Last week, I reviewed my Kindle in a Gadget of the Week post. This week I'm away and so wanted to make a short post in further praise of the Kindle, and particularly how useful it was whilst travelling.
C, the other teacher, clocked it early on in the flight and came out with the usual stock comments about how it's nice to have a real book and something you can hold in your hands etc etc - but even he has to admit that the daily newspaper subscription is worthwhile. Yesterday's issue of the Daily Telegraph kept me amused for the 5 hour bus journey into the Cameron Highlands (don't ask...) and I read bits to him, which he appreciated. I was also able to point out that it was on a free trial, so not only is it downloading automatically every day, I don't even have to pay for it yet. When I explained it would usually cost £9.99 a month, he started to suggest it would be cheaper to buy the paper, until his brain caught up with the maths.
I have also been able to peruse all the books C talks about with the college principal and his wife, who are both English teachers by background. It makes me feel a little stupid, as somebody who can never seem to find the time for lots of reading (although I am getting better), until I remember that I am educated in other ways.
Finally, there have been a few articles which might prove useful for work, which I have "clipped" to my clippings folder and can now find easily, even when the papers are archived. Excellent stuff. Now I just need to figure out how to delete things from my clippings, something I could presumably accomplish if I bothered to read the instructions properly ;)
Showing posts with label gadget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gadget. Show all posts
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Gadget of the Week
This week....my Kindle!
I've now had it for about a month and I love, love, love it. I can't believe I actually had to think twice about buying it. I have been so interested in reading from it that I haven't even finished Birds Without Wings, which I have been reading since August and was just in a can't-put-it-down phase with.
This is what the print looks like. It's a bit blurry because I took the picture without a flash to try and make it more true-to-life. It actually doesn't look like a real screen, it is so close to text. I don't really understand how it works, but it is really easy to read and the lack of backlight makes it comfortable on the eye as well. And, if I'm ever in a dark place where I need a backlit screen in order to be able to read, I can pick up where I left off on my phone, having installed Kindle for Android. AND IT KNOWS WHERE I STOPPED READING. Amazing.
The display is so clear that when Mr Z unpacked it from the box, he thought there was a printed sticker on the front. The picture of Mark Twain you see in the first shot is one of the screen-savers that cycle round when it is turned off. It doesn't actually turn off properly, and unless I manually disconnect it from wireless/3G, it will download in the background anytime. I bought that Obama biography before it was delivered, and it was waiting for me on the Kindle when it arrived.
The other thing I like about it is that I can buy a subcription to a newspaper on it. Now, I get most of my news online or via Jon Snow on C4, but when I am abroad - like in Malaysia next week, for example - news sources are thin on the ground and I don't like not knowing what's happening. Thanks to the 3G on Kindle, though, I can have a British newspaper delivered to me everyday while I am abroad (as long as their 3G coverage is as extensive as they claim).
Other positives - it is light enough to hold in one hand for lying-down reading, and it has a great battery life on it. I've only needed to charge it once so far. I haven't even figured out how to add notes to it yet, but I have just bought a new History text book on it so will be learning that on the plane, I should think.
Kindle hanging out with my HTC. I bought this new cover for it so it matches the one Mr Z bought for my Kindle. It also (not by accident) matches my Hobbs dress, which is part of my "I'm very professional" outfit.
I have used it to access Google Reader but it doesn't like it very much because of the pictures; however, I don't see how I can complain when the 3G is free. It's worth noting, though, that once a wireless connection is set up, it will automatically connect to that instead of the 3G unless you're out of range.
But, I have no complaints. This may do what sheer force of will has failed to achieve: it may actually get me reading again. And for that alone, it was worth buying.
I've now had it for about a month and I love, love, love it. I can't believe I actually had to think twice about buying it. I have been so interested in reading from it that I haven't even finished Birds Without Wings, which I have been reading since August and was just in a can't-put-it-down phase with.
This is what the print looks like. It's a bit blurry because I took the picture without a flash to try and make it more true-to-life. It actually doesn't look like a real screen, it is so close to text. I don't really understand how it works, but it is really easy to read and the lack of backlight makes it comfortable on the eye as well. And, if I'm ever in a dark place where I need a backlit screen in order to be able to read, I can pick up where I left off on my phone, having installed Kindle for Android. AND IT KNOWS WHERE I STOPPED READING. Amazing.
The display is so clear that when Mr Z unpacked it from the box, he thought there was a printed sticker on the front. The picture of Mark Twain you see in the first shot is one of the screen-savers that cycle round when it is turned off. It doesn't actually turn off properly, and unless I manually disconnect it from wireless/3G, it will download in the background anytime. I bought that Obama biography before it was delivered, and it was waiting for me on the Kindle when it arrived.
The other thing I like about it is that I can buy a subcription to a newspaper on it. Now, I get most of my news online or via Jon Snow on C4, but when I am abroad - like in Malaysia next week, for example - news sources are thin on the ground and I don't like not knowing what's happening. Thanks to the 3G on Kindle, though, I can have a British newspaper delivered to me everyday while I am abroad (as long as their 3G coverage is as extensive as they claim).
Other positives - it is light enough to hold in one hand for lying-down reading, and it has a great battery life on it. I've only needed to charge it once so far. I haven't even figured out how to add notes to it yet, but I have just bought a new History text book on it so will be learning that on the plane, I should think.
Kindle hanging out with my HTC. I bought this new cover for it so it matches the one Mr Z bought for my Kindle. It also (not by accident) matches my Hobbs dress, which is part of my "I'm very professional" outfit.
I have used it to access Google Reader but it doesn't like it very much because of the pictures; however, I don't see how I can complain when the 3G is free. It's worth noting, though, that once a wireless connection is set up, it will automatically connect to that instead of the 3G unless you're out of range.
But, I have no complaints. This may do what sheer force of will has failed to achieve: it may actually get me reading again. And for that alone, it was worth buying.
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Gadget of the Week
I totally forgot, in my lovin' it list from yesterday, that we have another new gadget in the house these days.
Mr Z bought a Wattson last week. I think I saw this on Click, the BBC News tech report, when they reviewed energy monitors and I loved the look of it. It is a cute little white box with a nice soft display and colour phasing lights to show how much energy is being used. The changing display means it goes really well with our 4-letter word generator, which was a wedding gift from Father Hand.
The thing that really sold it to me was that I can plug it into my PC and download our energy usage over time to it, which I think is really nifty. I haven't done this yet, but it seems we run at roughly £360/year when we're both out/sleeping. This must be all the standby things, the fridge, my alarm clock ... oh, and the 3+ computers we never switch off ;)
It was so easy to set up that when Mr Z gave it to me, he went outside to burn things (one of his most favourite pastimes) and by the time he came back in I had it all done*. Then came the obligatory running around the house, switching things on and off. The hall lights suck in quite a lot and so I am happier now about keeping them off most of the time. And I have turned my computer off overnight at least once since it arrived. I should be better at doing this, especially now I have the new PC and it boots up in less time than it takes me to go to the loo.
Anyway, I can definitely recommend it! Time will tell if it's effective in the long term, but I am hopeful that we'll see a small reduction in our energy bills.
* He doesn't know that I couldn't find a mini screwdriver and thus just sellotaped the battery cover back on over the batteries. Well, he does now.
Mr Z bought a Wattson last week. I think I saw this on Click, the BBC News tech report, when they reviewed energy monitors and I loved the look of it. It is a cute little white box with a nice soft display and colour phasing lights to show how much energy is being used. The changing display means it goes really well with our 4-letter word generator, which was a wedding gift from Father Hand.
The thing that really sold it to me was that I can plug it into my PC and download our energy usage over time to it, which I think is really nifty. I haven't done this yet, but it seems we run at roughly £360/year when we're both out/sleeping. This must be all the standby things, the fridge, my alarm clock ... oh, and the 3+ computers we never switch off ;)
It was so easy to set up that when Mr Z gave it to me, he went outside to burn things (one of his most favourite pastimes) and by the time he came back in I had it all done*. Then came the obligatory running around the house, switching things on and off. The hall lights suck in quite a lot and so I am happier now about keeping them off most of the time. And I have turned my computer off overnight at least once since it arrived. I should be better at doing this, especially now I have the new PC and it boots up in less time than it takes me to go to the loo.
Anyway, I can definitely recommend it! Time will tell if it's effective in the long term, but I am hopeful that we'll see a small reduction in our energy bills.
* He doesn't know that I couldn't find a mini screwdriver and thus just sellotaped the battery cover back on over the batteries. Well, he does now.
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