Er, I dunno what you're talking about.

On a completely unrelated topic, ipad accessories are way cooler than for other tablets too!



http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/831 ... hands-free

That looks rather uncomfortable. I'm surprised it just doesn't attach to your head. Even though there is a table one that would be good as a console while you're watching tv

I jumped on this particular accessory because I've developed a horrible habit of watching movies or tv shows (or Fogbowing) in bed as I go to sleep. It also fits perfectly with another favorite spot of mine in my home: the couch. Not for typing or working of course, but viewing video.

I think GMail just added a POP3 mail import feature. I have not tried it yet.

I am finding rumors (e.g.) that the iPad 3 will be released in Fall 2011, well off Apple's usual schedule. Nobody seems certain that this is a meaningful guess or how the iPad 3 will differ from the iPad 2. However, speculation centers on
A high-resolution "Retina" display, as on the iPhone 4.
A USB port.
An SD card slot.
3-D capability.

What no fleshlight port? I really thought Apple was going to blow us away this year....

lol jk

You really need to watch the latest South Park episode. Steve Jobs comes up with a human-machine hybrid called the HumanCentiPad, where 3 "volunteers" (they had clicked on the Apple "agree" button without reading the actual terms and conditions) were sown together (mouth to anus) to create the ultimate reading, walking, web browsing machine. Needless to say, don't watch this unless you're at least 10 miles from the presence of any children. And unless, like me, you have the maturity level of a 17-year old.

iPad2 v Xoom

I had a chance to compare my iPad2 against my son's Motorola Xoom this weekend. I got the iPad2 last month and my son chose the Xoom since he is not a big fan of Apple's iron-fisted software policy. What follows are my subjective non expert opinions. Neither one was 3g or 4g enabled. My iPad2 has 64 GB vs. 32 GB on the Xoom.

The iPad2 is slightly lighter, definitely thinner and feels a little more solid to me. Not to say the Xoom isn't rugged enough. The new iPad2 cover is just great (extra of course) and I don't think there is anything like it on the Xoom. One definite advantage with the Xoom is the Wifi reception. From the 5h floor of the hotel my iPad would barely connect and then only intermittently to the lobby hot spot. The Xoom connected pretty solidly even with the weak signal. I have noticed somewhat poor reception at one or two locations around the house with the iPad2 compared with the laptop.

The Xoom display is slightly shorter and wider. I would be fine with either. The resolutions are comparable. I might give a slight edge to the Xoom but it is close. The Android OS does a better job of porting over the phone specific apps to the tablet format than Apple does. The iPhone apps on the iPad are at the same resolution and when you expand them full screen they are just fuzzy larger versions. I also like the Android ability to display less than full screen versions of email and other apps on the home screen. The Xoom has speech recognition built into the keyboard screen on many apps. I didn't try it but my son said it works pretty well. With the iPad2 you have to use Dragon Dictation and copy and pste over which is not as handy. I hope Apple adds this to the next OS update.

My son said that he has a few apps crash on the Xoom but that was pretty rare. I think I have only had to reset my iPad2 once since I got it. I think the iPad might win on the stability comparison but it isn't a big issue with the Xoom. I didn't have a chance to compare battery life. One thing I have found is that I can turn down the display brightness on the IPad2 to extend battery life and not really notice the difference. I use auto brightness.

I am not sure which one I would buy if I had to choose now. I think the comparably equipped iPad2 is slightly less expensive so that might tip the scales that way.

I've been strictly Mac for almost 30 years now. I'm not Gadget Girl, I don't care if I can break my software out of jail or not. I just like the easy peasy way everything just... works. I ran a 100+ -node network on an Apple IIe server for 6 years without a single crash.

I love the iPad, both versions. Every time I use it in public, someone comes up all excited. " I just ordered mine, it should be here by 2012". I'm excited by the notion if a USB Port on the 3 to enable printing.

I prefer my Android phone camera to the iPad2 camera. The Flash issue is still there. I still can't watch all the videos people post but really, I need to spend less, not more, time online, so that's a good thing.

Those Apple guys? They were just like some of my friends and neighbors in HS, tinkering with electronics in the garage. The space age gripped them, hard. Some of them work at JPL now. They are still really happy people, doing what they love.

I didn't compare the cameras but yes the Xoom has a higher res camera than the iPad2. Some comparable Android apps are not quite up to speed with the iPad. For example, video is not supported on the Android version of Skype.

Thanks RC, I know I asked you about this on the show the other night.

I went to best buy and after hours of fiddling around, installing software on their devices and testing out different stuff I went with the Acer Iconia A500 for now. It was listed at $449 which is a better selling price and has about the same specs as the Xoom except only 16gb but is expandable up to 48gb.

I did play with the blackberry playbook for a while when I was there, I'm just not used to not having a dedicated spot to close apps. Instead on the playbook you just grab the bottom of the app and slide upwards to minimize. The killer for me is there is no hdmi port built in to it and so you most likely would need a dock. Not good for when you're on the road.

With the Xoom I like the features, its a tad bit pricey though even though you have the benefit of having Honeycomb 3.1 on it. The thing that made me choose the Acer is I wasn't sure if the Xoom was DLNA compatible. I want to be able to stream to my tablet movies and stuff I have saved on my server without too much hassle. I didn't see that with the xoom. The acer had some media serving capabilities built in and also had a full size USB port for usb hosting. I liked that. Supposedly the Acer will get 3.1 next month but I have to say I'm liking it so far.

I want to get a small laptop -- is there a different name for it when the screen is maybe 9", maybe "notebook" -- which is blindingly fast, runs Vista 7 (unfortunately, but all my programs are compatible only with Microcrapsoft products), has at least 8 G and is expandable, and is solid state. I am willing to pay a lot for it. I spent half a day at Office Depot and Frys and could find nothing that meets my requirements. Any ideas from the Wizards (including the female Wizards)?

I don't want to get a tablet. I would like a physical keyboard.

This is kind of called a "netbook." However, when it has the specs you're looking for at that size, you're talking about something pretty pricey. Solid state is also pretty pricey. You won't find this kind of high-end netbook at some consumer-level shithole. You'll need to price it out with a pro. I use pricewatch.com when I'm looking for something with specifications I want, but sometimes, just to find the price. What you want is basically pushing the envelope. I'm sure something with the specs you want exists somewhere, but not at Office Depot, Fry's, or Best Buy.

I'm out of touch enough at this point that I'd wait for suggestions from people who are currently in the tech field.

Sternie,

I have a physical keyboard for my iPad that communicates via Bluetooth. Works the same as a regular keyboard; I even use it to write papers.

Sony makes some VAIO products with solid state disks that might fit your needs. I have one with a 64GB disk drive that did not cost an arm and a leg. It came with Memory Stick and SD Card slots, which I have used to expand the disk capacity. I think Dell is offering something very much like this now.

If there's something from Sony and something from Dell that have similar specs, I'd pick Sony, because Dells suck.

Sorry to say, I'm not finding anything that matches, Stern. I just moved up to a Win7 machine with 8GB and a Sandy Bridge processor, and it's the first time that I can actually run everything the way I want since the early 2000s (it's that damned Photoshop and Illustrator that suck up the memory). But this is a big desktop with two monitors.

I went to Amazon and plugged in some parameters into their "laptop advisor," and at over 6GB of memory and under 13.9" screen, I'm not finding any results. If you're willing to go up to 15.6" on the screensize, then you've got some good choices. Here's the advisor -- you can try:
http://www.amazon.com/Notebooks-Laptop- ... ode=565108

I have an Acer netbook, which I used to use on the road to pick up my email and websurf before the iPad, and it runs Windows XP so there are a few programs I use that I can run with it. But the keyboard is too small and cramped for more than a little hunt-and-peck, and the screen is WXGA, which is 1024 x 600 (too short for me). That's the real issue on these mini-netbooks, to my thinking -- not only low power, but too small to use. Frankly, I even feel that way about my MacBook (which also runs Windows) -- too small, both keyboard and display.

I have an ancient 10" Fujitsu Lifebook. I may look at those products again. But I really want solid state. (And a real, not virtual or peripheral keyboard.)

And I read Loh's comment that Dell sucks on my 30" Dell flatscreen in my library -- which sucks. It has dark shadows in weird places. (Must be the PDFs.)

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 might come close. It's just being released this week:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/r ... titor/2454

Thanks, Ducky. I'll check it out.

Try this

http://h71016.www7.hp.com/MiddleFrame.a ... 701&SBLID=

Thanks, Somerset. Ducky's suggestion looks good, but the HP is smaller and may be almost as good. I'll have my firm's IP guy look at it this week. I like the fingerprint and facial recognition systems.

If I were buying off the shelf my favorite product is a Toshiba. Acerbic makes some excellent products.

I quit buying off the shelf computers and laptops (in fact have owned nothing but laptops for many years) many years ago and had them custom built by my local computer shop (who sells only custom built products).

I give them my specs, and if it can be done they can do it. They are all fully upgradeable, the service is excellent if needed. Yeah, they are typically a little more pricey but IMO and experience well worth it.

Perhaps there is a similar company in your area. If so, I'd highly recommend it.

Just my .02... But worth a great deal more.

Thanks, Greenie. I'll ask my IP guy.

I'm really enjoying my iPad. I love the way I just open the cover and presto! it's ready to go.

Contrast that with my windows pc that takes forever to boot up as it is and throw in some Microsoft bullshit that stops the boot up mid-way, claiming I have made major changes to the hardware and therefore need to "activate" my copy of Windows!

Months ago we had to replace the power supply and the video card due to a power surge. This past week I installed a new security camera. That's it.

Microsoft says I have 2 more days to "activate". I guess if I don't they will nuke my computer...