2010 Fine Woodworking Archive DVD-ROM Question

Does anyone have this DVD and is it as great a resource as Taunton Press keeps pushing? Its expensive at 149.00 but looks like its full of great info. My kids keep asking me what I want for Christmas and I tell them what I need they can't afford and not to worry about it. This might be a good alternative for them, at 75.00 each I wouldn't be breaking their bank!

Thanks

Reply to
Rich
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I think it would be better than the $5 a month to have an online account and have to search the website which only has some of the old articles. I haven't seen the actual disk and how well it is organized but in concept it seems like the way to go. The only real problem I see is when 2011 comes around, it is another $149 just to get the last years update. If they said $149 buy in and $20 a year to keep updated, I would buy it now.

I had the same idea as a gift from my kids... but that means I have to hand each of them $75 and that is why I am still on the fence. Somebody elses money? Yep, I would ask for it.

Reply to
SonomaProducts.com

Rich,

I have the Pop Woodworking DVDs (well not all of them, just a couple of years). I found that they are great, but I keep misplacing them. I have the hard copies

- i.e. the magazines - in storage so I keep just pulling things out from there.

I can read magazines everywhere, including the smallest room in the house, if you get by drift, and in bed before I nod off. DVDs don't do that.

I guess if you had a Kindle or iPad, you could get a e-copy of them. That would change things up a bit as to where you can read them.

If you already have a collection of Fine Woodworking, you probably could pass on the DVD. On the other hand, if you don't have the magazines and you can't think of spending $149 on some neat new tool (I can offer up some ideas), then go ahead.

I'd wager, that you will probably only view it about 3 or 4 times a year.

A better bet, to me that is even cheaper, is to sign up for Tauton's paid access to their website. ALL of the DVD content is on-line and it's great! I use it about 10 or so times a year and it's cheaper than the $149 for the DVD.

MJ

Reply to
mjmwallace

Bingo! I do same for both FWW and FHB, can pick and choose what I want or absolutely need at the time, and can access and read it any where I can get a wifi/3G connection via laptop or smartphone, or download to same.

I see the value of having the data backed up on a hard disk for future ease of access, but the fact that most of what's on the dvd is not what I want or need at any given time makes that option not cost effective.

YMMV ...

Reply to
Swingman

Unless they have changed what they offer in it, I ended up passing on this when they started up with it because it does not have the complete magazine (covers, etc) just the articles, and at the time was similar cost to getting a set of the magazine back to issue 1 was (though I didn't actually do that, and actually stopped subscribing a few years later, though I have my shelf of FWWs - it's just not growing anymore.)

Plenty of decent, useful real tools or stock you could have them get at or below that budget point, IMHO.

Reply to
Ecnerwal

And to boot, the online membership ($15/yr I think) also gets you access to all the other magazines (Fine Cooking, Fine Gardening, &tc.)

-Zz

Reply to
Zz Yzx

Why don't you get a larger hard drive and copy the DVDs to it right after you find 'em, MJ?

-- Invest in America: Buy a CONgresscritter today!

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Since I've always made my own tools/jigs/etc., I would miss all the ads they didn't put in the DVD version. Other mags do that and it's great. It's fun to look back a decade or two and see how tools and prices have changed, too. Taunton didn't save it.

-- Invest in America: Buy a CONgresscritter today!

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Good idea. It's on the list of things to do, soon. I have some spare external drives around that helps.

My computer is an iMac and it is not easy putting in a new drive. On a Dell, I can do it almost blindfolded, but Apple buries the drive under layers that have to be lifted carefully.

No need to fight the Mac/PC fight here. I use both and have both. I just prefer my Macs for everyday.

MJ

Reply to
mjmwallace

use an external disk connected via usb or firewire. i have a cheap 2tb external for backups and large storage. i've changed the dvd drive in my imac and the disk is easier, but it took 2 of us 2 hours to change out the dvd, and you need a bunch of specialized tools.

Reply to
chaniarts

$4.99 per month and their search is pretty flaky. I can never easily find what I want. Just last week I was looking for an article from July this year "the woodworkers guide to photography". I tried every version of that exact statement and snippets of it and never found the article. I finally searched on the july/august 2010 and found one article from that month, then it had a link at the bottom of the page to the photography articel. There is no TOC from past versions or any good organization of the data.

Reply to
SonomaProducts.com

WHAT? I've only worked once with a Mac (ca 1997) and installed a modem. I plugged it in and it found it without trouble. I thought the OSes got better with age and version changes. Condolences.

-- Invest in America: Buy a CONgresscritter today!

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Not an OS problem, hardware design. Apple never imagined, at the time I bought this particular iMac, that users would want to swap out the HD.

I have never, ever had a OS failure with ANY of my Macs going about to the first one I owned in 1984.

MJ

Reply to
mjmwallace

The older plastic cased Imacs are pretty easy to get into. A Spud Wrench which is not a wrench at all and a special torx wrench is all you need. $5.00 at a good electronics store. Ive taken apart my share of Imac because of their bad designed charger plug....Here's a good resource for opening an Imac... I haven't tried to open one of the newer metal cased Imacs, but I'm sure it can be done without to much trouble.

formatting link
would do what was suggested earlier and get an external USB hard drive.

But I will stick with my Linux OS for everyday use and have an Imac to fall back on when I really need an alternative.

Reply to
Rich

It's not a system or plug-and-play issue; it's the physical design of the computer. The iMac is really designed to meet the needs of a specific market segment: the user who just wants a computer and doesn't care or need much (if any) extensibilty. Memory upgrades (IIRC) are fairly painless once you crack the case*; there just isn't any space designed into the unit for another drive bay. If you need more drive space, is simple enough to add a external drive or four.

If you need that kind of extensibilty, you buy a Mac Pro. That case is designed to accept four hard drives and two optical drives. The drive carriers are included. You can buy bare drives (no extra ribbon cables needed...). BFD -- that'll save a buck or two right there. Accepts up to 32 gigs** of memory, too, last I checked.

*Speaking of "cracking the case," that takes us back to the days of the original Mac, Mac Plus, and Fat Mac, when a Torx fastener was a real rarity and you also needed a special tool to separate the case halves... history repeats itself in the iPods. The batteries ARE replacable, but it's a real bitch to do. Of course, in comparison to the early Macs, iPods are commodity electronics: easy and cheap to replace. **My first Mac was tricked out with a whole 2 MEGS of memory, and a whopping big 50 Meg drive!
Reply to
Steve

How is a spud wrench not a wrench? The one in my tool box looks like a wrench and acts like a wrench.

Reply to
CW

In this instance its a prying tool to split the case of a laptop. Guess its a Spudder Tool and not a spud wrench. Believe me I know what a spud wrench is when it comes to plumbing.

Reply to
Rich

Are you talking about a _spudger_? Which is intended to be used in dealing with tightly packed wiring in punchblocks but which is also used in electronics for many other purposes, such as splitting the cases of laptops?

Reply to
J. Clarke

yes, I have to apologize for my misuse of the word. You are right its a spudger not spud or spuder. Thanks for clearing that up.

Reply to
Rich

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