Asus Launches Eee Pad Transformer Tablet with Keyboard Dock

Well, this looks interesting! I wonder what the price will be locally. This comes from MaximumPC.com.

Posted 03/25/2011 at 8:15am | by Paul Lilly

Asus is calling its new Eee Pad Transformer "an innovative tablet with an expandable keyboard dock," but could this also be the netbook evolved? A physical keyboard isn't something that comes with any other major tablet, however it sits front and center on the Eee Pad Transformer, when you want it to. When you don't, simply detach the head and you're rocking a portable tablet PC with up to 9.5 hours of battery life (up to 16 hours with the dock).

Let's take a look at the feature-set. The Eee Pad Transformer sports a 10.1-inch IPS panel with LED backlighting (1280x800 resolution), 10 finger multi-touch support, scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass, Nvidia's Tegra 2 chip, 1GB of memory, 16GB/32GB of storage plus unlimited Asus WebStorage, 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, 1.2MP front-facing camera, 5MP rear-facing camera with auto focus, microSD card slot, internal microphone, headphone and mic jacks, two USB 2.0 ports, G-Sensor, Light Sensor, Gyroscope, E-compass, GPS, and an optional 3G radio.

All this comes wrapped in Google's Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) platform with Asus' Waveshare UI. By all means, Asus has come out swinging. Looking at the spec sheet alone, the Eee Pad Transformer is portable, it's powerful, and it transforms into a netbook on the fly.

Asus said the first shipments are already underway, but didn't reveal a price or release date. Bummer.

Asus Launches Eee Pad Transformer Tablet with Keyboard Dock

Avoid Japan disaster relief scams - & many others!

If you receive e-mails soliciting funds for Japan disaster relief, be very wary. The best way to donate is to go directly to the web site of reputable organizations, and to key in their address in your browser's address bar yourself. Don't rely on links, especially those embedded in soliciting e-mails. There is much scamming going on through fake websites that are created to look just like those of reputable organizations.

There is an excellent web site that will give you additional detail on all that is going on in this, and other, matters. It is called ScamWarners. Once at the home page (address below), check out their FORUM by clicking on their FORUM link.

ScamWarners

More on Skype

If you are not yet a Skype user and would like to learn more, Kim Kmando has a nice writeup here:

Free video calls with the whole family

SKYPE

Late to the game I admit, but I have quickly become a big fan of Skype. Most laptops today have a built-in video camera, so making video calls is a piece of cake. Not surprisingly I guess, based on the popularity of Skype, many others already have Skype userids and conducting video calls with them is really easy. Also, even if you don't have a video camera, you can use Skype to make free voice calls if you are calling someone else using Skype (internet user to internet user). So many of my customers have told me that they use Skype to talk to relatives overseas. It saves a ton f money if one has a son or daughter in the military in the Middle East or elsewhere, or perhaps a relative living overseas for other reasons.

The Skype program is free and very easy to download and install.

Write me if you have any questions.

Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1

Or W7/SP1 for short, if I may.

My W7 laptop, an Acer, is not heavily used and contains little data. I have known that SP1 has been available for some time, but I had read some bad things about it. However, at this time and since I have little to risk, I thought I would give it a try.

I didn't pay particular attention to the download and installation process, but it went smoothly and I'd say it took about an hour overall. There were no errors in the entire process, and when I finally rebooted when it was completed, the system came up just fine. No issues. No problems.

If you want to install SP1 on your W7 machine, I urge you to backup all of your data beforehand, and, as always, you should have an understanding of how you would reinstall the operating system if necessary.

While doing this I noticed that my machine has only 2GB of RAM. This was sufficient when W7 first came out, but the best minds nowadays recommend 4GB as a minimum for W7. While not one of the best minds, I nonetheless encourage you to upgrade to 4GB if you are still sitting with 2GB or less.

I learned in this process that my machine can be upgraded to 4GB. I really never explored that before, but nowadays you can get 2GB on one memory module, so I can install 2 of these, if I choose to spend $68, for a total of 4GB.

The Crucial Memory Tool is a good way to check on the RAM capabilities of your system (crucial.com)

You can click on those pictures for a larger size for easier viewing.

From Maximum PC:

"Internet Explorer 9 is finally available in final form to the general public, and we’re pleased to say that it represents a big leap forward for Microsoft’s web browser. We know that many of you Maximum PC reader’s have gotten turned off to IE in recent years (and understandably so) but Internet Explorer is suddenly a lot more competitive, and worth a look.
We recommend you try it for yourself (sorry XP users, Vista and Windows 7 only), but in case you’re still on the fence, we’ve prepared a visual guide to our 10 favorite new features in Internet Explorer 9."

Notice the phrase in RED above. This is good news for those of us still using XP. This means no more pressure to upgrade IE. I do recommend that XP users upgrade to IE8 if you are not already there. IE8 is much more stable and reliable that IE7, for those of you who may be using IE7.

For those of us who have W7 machines, I would suggest you wait a while, at least 3 months, before installing IE9. Give it a chance to stabilize.

The 10 Best New Features In Internet Explorer 9

Microsoft's Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool

It is that time of the month again. Served up with the usual Tuesday Windows updates was the March 2011 version of Microsoft's MSRT or MRT for short. If you have installed the March updates, then you now already have the March MRT tool available to you. In the pictures below note the :"March 2011" in the application banner (top of the windows).

 You may click on any of the 3 photos below to view a larger version.

 

Microsoft Launches IE6 Deathwatch

There was a time not too long ago when I held on to IE6, figuring I'd go with it until its end, but I threw in the towel and upgraded to IE7, which was really horrible, and then IE8, and IE8 seemed to be a reliable product with enhanced features vs. IE6.

That being said, however, I never use IE at all unless I am forced to do so. Firefox is still my favorite browser. I really thought Google's Chrome would be the ultimate browser, but when I tried it, release after release, and saw that Google apparently refuses to include a most basic feature - a Bookmarks list on the left side of the screen - I abandoned it. So for me it's Firefox.

However, I know that there are some of you who are planning to stay with Windows XP and IE6 until the end, which is still 2014. To you I say GOOD FOR YOU! Do it! I still run XP on all but two of my machines, which have Windows 7.

Perhaps the most important line in today's PC World article is this: "Microsoft has promised to support IE6 until April 2014."

Microsoft Launches IE6 Deathwatch

 

I'm starting to get the iPad itch! How to justify yet another expensive toy?

This review comes from PCMag.com.

Apple iPad 2 Hands On: Faster, Thinner Than the Original

Rogue Gallery

A link I saw on Kim Komando's web site pointed me to what I consider a valuable resource. In the past I had recommended Bharath's Security Blog as a web site to visit to check on rogue programs, but Bharath has not been updating lately, so I was very happy to see that Lavasoft has taken up the effort to keep us informed on the latest rogue programs. 


I was particularly interested because Lavasoft used to make a fine adware detection and removal program called Ad-Aware. It was always on my list of baseline security programs. However, at some point Lavasoft decided to abandon that small and simple program in favor of a much larger all-in-one security package. I thought, this morning, I would check out their free offering, but when I saw the download file size of 117MB I quickly decided against it. Having discovered Microsoft Security Essentials, the last thing I need is yet another anti-virus program in an all-too-big "Internet Security" bundle.


Anyway, Lavasoft's Rogue Gallery looks good and I recommend it to you as a reference site worth bookmarking.

Lavasoft's Rogue Gallery

A Parent’s Struggle With a Child’s iPad Addiction

This is from David Pogue's blog. He is with the New York Times.

"I think my 6-year-old is addicted to the iPad.

He asks for it constantly. He wants to use it in the car. He wants to use it at every unscheduled moment at home.

He brings it to the dinner table.

When I tell him it’s time to shut off the iPad and head up to bed, or put his shoes on, or head out to the bus, he doesn’t hear me the first three times I ask. Sometimes, he gets bizarrely upset when I say I have to take it away now — out-of-character upset. That’s what makes me think he’s addicted."

More............

Xoom Vs. iPad: The Real Tablet Wars Begin

From PC World:

Motorola couldn't have chosen a worse time to start selling the Xoom, the first real Apple iPad competitor. Just as the Xoom went on sale on Verizon, Apple dropped an iBomb in the shape of a press invitation next week to the unveiling of the next generation iPad (let's call it the iPad 2).

But even with the iPad 2 looming, Motorola's Xoom will have to go head to head with the original iPad. If you can't hold on a bit longer without a tablet, here's how the Xoom and iPad stack up against each other.

Xoom Vs. iPad: The Real Tablet Wars Begin

A Patrol for the Web’s Playgrounds

From the New York Times:

A company’s nationwide network of moderators aims to keep Web sites free of cyberbullies.

A Patrol for the Web’s Playgrounds

Tell us how you really feel!

This comes from the Call That Girl blog:

Reasons why we do not recommend AVG 2011

"…Or any of their products for that matter. Put simply, viruses, spyware, and malware get right through most antivirus programs. And AVG 2011 is no exception, it’s one of the free products that we see most often when we remote into a computer that has viruses on it. Not only is AVG 2011 a bad and heavily bogged down product, but it is just not worth the download, free or paid. (And in our opinion AVG 8.0 used to be one of the best). But just like with Norton (we consider AVG Norton’s little brother) or Symantec products, they both took a once good product, weighed it down, and ultimately just ended up ruining it. Sometimes it’s just right to leave things well enough alone."

 Your humble PC Doc, me, agrees 100%. I strongly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) for all, although there was a time, pre-MSE, when I was AVG Free's number one fan!

Spybot Time

A quick reminder that the MVPS HOSTS file for February is available now.

http://msmvps.com/blogs/hostsnews/archive/2011/02/18/1788355.aspx

The Tablets of MWC 2011: Watch Your Back Apple

Yesterday I wrote about how the world of tablets is expanding. Here's some data to back that up - from PCWorld.

"Mobile World Congress 2011 was the launchpad for tablets from tech heavyweights LG, Samsung, HTC, Toshiba, Acer, and ViewSonic. Here is a roundup of what debuted.

Apple sold over 14 million iPads so far, a huge head start on these tablets introduced or first demoed at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. The iPad is attacked from all sides: smaller screens, more multimedia blitz or port bonanzas. Can these upcoming tablets show Apple who has the last word in the tablet wars?"

Top 10 MWC Tablets Challenging The iPad

What a tough time to feel a need to buy a new laptop. The world of tablets is expanding every day with new brands and models, all claiming to be one better than the other guy. I'd love to have a tablet, but just can't justify the extra expense at this time.

Most netbooks (like the ASUS 1215n which I own) are cheaper than a tablet. Most notebooks (laptops) are priced the same or higher than most tablets, so the tablet fits right there in the middle between the two.

If however, you feel the need for a new laptop, you might find some useful information in this PC World article.

When Should You Buy a New Laptop?

E-cycling begins with you

This is a good site if you want to recycle some computer components. Tip: In using the site I found that I had success by clicking on a state name on the map. The "Pick Your State" drop down menu at the bottom of the page didn't work for me.

http://www.ecyclingcentral.com/

IBM's Watson Ties for Lead on Jeopardy Despite Some Missteps

From maximumpc.com:

"As fans of technology, it was easy rooting for IBM's Watson supercomputer in last night's first of a three-day Jeopardy segment pitting man versus machine. Watson's going up against two former Jeopardy champions, Ken Jennings, who in 2004 won 74 games in a row earning over $3 million including tournaments, and Brad Rutter, Jeopardy's biggest money winner of all time with over $3.2 million. Tough competition, but in the opening round, Watson held its own."

More........

Netbooks Lose Status as Tablets Like the iPad Rise

Anyone want to buy a good used Netbook?! :-) This comes from the New York Times.

"Remember the Last Big Thing in computing? You’ll be forgiven for having forgotten it was the netbook — a small notebook computer with a slender price tag, about $300.

Today, tablets are all the rage, including the iPad from Apple and a host of new entries starting to come from rivals like Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Research In Motion and Samsung. But less than two years ago, in 2009, netbooks were seen as the earth-shaking force in the industry, potentially changing the economics of the business and undermining the technology leaders, Intel and Microsoft.

Things didn’t work out that way. Netbook sales were meteoric in 2009, jumping eightfold in the United States, to 7.5 million devices, and tripling worldwide to 34 million. Yet the torrid growth stalled last year."

More...........