A Very Light Laptop With A Very Heavy Price tag

Ernie H — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:45:59 +0000

Toshiba has introduced what would seem the lightest Laptop to hit the market yet. In response to Apple’s Airbook, Toshiba has released the Portege R500-S5007V. According to Toshiba, its Portege R500-S5007V weighs in at only 2.4 pounds and is the lightest laptop with a 128GB SSD and DVD SuperMulti drive. The latest Portege from Toshiba is only 0.77 inches thick and maintains that by including a SSD and 7mm DVD SuperMulti drive that its travel weight is light because you won’t have to lug additional drives and cables. The configuration is pretty impressive and includes 8 hours of battery life, Vista Business with downgrade media to Windows XP professional, a 12.1 inch widescreen high brightness display and an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor U7700–1.33GHz, 2MB L2, 533MHz FSB with 64 bit architecture. The price will be a very heavy $2999.00

The New LG Dare Takes On The Apple iPhone

Ernie H — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:32:31 +0000

LG has released a new phone appropriately named the Dare and are determined to be the latest and greatest in a new line of what I like to call iPhone killers. It presents a few tricks of its own and offers new, never before seen features. For example, you can drag and drop icons to make your own customized shortcuts on the home screen, or you can use a drawing pad to sketch ideas or draw a map, which can then be sent via MMS to a friend. The Dare also sports one of the most advanced cameras yet on a touch-screen phone. The 3.2 megapixel camera has settings like face detection, noise reduction, panorama photo stitching, and a SmartPic technology designed for taking photos in low light. The built-in camcorder can even record high-speed video and play it back in slow-motion, which is a first for U.S. camera phones. This phone doesn’t have features such as Wi-Fi, and its Web browser and media player aren’t as good as the iPhone’s. However, the Dare is a very appealing alternative for Verizon customers who want a touch-screen phone with a difference. The LG Dare is priced competitively at $199 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year service agreement.

The Best Flip Video Camera Equals Mino

Ernie H — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:06:52 +0000

If you are into the latest and greatest gadgets like I am then read on. First off, the one thing I like is ease of use. I don’t like taking a product out of its package and staring at a thousand buttons and switches. It must be highly technical, but simple to use. So, when I went out looking for an easy way to put videos of my family and me onto my computer I was fascinated to discover the Flip Video Mino. This is actually the fourth generation of Pure Digital’s mini camcorder, which is a very popular straight-to-Web mini camcorder. It is basically designed to make the shooting and sharing of low-resolution videos extremely easy(something I’ve been looking for). This new mini camcorder is much thinner and lighter than its older sibling, the Flip Video Ultra. The Flip Video Mino crams new technology into a compact and very attractive package that utilizes a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

It comes in weighing a mere 3.3 ounces. The USB connector flips straight up, giving the Mino a more compact footprint. It also comes with a nice transflective 1.46” LCD display, which allows the user to still see the screen during bright daylight. It comes with a port for AV output and threaded tri-pod mount conveniently located in the center of the camera. The camera comes with 2GB of memory and is a piece of cake to use and takes a matter of mere seconds to learn how to use. All-in-all I like this device and the price of $150.00 is not bad either.

Samsung ML-2851ND Laser Printer

Ernie H — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:24:02 +0000

If you own a small business, online business or even if you are currently in school and need to print professional quality papers, the Samsung ML-2851ND should be on the top of your list to examine. This printer is one of my favorites as it has lightning fast print speed, extraordinary text print quality, an autoduplexer, and outstanding networking features. This hearty monolaser printer will definitely appeal to the busy professional who simply needs to print out text documents flawlessly. It is also quite capable of printing out light graphics and for the $330.00 price tag the new owner will more than likely get his money’s worth. It runs a tad bit higher than average for a monochrome printer, yet the Samsung ML-2851ND is a fast printer that produces exceptional and very high quality prints. To see this printer crank out text, graphics, and PowerPoint presentations at such a fast rate of speed is a wonderful thing. This printer spits out about 20 pages per minute across the board and is worth its weight in gold if you need to print out multiple pages, but don’t have the time nor the inclination to sit around waiting for your pages.

Norton Internet Security 2008 Falls Short

Ernie H — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:22:50 +0000

The Norton Internet Security Suite has always been one of the higher rated software applications consumers could purchase. It is easy to install and comes with fairly good technical support. The one problem I have had with them is the fact that the software does not seem to integrate well with other programs and is a resource hog. The other problem I have is when you attempt to uninstall the application, there are problems left behind like no Internet connection and a computer that crashes. For these reasons alone I, for one have done without Norton for years.

With Norton Internet Security 2008, I experienced on more than one occasion a system slowdown associated with the LiveUpdate process. This was accompanied by even more frustration when I began to see paid services promoted within the technical support section after visiting that section searching for additional help not provided by the software itself.

My biggest problem has got to be what I mentioned above. If I purchase software and install it on my computer, then I equally would like to be able to uninstall it if I don’t want it on my computer system any longer. The software needs to be a clean uninstall. I hate software applications that completely take over my system then penalize me for uninstalling them. This is what it seems happens when I attempt to uninstall any Symantec Norton utility. Which is one of the reasons I switched to a different suite years ago.

New iPhone 3G Version To Be Released Soon

Ernie H — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 17:56:51 +0000

The long-awaited upgraded 3G version of Apple’s iPhone will be released soon and I can see people standing in line already! With the original iPhone not even a year old, Apple is still trying to play catch-up to the rest of the high-end cell phone market already on the faster 3G network. Even with the current iPhones cool looks, sleek design and outstanding functionality, it is easy to see why a gadget guru/office professional may think twice before plunking down the big bucks. The do-everything cell phone market is fast growing and Apple needs to keep up with the huge demand for streaming video, audio, and GPS navigation abilities of the 3G network. The iPhone is way behind when it comes to their EDGE network, which is a lot slower than other provider’s networks already using the much faster 3G version. This new network capability will be huge for streaming media and intensive graphics.

In Search of an Online Casino

Ernie H — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:18:45 +0000

If you haven’t tried your luck out at one of the many Online Casinos, then you really don’t know what you’ve been missing. Most online casinos offer beautiful graphics and enhanced sound effects as part of their software packages. The best part is that this software is 100% free. To me, online casinos offer the same thrill and excitement that real casinos offer, except for the fact that you don’t have to travel anywhere. You can play your favorite Slots or Table Games right from the comfort of your own home. The money you save by not having to travel, dine out or stay at a hotel, can be used to play your favorite games at an online casino. There are lots of casino sites these days popping up everywhere. Some offer big cash bonuses to first time customers, some offer special tournaments and some even offer 200% bonuses! To find the different casino sites is a huge task. While doing a little research myself, I stumbled upon an online casino bluebook that had all of the best online casinos listed in order all neatly ranked. The best thing about this site is the fact that they have reviews and show all of the bonus packages each casino offers. With the multitude of casino sites all offering something different, this site is a real time saver.

An Alternative to Cable - It’s About Choices

Ernie H — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:43:07 +0000

I’m going to step back in time a little and reflect on what it was like to have cable TV years ago. You see, back then you had no choice in TV providers at all. If you wanted to watch TV back then you had two choices: 1) Watch 13 channels with a terrible “snowy” picture, unless your antenna all of a sudden got jarred one way and the picture would improve a little; or 2) Pay for whatever cable TV provider serviced your area at the time. Well, number 1 was never an option for me because I needed to watch some quality channels and my picture needed to be clear. Number 2 was what I was forced to accept at the time as there were no other options. So, when your cable went out, the customer service people would act like they cared, but you could tell by their tone of voice that had a non-chalant attitude towards the whole thing. And why shouldn’t they? It’s not like a person could say they were going to stop service and switch to Direct TV or something! We had no other service to turn to back then.

Nowadays we have a choice! It’s wonderful what competitors do for the economy – lower prices, better quality and let’s not forget about better customer service! With all the Direct TV Deals out there, I certainly understand why people have been switching to this newer and more innovative service. Direct TV is definitely the way of the future and I for one am looking forward to the ride.

The XBOX 500 Series Rumor

Ernie H — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:07:20 +0000

There has been a rumor going around about a successor to the XBOX 360. How long has this rumor been going around? Well, as soon as the XBOX 360 was released and reports of the 720 surfaced, gamers began rumors of a 500 series XBOX to be released in the fall of 2008. The new game console that was to be released from Microsoft was supposed to take advantage of newer technologies and offer a solution to current 360 problems. This new game console was purported to offer some huge upgrades, including a Blu-Ray drive and built-in Wi-Fi capabilities. It would also take care of current problems like the “Red ring of death”, which is supposedly caused by the 360’s lack of sufficient cooling.

Now the big question being asked by overly enthusiastic gamers is whether Microsoft will actually release a new revamped version of its flagship game console. As far as we know, the answer is “NO”. Microsoft denied a new “500” series game console, however I have heard rumors of a sleeker designed XBOX with a new GPU, which runs cooler than the current one.

So, for all you overly hyped up gamers crossing your fingers and saving your money for an XBOX 520 or 540, you can un-cross them and buy an extra set of cooling fans for your current console.

Random Musings About Wireless Storage

Ernie H — Fri, 16 May 2008 21:49:03 +0000

I remember a time when setting up a home network was an extremely expensive ordeal. If you were studying for a Microsoft Certification Exam, Cisco Exam or any of the other multitudes of exams out there, for the majority of us a home network was not an option because of the costs involved. As time went on, home networks became affordable. Now, it seems almost anyone can set up a vast network of sorts and it is very affordable. Even the once super high-priced wireless networks are within reach. It’s amazing how technology changes and how prices for some of the top gadgets eventually come down.

Recently, I was browsing around and discovered wireless hard drives, which can be incorporated into a network with ease. A wireless hard drive can be used to store backups of all your critical data and is like having your own SANS. It’s simply amazing that a consumer can have all of the advantages of this technology without the high costs of a SANS. Even with prices around $ 300.00 (which is great) for a wireless hard drive, I will still wait until these babies come down in price, which they eventually will.

Until next time,

Ernie H