Matt Matty answers:

If you have money and want something good then by all means get an Apple – remember, you get what you pay for.  I’ll admit that I’m partial to Apple.

One thing I want to throw into the mix is while you state that the Mac isn’t very customizable, I wonder what you are talking about.  The Mac comes in many variations and you can upgrade just about everything but I don’t know why you would want to.  Many of the problems that the PC face is that there are all these different components from lots and lots of vendors.  The combination of varying parts from so many vendors is what makes the PC such a pain to deal with.  Seldom do all these pieces play well together.

For me, when I go to my computer, I want to concentrate on the work I want to do – not on how to get the damed thing to work.  As a student, your time is going to be limited.  Do you really want to fool around with problems or instead, get your homework done?  …I’m just saying.

Link for Great Mac Laptop Deals

Matt Matty answers:

Go to Ebay. In small blue letters next to the search area it says Advanced Search. Once there there is an option under Search Including, check the box for completed listings. This will give you the actual prices people paid for whatever you are trying to sell. It is a great way to find what the market is bearing for your particular item.

Matt Matty answers:

Hi Donna.  Before you decide on what type of sander to get, you might want to ask yourself what type of sanding you plan to do most – this will tell you what type of sander to buy.  In fact, you might want to invest in both.  Belt and/or disc sanders are (in my opinion) the most handy and can tackle most of your sanding projects.  However, if you plan to sand a lot of curved projects, then a spindle sander will be your best bet.  If the quantity of curved work is small, you might want to consider a drum/spindle sanding attachment that you can put in a drill press or chuck up in a pistol drill.  These work great for doing detail sanding.  I especially like them with a hand drill as you can get pretty creative in your sanding with total freedom of movement.

A good place to look for sanding tools is Rockler.  I like this company and they have great products with good pricing.  I’ve created a search term for you that includes “sanders”.  You can see what they have by click that link or entering in something more specific and then searching for that.  I hope you find a good sander that fits your needs.

Search from over 15000 products!

Matt Matty answers:

Go to the Manufacturer’s site and get the manual.
Some of those mini-lathes can even be set up as mini-milling machines.
‘Between centers’ you can cut cylinders and tapers, and do some center bores.
If you have a power feed you can even cut threads.
At the head-stock you can cut plane surfaces and cones.

Matt Matty answers:

One of the best places to get carving supplies is on e-bay.  Another on-line choice is Amazon.  If you want to lay your hands on these tools and compare them in person, you can try either Home Depot or Lowes or any other local hardware/lumber yard.  Your best sources though for variety and selection will be on-line.

Matt Matty answers:

There’s a ton to choose from. It mostly comes down to size and features. I’d stick with a brand name. It’s just my opinion though but buying some no-name from a foreign source probably won’t save you any money in the long run. I’m speaking from experience. I bought a lathe from Harbor Freight thinking I would save a few bucks. Ended up with a boat anchor and had to buy a replacement. Didn’t save a thing, in fact I ended up spending more than if I’d just gotten a good one to begin with.

When I went to buy my second lathe, I found this sight where they featured a number of good woodworking lathes for sale. That’s a great place to start. Hope you find your lathe. btw, I ended up going with a Delta – it had a 5 year warranty.

Matt Matty answers:

Ok Betty, here we go – first the hand tools:
1) screwdriver, 2) hammer, 3) hand saw,  4) crescent wrench, 5) pliers, 6) awl, 7) metal punch, 8) level, 9) planer, 10) tape measure, 11) razor knife, 12)metal scribe, 13) chalk line, 14) plumb bob, 15) sanding block, 16)carpenters square, 17) scissors, 18) pipe wrench, 19) putty knife, 20) plunger, 21) paint brush, 22 ) socket set, 23) flash light, 24) chisel, and 25)broom

And now the second – the power tools:
1) screwgun, 2)electric drill, 3) table saw, 4) circular saw, 5) air compressor, 6) hedge trimmers, 7) shop vacuum, 8) miter saw, 9) soldering iron, 10) chainsaw, 11) bench grinder, 12) electric stapler, 13) pressure washer, 14) welder, 15) heat gun, 16) router, 17) power planer, 18) power sander, 19) portable pump, 20) power chisel, 21) jig saw, 22) trouble light, 23) wood lathe, 24) pipe bender, and last but not least, 25) wood burning tool.

So there are your lists Betty.  Hope these help you out and in addition to the tools listed here, you should always include hearing protection and safety glasses.

Best wishes!!

ps; not sure why you want these lists, but maybe you might be interested in see what some of these tools look like and learning a little bit more about them.  Take a visit over to Womens Hand and Power Tools.  That site may help you in your quest.

Matt Matty answers:

While this may seem a bit daunting at first, it’s really quite easy and that’s because the Mac has all the tools to help you do just that…

First thing is to start up your new Mac and then start up the Migration assistant utility found in Applications/Utilities folder.  This tool can take all the information in your PC and move it to your Mac.  When Migration assistant is finished, your Mac will have all the data and settings from your PC converted over to run on your Mac.

I could go into great detail here, but Apple has done that work already.  Simply visit the Switch 101 web page to see just how to do this in greater detail.  Listen Mary, I switched years ago and I can say with great confidence, you won’t be sorry you made the move!!

Matt Matty answers:

Use eBay, and for heavy equip like you have, make sure you specify whether or not you will ship, or require the buyer to pick up at your location. Another good choice for heavy and bulky items is Craigslist.  The downside to CL is that your audience is primarily local as opposed to national the way eBay is.  Another potential issue is that buyers have to come to your home to view your sale items – you might not feel comfortable having strangers in your yard.  You could agree to meet potential buyers at a public location instead.  The good part of using CL is that you don’t have to worry about packing your stuff up and shipping it off.  Craigslist is free so you might want to try that first and if you don’t get any bites, then move on to eBay.