Tagged: laptop

Windows 8 Metro Screen

My Windows 8 review

I have been following the development of Windows 8 from the get go, just as I have with most of the other Windows releases in the past. And I was excited about it being released to consumers in some kind of beta stage.

Windows 8 Metro Screen
Windows 8 Start Screen

I had a good 8 month with it now from the Consumer Preview to the Release Candidate all the way to the final product and in general I like it. But let’s take it from the start.

Installation

Installing Windows 8 was a very painless process, especially when you are used to installing previous versions of Windows. Simply select the drive you want to install in on and it will do the rest.

I installed it on my 6 year old laptop, that recently got upgraded with a bit more RAM and an SSD drive and it is as fast as you can expect it to be.

Metro

Is it still called Metro? I got a bit confused with all the backwards and forwards. No it’s not. Call it Windows 8!

To get to the point – I don’t like the Windows 8 Start screen on my non touchscreen Laptop at all. When you have a lot of software installed on your laptop, there is a lot of scrolling left and right involved. I found myself reverting back to typing, which actually works really well. On the Windows 8 Start screen just start typing on your keyboard and all programs installed that fit the criteria will be sorted in real time.

Windows 8 Search
Finding by Searching

I found that I spend a lot of time on the Desktop and I pinned all my frequent apps to the taskbar there, so I don’t have to go back to the Windows 8 Start screen.

Windows 8 Desktop

One thing that I found really annoying are the Live tiles on the Windows 8 Start screen. At the office I still use messenger a lot to communicate with people that sit on the other side of the office. The Windows 8 messenger app comes with Windows now and is a native app that has its live tile and when you receive a new message you can see a little popup in the top right corner of your screen for a second. Now if you would have missed that and you are like me, spending most of your time on the Desktop, you won’t even know that you got a new message as there is no indication. Remember the old messenger app turning orange in the taskbar? So i ended up installing the old version of messenger.

Speed

I am sure it helps that I run everything of my SSD drive, but it seems that Microsoft really optimized everything regarding speed and I am liking it.

Windows Explorer is much nicer when you are copying lots of files all the time as you get a lot more information, you can pause and restart copy processes and if you run multiple at a time they nicely line up. The task manager is better structured and more intuitive and I personally like that Aero didn’t make the cut.

Copy process and Task Manager

The Start Menu

By now you are probably aware that Microsoft retired the Start button in Windows 8 and personally I think it was a mistake for business use. I was ready to switch back to Windows 7 until i discovered a little app called Classic Shell (here). You might have noticed that I have a start button in my screen shots and that is Classic Shell.

Start Button
Classic Shell Start Button

It basically behaves like your current start button, but is highly customizable. Since I installed it, I haven’t looked back. It also disables the Windows 8 Start screen on startup, but you can turn that off if you want.

You get all the new features of Windows 8 with the feel of Windows 7.

Conclusion

All up I am enjoying Windows 8 now that i found a way to get my start button back (and I am not the only one, Samsung included their own in some of their Win8 laptops) and I was able to turn off the Windows 8 Start screen.

Now I am not saying the Windows 8 Start screen is wrong, I am saying that it works on touch devices, but not on Desktops that you would use for business. I had a chance to try it out on Microsofts new Surface tablet and it works well there as it is easy to swipe and “pin” programs to a quarter of the screen etc.

If you have had your own experience, please let me know in the comments what you think of it.

@maniac13

 

 

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My Gadget wish list for 2010

In my line of work (and because I love it) I come across a lot of cool gadgets and usually (at least if you ask my wife) I spend too much money on them.

So this year I will follow my moms advice and make myself a list.

Usually I start these lists with the least and work my way up to the best, but I want to start with the device I really really want this year.

1. Samsung Galaxy S

I have been using my 8310 blackberry for too long and for a while there I was carrying around 3 devices to do my phonecalls, emails and browsing and gaming, but the Samsung will be able to do all that.

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So why do I want it?

for a start I don’t like the iPhone (don’t get me wrong I think it is a good phone for “normal” users), but it just doesn’t do what i want from a phone.

apart from that here is my  shortlist on why I want it:

* 4 inch WVGA Super Amoled screen (finally a device i can use outside)
* big (as in big capacity) battery – 1500mAh
* 16GB internal memory + extendable with micro sd
* wireless n
* camera capable of 720p video @ 30fps
* support of MPeg4, H.263, H.264, WMV, RV, DivX, Xvid and MKV – no more converting movies
* Samsung Social Hub – no more opening up app after app after app – I just have it all in one inbox – sweet

 

2. Tablet

I had a chance to play with the iPad for a few weeks now and I have to say I am not impressed – especially since Apple announced the AU pricing for it today and again, Australia gets screwed – all you really get is a big iPod

so what do I want in a Tablet?

Continue reading →

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Want a second screen on your Laptop

Then look no further because Lenovo will release a ThinkPad laptop with 2 LCD screens.

The ThinkPad W700ds appears to be the first laptop ever to sport two LCD screens — a 17-in. primary and a 10.6-in. secondary screen.

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The trade-offs? Besides price and weight, the W700ds is bulkier than typical laptops, measuring 16 inches by 12 inches, and is 2.1 inches thick. The ultrathin MacBook Air, by comparison, is 13 by 9 inches and only 0.75 inches thick.

And its about 5-6 kgs in weight.

interesting concept, but is it worth it?

you can see the second screen in action here:

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Top 10 Coolest Gadgets on Ebay for under $10

Earlier this year I set myself a mini project – find ten cool gadgets for under $10* on Ebay. I tried to keep postage included in the cost but allowed a couple of items to sneak over, simply because I had saved money on a few others.

The good news is that I found ten kind of cool gadgets. Instead of posting to this blog I’ve waited a few months to see if any of these were any good- ie whether I actually used them or if any of them broke.

Here is the top 10, starting with the worst. Number one is a cracker – in fact it was so good that someone stole it :( ((

* ($10 Aussie = $6.80 USD | £4.50 UK | €4.90 Euros )

THE TOP 10:

10: USB Vacuum cleaner (find them here on ebay)

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Average price: AU$8.00 including postage
Gadget Wow Factor: 6/10
Quality: 1/10
Real world usefulness: 3/10

This would have been a zero except for the fact that it has an LED light on it which came in handy a couple of times when I was trying to peer into dark places inside the computer. This thing has no suction. Whilst I really liked the idea because computers and keyboards attract dust like a flies to a poop, this USB vacuum is absolutely crap.
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9. Weather Station (find on ebay) 

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Average price: AU$7.00 +$5 postage
Gadget Wow Factor: 2/10
Quality: 6/10
Real world usefulness: 4/10

It does what it says, temperature, time, date, humidity blah blah blah. But it’s pretty boring really. It was also slightly over $10 with postage.
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8. Voice disguise for mobile phone (find here)

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Average price: AU$10.00 +$2 postage
Gadget Wow Factor: 6/10
Quality: 5/10
Real world usefulness: 2/10

Total gimmick, that’s about it. I have very little need to disguise my voice or sound like a female. Given that my mobile phone sends the number to callers anyway, it’s not like I can get away with anything anyway!____________________________________________________

7. Laptop (or child) Theft Detector (find here)

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Average price: AU$10.00 +$5 postage
Gadget Wow Factor: 8/10
Quality: 3/10
Real world usefulness: 2/10

I was actually excited about ordering this. I have a couple of small kids who always run off so the idea of a proximity alarm going off if the two things get separated by more than 30ft is kind of cool.

Here’s the problem. It goes off randomly on occasion. The transmitter batteries don’t last very long. You have to constantly turn both ends on and off. I like the idea – but again this gadget fails to deliver as I’d like.
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6. Tiny Wireless Mouse  (find here)

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Average price: AU$6.00 +$5 postage
Gadget Wow Factor: 4/10
Quality: 2/10
Real world usefulness: 9/10

This thing “was” great. The usb adapter slots away really well. I was using this a lot. But then it broke after 3 months. Maybe I was just unlucky? Shame.
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5. Worlds Smallest Universal Remote Control (find here)

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Average price: AU$7.00 including postage
Gadget Wow Factor: 6/10
Quality: 7/10
Real world usefulness: 6/10

I think this would be useful for some people. It’s small enough to go on your keychain. The only real downside is configuring it. It’s a pain in the neck. Always fun for hanging out the local TV shop and turning their TVs on and off!

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4. Roll-up Flexible Waterproof Keyboard (find here)

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Best price: AU$6.00 including postage
Gadget Wow Factor: 6/10
Quality: 6/10
Real world usefulness: 6/10

Six bucks (including postage) is a bargain. That’s a big reason it made number four. I actually found it useful a few times when the kids were playing on the computer. No fear of them spelling some sticky gloop on it. Ok they keys are not fantastic, but you can feel a press easily enough, plus it’s very lightweight. It’s also a handy
spare if something goes wrong with your main keyboard.
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3. Alcohol Breath Tester (find here)

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Best price: AU$7.00 including postage<
br>Gadget Wow Factor: 8/10
Quality: 6/10
Real world usefulness: 6/10

I believe the best policy is not to drink anything at all (if you’re planning to drive) but of course you do find yourself in situations where you might want to test the person who’s about to drive you to see if they are safe! We found this device kind of fun when we were staying at home after a couple of beers – just testing each other to see who was over. How accurate is it? Well the detector is primitive (green yellow or red) so it seems pretty basic, but three beers in an hour and it went straight to RED every time. My advice, it’s a novelty not a tool – but still worth $7 bucks. Yes, it even has a an LED light on it.
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2. LED Laser Torch (here on ebay) or (here)

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Ave price: AU$9.99 +$5 postage
Gadget Wow Factor: 7/10
Quality: 9/10
Real world usefulness: 9/10

OK – I used this so much that I lost it. The one above isn’t quite the same but I did manage to get something very similar for under $10 including delivery off Ebay. The batteries last for ages, there are multiple settings and the laser is, well a good toy for making cats and dogs chase around the little red dot. A bargain gadget.
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1. Electric Shock Laser Key Ring (here) or (here ebay)

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Ave price: AU$6.00 including postage
Gadget Wow Factor: 8/10
Quality: 9/10
Real world usefulness: 9/10

The winner! We had so much fun with this that is, until someone stole it. Basically if you press the wrong button, instead of getting the laser you get a pretty huge electric shock. So provided you’re not playing this prank on someone with a pacemaker, this thing is a hoot for $6 incl postage. They don’t always show up on Ebay so I included another link above.

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Got any ideas or great finds for Gadgets under $10 – let me know:
www.twitter.com/eunmac or leave a comment below. :)

Get your stolen Laptop back

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Laptop Cop, which lets you remotely control your computer and delete files if it is stolen, now has a geo-location feature based on WiFi-hotspot triangulation technology from Skyhook Wireless. It is the same technology that is used in the iPhone (along with GPS and cell-tower triangulation) to determine your location for geo-aware apps. Now you can tell the cops exactly what door to knock on.

check it out here.

Unfortunately it isn’t free. so if you just want to know where your laptop is you can download loki (here).

Laptop Battery Life to 20-40 Hours

I am traveling a lot and I use my Laptop to work and entertain myself when on the train.

recently my battery started dying and it went from 3-4 hours battery life to 1.5 hours which left me bored by the end of my trips.

Now I am reading this:

Jepsen Works to Raise Laptop Battery Life to 20-40 Hours

How are the going to do it? newly created low-power screens that can be read in bright sunlight. The screens cost a third that of traditional LCD screens and use about a tenth of the power.

Pixel Qi plans to develop entire laptop and PC designs around its new screen technology to create the most power efficient models possible.

This is what Mary Lou Jespen (formerly head of Intel’s display division) had to say:

"We are working with a number of notebook and e-book makers on a number of different form factors," she said. "We can enable an increase of 5-10X battery life between charges compared with a standard notebook. This means that rather than needing to recharge your batteries every few hours, you could run 20-40 hours of use on a one charge."

What do I say? I can’t wait not to run out of battery anymore – bring it on!