Keeping track of customers shipping payment etc.

[coastwindchimes]

Just jumped from my antique computer to a Mac Mini. Love the change, but have a slight problem. Before I used a not very good but serviceable program for tracking auctions, customers, shipping and payment. Well, that was not working well, and does not work at al with the new computer.

I don't run that many auctions each week, and don't really want to subscribe to an expensive online service. Checked around the web, and all the software I have so far seen is junk. Anybody using something good? Tim.

[muminlaw]

Good morning Tim,

I'm using Auction Wizard 2000. It's probably more program than you're looking for (it does everything, and more than I want) but the initial cost is a reasonable, I think, $75 with an annual renewal of $50. It lives on your computer rather than online and has a full 60 days free trial. The tech support is awesome! auctionwizard2000.com

. Glenda
To Golf or Not To Golf? What a stupid question!

[zarzuella]

EBay will be including Selling Manager with store subscriptions soon - will that do?

Ann

[coastwindchimes]

Hi all, thanks for the help, but I think those are both Windows-based. I think that I will probably just go from a different angle than I have been, and simply print a copy of the end-of-auction and make a few notes on that as things happen. Maybe that will work-- if (big 'if') I can get organized. Tim.

[shoplineca]

Tim, why dont you get away from Mac like 99% of the rest of the world? If not, I have a ton of Mac stuff available if you want to buy any.

PS. I was never a Mac man! I just did contract work and there was a time when I needed Mac and PC based systems depending on who I was working for.

Malcolm

[zarzuella]

Tim,

I am also a Mac user. Ignore Malcolm!

Ann

[zarzuella]

Malcolm,

What mac stuff do you have?

A.

[coastwindchimes]

Hi Malcom,
Well I was thinking of a PC~ my son just saved and bought a new PC, and I was quite impressed. But then this Mac mini came out, and if you look just about anywhere on the web and see what reviewers and owners say about it (and OS 10x), you might understand my decision. It's the size of five CD cases, runs absolutely silently, does everything I need and fast, fast, fast. It was an easy choice, and after three days, already I know it was the right one. No viruses, no spyware-- nice! But I fully understand people like my son, who need a PC (he's into games).

[shoplineca]

G3 system (purple), Industrial-use, high capacity laser printer, another Mac OP system (cant remember which model, its in storage in my basement with the laser printer) and some other hardware and software items.

The laser printer is a high capacity model, really heavy with 3 interchangeable paper trays as it can print on 8 1/2 X 11, 8 X 14 and I think the other sheet is 18" X 18". Original price was over $2,500 new.

Malcolm

[recped]

Be careful Malcolm, you might get pinkslapped for try to conduct business via the forums!!!!!

Of course someone would have to click that "report" button (and it won't be me!).

Ben
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

[shoplineca]

Dont worry, I'm not selling anything here. I simply was enforcing my desire to not own any Mac stuff.

I realize that about the time they came out with the G3's they had made vast improvements to their problems with system network crashes which were running pretty high until then.

I worked on contract with someone who was a Mac VAR and I am very familiar with the good, the bad and the ugly with Mac systems.

Even their almost exclusive use by graphic artists has waned as once exclusive software (some of the Adobe software) for Macs is available to PCs and much larger PC systems can be built for less money than an equivelent Mac.

A good personal friend of mine was a Mac user until 2-years ago. He is the artist, designer, engraver and he oversees production of all our new currency and has also done a number of our stamps. He is now a Power PC user having switched from Macs. I helped him put a really nice PC system together.

As a matter of fact, I'm NOT selling any of the Mac stuff on or through eBay nor the tons of other electronic and computer paraphanelia that I have including high-end routers, motherboards, notebook hardware nor the many, many boxes of other goodies I recently aquired.

We are listing them through some of the many free classified services around the world on the internet and referring people to a web site where they can get particulars.

No cost to list, no commission, international exposure and the sales dont go through my business, just treated as personal sales.

The good old fashioned way of making money without being gouged for every nickel and dime that I work hard to make.

Malcolm

[shoplineca]

Timo
The Mac Mini was made to target the female market. Primarily the housewife who will get and send a few emails per day and wants to listen to music or some music videos in between cleaing the kitchen and making supper.

While I am sure it can do an adequate job, it was not made to be a business computer.

Although my situation is probably different than most, primarily because I have a son who loves computers and feels that everythings should be inter-connected.

Every room in our house has been wired for networking (except the bathrooms). We have a main server and a media server. Right now we are running 6 computers and will be adding at least 2 more over the next several months.

We can watch movies or listen to music from the hundreds of movies or thousands of songs stored in our media server or access television from any computer in the house. Basically we have our own version of the new Microsoft media system.

I couldnt run the system with a Mini Mac although they would be fine to have in the kitchen or family room. But then why pay all the extra for a Mini Mac when I can build am equivelant system for about $500 plus the cost of a monitor?

Malcolm

[coastwindchimes]

Well, I'm not so sure you are right about that target group, Malcolm. From what I have been reading-- and I sure researched this well before springing for one, the target is more people who are fed up with Windows, since they can jump to a mac and keep all their other stuff (monitor, keyboard, mouse etc.), and also people like me who have really old macs, want to upgrade, but not spend $3000 on a G5 system.

I know people who love their Window systems~ but they are all people who just love messing around with computers and computer challenges, and who have more than a superficial understanding of how computers work. One of these guys came over a couple of weeks ago and had a look at my son's new computer. He found something like 600 cookies / spyware on my son's two week old Windows computer. People who don't know how to deal with that sort of stuff, or who don't want to take the time, are the target of the new Mac mini. That's a pretty large number of people, and I suspect Apple will do very well with this computer. Certainly there are a lot of discussion boards of people who have just switched from Windows to the Mac mini, and these are real fans. Who knows, Malcolm, maybe Apple will conquer another 1% of the market~ Ha!

[catseye*]

what's the pricing on the mini?

[coastwindchimes]

Catseye, one base model list for $499, a second slightly faster one with a larger hard drive at $629. Either of those, you probably will want to double the base ram to 512-- which adds about $100. If you already have a monitor, keyboard etc., that is it, because it is designed to work with pretty much any other equipment you have. If you haven't seen one, it is about the size of five stacked CD boxes, and runs almost silent. It comes with a nice assortment of software, and a cd burner, dvd viewer. Nice!

[catseye*]

I just looked it up on the London Drugs site, they were out of stock and only the $629 one. My G4 is on it's last legs and I haven't decided what I want to replace it with. $$$ is a big factor these days.

[shoplineca]

Timo
The after-thought is the PC market. I read alot of the early hype last year in the US for the systems and saw ads with the housewife in the kitchen or exercise room however if you read current technical articles, the potential amount of PC converts is unbelievably small as the cost to purchase a monitor, keyboard and mouse outweighs the marginal benefits of a compact sized computer with marginal storage and power.

You are stuck with an 80 Gig HD which is totally limiting in today's working environment for computers in terms of storage ability. As a media computer it hasnt got enough space to store movies and doesnt come with a TV input card to channel cable television through.

I personally couldnt work with a 1.25 GHz processor for all the applications that we do, but would be more concerned at not being able to upgrade to much more than that if at all. That would be the 2nd slowest system I have out of the 6 computers I currently run.

Actually I forgot my son has a 7th computer in his van. It is about the size of the Mac Mini built into the console with 2.6 GHz processor and 240 Gig HD with a 15" flat screen monitor (GPS, and internet connection through mobile phone).

Aside from the small size of the Mac Mini box being its biggest feature (and there are more powerful PCs just slightly larger to that size currently available), the Mac Mini doesnt pack the power or storage potential of other Apple products such as the G4 or iMacs which would be a far better purchase.

I guess the problem that I see more than anything else is it reminds me of the old PC days when you purchase a system that is proprietary, one which you cannot or you are limited in your ability to upgrade. I had a Packard Bell PC and lived through that problem over 12 years ago and have never bought another name-brand PC since.

Dell does this now as well, where you cannot put in generic or other manufacturer's parts. You pretty much must always return to Dell for your upgrades.

I prefer to have large midtower or high tower systems as I add additional hard drives, as required as well as other and newer other hardware as they become available replacing 1 or 2 year old, out-dated hardware.

I would have the same problem with a laptop being used as my main business computer or media computer. They have a purpose, which is fairly limited due to their capacity and ability to be upgraded. LapTops are for portability and I assume the Mac Mini for space constraints however you give up other advantages such as storage and power and incur a much higher cost to upgrade, which is also limited.

As such the cost (I am guessing between $650 to $800 Canadian, without monitor, keyboard and mouse) is over twice what I could purchase an equivelant PC system absent of the monitor, however it would have an ability for upgrading.

The Mac Mini does come with considerable media-based software which you wont get in a $350 PC, which would be of no use to me as we have more software on our other systems to transfer onto a new one. So it again is of more use to someone purchasing their first computer.

If you have been following technical reports on the system since its release, you will have learned that there can be considerable delays when opening more than oone large jpegs at the same time. The system runs as hot or hotter than a notebook computer after 2-hours and you only have 2 USB ports.

I am sorry if I seem to be knocking the system. I guess my problem is that it is a very limited system in its storage capacity and speed without the flexibility for upgrading. I cant see it as a functional business system at all.

Malcolm

[shoplineca]

PS If you are happy with it and it meets your needs then that is what is important.

Its just not a system that I could use for the reasons I gave above. Not something that I would be looking for to satisfy any of our uses for computers.

So Tim, enjoy it, have fun.

Malcolm

[coastwindchimes]

Hi Malcolm, replace the keyboard, monitor mouse? What do you mean? That's the whole point of the mini-- they can keep all that stuff and use it with the mini. That is precisely why so many PC users are switching, or considering switching-- and why the mini is sold without any of that stuff.

80 gigs is not huge, for sure, but likely plenty for most people (I've been working with 6 for the past three years-- and still had lots of space!). But you know what-- the cost of an external hard drive is cheap, and getting cheaper by the day-- so what's the big deal? Should anyone need more space eventually, just click on into the firewire port.

You are sure right about computers ageing; another nice thing about this mini not being horribly expensive.

Two USB-- sure, and two more on the keyboard-- enough for me, but otherwise a hub for $10.

And since you have owned Macs, Malcolm, you must know that you can not compare that 1.42 GHz across the board to a PC-- That's how many cycles, not how much work gets done. It's like saying this clothes dryer spins a hundred times an hour, and this one spins only 75, so the hundred one must get more work done, but not taking into consideration that the one spinning at 75 holds twice the load-- don't think that is the best way to put it, but there is plenty of information to clarify it for you on the web, if you don't already know about GHz.

I've researched well, and haven't seen anything about overheating etc. Only comment was that it could slow a little working with multiple large image-- sure, anyone doing serious work like that better get a heavy duty machine. This thing isn't going to do everything for everybody, but for most people it will do everything they need exceptionally well,

For sure most people are going to want to stick with their PCs, and be very happy with what they have. But the mini is a great alternative for those who want to try something different.

[shoplineca]

What I acknowledged Tim is that if you are happy with it then go with it and enjoy it. It just wouldnt come close to meeting my business or my family's needs for storage space, speed and overall use.

I have heard how some people are putting two or three of the Mac Mini's together to give them the extra storage they need however that seems to defeat the idea of compact size of the unit and certainly the price.

I spent 3 years on contract working with Macs for a VAR (Mac authorised Value Added Reseller) so I feel I have some pretty good knowledge about Mac systems.

I used both older models plus all the latest that Mac had to offer and experienced the ups and downs of Macs on a network until the G3s came out and crashing was no longer the same issue it was before.

I guess what I learned more than anything about Macs is that a Mac lover is a Mac lover for life.

Whether that makes sense or not to me doesnt matter. I dont debate Macs with Mac lovers anymore than debating those people who come to my door with their different version of the bible under their arms.

Its not much different than one's choice of car. I might need an 8-cylinder, 4-wheel drive van to meet my requirements for pleasure and work and someone else may be able to get by with a 3-cylinder sub compact.

Who am I to say anything about their choice of car as their needs are different? Same goes with choosing a Mac Mini over a larger application PC.

So I am sorry to sound like I was knocking it. I guess I was comparing it to what I need and use 'out loud' in this forum.

Malcolm