Product and Software Reviews

Review of Sony Vaio Notebooks

I purchased a Sony Vaio laptop last September for my business and use it for everything.

The purpose of many of the Sony VAIO notebooks are to provide a portable and lightweight laptop for computer users.

Pros: The Sony VAIO notebooks are ultra portable and unbelievably durable. The design is luxuriously sleek. Many Sony VAIO notebooks weighs in at less than 3 pounds and is less than one inch thick. Now that is what I call thin and portable. Only Sony’s cutting-edge, power-saving technology combined with Intel Centrino Duo processor technology could efficiently manage power resources to deliver an amazing 4 to 7.5 hours of standard battery life.

If you get one with fingerprint biometrics included you will find that is a convenient and secure way to protect your computer and your personal information that is on it. And you gain access with just a swipe of your finger.

Cons: The lack of a guarantee of satisfaction is always a bit troubling to me. The laptop comes with a manufacturers guarantee, but PC Mall does not offer any kind of guarantee of satisfaction. The manufacturer’s guarantee might be adequate.

The quality of Sony VAIO laptops, however, appears to be good and I can find no cons associated with it. Mine has been through a lot and is still working like new. I have about 80 GB on the hard drive, am constantly on the Internet downloading files and uploading to my sites, and have found this Sony VAIO to be very fast and reliable. I had wanted a Sony VAIO for the last year or two and have not been disappointed with the one I purchased.

Guarantee: There is no guarantee offered by PC Mall. The only guarantees that apply are manufacturer guarantees. When I have purchased from PC Mall I've been very happy with the product and have never had a bad experience.

Value for money: The Sony VAIO notebooks are an excellent laptop at a competitive price. It is a good value. Right now PC Mall has several models available at sale prices.

Where to buy: PC Mall

Social Power Linking - Does it Deliver

Jack Humphrey, author of the famed Power Linking course, has decided to open a new membership site. Instead of constantly trying to keep his Power Linking course updated he will now be able to provide all members the most current information on how to get thousands of incoming links through the newest and most up-to-date methods.

In 2007 the favorite method was social bookmarking, social news sites, and places like Squidoo and HubPages. Jack includes a list of the best of these on the membership site.

What will it be in 2008? Join Social Power Linking and find out.

Why did I join this membership? First, because Jack is an expert at linking. He knows how to get links, and people pay thousands of dollars a month for his linking service.

Second, I joined because I need the information provided. There are videos to watch, PDFs to download and read, and a fantastic forum for masterminding with other like-minded individuals. Our goals are all the same - get thousands of links coming to our sites in order to increase the number of visitors. After all, more visitors equals more income.

Internet marketers know that there are always more techniques to use, new methods to discover, and that we never stop learning. What I learn from Jack will more than cover my investment.

Third, I joined because it is affordable. Jack doesn't over-charge. He's fair and reasonable. That's one of the things I really like about Jack Humphrey.

I've listed three reasons why I joined. Why should you join?

If you have heard of Web 2.0 or "bending the web" then you might have an idea what Social Power Linking involves. It's all about how to get more visitors to your site through thousands of incoming links. Jack takes you step by step using what he calls a 60 day jump start. Each day you have an assignment to complete.

At the end of the 60 days you should have greatly increased the amount of traffic you are getting. On sites I've used these techniques I've had traffic increase dramatically. I have one site that had stayed at a pagerank of 5 for over a year suddenly jump to a pagerank of 6.

I was taught those techniques at Jack's other membership site Authority Site Center. At Social Power Linking Jack goes more in-depth and uncovers more linking secrets. I expect to greatly increase my traffic numbers in the next few months and years as I follow along with other members and discover new methods as the web continues to evolve.

Does Social Power Linking deliver? Yes, it does, and I expect to see fantastic results in 2008.

Comparing Portal Feeder and Authority Site Center - Two Really Hot Memberships

In another post I mentioned that I'm a member of Portal Feeder and have been for almost a year. I am also a member of Authority Site Center, where I joined in the winter of 2006. Since I am a member of both I feel qualified to write a comparison of these two membership sites.

In some ways Portal Feeder and Authority Site Center are alike. They both have great forums, lots of training available in archive as well as ongoing, and they both provide some powerful tools for making money online. But there are many differences, as well.

Differences include:

• Portal Feeder focuses on HTML sites and has a powerful software that fills the web site automatically at intervals that you specify
• Authority Site Center focuses on building blogs that are authority sites
• Authority Site Center has 2-3 webinars every week during which you can ask questions, whereas Portal Feeder has webinars more sporadically
• Authority Site Center has a fantastic software for creating blogs that with regular posting and some smart promotion will do great in the search engines and get good pagerank
• Portal Feeder has more tools included in the membership than Authority Site Center for getting links to your sites
• Authority Site Center has two levels of membership, one (half price) creates one blog for you (your topic) and some training, the other tier creates one blog a month for you and gives you access to all the training
• ASC is always open for new members, whereas Portal Feeder is only open for new members when they decide to open the doors

Similarities include:

• great forum
• great training (each has some training that the other does not)
• each has some great tools, and with a lot of time and hard work you can succeed
• both have very awesome programmers who are continually coming up with amazing business-building tools
• each are operated by a very knowledgeable team
• both have hired people from within the members to join the operating team

The reason for the two levels of membership fees at Authority Site Center is to provide people a less expensive introduction to ASC. If people like what ASC offers and want more than one blog that uses ASC's own version of Wordpress, they can upgrade at any time to the full-paid membership.

Portal Feeder is a little bit more expensive than ASC's full membership, but they provide more tools. There are many tools that you can download and use forever, and there are tools that are only available to members. They are very generous, and their goal is to help you succeed.

As a member of both, I see a good reason for Portal Feeder to only open to new members for a short time every now and then. When new members are constantly joining time has to constantly be given to training them from the start. It might not seem significant, but it can be helpful to have have everyone beyond the beginning stages so time can be focused on intermediate and advanced training.

Which membership do I prefer? That is really hard to say. I am a member of both, and enjoy both. They are different enough from each other that I believe the expense is justified. I see them as investments in my business. Also, since I am making enough money to cover the expense, there is no reason to leave. The only drawback is my time limits. It would be great if I could focus 4-5 hours on each of them every day.

If the price of Portal Feeder is too high for you, then I highly recommend Authority Site Center. For less than $100 you get one blog set up for you using their souped-up version of Wordpress. You also get a lot of training. For less than $200 you get one blog a month set up for you and access to all the training materials. I have been a member of ASC since the winter of 2006. It's where I first started to make money online.

Whichever you join, you must be serious about making money online, and and be willing to put a lot of time and effort into it.

What I like about both Portal Feeder and Authority Site Center is they offer great tools, great training, fantastic forums, get you focused on what needs to be done to make a living online, and so much more.

I have sites with both memberships that have done very well. One site with ASC reached pagerank 6 in 16 months. Several sites with Portal Feeder have keywords showing up on the first page of the search engines (when they were just 1 month old).

If you have been wanting to join Portal Feeder, now is the time. If you can not afford the price, then I highly recommend you get started with Authority Site Center for now, get a blog up, focus your time and energy on that one site, and start making some money.

The important thing is you get started now. Take action. Eventually you will be able to invest in your business by upgrading to the full membership at ASC, and maybe even join Portal Feeder next time they open the doors to new members.

Portal Feeder Open for New or Returning Members

I've already written a review of Portal Feeder here (you can read it at Review of Portal Feeder). But I wanted to let you know that Portal Feeder opened their doors today at noon. For a short time you can sign up and try it out (they even have a money back guarantee).

The money back guarantee gives you the freedom to try it out and if you find it isn't what you expected then cancel and get your money back. So basically, there is no risk to trying it out for a month.

Already I mentioned that I've been a member since spring of 2007. I've seen all the tools they offer, and learned from their excellent training. I've made use of the 500+ blogs available for members to post onto to get links pointing to my sites, and I've put up 6 sites. But I could have done more.

It takes time and effort, but if you are willing to be generous with both, Portal Feeder provides everything you need to succeed except domain name registration and hosting.

Sign up and give it a try. You have nothing to lose. If you focus all your energy on the training and on making sites for the first month, I think you will be impressed how well you can do.