Winners | Friday Fun | My New Tablet Is Not A Tablet
I have mentioned here that I am intrigued by the new “tablet” PC’s (ala the iPad) but have held off, waiting for better capabilities at a better price. Amazon’s new 
Kindle “Fire” (check it out here) seemed at first glance to be the first to fit that criteria, and got my interest going — but I will not buy the first release of any product, and will wait for version 2.
My need for a portable, and the lack of really good tablet (yet) had me looking at netbooks again. Remember netbooks? The most hyped product – sure to change the game – of just a couple years ago?
I never did get one. Too underpowered, and I didn’t like the small keyboards.
It so happened that I saw in my local gizmo and gadget store a Limit One Per Customer deal (always a good indicator of a bargain) for a 15.6″ laptop (aka “notebook”) for $230. The same price as netbooks go for these days. So I got one. (An eMachines EM443). I repeat: $230.
For a mobile device, it’s big (deliciously big when Netflix watching) true enough, but it’s quite light .. and I’m not trying to fit it in a purse. (When I’m really “on the go”, my HTC smartphone is in my pocket.) Battery life. Big bright screen. Optical drive. Full-size keyboard. Windows 7 Home Premium. Build in webcam. I figure, why settle for a crimped little netbook? Or a tablet that mainly only lets you view (or “surf”)? With a stripped-down OS..
Winners announced: The folks at Novosoft generously donated 7 licenses for Handy Backup Standard to me, to award to my readers. I sincerely thank them for that.
“Handy Backup is an easy-to-use backup software designed to perform automated backup of your computer. User-friendly interface and a rich set of backup features make it one of the best PC backup software for home and small office use.“
The lucky winners are….
(Winners, check your Inbox [and maybe your Junk folder] for the Subject HBStandard Winner)
Friday Fun:
The weekend is almost here. Yay!
Today’s quote: “The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.” ~ George F. Will
Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
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• About Tech Paul
I am a Retired computer & network technician. I used to think the machines were pretty cool. Now I don’t.
They’re anything but.
I regularly posted how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice here starting in 2007. (Use the Search tool to find answers. But be aware, many are rather dated.) Sometimes I answered (your) specific questions in an article if I believed the answer was generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see was my own, typos and all. There always is/was an implied “IMHO” in what you see here.
Note: You are responsible for using this blog and its content. I am in no way liable for any losses caused by user error, viruses and/or other malware, hardware or software failure, or any other conceivable reason.
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Congratulations to the winners.
My hope is that you will all use your backup applications regularly. When you need that backup, you’ll REALLY need it. There’s no sicker feeling when you realize that you have lost thousands of photos, hundreds of documents, and you have no way to recover them. You know those little hairs that stand up on the back of your neck? It’s not a very good experience… It happened once to me many years ago. A lesson well learned.
Good luck to all.
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kstinman,
Very well said.
I join you in congratulating the winners; and also, join you in urging all readers to get with it — make a disaster recovery backup today!
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I’m with you dude.
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RJ45,
And I’m with you.
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TechPaul,
You got a deal on that laptop 4Sure…
Rick
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Rick,
I have to say it does quite well for having a CPU running at only 1 GHz, and eMachines is not my.. um, er, well let’s just say it’s not my first choice of brand names.
But I am looking at it as a full-size, full-featured netbook (with a much easier to work with screen) and kind of think of it as a .. “disposable”. Which adds fuel to the argument that my career choice is one which is going the way of the buggy whip maker. The day seems not far off when instead of hiring a tech, folks will just buy new.
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Aww, Paul, you should Twitter. So much fun. :) Not to mention Google+
Thank you for the program. I will use it and think of you. And thank you Novosoft.
My email is [deleted]
Some food for thought: Users need a centralized place to report False Positives with the Security programs and get a timely answer…..Brand new non profit website. Jeremy Collake, vendor for Process Lasso thought of this. 1st week 3 FP’s 2 fixed
The False Positive Report – Prevention through Accountability and Transparency – Portal – http://www.falsepositivereport.com/
Just check it out…
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Cathy Bellefontaine (@delenn13),
Okay. Check your Inbox.
I know that many millions of people find Twitter and Facebook “fun”, but I do neither. I do get strange looks when I tell that to people though.
I cap it off by telling them I don’t watch TV either.
Thank you for heads up. I will look into it.
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Ok, I am now using my WordPress account. I have a Facebook account but I don’t like their security practices. I, only, follow businesses. I even “unfollowed” my husband. And I only watch 3 hrs of TV…And I DVR it. So I am not looking at you strange.
My niece and nephew have netbooks(don’t recall what kind) but they are SOOOOO slow. The one you got looks nice though.
As far as the heads up..I was afraid you would call me up for spamming. I have nothing in it. It, also, monitors mis-ratings of websites which can be a disaster for small businesses/blogs.The last I heard they had 6 security companies watching. “Transparency and public accountability will let consumers know which security companies are *trying* and which companies are NOT.”
Thanks for removing my email address. And once again thanks for the program.
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delenn13,
Well I am very glad you decided not to give me a weird look. (I get enough of them..!) (As a expression of my gratitude, I will not give you a weird look for un-following your husband. Ha!)
And I would have to say this notebook is no speed demon, but seems a bit faster than the (new) netbooks I looked at.
WordPress did hold your comment for moderation due to the fact it contained a URL (potential spam). That is an automated thing, and I cleared it. I appreciate reader participation here, and often learn new things.
I hope you enjoy the software, and will continue to visit and contribute.
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I get your drift but am missing comments
on being an audience member rather than
a producer. What is a computer without
a useable keyboard?
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Catherine Smith,
The keyboard is seen as stumbling block to developing smaller and smaller (more portable) devices, and I think it is an “input device” whose days are numbered.
Today we have touch-screens (with “virtual keyboards”) and voice recognition.
Someday.. they might just put a chip in our hats that can read our brainwaves…
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Okay, I see the keyboard in the photo.
Obviously you are using this as an
alternate to your real computer. How
are apportioning the work? Is the netbook
your portable device? I have no interest
in a cell phone but would love to have an
alternate portable device. Is that a netbook?
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Catherine Smith,
There are several questions here… I will try to get them all.
The device in the image is a “netbook”. Essentially a small and basic [stripped down] laptop computer. (I did not go with small and stripped-down, I wound up buying full-sized, yet light-weight laptop [aka “notebook”].)
Portable devices range in size (and ability/horsepower) from smartphones to 7″ or 10″ tablets (basically big smartphones w/o the calling part) to netbooks to “Ultra portables”, all the way up to rather large (22″) “Desktop replacement” laptops.
Which a person chooses will depend on what the intended usage will be.. and will probably involve some compromise. And in today’s world, more and more people will have more than one “portable device”. (In tomorrow’s world, all devices will be portable – probably.)
As for usage.. well, no, I am a “hard core gamer” and my “main machine” is a high-end desktop with the horsepower to play the latest 3D video games. But I am typing this on a laptop that no longer goes anywhere, but has become deskbound.. so to speak. The new laptop will not see daily use, but be used in my work; and I will take it to class with me when I go back for refresher courses, and if I (ever) go on vacation. When I am just “out and about”, I have my smartphone, which allows me to check my email, get directions (find the cheapest gas), compare prices and look up user reviews.. and even listen to tunes or watch Netflix. It does get daily use.
Our technology is always changing (evolving) and doing so at an exponential rate. I could not point you to a specific “portable device” without asking a bunch of questions about your needs and expected usage, but I can tell you that there is a vast array to choose from and you are sure to find something that fits.
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