Tag Archives: computers

my loaner ipad

19 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by in gadgets, geekiness, internet, ipad, social media, work

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

A week or so ago I was telling my friend Juan (who owns the Vineria San Telmo, one of my top-five fave tapas bars in Sevilla) that I was seriously considering getting an iPad. He’s had one for a couple of years and, in his opinion, thought I’d do better getting a small MacBook Air. And well, I could see his point because an iPad is kind of just a big iPhone, except you can’t make phone calls on it.

BUT… it really would be useful for when I want to visit clients and show them my social media presentations, or their page on my Sevilla Tapas blog. It would easily fit into my handbag and doesn’t weigh much, so I could pretty much always have it with me. I wouldn’t always carry around a small computer, no matter how lightweight. And besides, the MacBook Air costs twice as much as an iPad. But Juan insisted that it was worth it because it was actually a computer, whereas the iPad is, well, just a big iPhone.

BUT… I already have two laptops. And if I have to upgrade at some point, which may actually happen soonish, I’d want a proper laptop with a decent sized screen, not a mini-sized MacBook.

And so I was telling all this to Juan and he suggested that I borrow his iPad for a few days to see if it was actually suited to my needs. What a generous offer! So I picked it up on Saturday (photo was taken outside Juan’s restaurant) and within five minutes I was hooked. I LOVE it. But now that this decision has been made I am suddenly faced with another dilemma, because apparently the iPad3 is coming out in March. So do I wait until March to put myself into debt 600€ or do it now? Will the iPad3 be that much better that it’ll be worth the wait? What if it’s even more expensive? Or maybe I should wait until March and pick up an iPad2 for a song (if possible)?

What should I do? What would you do?

wireless

26 Sunday Jun 2011

Posted by in computers, gadgets, retail therapy

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

Remember when my wireless laser mouse went all speedy gonzales on me? Well, I tried all the various things that people suggested, but it seemed that nothing helped. And it was driving me mental. So yesterday I stopped by FNAC to see if they had a cheap wireless mouse (Speedy cost almost 50€!!) and I saw this amazing offer. A nice Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse set for just 25€! And as I had a 10€ member’s voucher to spend I got it for just 15€. What a bargain. So now I have set Nog up with my old keyboard – he’s been using Sexy Beast since his old laptop died last year – and then thought to also try it out with Speedy. And wouldn’t you know it. The old wireless mouse seems to work just fine on Sexy Beast. Go figure.

Whatever. I now have a very cute and comfortable wireless keyboard and mouse that cost next to nothing, and which makes working online all day so much easier. And as Shadow only has three USB ports it’s much better to only have one in use for both. Now I just have to try and not buy that great looking multi-media Toshiba L655-1JV with a 4.5 hour battery that I saw while I was at FNAC…

speedy gonzales

14 Tuesday Jun 2011

Posted by in computers, gadgets, geekiness, internet

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

Calling all geeks – I need your help!

Why has my wireless mouse suddenly turned into Speedy Gonzales? It’s gone all hyper and double clicks when I just single click, or else takes me to pages I haven’t even clicked on. As for copy and paste – aack! Can’t get the thing to stay put long enough to select a link or piece of text and I end up with the hover thing disappearing before I can copy or – worse! – the whole text disappearing, even though I hadn’t clicked again to erase it. Other times I have to click on something five times for it to “take”.

Anyhow, it’s driving me crazy and costing me lots of lost time online.  Just writing this simple post is taking forever because Speedy keeps highlighting things when I just place the cursor somewhere to start typing, and then immediately deletes whatever got highlighted. Arrrgh. Or is it even a mouse problem?

Ayudame?

scarlett

23 Wednesday Feb 2011

Posted by in computers, gadgets, work

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

,

Meet Scarlett. This tiny 7cm x 11cm external HD has 500 GBs and I was way overdue for a backup. Of course, I have this other LaCie HD that I bought almost three years ago… well, I have it somewhere.

Something very weird has been going on here with things we have unpacked and know we have held in our hands and that are now nowhere to be found. First it was Nog’s hair trimmer. He’d used it to trim his beard but we couldn’t do a haircut because it was low on juice and he couldn’t find the charger. Then he found the charger and – you guessed it – now can’t find the trimmer. Last week I saw the LaCie HD on the living room table. This morning I found the USB cable, but no HD. And yesterday a DVD I’d been meaning to watch is no longer, well, anywhere. It’s crazy.

And so, I was supposed to get together yesterday with the fearless Ana, who helped me move, to help her set up a blog and other social media stuff. But she got in touch to say her laptop had collapsed and she had to take it to computer hospital. And then she said – “thank goodness everything is backed up” – and I felt a chill down my spine. Shadow hasn’t been backed up since … well, I can’t remember. Which sent me on a massive house search for my HD, which then sent me over to FNAC to buy this new gadget. Well, as Mudhooks has pointed out before, it’s prudent to have back-up copies on more than one external HD, and my old one was actually too small. So now that I have this new back-up HD I’m sure my old one will turn up some time today.

In other news, my iPod – which has been missing in action since The Move – has finally been found! In fact, it was in the very place I thought I’d put it (my laptop bag), which I checked about a gazillion times these past three weeks, but then suddenly it was there! Perhaps the same thing will happen with all the other mysteriously missing articles. I suspect Loki…