, the real start of the internet, marketplaces have been the biggest thing, especially now that you know, we have services like eBay, Craigslist, of course. We now have uh services like OfferUp and of course good old Facebook Marketplace.
SPEAKER_01And you know, honestly, that is kind of what's I feel like maybe saved Facebook a little bit. Talk a little bit about the the the tech angle on this for just a for a second. Facebook has kind of felt like it was the dinosaur of the social media platforms, kind of falling off a little bit. And then the explosion of Facebook Marketplaces, I feel like kind of kept people coming back.
SPEAKER_00It did. And you know, that's the biggest thing with Facebook, it did keep a lot of people coming back, and I really do believe it is what kept Facebook in the uh in just talks, just always out there. It's not something that kind of died off, kind of like MySpace fell off and did do.
SPEAKER_01And honestly, it felt like that was the direction that Facebook. Was headache. Right. And then all of a sudden, Facebook Marketplace really has really kept them well above water.
SPEAKER_00It has. And I'll tell you what, places, marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Craigslist, there's an online marketplace I use for tech devices called Swapa. All of these I have never had any problems with. I've actually gotten quite a few steals, I'll put it, out of this. You know, for my car, I wasn't given a mobile charger since I bought it used. So I found a charger on Facebook that cost me a quarter of the cost on what it would have been brand new. And that that was hundreds of dollars I saved because of that. So it's not it's not something little. So the biggest thing and the main thing I will say with these marketplaces is there are a lot of scams. Um, like everything on the internet, scams are in these marketplaces as well. And it's something you need to be aware of because if you are buying on these marketplaces, you may lose out on money. But more importantly, if you're selling on these marketplaces, you can actually get into some trouble based on, you know, people buying your product or whatever through that marketplace with fraudulent cards, money, whatever it may
Safe Meetups Cash And Public Places
SPEAKER_00be. So we're getting into it. And this is the biggest thing I would say for most everyday stuff, you know, dresser or you know, some item, a bike that you're selling on one of these marketplaces. The safest transaction is simple meeting in person, locally, and paying with cash. And that's the big part is cash. It's, you know, there, of course, there's counterfeit cash out there, but more often than not, anybody that is running a scam through marketplace buying stuff may be using fraudulently acquired cards, an account that they uh may try to sell you money with. So, you know, don't don't be asked to ship it, don't wire money, no apps, just a meetup, especially if you can do something where you can plan it at, say, a police station nearby locally. That's always what I suggest for my local family is they go to our police station near the near our house, not at our house. I don't want any random people coming to our house for stuff. Right. And there are some police stations that even have an inside area for these marketplace exchanges.
SPEAKER_01Right. They have them either inside the station or also in the parking lot. It'll be a designated area that has additional monitoring, cameras, things like that. And if you can't make it to one of those locations, make it public. Right. Find a parking lot of your one of your nearby stores where there's a decent amount of people around to where if if something were to happen, and God forbid that that it does. Hopefully that everything that you do with this goes through perfectly. But God forbid something were to happen. There are people that are that that can witness, that can help offer help, exactly. Things like that.
SPEAKER_00And the biggest thing as well is, you know, don't let them push it off and off when you meet them until nighttime. Right. That's one of the biggest times that, you know, that again, Greg, like you said, God forbid something could happen. Night would be the best time for them. So for you, pick something that is again a busy public spot, you know, it could be a shopping center, a a bank lobby, coffee shop. Again, even and I would always suggest this one to check first, a police station. Police are even in the know that there are scams that are running every day. And 99% of the time, stick if you stick to your guns about meeting them in person and they call it off, it probably was a scammer. That that's just the way to look at it. And you know, it's not to look at it like a missed sale, like it's a regular business for you. Scammers will, can and will use Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Craigslist for all sorts of things. The biggest thing I think I've ever seen come out of Craigslist, and it's really the one that, you know, these marketplaces don't help you with is buyer protection. Right. You know, I uh I know a uh personal friend of mine had bought a uh car on Craigslist, and car was in perfect condition, everything internally was fine, had a few bumps on the outside, Carfax was clean, so it was just minor stuff. He got the car home 500 miles down the road, transmission died. Yep. That was it. So that is something that you want to be aware of with what you're buying as well. If you are buying something motorized, bring a friend, especially somebody that has mechanical experience. Right. You know, these kinds of meetups are not required to be one person on one person. You can bring somebody to check it. Make sure you tell who you're meeting up with that you are bringing somebody. These kinds of meetups, you don't want any surprises. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you or the other person. Exactly. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00That's the way to look at it on the flip side is if you go to one of these meetups, even if it's in a public place, tons of cameras, even if you're going to a police station and they've got four, five other people with them, I just drive on by. It's just not worth the the feeling that that it will leave you with while you're there.
SPEAKER_01Definitely one of those other rules. Follow your gut. If something feels off, probably because it's off. So keep that in mind when you're doing any of these kinds of meetups. Another thing to also that has been something that you you need to keep in mind, like we mentioned with the car breaking down or if you're buying something that's used, these are sold as is. You're probably you're not you might find somebody that's very nice and maybe will give you an assistance afterwards. They are under no obligation to give you any kind of assistance after you've purchased that item. So definitely keep that in mind.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there is, you know, as far as these platforms are concerned, they do not carry any built-in warranties. You can't buy a lawnmower off Facebook Marketplace and return it six months later because the engine died on it. That's not how it works. I do know some sellers on things like eBay and Craigslist say in their description that, you know, they offer a 30-day, 90-day return or warranty policy for their device. But again, you know, if this is something that is in person, how are you ever going to find them again to claim said warranty on device? You know, it's it's different for say with a brick and mortar store. You have a place you can go into and you can say, I bought this here, I have a warranty here. Whereas with Facebook Marketplace, it it's as easy as somebody blocking you and you'll never see them again.
SPEAKER_01Never see them again. Yep.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
Payment Scams Overpay Checks Apps
SPEAKER_00So the main thing I would also keep an eye out for as well is there are a lot of overpayment and and fake payment scams. So if this is something that is done electronically, you've got to verify that the card of the person is theirs. You know, this is something where you as a buyer or seller really are not protected on. Fraudulent card use happens every single day. It's as easy as using it at the wrong pay pump. Someone has your card number and they can use that almost wherever they want to. Especially if, you know, they say, you know, oh, hey, I overpaid you. Can you send back the difference? And they tell you that difference. If you just trust them on that face value and you give them that that refund, you're just out. Whatever money they just asked you for, pretty much.
SPEAKER_01Right, because all of a sudden it comes back and you're looking at your account and it says, oh, this money was bounced, or whatever happens with that payment, they've they've got your money at that point, and the bank is not going to give you any assistance for that.
SPEAKER_00Same thing with, you know, a lot of these marketplace scams happen with checks. People will buy write bad checks that they are not good for because they know you yourself cannot cash it right there in the exchange. And, you know, most exchanges that are for items that are upwards of $50, $75, someone writes you a check. You may just say, All right, whatever, I'll walk away with it, go to the bank and cash it, and then it bounces on you immediately. Now you're out that item, the $75. So cash exchange will be your best option to be safe in this. Just clean cut right there. Cash is king for this sort of exchange. I wouldn't do it any other way. I know that personally myself. Transferring money to people as well just doesn't sit right with me. There we have talked, I believe, yesterday, some apps like Cash App and Zell, things like that that are built into banks now. Those, I don't know what information those give the recipient. And I'm not giving what I don't know to somebody, you know? You don't know who it is on Facebook, you don't know who it is on eBay, Craigslist, they're not your friend. They're not somebody that, you know, that may be there for the mutual benefit of both of you. It may be somebody that may be looking to do the exchange and then, you know, bounce the check on you, or God forbid, they have somebody later on rob you and take it back. That's what happens with a lot of high-priced items, especially exchanges that have to be pushed until sunset or, you know, just at dusk. Those are the ones where you do the exchange. You know, you walk away with $1,000 in your pocket, you just sold a electric scooter and you stop to get gas, and now you've been followed and there's somebody there that's going to take it from you. That's why it's so important to keep yourself safe for these, because there is not a lot of safety that's on it. It's all about the safety that you yourself put down for you. It's why for any exchanges, my for my family, I tell them if you're not doing it at a police station, just don't do it. Right. Um, the police scare off, a police station scares off 99% of these fraudulent things, and it leaves a lot of evidence as well, if something were to happen to you. There are a lot of red flags for these kinds of things as well.
Red Flags Moving Off Platform
SPEAKER_00And this is what you should look out for, apart from trying to do an electronic transfer or pushing off when you should meet. And these are, I would say, the the two tells that have a lot in common. Is the first thing is they try to move you off whatever platform you're on. So if you are trying to buy something through eBay and they say, hey, you know, let's take this conversation to WhatsApp or text me at this number or email, that erases any record from what platform you were just on, and that'll that erases any protection that you may have had from that platform to begin with. So keep that whole conversation in wherever marketplace you're going through, Facebook, eBay, whatever it may be, keep it there. And the second thing as well is they may start manufacturing some sense of urgency. And like any other scam, like we've talked about on the show, urgency is the killer for these kinds of situations. You know, hey, I really need this, it's for my daughter's birthday, it's tomorrow, um, I need it shipped, or some somebody else is interested in this item, things like that where they start pushing. It's really just to get you to, again, panic and not think. That's what all of these scams, where they get that urgent feeling on you, do is they make you just not think logically. These are situations that I know myself I don't take lightly every day. I don't think any of our listeners should either. As nice as the internet is, as much access as it's given us all over the world, it is also unfortunately our biggest avenue to be financially hit. So if you have any questions about, you know, anything like this, give us a call. We open up Monday morning at 9 a.m. So if you have any questions about what you may want to look for or if you're thinking of buying something on Facebook Marketplace Tech related, give us a call and we can try to help you out with that. We're going to be going to our uh to our break here, but when we get back, we're gonna be getting with our uh our tech tip of Sunday for the Sunday crew.
SPEAKER_01You've been listening to Tech Talk right here on WDBO 1073 FM and AM580, the TV. I'm Greg Rhodes here with Adam Littlefield, a technician over at the Refresh Computer Superstore. You can contact the Refresh Computer Superstore by calling their free tech support hotline, 407-478-8200, though. I might wait until Monday. Don't forget to check out their website over at refreshcomputers.net. And now back
Tech Tip Voice Dictation Everywhere
SPEAKER_01to Adam.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you, Greg, and thank you, everybody, for tuning into this episode, the Sunday episode of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers. On our website as well, you can check out the podcast link in the top right corner. So if you missed any of this show or any of our other shows going back years, go to our website and just check them out. We have a lot of good information that we just want to get out to the public so you yourself can be the best tech consumer you can be. We have also been doing tech tips in each of these shows. I mean, that's what we're going to be ending off this show today with, is something that I feel can actually be a little bit freeing. And this is for any of our listeners that if you find the keyboard on your phone just to be the most infuriating thing, and I know there are some of you out there that are thinking this right now, this is going to be the best tech tip I could give you, and that is to set up voice dictation. So this is something that I'm sure if you listened to our show years ago and you used voice dictation years ago, you're pretty familiar with how janky it used to be. It was pretty bad. Get rough. It could get rough. I remember trying to use voice to text on my phone, and it just it's just throwing in words that I did not want. It's misunderstanding things. Luckily, today that has gotten a lot better. I think it has to do with the little bit of shift we've had with AI development, just being able to understand humans speak a little bit better. And this kind of goes for anything text-related on your phone. If you're in a text box, your keyboard pops up, you've got a microphone button probably down at the bottom of your keyboard that you can click on. And this can go for anything you're typing: a text message, an email, a search, a whole letter. Dictation just lets you speak naturally. And you can also watch as it is typing it in, so you can proofread it as you're speaking and correct some of the grammar issues that may still pop up. This isn't something I'm gonna say is 100% perfect, but it's a lot easier to get your thought out fast instead of having to try to type it. I can't explain how many texts I've had that, you know, were five, six paragraphs long. They were long texts. And I I the the biggest trouble I had was just typos. By the time that by the time you were at the end of it, your thumbs were cramping. Right. So, you know, that's that's the biggest thing I would say if you're using a mobile device. You can even speak punctuation now, saying things like, you know, period, comma, exclamation point, question mark, and it'll actually put them in. And again, it works anywhere that you would naturally be typing into. I know that with my phone specifically, it's been very good at punctuation recognition when I do mention it. Sometimes it will, however, just put in the word. I'm just gonna put that out there. Sometimes it just puts in the word. The nicer thing is on your computer, Windows has this built in as well. This is something that uh not a lot of my users know about. I have had very few customers I've helped actually enable this. It's called uh dictation. And what this does is again, it lets you talk and it writes it in. I actually have a customer who exclusively he writes novels all through voice dictation. Oh. So whatever, whatever he is writing, he is thinking, he is speaking. So he speaks his books as he writes them. I I think that's pretty awesome. A pretty good use. So on Windows, all you have to do is hold down the Windows key and the letter H at the same time, and a voice typing bar will pop up. It may walk you through some voice recognition steps. I would recommend doing that. It makes things way more recognizable for picking up what you're saying. And on Mac, all you have to do is turn it on in the settings and then press a key to start talking. That's it. Either way, those are already free right there. You don't have to download anything to be able to do this, whether it be on your phone or your computer. This is a free function that your device can do. So I think we are getting to the end of this Sunday edition. Um, I want to thank everybody for tuning in, especially the Sunday crew. Sunday crew. Uh, we are going to be getting to you next week on Saturday with a brand new show, and uh, I can't wait for you to tune in until then.
