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Tech News & Commentary
Gerald in St. Cloud, Minnesota asked us: “I’m 100% disabled veteran, don’t have much money. But I was wondering if I should get a computer or a tablet. I need something inexpensive. We have a movie camera and I’d like to put that on disc. Only other thing I need is to access my VA records from the VA hospital and need an e-mail address.”
Gerald, We get this question a fair bit. While both tablets and computers can do many of the same jobs, there are some pretty clear differences between them that might make your decision a bit easier.
But first, we have to note that many tablets such as the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 or the Dell Venue 11, are really computers without keyboards. They run the full Windows 8 operating system, and if you attach or dock them to a keyboard, they ARE computers. That being said, we will assume that when we’re talking about tablets, we’re talking about iPads or Android tablets.
A general rule of thumb is that tablets are excellent for consuming content (books, movies, TV shows, music, websites, and so forth) while computers excel at creating content (such as documents, blogs, photographs). We can listen to our radio show on either a tablet or a computer, but when it comes time to edit and produce it, we use a computer and not a tablet. Does that make sense?
Transferring your movies to digital video will let you play them on both a tablet and a computer, but the tablet will have more limited storage space, so be prepared to have to delete old movies often to make room for new ones.
Email works equally well on both tablets and computers, although you may have trouble opening certain kinds of file attachments on a tablet. If someone attaches a Microsoft Word document to an email sent to you, you can view it on either a tablet or a computer, but making changes to it, while certainly possible on a tablet, is much easier on a computer.
One word of caution about websites and tablets. Tablets all use mobile browsers, whether that’s Safari on iPads or Chrome on Android tablets. And while they can display most websites, they can’t display every single one. And our guess is that the VA might be using older online systems that don’t play nice with mobile browsers.
By the way, that Dell Venue tablet we mentioned earlier can be purchased in a version with an 11” HD screen, 64GB of storage, and Windows 8.1 for just $499. That’s the same price as an iPad Air 16GB model. The Venue can be combined with a docking station (what they call the “Tablet Keyboard”) for an additional $140.
So just buy that, right? Wait, though. It has a full computer operating system and runs the full computer browser, but it doesn’t have access to those thousands and thousands of great apps in the iPad App Store or the Google Play Store.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Jon in Rocklin, California listens to the podcast and is calling via the App sent us a cautionary tale of his friend needing to change a cellphone that she was told could not be reparid when it could have been.
Thank you, Jon!
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
The tube based TV sets dominated the market since the beginning of the real mass market in the early 50s.The screens got bigger, but also very heavy and bulky. Stereo sound and color TV were the only innovations, until the introduction of a remote control; In the beginning connected to the TV with a cable, introduced first by Zenith in the US, named “Lazy Bones”. Then remotes went wireless – first using ultrasound technology, but as this was not very reliable, the switch was made to infrared, a technology still used today. IFA was, of course, showing all these latest innovations.
Anita in Margate, Florida listening via the Android App asked us: “I was wondering does the surface tablet allow you to add programs and still have apps to download?”
Anita, Programs and apps are the same thing… computer programs basically do the same thing as software applications, but branding the mobile kind apps have made people think that they’re not those complicated things that come with an installer.
If what you’re asking is, can you run the kind of programs that you can under Windows and the kind of apps you’d run on a phone, to an extent you can if you’re using a Surface 2 Pro and not a Surface 2 or the new surface 3.
Phones are just less powerful computers, so typically, if a phone can do it a regular computer can too, the reason Fruit Ninja doesn’t get marketed to regular computers is that slicing fruit in half with a mouse is just annoying, but it might not be a terrible game on a touchscreen laptop.
The same goes for other apps, tilting your laptop all over the place to roll a little ball is not as effortless as tilting a phone or a tablet. Since the Surface is a tablet, those shouldn’t be major concerns.
Depending on what Windows programs you’re thinking of, keep in mind that as far as computers go, a Surface 2 Pro isn’t very powerful, so anything that requires more powerful hardware won’t run well or at all on the Surface 2 Pro. Word, Excel, and that level of programs should run just fine though! Just don’t try to stick a high-end PC game on it.
And as for that app vs. programs branding confusion, we usually say that apps are smaller, simpler, and less expensive programs. That is, all apps are programs, but not all programs would be considered apps.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Jim Barry, Digital Answer Man – Consumer Electronics Association
supports the consumer technology industry through market research, education and public policy representation.
Lester in Purvis, Mississippi listening on SuperTalk asked us: “I’ve been using Real Player for a long time and have had pretty good satisfaction with it, and I was wondering now what is the best free Real Player type download that we can use?”
Lester, A great alternative to Real Player that you can use is VLC media player. It can play almost any type of format and is also free.
It doesn’t require any codec compared to other media players. GOM media player is another great free media player, and supports all major formats. GOM media player gives you the option to skin your player.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info, please email us here.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Other World Computing (OWC): NUGUARD KX – Kinectic Energy X-Orbing Case for Samsung Galaxy S4
Joos: Portable Solar Chargers – gives you power anywhere there is sun.
Tylt: ENERGI Travel Chargers with USB ports and built-in cables for iPhones and Micro USB devices
“Into Tomorrow”: Microfiber Screen Cleaning Cloths with Dave’s cartoon on them, for all your smartphones, tablets, TVs, camera lenses and computer screens!