Gadgets for the Holiday’s

GPS Navigation

Garmin

Tom Tom

Navigon

Features you should consider:
Text to Speech: Speaks street names
Automatic Re-Routing if you miss your turn.
Color Screen
Touch Screen
Ability to update maps. (cheaper ones will not do this)

Accessories
Car charger (MUSTHAVE)
Wall Charger (USB cable charging is the most convenIent)
Mount for car (MUST HAVE): Visit ProClipUSA for great car mounts for any device. A++ Customer service

Media Players

Apple Ipod
Microsoft Zune

HD TV’s

Here are some things to think about when shopping for a new HD TV.

Plasma vs. LCD

Plasma: Better contrast (Blacks are darker)
Plasma: Better viewing in darkened rooms.  Do not look as clear in light rooms.
Plasma: Usually more pricey than LCD, but better picture quality overall.
Plasma: New models are less Suseptible to burn in.

LCD: Contrasts are not as sharp as plasmas, but LCD’s work well in a brightly lit room.
LCD: Tend to have higher native resolution than plasmas of similar sizes.  This means more pixels on the screen.
LCD: Lighter than plasma’s of same size.  Easier to wall mount.
LCD: Generally LCD’s have a longer life span and are usually guaranteed for 60,000 hours. 

Computers

Find high quality refurbished machines at diiscounted prices at the Dell outlet store.

Mobile Smart Phones

Blackberry Storm, Bold etc:
Apple Iphone

External or Portable hard drives

I highly recommend Maxtor portal and external hard drives.

Digital Picture Frames

CNet
Amazon.com

Things to look for:

• Screen size
• What card types does it use if any.  (SD cards are common)
• How many card slots?
• Decorative mattes
• Does it match the room’s decor?

DaveAC’s recommendations:

Digital Picture Frames:

• Remote Control
• Video and Audio
• Battery vs. AC
• Wireless!

DaveAC’s other suggestions for the holidays:

Tech News

Google Chrome

Create Application Shortcuts

Incognito Mde Allows you to surf the web without recording your history

Bookmarks are hard to organize

Microsoft will be releasing an update to the Zune’s firmware along with two new Zunes

New 16GB Flash zune and 120GB hard drive zune.
Ability to purchase songs that you hear on the FM radio that is built into the zune.
Browsing the zune marketplace wirelessly
Games on the Go “hexic” and “texas hold ‘em”
Audiobooks
Audible.com�
Overdrive.com

New Zune Pricing

120GB: 249.99

80GB: 229.99

16GB: 199.00

8GB: 149.99

4GB: 129.99

Your first website

Choosing a hosting provider

Registerjustright.com

Godaddy

Static versus Dynamic websites

Static: In the ‘Old Days’ we had to write Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) code.

Dynamic: Sites using databases to provide content.

Content Management systems

Lets you worry about the content not the design.  In some cases you would provide the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and never have to change them.  Other cases that’s already done for you.

Drupal – www.Drupal.org

Joomla – www.joomla.org

WordPress – www.wordpress.org or www.wordpress.com

Listener Questions:

Koolguy called in with an issue installing Ubuntu/  He wants to dual boot Ubuntu and Windows XP.  I found an answer to his question.  Cick HERE.

Q:A questions was asked in the chat session:  Does the ZUNE have a touch wheel.
A: The Zune has a touch sensititive button that allows you to glide your fingers up and down along with clicking the button.

KoolGuy Asked:
Q: What IPod Touch would you recommend?
A: It all depends on the amount of Music and Videos you have.  Features are all the same with each Ipod Touch.

Wundur Asked in the chat:

Q: I can’t get the Talkshoe pro software to work so he can not be heard during the show.
A: Uninstall the talkshoe software and reinstall it with your USB microphone plugged in during the install.