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“Into
Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Nick in Decatur, Illinois listens on 100.9 WZUS asked: “Which tablet should I get. One that may be used for word processing.”
Well Nick, that all depends on your budget, most tablets offer apps that can handle basic word processing but if you want to create more advanced documents, maybe even store them online with Google Drive, or other services, then you really only have two options Android or iOS, pretty much any model will do, as long as the size, weight and screen is right for you. Since you are going to be spending some time looking at the screen, a high quality display is something to look into.
If you prefer iOS then the iPad 3rd generation is great, admittedly, it’s not the latest fruit from the farm but is good enough to get you long battery life, a great Retina Display and it can handle the most popular apps such as “Pages”, “Quickoffice Pro” & “Google Drive” with them you can easily make documents with images, graphics and export them to a variety of destinations. Since it’s the “Old” iPad from Apple, it can be found for about $490 at a discount.
But if Android is your favorite then first of all you have a better choice of cheaper tablets. The Google Nexus 7 or the Nexus 10 both come from Google so you have pure android and are ensured compatibility with whatever comes from the Play Store.
They are, as their names suggest 7 and 10 inch tablets, they can also run Google Drive, Quickoffice pro and more. The 7 retails for about $230 and the 10 for $480.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Larry in Oshkosh, Wisconsin listens on “News Talk” WOSH 1490 asked: “We’re gone for 3 months to Tuscon, AZ and need Internet in our 5th wheel. We’ve been told about a hot spot stick that you plug into a USB port. Another option would be to get an Android smartphone. Which of these would you suggest. If the phone is the suggestion, what type of phone would you suggest. We’re with U.S. Cellular.”
It all depends on how many devices you want to connect. If you just want to get a computer online then a one of those USB devices you’ve been told about should do the trick just fine, if you want to connect several a time that won’t do.
You can look into getting a MiFi, which is basically a little square device that can create a wireless network and connect several devices at once, or you can go the smartphone route.
Android phones and iPhone will allow you to create personal networks and share your data connection, however that means you will be paying a monthly smartphone fee, if you don’t have a smartphone right now that will probably mean paying significantly more.
As for Android phones on US Cellular, your best choice is likely the Samsung Galaxy S3, you will get a good phone (although, we should mention it’s big… especially if you don’t already have a smartphone), and you will benefit from the much, much faster LTE network when you’re somewhere that has it, which with U.S. Cellular, isn’t very many places, according to their network map. Of more concern to me is cost. For a 2GB per month smartphone plan with tethering, you’re looking at $45. 5GB is $50, and that’s a no brainer. 10GB is $90. The thing is, if this is your primary form of Internet access, you need to be very careful about streaming video. One or two Netflix movies will be a big chunk of that data. For email and web surfing without a lot of downloading, however, it’s fine.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guests in this hour:
James Tagg – Truphone
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
The first in-car media center was presented during the Internationale Funkausstellung in 1993 in Berlin. Blaupunkt presented a model, named “Berlin” of course, which combined a mobile music- and information system with a three by two inch video screen. The “Berlin” already had interfaces for a CD changer, telephone, television and video players, plus a complete navigation system.
Irene in Madison, Wisconsin listens to 1670 WTDY asked: “We travel quite a bit and need a radio that is good for AM reception that has digital tuning, a clock and a CD player. I know I’m being picky but if you could think of any products that fit that category, that would be great. We have C Crane radio that hasn’t met our needs.”
Depending on what you mean by “traveling quite a bit” you might benefit from something super portable, like a Sony D-FJ041 portable CD player, it’s an old style discman with an AM tuner. Otherwise, there are thousands of boomboxes that still feature CD players and digital tuners, starting at as little as $20.
If your problem with your current radio is the reception itself, you may want to look into buying something a little more expensive, odds are that a more expensive, better built on might fix your problems.
You can also look into radios that come with an external AM antenna, not the pull up silvery straight antenna, but the one that’s shaped like a square. That may improve your reception too.
You said you were looking for something with “digital tuning.” You might want to look into HD Radio. There are many different models to choose from. These will not only get you the digital tuning, which will make AM sound like FM and FM sound like CD, but you’ll also have access to the HD side channels. Many stations that broadcast in HD also offer two or more channels of programming. You can’t receive these channels on a “traditional” radio.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Lisa in Fairbanks, Alaska listening n KFBX 970 asked: “I lost everything on my iPhone trying to “sync” it to my laptop. Now I want a tablet, primarily for a bigger screen. Should I just take it to a technician with the phone and laptop to get it set up and all synced together correctly?”
Not really… syncing a tablet should be pretty simple, if you’re not comfortable doing it yourself after what happened with your phone, maybe you can find a tech savvy friend or relative, but it’s really not something that would merit paying an expert to do.
Normally, assuming your tablet is an iPad, plugging it in and following on screen prompts should do, the easiest way to make sure you don’t lose anything is to not put anything on it before you sync it, if you do that, you really don’t have much to worry about.
If you have an iPhone and your tablet will be an iPad, all you need to do is use the same Apple ID on both devices and connect both devices to iCloud. You can sync as much, or as little, as you like. Everything from Email to Contacts, Documents, Downloaded Apps, Music, TV shows. If you put it on one, it will show up on the other through iCloud.
This does assume that both devices are running the latest version of iOS, though, so be sure and keep up to date! And if you decide to go with an Android tablet instead of an iPad, then you’ll have to find another way to sync your date. It’s harder, but not impossible. Using your Google account as the central hub will help a great deal, in that case.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Willy in Bristol, Virginia listens via Zeno Radio asked: “What is the best bluetooth headset for the iPhone that works with Siri?”
Siri will work with any bluetooth headset, the problem really is what headsets actually make it useful.
You’re going to want to look for something that had decent background noise cancellation, so Siri can actually understand what you’re telling it.. no so much for commands, if it hears something similar to “launch Pandora” it will probably be able to figure it out, but mostly for text dictation.
The Plantronics M1100, for example, offers noise cancellation, and it has generally good reviews, but it will cost you around $80. The Motorola H17 also has good reviews and it will knock about $10 off the Plantronic’s price.
You can keep going cheaper, some noise cancelling Samsung headsets cost as little as $25 or $30, but you might want to make sure you buy a quality product if you want it to be useable outdoors or in loud rooms.
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
Covington Creations: Earbud yo-yo — A simple solution to tangled earbuds.
Iolo: System Mechanic – Fix and speed up your PC… Automatically.
Magellan: eXplorist 610 – Premium, rugged, handheld GPS with camera, microphone and speaker to record all your actions in the outdoors.
Yamaha: PDX-11 Portable Speaker — Free your iPod and iPhone music for your active Lifestyle.