Newt Tech

osCommerce Hosting - a review of the best web hosts

I’ve been involved in web development for years, and currently am responsible for a half-dozen eCommerce websites.  What I’ve found is that finding the right host is one of the keys to success.   If you don’t have the right people with the right hardware behind you, then you will have one problem after another.

I’ve put together a list of some of the best hosting options for your osCommerce online store. Or any web content for that matter.  I’ve broken it down by geography, so that it will be easier to identify the hosts best suited for your region.

You can download and install the open source osCommerce CRE Loaded.  You can go for the free version (standard), or pay a bit more for Pro or B2B.  If you’re looking for something more than just a standard shop the Pro and B2B versions are worth the money.  Better to spend the money up front than have to manually perform business functions that could be done automatically online.

Web Hosting for USA and Canada

1 & 1
Gate.com
Start Logic
Blue Host
Host Gator

Recommendation
All of these hosts are great choices for osCommerce web hosting.  If I had to choose a favorite I would choose 1 & 1, just because I host a good number of my own websites there.  However having looked at the other web hosting companies, it is such a close race in terms of costs, features and reputation.

Web Hosting in UK and Europe

1 & 1

Recommendation
Hmm.  I’ve looked at a couple web hosting companies in the UK and it keeps coming back to 1&1 UK.  I’m looking into this more and asking people I know there about their favorite osCommerce web hosting company, so I’ll be adding more here.  But you cannot go wrong with 1&1 UK.  They are absolutely great!

Web Hosting in Australia

Value Hosting Australia
MD Web Hosting

Recommendation
Again, such a close call in terms of price, features and reputation that I can’t say one osCommerce web hosting company is better than the other.  However I can say that you’re in good hand whether you go with Value Hosting Australia, or MD Web Hosting.  Both handle osCommerce well.

 

 

 

4 comments August 28th, 2006

Linear actuators — best source

If you are a into home automation or custom car projects then you’ve probably used or thought about using a linear actuator.  Here’s a great source for linear actuators in the United Kingdom (UK).  They ship to all of Europe from their UK website.  They also have a linear actuators in the USA and linear actuators on their Australian website. 

Linear actuators are great for TV Lifts, hood lift, tonneau cover lifts, drop down TVs, boat engine hatch lifts, and any number of projects you can imagine.  My Dad and I are going to make a lift for his trailer so that if it’s a heavy load you can just get the actuator to push down and lift the trailer up so it’s easy to dump the contents out.

Add comment August 22nd, 2006

Hack a cell phone charger to make a USB charger

I’m sure this has been done a million times, but it’s not the same unless you do it yourself.

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Problem:
My Mother-in-law has an Apple iPod Shuffle, but the computer doesn’t charge it.  So she has to bring it over for me to charge.  Not a big problem, she’s a wonderful person.  But I wanted her to be able to charge her iPod and not have to wait to get it charged at my house.

Solution:
Take one of my old cell phone chargers, a Sony-Ericsson phone that I no longer use.  I check the output voltage, 5.1V  with 450mA.  Looks good.  I checked the USB specs and I believe it’s well within the acceptable range.

Supplies:

• wall charger around 5V, providing around 500mA.
• USB extension cable
• soldering iron and supplies (unless you use a phsyical clamp)

Step 1:
Cut the adaptor off the wall charger, strip the wires.

Step 2:
Cut the female end off the USB extension cable, this is the end you need.  Cut away the green and white wires (do a search for USB pinout, there should be a site.. something like pinouts.ru).  Strip the red and black wires.

Step 3:
Verify the voltage and polarity of the wall wart with a multi-meter.

Step 4:
Solder (or otherwise connect) the red (+ve) wire of the charger to the red (+ve) of the USB extension cable.

Step 5:
Solder (or otherwise connect) the black (-ve/gnd) of the charger to the black (-ve/gnd) of the USB extension cable.

Step 6:
If you were using shrink tubing you would have put it on before Step 5..  I bet you’re wishing you would have read all the instructions first!    For a more ghetto look (or if you have run out of shrink tubing) tape up the exposed wires with some electrical tape.

Step 7:
Verify the voltage and polarity of the pins on the USB extension cable with a multi-meter.

Step 8:
Test on your own device before giving it to your Mother-in-law.  She’s a dear, but you never want to test that relationship!  Just kidding!

Conclusion:
Now you’ve saved the environment by not depositing both an old charger and a USB extension cable in the trash.  However let’s not talk about the lead fumes you breathed in while soldering, or the fact that you nearly set your desk on fire (always remember to put soldering iron back in holder, even when phone rings!)

Pinouts:
Verify independently, but I saw this on a number of pinout diagram sites.