Technology for Everyone – Newsletter No. 11
Technology for Everyone – Newsletter No. 11
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Products and Services
Netbook
From a recent Technology for Everyone reader’s submitted question, this week’s product focus will be netbooks.
What is a netbook? The easiest way to describe a netbook is to say it is a small laptop. Netbooks came about around 2007 and have increased in popularity since. One of the biggest reasons for their popularity – their price. Netbooks can be found ranging from $250 – $500, with a wide range of features. Normally, a netbook includes: screen and keyboard, hard drive, 2 – 4 USB ports, VGA port (to connect an external monitor) and does not include a CD/DVD drive.
What makes them different? The biggest difference between a netbook and a laptop is their size. Most netbooks have a 8″ – 10″ screen and compact keyboard. Another difference is that they use a different type of processor (the computers brains). A popular netbook process is the Intel Atom which is a special type requiring less battery power but provides less power. Note that without a CD/DVD drive you cannot play CDs or DVDs with a netbook, but that is not to say you cannot convert a DVD to a file format you can store on your hard drive. More on that in a feature newsletter.
Netbook hard drive size ranges between normally between 20 – 100 GB. Hard drive space is something to consider depending on how you plan to use a netbook. If you consider that an mp3 music file is around 5 – 8 MB (depending on the quality, 1000 MB = 1GB) and a high quality movie is around 1.5 – 2 GB (iTunes non-HD version of “Hurt Locker” is 1.88 GB) a 20 – 100 GB hard drive can fill up quickly. One solution is to take advantage of “the cloud” and a service like Dropbox to access your data.
A laptop in comparison will provide you: more computing power (a faster processor, but will require more battery power), a larger hard drive, a CD/DVD drive, and a full-size keyboard. A full size keyboard is something to consider depending on your typing style, size of your fingers and typing ability. I highly recommend trying out the keyboard of any netbook/laptop before you buy.
What do you use them for? A netbook is a great computer for email and browsing the Internet. A netbook is not a great device for photo or video editing or working with very large files (e.g. large Excel files). A netbook would best suite someone who is look for mobile basic computing and has access to an Internet connection (either 3G using a device like Rogers Rocket Stick or over wireless internet).
I don’t own a netbook, so if you do and would like to contribute information from your personal experience please reply with “Netbook” in the subject line.
News and Facts
Fractions of a Second: An Olympic Musical New York Times story demonstrates using audio, just how close the finishes are in many of the Olympic races we have enjoyed for the past two weeks.
Tips and Tricks
Google Dashboard If you use Google Services (e.g. Gmail, Buzz (new), Blogger, and Docs) check out www.google.com/dashboard Google Dashboard will give you a view of all your accounts, links to edit your profiles, and most importantly, give you an idea of just how much of your personal information Google maintains. Looking at how much of my information is displayed in Google Dashboard, I’m off to improve my password.
Improve the sound of iTunes I’m far from being an audiophile but my ears are sensitive enough to recognize that the mp3 playing through my laptop speakers does not sound great. Try changing the equalizer settings in iTunes to improve the sound of your music. Merlin Mann (from Inbox Zero) shared his equalizer settings (http://bit.ly/EWgRx) and it improved the sound of mp3s on my laptop (original http://bit.ly/9HDtq)
Technology for Everyone now on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/techforeveryone
Recent ‘tweets’
Data-centric ‘hubs’ makes Windows Phone 7 Interface something I would like to try http://bit.ly/bxbT4g
7:45 PM Feb 26th via TweetDeck
Lifehacker post regarding losing your PowerPoint slide(s) http://bit.ly/cdpkCP
1:52 PM Feb 25th via TweetDeck
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