Low End Mac Reader Specials
Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core 8GB kit $232 / 4GB kit $116 / 2GB kit $72. New Macbook 2GB DDR3-$65. HARD DRIVES available -- Free shipping / LIfetime warranty.
Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, MacBook Pros and more. Optical Drives for Apple iBooks, Powerbooks, MacBooks, MacBook Pros in Stock. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.
OWC: Juice up your iPod w/NewerTech High Capacity Battery from $19.99. Free Installation. Videos for most models. Pro Installation Service w/FedEx Shipping
From $57.95 (Battery Included).
Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how
to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full
Tilt Poker Mac.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.
Mac Daniel's Advice
PayPal Jeopardy
Evan Kleiman - 2002.04.03
While eBaying has been around for a relatively long time now, another trend has just been emerging in the past few years. The latest and greatest trend of online shopping is PayPal, a service that lets you pay for otherwise risky to pay for online auctions and other things via your credit card or bank account - all in a nice "secure" package.
Now we have a wonderful alternative to the otherwise unsafe ways of sending money of the olden times of the 1990s. And since that little "lock down" icon pops up in Internet Explorer's bottom right corner of the status bar, it obviously must be some form of an Internet-age armored truck!
Once hearing about this wonderful little service, everyone quickly grabs their credit cards, bank cards, small animals, etc. and quickly converts them into PayPal money. After all, if Internet Explorer says it's safe, why doubt them?
PayPal is the safest thing in the world, right?
Wrong.
Once lured into the false sense of security that a flashy Web page with all kinds of beautiful logos and magazine quotes proclaiming PayPal's safety prowess, one is now willing to pay for all kinds of things, because, after all, if they say it's safe, it must be safe. However, the cases of Internet hacking and bank account fraud on PayPal would amaze anyone.
A quick glance over to PlanetFeedback.com reveals over one hundred complaint letters regarding money stolen from bank accounts, non-sending sellers, etc. The amount of praise for PayPal? None.
More and more every day, more and more people are being gypped out of their money and/or items newly won on eBay auctions. Everyone is at risk.
Once example is Amy Koresdoski, whose PayPal password was given to a hacker with the common hacking knowledge needed for getting into an email account. A few more security features on PayPal's behalf, and none of this would have happened. Amy would still have her $3,500+ that was stolen from her - taken directly out of her bank account! And this is not an isolated incident.
I surmise that PayPal realizes that things like this can happen, so they have many services in place, such as their insurance policy that promises to refund up to and including 75% of lost purchases, to protect people such as her. However, their insurance is nothing more than a façade for a seemingly endless chain of auto-reply message and not at all helpful tech-support people.
PayPal's customer service and their representatives are deplorable. In theory it's a great idea for a service for people wanting to buy and sell items online, the system is flawed. Anyone who does not want to run the risk of losing money or eBay items should never use PayPal. While the majority of people that use this service are able to successfully complete their transactions, there are way too many people who have had the opposite result in their PayPal endeavors.
I, too, am one of those many people in the PayPal Victims Club.
Upon breaking my third cellphone in two years, I was once again faced with the dilemma of where to buy my next rather expensive cell phone. As always, I made a very careful choice about where I bought my phone, since the price warranted a little thought in where my money went. Innocent enough, I found a nice little place on the Web called GSMandmore.com, and they had the phone I had been looking for, new, at an even sub-eBay price!
I was quick to jump on this deal and get the phone. However, something inside of me told me this might be too good to be true, so I contacted the webmaster, who too was quick to assure me of the quality of his product and the safeness of his website - which of course used PayPal. This guy seemed to know what he was talking about.
Little did I know that six months later I would still be without a phone or without a resolution from PayPal, who promises protection in a case such as mine. My money was taken by a business and then the site closed, leaving me and probably an endless stream of people without phones or money.
I had considered this an isolated incident and went on with my life until I figured out that millions of other PayPal users were affected in some way by their customer support negligence. I am not alone.
I have a very risky feeling about my recent purchases using PayPal, which thankfully have been sent correctly. Wishing to play it on the safe side, I decided that I should consider trying to close my account - little did I know that it would be impossible!
Among the lost money complaints at PlanetFeedback are many other complaints of PayPal not allowing people to cancel their accounts. That is a rather childish business tactic.
What is one to do to avoid being afflicted with the PayPal money losing bug?
First, all I can recommend is don't use PayPal unless you are one-hundred percent sure the person you are sending your money to is reliable, get proof of this in writing if you can. If you can't trust this person wholly, send a postal money order. While it might be slower, you're more guaranteed safely here.
Secondly, I recommend removing as many bank accounts and credit or debit cards as you can from your PayPal account, because any hacker with your password will have no problem getting any bank account numbers, etc. that they want.
While using a credit card for a purchase from them and then deleting it from your profile until you need it again will take more time than usual, it can save you future heartaches.
PayPal's idea is a terrific one, but its future is in jeopardy if they cannot better their customer support.
Further Reading
- PayPalWarning.com
- PayPal no friend to online buyers, MSNBC/ZDNet, 2000.07.19.
- Micropayment Wars Over . . . PayPal Wins?, Slashdot, 2000.08.31.
- Losing Faith in PayPal, Damien Cave, Salon, 2001.02.23.
- How PayPal Works, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2001.03.07.
- Feedback on PayPal, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2001.03.14.
- Dealing with Internet Fraud, Evan Kleiman, Mac Daniel, 2001.12.26.
Not sure if you should upgrade your old Mac or replace it? Check the Mac Daniel index to see if we've already addressed your problem.
Recent Mac Daniel columns
- WiFi Hardware Compatible with Desktop Macs Running OS X, MetaPhyzx, 03.11. USB, ethernet, PCI, and other wireless hardware compatible with Mac OS X.
- WiFi CardBus Adapters Compatible with PowerBooks, MetaPhyzx, 03.11. CardBus hardware and drivers compatible with PowerBooks running Mac OS X.
- WiFi PC Cards Compatible with PowerBooks Running OS X, MetaPhyzx, 03.11. PCMCIA/PC Card hardware and drivers compatible with PowerBooks running Mac OS X.
- WiFi PC Cards for PowerBooks Running Mac OS 9, MetaPhyzx, 03.10. PCMCIA cards and drivers reported to be compatible with PowerBook running the Classic Mac OS.
- More in the Mac Daniel index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Clamshell iBook G3/300 MHz, Sep. 1999 - innovative, rugged, heavy, clamshell laptop introduced AirPort and was a huge hit.
- Group of the Day: G-Books is for G3 PowerBooks and iBooks.
- July 4 in LEM history: 00: When Randy met Mac - 08: Wouldn't life be great with an iSlate? - Mac Pro overclocking, Windependence with Darwine, Blu-ray for Macs, and more
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- iPhone 3GS Overheating, Battery Life App, 240 GB Upgrade for 5G iPod, Total Baby App, and More, iNews Review, 07.02. Also low cost international calls, U-verse remote DVR control, Sync Blocker USB-to-Dock cable, Rocket Taxi improved, and more.
- MacBooks Top Amazon Sales, EFI 1.7 Problems, Pros and Cons of Built-in Batteries, and More, The 'Book Review, 07.02. Also make a bootable SD Card, Leopard on a 9" Dell netbook, MacBook Pro and Air reviews, triple WiFi range, bargain 'Books from $179 to $2,300, and more.
- Apple Tops in Satisfaction Again, Slim Profits on Mac mini, Ultimate Photo Setup, and More, Mac News Review, 07.02. Also tips for cloning hard drives and moving files from old Macs, Clickfree Transformer turns USB drive into a backup drive, maximum Mac Pro RAM, and more.
- Refurb MacBook Pro Deal, Fastest Mac Browser, 256 MB Modules for WallStreet, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 07.01. Also more Safari 4 feedback, praise for Camino, MacBook cracks, looking for Craigslist software for Macs, and more.
- Amazon.com v. Interstate Sales Tax: Everyone Loses, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 07.01. Amazon.com is standing up to states that are trying to have it collect sales tax on interstate commerce, which most see as a violation of federal law.
- Introduction to Autofs in Mac OS X, Keith Winston, Linux to Mac, 07.01. "Autofs is often used in enterprise environments to set up network-based home directories and other network mounts for users at login."
- Optimized Software Builds Bring Out the Best in Your Mac, Dan Knight, Online Tech Journal, 06.30. Applications compiled for your Mac's CPU can load more quickly and run faster than ones compiled for universal use.
- Checking Out Safari 4 on an Old PowerBook, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 06.30. Safari 4 is the fastest it's ever been, but it's not without some frustrating drawbacks.
- Intel's Promise Fulfilled: More Processing Power per Processor Cycle, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 06.30. Apple promised improved CPU efficiencies when it announced the move to Intel in 2005. Three years of MacBooks show the progress.
- Is Steve Jobs' Health Essential to Apple's Future?, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 06.30. Steve Jobs' health is an important thing, but Apple has demonstrated that it can be profitable without him.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 07.02. Used 3 GHz 4-core, $2,000; 3.2 8-core, $2,900; refurb 2.8 8-core, $2,399; new 2.66 4-core, $2,290 a/r; 2.26 8-core, $3,070 a/r; 2.66, $4,499; more.
- Best Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger' Deals, 07.02. Full version DVD, $140; 5 user family pack, $370; 10-user Server, $299.
- Best 17" PowerBook G4 Deals, 07.02. Used 17" 1 GHz PowerBook, $689; 1.67 GHz, $749; hi-res, $1,029.
- Best Xserve Deals, 07.02. Used 2 GHz single G5, $800; dual, $1,000; refurb 2.8 GHz 4-core Xeon, $2,100; new 2.26 4-core Nehalem, $2,888; 8-core, $3,449; 2.66, $4,799; 2.93, $5,999.
- Best iPod touch Deals, 07.01. Refurb 2G/8 GB, $179; 16 GB, $259; iG/32 GB, $279; new 2G/8 GB, $215; 1G 16 GB, $210; 2G, $275; 2G/32 GB, $369. Prices include shipping.
- Best 13" MacBook & MacBook Pro Deals, 07.01. Used 1.83 GHz, $595; 2.0, $629; new 2.0, $889; 2.13, $925 after rebate; refurb 2.0 Unibody, $949; 2.4, $1,099; new 2.26 MBP, $1,119 a/r; more.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 07.01. Used 867 MHz Combo, $400; 1.33 GHz, $448; 1.5 GHz, $599; 1 GHz SuperDrive, $509; 1.33 GHz, $599; 1.5 GHz SD, $679.
- Best Apple TV Deals, 07.01. Refurb 40 GB Apple TV, $199; new, $220; refurb 160 GB, $279; new, $320. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best G4 iBook Deals, 06.29. Used 12" 800 MHz Combo, $290; 1 GHz CD, $299; Combo, $370; 1.33 GHz, $428; 14" 1 GHz Combo, $399; 1.2, $465; 1.42 GHz, $500.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 06.29. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $39; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, 06.29. Mac OS X 10.0, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3, $50; 10.3 Server, unlimited users, $130.
- Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 06.29. Close-out 500 GB Time Capsule, $199; 1 TB, $350; AirPort Extreme Base Station, $130; refurb AirPort Express, $85.
- More deals in our archive.
About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts
Navigation
Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists
Favorite Sites
MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System
6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
Mac FAQ
Abandonware
Petition
Mac vs. PC Info
Affiliates
The Apple
Store
Mac
Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial
Memory
batteries.com
Have a question?
Ask an expert!
Advertise
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
Mac FAQ
Abandonware
Petition
Mac vs. PC Info
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com
Ask an expert!
