Looks like I'm moving back to the KC metro, thanks in part to the LUG. Got a few questions about the area, since this will be the first time I'll have lived in the KC area outside of college housing, and will therefore be the first time I'll be paying taxes outside of Illinois. It'll also be the first time in my life when I'll have any real choice over my ISP. Verizon and a couple little wireless companies are pretty much it, back home.
I apologize in advance if any of these questions trigger a flamewar, but I'm going to have to make a number of important decisions surrounding each in the coming weeks.
1: ISP Choice: I've heard recommendations for Everest and Time Warner cable service, and I've heard that Speakeasy offers some sort of DSL service over the local telcos' copper. Who have you found to be most reliable and easiest to deal with?
2: Kansas vs Missouri, with regards to taxation: I'm not likely to buy a house anytime soon, so the main questions are these: Which state is it cheaper to pay income tax and keep a car in?
3: Neighborhood recommendations: Any neighborhoods or suburbs you love or prefer to steer clear of?
4: Where are the decent used computer-parts stores? Looks like my old haunt in Pleasant Valley has disappeared.
Thanks everybody, -Sean Crago/MrZaius
4: www.surplusexchange.org is about the last word in cheap & used parts. Many shops have closed in the past few years. Computer Swap and Shop is still there on Johnson drive. Albatross Computers is on Noland Rd in Independence, but I've not been in there yet. Anyone who knows anything of used parts in KC knows S.E., though. That's where many shop owners go shopping for stuff to sell...
Jon.
On 12/27/06, cragos@gmail.com cragos@gmail.com wrote:
Looks like I'm moving back to the KC metro, thanks in part to the LUG. Got a few questions about the area, since this will be the first time I'll have lived in the KC area outside of college housing, and will therefore be the first time I'll be paying taxes outside of Illinois. It'll also be the first time in my life when I'll have any real choice over my ISP. Verizon and a couple little wireless companies are pretty much it, back home.
I apologize in advance if any of these questions trigger a flamewar, but I'm going to have to make a number of important decisions surrounding each in the coming weeks.
1: ISP Choice: I've heard recommendations for Everest and Time Warner cable service, and I've heard that Speakeasy offers some sort of DSL service over the local telcos' copper. Who have you found to be most reliable and easiest to deal with?
2: Kansas vs Missouri, with regards to taxation: I'm not likely to buy a house anytime soon, so the main questions are these: Which state is it cheaper to pay income tax and keep a car in?
3: Neighborhood recommendations: Any neighborhoods or suburbs you love or prefer to steer clear of?
4: Where are the decent used computer-parts stores? Looks like my old haunt in Pleasant Valley has disappeared.
Thanks everybody, -Sean Crago/MrZaius _______________________________________________ Kclug mailing list Kclug@kclug.org http://kclug.org/mailman/listinfo/kclug
On Wednesday 27 December 2006 03:36, cragos@gmail.com wrote:
ISP's: If you're gonna go DSL, I recommend that you go with the carrier that owns the wires - SBC/AT&T in most parts of town. Going with a secondary carrier is asking for problems.
Everest has the best customer service of any telecom-type I've used, except may be Virgin Mobile.
2: Kansas vs Missouri, with regards to taxation:
I think income tax is a little higher in MO, but I have heard that tax on vehicles, trailers, etc. can be a lot higher in Kansas. Kansas is having to come up with the money that the Tax-Cut politicians have been shorting the public scools, and they're going to have to do something. (Missouri, meanwhile, has some crazy schemes to catch up with all the work that didn't get done when the Transportation Department's budget was suddenly discovered to just not be there a few years ago.)
4: Where are the decent used computer-parts stores?
New stuff is so cheap these days there's not much money in used. I know a guy in Belton, but he never has anything I can use. Surplus Exchange in the West Bottoms has pretty decent stuff for good prices, but anything like laptops or recent-spec hardware they sell on eBay. I recently picked up a 128M PC100 for $10, but that was the largest they had in stock.
I used to recommend Payless Computers on Wornal near 81st., but it really depends on whether you get the owner or his wife, who are great, or the kid who mostly runs the store these days. The kid will tell you they don't make stuff any more just to sell you all new hardware. There is a good place over on Metcalf at about 76th, 77th on the West side, where Computer Depot used to be, but I can't remember the new name.
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cragos＠gmail.com -
Jon Pruente -
Jonathan Hutchins