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Tech News & Commentary
Ralph in Huntersville, North Carolina asked: “We have an iPad 2 and our Windows-based laptop is going south on us and we have to get another one. We’ve discussed about getting the new iPad or getting another Windows-based laptop. The reason I’m hesitating on getting an iPad: I get a lot of e-mails on iPad, but I can’t open attachments. I really don’t see the need for getting a new iPad because of that. Plus, I think a Windows laptop with the hard drive and more windows based programs would be better off. I’d just like to hear your opinion on that.”
You already seem to have your answer … you have an iPad and you know that some of the stuff you do on your laptop you can’t do on it, that should be enough to make you think twice about replacing it with an iPad.
You can try this: turn off your laptop, let it sit for a week and try to do whatever you would normally do on it on your iPad. If you can without too much trouble, then you can consider getting an iPad. Keep in mind, however, an iPad is not a laptop replacement for most people. You’ll probably be better served by still having a laptop, even a cheap one, for the time being.
But, there are many ways to make it feel like a laptop. There are plenty of accessories and apps that can help the iPad do a lot more than just the entertainment part of it. There are tablet keyboards and mice, there are cloud services that give you more storage and productive apps. So you could probably get away with it. But, after a while, you might miss having a laptop.
Also, what kind of attachments are these? Office documents? Word and Excel. If so, you can get QuickOffice for your iPad and it will open all of these document formats with ease. Same thing goes for PDF files, QuickOffice also opens those.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline.
Kim in Charlotte, NC listens on WXNC asked: “Hey Dave, I just bought a Nikon 1, and I LOVE IT. However, spending this much for a camera, I want to make sure it will last. What are some good ideas to keep my camera in good shape? Thanks!”
The most common and easiest thing to do would be to get a case or camera bag. They make them with soft lining that won’t scratch your camera or your screen, padding helps as well. The case should have a small pocket for a spare memory card and a spare battery.
Keeping the camera clean is your #1 priority. Dirt and DSLR cameras simply do not mix. We found some really excellent web sites with tips and techniques for cleaning your camera, and we will link those for you in this week’s show notes. As we already said, get a quality case for your camera. And if your camera comes with a lens hood — use it! Those help keep your lens safe from bumps and scratches.
Never touch the lens with your fingers. The oils on your fingertips will muck up the lens. Before wiping off the lens, hold the camera upside down and gently blow off any grit and lose dust particles. Then, lightly wipe the lens and other camera parts with a soft, dry cloth or lens cleaning paper.
If needed, wipe the lens with a few drops of lens cleaning fluid. Place the fluid on the lens cleaning paper, not directly onto the lens. The best camera cleaning cloth is made of microfiber, which should be stored in a plastic baggie when not in use. Lens tissue, a swatch from a cotton t-shirt or a soft handkerchief can also be used. Paper towels, napkins and facial tissue should not be used to clean the lens.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Guest in this hour:
Prasant Varghese, Chief Techology Officer – Net-Texts
Heavy textbooks in student backpacks continue to be an issue. So, how technology help solve that dilemma? Net-Texts is helping build a textbook-free future.
Gladys in Rochester, New York calling via the iPhone App asked: “I was wondering if you had any recommendations for speaker docks for the iPhone.”
Depending on your price range you have lots of options. On the high end, Bose, for example, has some very nice sounding docks, but they cost as much as $600, and even their cheapest models don’t drop below $250. Bang & Olufsen has models for as much as $1000.
If you’re looking for less-expensive prices, for $150 you can buy portable Logitech speakers with a rechargeable 10-hour battery, or you can even go down to about $45 for stationary Altec Lansing speakers.
You can also look at Philips Fidelio for iPhone, we’ve only tested the Android version, but it sounds good and we would expect the iPhone version to sound good too.
If you want to take the speaker dock on-the-go, you might be interested in this week’s product spotlight …
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT with Rob: Yamaha PDX-11 Portable Dock Player Our resident iDork has tested several speaker docks for his iDevices and we assigned him the task of picking one of his favorites for Gladys. |
 Features: – Portable and has a rugged, yet modern design- You can use 6 “AA” batteries … or use the supplied AC Adapter Plug- The PDX-11 houses a unique two-way speaker system and a large 4-inch woofer that produces a strong bass. It also has a dedicated tweeter for higher frequencies.- Comes with a remote control, so you won’t have to manually change the songs or adjust the volume. – Compatible with iPhone and iPod and is available in 4 colors: black, white, dark blue, or green. – You can snag one of these for less than $100 online. |
Luke in New York listens online and asked: “When will the 3-D Blu-rays go down in price?”
They may not go down in price any further for a while. A few years ago, Hollywood realized that Blu-ray really wasn’t becoming a very popular standard, and it wasn’t replacing DVDs at all, so they lowered Blu-ray prices to about $5 more than DVD prices, and so far that’s where they have stayed.
$5 over the price of DVDs is probably not too bad for Blu-Ray users considering the better quality. The real threat to Blu-rays are digital downloads and as those become the norm, we may see Blu-rays drop in price to compete. For now, though, they’ll probably stay around the same.
Unless, of course, you mean Blu-ray players, in which case the prices are declining on those all the time. You also mentioned “3D,” one of Hollywood’s great hot buttons right now (although the bloom is coming off that rose). Right now you pay a premium for 3D content and 3D players. When will that come down? We can’t say. But it will. Remember that the players add some additional hardware to support 3D, so until there is simply no market for players without that hardware, someone will charge you more for having it.
But the premium you pay for the movie discs themselves is evaporating, and soon 3D Blu-ray movies will cost the same as standard ones, which will always cost slightly more than standard DVDs.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Creative: Live! Cam Connect HD — Webcam that records 720p video
ScanMyPhotos.com: Several $200.00 eGift Certificates that can be used towards your purchase of any of their online products, such as: Prepaid Photo Scanning Box, Prepaid Slide Box, or Prepaid VHS Transfer Box
Scott Steinberg: Copies of his new book “The Modern Parent’s Guide to Kids and Video Games”