Posts Tagged ‘Add new tag’
Still Exercising My Brain
Although I haven’t been writing about it lately, I’m still exercising my brain with BrainWare Safari. I am still making progress and think that my time is well spent. I also want to thank those of you who have joined me in the quest for brain fitness and I urge you to comment on this blog.
Remember that BrainWare Safari is offering a fantastic discount for Compu-KISS visitors!! If you click on this link to the BrainWare website, and enter the code SBC291, you will get a $200 discount, making the $349 program only $149.
Let the Kids Play with your iPhone
The Pink OtterBox 3G Case
Using the Otterbox to protect my iPhone was a great idea. I was able to let my grandson play with it without worry. The Otterbox really gave me peace of mind. I didn’t even flinch when he ran around the room playing with the Light Saber app. And he thought the case was great. He said he knew I would pick a pink case!
His favorite iPhone apps were:
LightSaber which lets you pretend you’re Darth Vader
Lite Bowling, which is just like playing Skee Ball
ChimpsLite, a quick little game
DrumKit Lite, which lets you play the drums
BTW, all of these are free apps! i have had my iPhone for almost a year, and I am still amazed by what it can do….. make phone calls, surf the web, and now — entertain the kids, as well.
Good iPod Alternative
Sansa Fuze
Although the iPod is the most popular portable digital music player, there are cheaper alternatives that also give you added features. The Sansa Fuze is one such player. In size, it is similar to the iPod nano.
The Fuze, however, does a few things that the iPod cannot do. It has a great FM radio, a voice recorder, and excellent battery life. The Fuze also supports a wider range of music formats than any other player I’ve looked at. You can increase your storage with a MicroSD card and the music on the card is fully integrated with the music on the player.
I got to review the cool-looking red one! Check out my full review at Hardware Secrets.
The Best Yet iPhone Case
My search for a case for the iPhone has produced a lot of great contestants so I won’t yet declare this one the winner, but it is, without a doubt one of the best. If you follow my posts you will know that I ordered a Treadz case for my iPhone from a company named iFrogz.
IFrogz Luxe Case (Back)
I didn’t like it so I returned it. The iFrogz company was amazingly gracious about the return. I chose to exchange the Treadz case for the iFrogz iPhone 3G Luxe case which was suggested by their representative during a telephone call. “Everyone here has their iPhones in the Luxe case”, she said. “I’m sure that you will love it!”
The Luxe case arrived quickly and the rep was right. I love it. The Luxe is a hard shell plastic case. It comes in two parts that slide together to encompase the iPhone in an atractive arching design. One part of the case is a bright color. The other is black. The colors include royal blue, ruby red, medium magenta, orange, silver, and the lime green that I choose. Actually, the color is a bit more muted than it shows here. The neat thing is that the case has a metallic facade that has a velvety soft touch. I don’t know how they did it, but the finish is really great. So it is aptly named “Luxe”.
The case comes with a screen protector to prevent scratches. You simply peel it off the paper and apply it to the face of the iPhone. My first try produced a few bubbles, but the second try produced good results.
It is difficult to give the iPhone an extremely protective case without interfering with the functionality of the full-face touch screen, but the Luxe does a good job. Everything is accessable and the case gives the iPhone a great feel. No more fear of it sliding out of your hand!
Toshiba Satellite Pro L300 Review
In choosing a computer, there are times when you want all the gadgets and gizmos it can have, but there are also times when you just want a simple workhorse. If you are looking for the workhorse, the Toshiba Satellite Pro L500 will be a good choice.
A Workhorse
This Satellite comes with a clear and crisp 15.4 inch TruBrite widescreen display that has good viewing angles. The 1280 x 800 screen resolution may not suit those who like to keep many windows on the screen, but it is perfect for the average user. The mat black full-sized keyboard has clearly marked keys and an excellent feel. The black keyboard is surrounded by a mat silver surround that incorporates a responsive touchpad. Multi-tasking is no problem with this laptop’s Intel Centrino processor technology and Core 2 Duo processors. (The L500 can also be purchased in an AMD dual core processor configuration.) It has built-in 802.11 a/b/g wireless support.
Although this laptop doesn’t have a fingerprint reader or bright color exteriors, it does have just about everything that you need for everyday computing. The built-in webcam with 3.0 megapixel resolution and the built-in microphone are useful tools. The Webcam is especially easy to use, just move your cursor to the left side of the screen, and the webcam software pops up allowing you to start the camera, control the settings and add fun effects.
There is a memory card reader for SD cards and Memory Sticks. The 160 GB hard drive (5400rpm) is large enough for most business and/or home use. My test unit came with 2 GB (PC2-5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM) memory, which is plenty for the Windows XP Professional operating system that came pre-installed. The L300 is also available with Vista Business with the downgrade media necessary for Windows XP Professional. This is a great feature that gives you the best of both worlds. Try Vista and if [you don’t like it, go back to XP at no additional cost.
This Toshiba L500 comes with a DVD-SuperMulti drive which supported every format I threw at it. It also has a modem, 10/100 Ethernet port, stereo speakers, and a PC ExpressCard slot. It has three USB ports. I really like the fact that it has two USB ports on one side and one on the other. This gives you the choice of using whichever side is more convenient. For instance, if you are left-handed and use a USB mouse, you can attach it to the left side of the computer. If you are right-handed, you can use the ports on the right. This is something that all laptop manufacturers should take note of.
The only useful thing missing was built-in Bluetooth. There is also no S-Video or HDMI port, but this is not surprising. The XP Professional and/or Vista Business operating system is aimed more at business use rather than home entertainment use.
The software that came with the computer included the Toshiba Disc Creator, Google Picasa™, InterVideo® WinDVD®, Toshiba ConfigFree, which is a utility to help you connect to Wi-Fi networks. The Toshiba Recovery Disc Creator is also installed with an icon on the desktop. However, I was never prompted to create the disks, which is a reminder that most users will need to remember to make the recovery disks well before they need them.
There are also two 60-day trial pieces of software, Microsoft Office Professional 2007 and Norton 360™ All-In-One Security.
In normal everyday use, the Toshiba was strong and sturdy. I enjoyed the mat finish which always looked professional and didn’t attract fingerprints. The computer also performed well, even for intensive graphic tasks and multi-tasking. Benchmarks done by others rate the L300 average in performance. At 5.7 lbs. it is a little heavy, but still tote able.
The battery life is adequate. Expect to get 2-4 hours depending on the screen brightness that you prefer and if wireless is enabled or disabled. The L300 is wonderfully quite and doesn’t seem to generate much heat. All-in-all, it is a good, solid performer that is quite and sturdy.
Reviewed: Toshiba Satellite Pro L500 L300-EZ1005X
Pros:
• Good design
• Full-size keyboard
• Crisp, clear screen
• Easy-to-access ports
• Webcam & microphone
Cons:
• Somewhat heavy
• No Bluetooth
Specifications:
• Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 2.1GHz processor
• 2GB RAM DDR2
• Intel X3100 Integrated Graphics
• 160GB (5400 rpm) hard drive
• Windows XP Professional
• 15.4″ WXGA 1280×800 screen
• Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)
• 10/100 Ethernet LAN
• Modem
• VGA-15 pin
• DVD-SuperMulti drive (+/-R double layer) supporting up to 11 formats
• ExpressCard Slot
• SDCard Slot
• 3x USB 2.0
• Stereo headphone and mono microphone jack
• Integrated Webcam
• Lithium Ion battery
• Weight: 5.7lbs
• Retail Price: $899