Our 13th Anniversary Trip

   To start off our anniversary day I decided to start off with making coffee. I did not find this as easy as it sounds. One container was getting low on coffee so I mixed it with a new tin of grounds. Proud of my custom mix I went into the living room to await the brewing process. When it was done I went in to get the coffee only only to find out that while I had indeed mixed the grounds well I had left the empty carafe on the counter next to the coffee pot. I then promptly rolled my eyes at myself and filled it with water. And went into the living room to await our coffee. Kathy went to get our coffee this time only to find that I did indeed fill the carafe and put it in the machine, I had not run it through the machine reservoir. Thanks to Kathy we did get our coffee.

  The next phase passed our day out was to head down the McKenzie Hwy for lunch and then to Sheila Falls. Our lunch stop was at the Stage Coach Stop restaurant. We met two fun Brothers there eating lunch after their service.

   During our lunch we received a call the Kathy's mom would likely be coming up to the hospital for some diagnostic treatment so we cut our trip short and headed home. On the way home we were notified that her trip up was canceled. So we ended up doing our shopping on the way home instead.

No matter how you bind it, It's a book of a different technology.

Credit: DODOcase

    

No matter how you bind it, It's a book of a different technology

 • As with all the variety's of paper books, there various tablet types, sizes, quality's and colors of bindings to choose from.
 • It contains Menus, References, Appendices that just as easily lead with a click to the heart of the document.
 • The tablet makes reference books even more available and easy to search with reference materials from across the web. 

 • The tablet also easily adds Audio books, Dramas, Dramatic readings and Videos to be easily included in your library that would easily fill a vast library as tablets give you access to text, audio and video library's from around the world.
 • As an atlas that is always up to date with maps that you don't have to fold back up.
 • Its your tablet for writing letters to your friends and family, even sending it off for you and even retrieving your new mail to read right into your hands, and even to relieve old strained eyes by reading it to you.
 • It is a note book for reminders, A note book for lectures. Your scheduler of appointments.
 • Your shopping list along with coupons to save and a calculator for comparisons.
 • It goes beyond card games and board games and lets you play many other games that could never be played within your living room with friends who are are in their own.
 • It's even your phone book complete with yellow pages with extra pages to easily add, edit, organize and even delete old entries without messy white out.
 • ALL of this within the palm of your hands.
 • Paper books and tablets for all there bulkiness do have an advantage... if you loose power you can't read an electronic tablet by candlelight. 

 • What binding will you choose?

My Asus neXus 7

The Opening of the Nexus

 • I won my 8 Gig neXus ⁷  in a Tablet Forum contest based on creativity of posts. Here is my winning post entry

 • Prologue:  I did more research for this tablet than any other electronic product I have ever purchased before.  I have researched tablets for nearly a year, and now my choice is finally made. After a few first thoughts and a quick gloss over of the specifications we'll take a look at my own usage of this tablet. 

 • First Thoughts:  I like the rubber grip back. The specs as seen below are just awesome rivaling most other popular tablets.  It is indeed is a good bang for the buck. This tablet looks like a tablet that will last me for many years. The narrower than usual 4.7" width than most 7" tablets is optimal for my pocket usage. It fits in my front suit pockets just fine, even in its slim portfolio case.

 • Specifications: Made by Asus, the first neXus tablet was released June 27 with a 7” 1280x800 HD screen, Scratch-resistant Corning glass. 1.2MP front-facing camera. 1 GB RAM. 4325 mAh (8-9 hours of active use) battery. NVIDIA 4-PLUS-1 (5)core 1.3Ghz Tegra 3 CPU. Nvidia ULP GeForce 12 core graphics. WiFi 802.11 b/g/n. Bluetooth 4.0. Microphone. Audio dock port pogo pins. NFC (Android Beam). Accelerometer. GPS. Magnetometer. Gyroscope. 7.8"(H)x4.79 (W)x.41"(D), 11.9 OZ. Open to all app markets. 8Gig for $199 and $249 for the 16 gig.  Here is a comprehensive review from the Verge.  Here is my spreadsheet about what I have done with my neXus.

 • Current competition: The new Amazon Fire HD has improved resolution and more memory than the first Amazon Fire tablet for the Amazon consumer for $199. It will be a popular tablet as many will see it advertised prominently on Amazon's popular online store. Its 16Gig memory for $199 will be a powerful attraction by many. It is only a dual core tablet but will do nicely for many users. never the less From reviews it is still just a storefront for Amazon products.

 • The neXus 7 started shipping in mid July 2012  from the Google Play Store.  It is also sold at many brick and mortar retailers.  I entered a creative forum post contest at NexusTablets.net and was 1 of 7 winners of an 8 Gig neXus 7 on July 17th and received on the 21st. Boy, is it getting a lot of loving use.

 • Packaging:  It is packed well and quite tight in a nice box along with its vague quick start guide, USB sync/power cable, and USB outlet charge adapter. It had the typical protective film over the screen and back. It comes partly charged but will need to be put right on the charger to assure you don't go dead while your setting it up. Here is the real Guidebook you will want to have access to for more setup help.

 • My Pictures: I have taken unboxing pictures and put them in this album that I made for my Nexus.

Here is my unboxing video slideshow

 • Further thoughts:  I am very pleased with the neXus. At this point I would definitely recommend it to my friends. Audio port placement on bottom is awkward when holing in portrait aspect, but I just rotate it upside down and use it. Button placement seems well placed although I do often bumped the off button til i got used to its placement. The camera for Skype video calls, works great. It is very snappy moving around the menu's. Starting and running apps is buttery smooth.  I love all the extra screen space compared to my old Palm E2's 2.5" screen.

 • My Usage: I use it in bed, on my recliner, sitting out in my yard, at meetings and on our vacations.  It's great at meetings as an aid to follow along when I am not functioning well. Its is nice to have it as a back-up to my forgetful brain. Its pocket-ability for me is great, as I have large inside pockets in most of my coats. It also fits the outside pockets of my suit jackets just fine even in its slim SupCase I bought. I have a waist pack that it fits in nicely.

 • Memory: I wanted a 16 Gig model for twice the local memory storage but I ended up with the 8 Gig model. With my music on it it about uses up over 3.6 gig right there. Along with WiFi access and 30 Gig Google Drive space for even more storage online(I get it for $5 a year) I do fine.  A simple approach for more memory without rooting to read a Flash drive with a standard USB OTG cable and an app called Nexus Media Importer. More local external drive space is welcome when your not around a WiFi connection.

 • As an eReader:  I tried JW Reader to read my Epub publications but it does not underline as easy as Moon+ Reader does. I also use iSilo as it works best with my large publications with lots of internal and external links. Some of my publications come in the PDF format and I have been using ezPDF reader for them. I purchased a Caseen Vibe Long stylus that works quite well, even at low angles, to select links and highlight text, and seems more natural and less cumbersome to use to me than my fingers particularly at meetings.

 • My Apps:  For Isilo I already had a previous license for my Palm E2 so I got an addition license for Isilo 6.x Android for $11.19.  I have gotten most of my Apps from the Google Play Store. Check out my Abbs.. er.. eh.. Apps I use at AppAware.com ;)

 • My Case and Protection: I chose a thin portfolio case by SupCase for $9.99 to protect it but yet to look business like while discreetly using the tablet. The magnetic wake/sleep on open/close flap feature is very handy. I wanted a case that  fits in several of my inside jackets without adding to much pocket hindrance, but it does add some bulk and weight.  It still will just fit in my front suit pockets as well. I also have an ArmorSuit screen protector as I need to use this tablet for years without accidentally scratching the screen, it installed easily and works great. A full coverage insurance policy for tablets can be costly, however I purchased a Square Trade accident and defect insurance for the 8 Gig neXus 7 for 39.99 for 2 years

 • All the research I did to compare 7" tablet features and prices comes down to one simple choice, the neXus 7. This tablet totally blows all other 7" tablets out of the water. With the introduction of this tablet there is now no decision to make as to what 7" tablet to pick. Just so long as you know how to live without an Micro SD card reader.

While I Wait For My Tablet

• Prologue: While I wait for for my new tablet I will prepare for it as much as I can. Its a been a long wait to its actual release as the Google Asus Nexus 7 on June 27, 2012 with delivery in mid July. For the very affordable price of $199 for 8 Gig and $250 for the 16Gig.

• ASUS Nexus 7 Specs: It comes with a 7” 1280x800 HD display at (216 ppi), Back-lit IPS display, Scratch-resistant, Corning glass, 1.2MP front-facing camera. Quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 7.8"H x 4.7"W X .41"D, 11.99 oz, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Micro USB, Bluetooth, Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), 4325 mAh (Up to 8 hours of active use), up to 16 GB internal storage, 1 GB RAM, Microphone, NFC (Android Beam), Accelerometer, GPS, Magnetometer, Gyroscope. An excellent review from Verge  My spec and link sheet

My wood training tablet

 • My Tablet Size Test: From the Palm Pilot Wiki article it states that Palm Pilot creator Hawkins  "carried a block of wood, the size of the potential Pilot, in his pocket for a week."  Not knowing this I had also already made a 1/2 piece wood the size of the tablet to try out the fit in my various jacket pockets, after is actual release as the Nexus 7 I adjusted its size. At the 4.7" width it seems to fit nicely in most of my inside jackets pockets. It is mostly my suit jackets that do not have a big enough inside pocket. It will fit in the front suit pockets nicely, but I could not really store it there, as it does stick out the top and would just look wrong, (Can you spell geek?) This mock tablet has shown me that it is often hard to keep the 7" size with me so the size may be optimal for reading but also a detriment for mobility. 


 • My Past Device History: It was very useful to me but it is finally time to retire my old Palm Tungsten E2 to an easy life as an address book. My Palm E2 has been great for meetings and life activities but it does have a small lag along with serious storage size and connectivity issues.  My wood training tablet does not seem to cut it either, and I am board of it lol ;) I have found my PDA has been great for meetings when I am not feeling well to keep up with and follow along. 


 • My Tablet Needs and Uses: I want my new device to be able to hold all the Isilo media and also to be easy keep EPUB and mp3 publications up to date directly from the web (This would be a new handy feature for me). This will make it even easier to keep it updated for use at meetings and conventions as needed. I also enjoyed the use my PDA outside in the yard and will continue to use my tablet for the same thing, so a good outside reading screen is a must for me. I will also use my Google number to make WiFi phone calls and just to be plain handy when traveling or shopping.


 • A Protective Case: I will decide on a slim case to protect my device but still have the easiest jacket pocket fitting as is possible. I will also choose a screen protector film to protect the screen from scratches. This will be a valuable investment to me and I will need to protect it. Extra accident insurance plans can be costly so these measures are cheap by comparison.


 • My Media Uses: One of the first things I'll do purchase Isilo for Android and install my entire library on my SD card. Isilo was so very useful on my Palm E2 and even on my desktop for following along with meetings that I would never be without it. I will pick up a 32gig SD card to expand my new devices internal 16Gig memory to 48 Gig. I then will load it up with Isilo and Epub books, Magazines, MP3's, Dramas and Dramatic Bible readings and even Videos.


 • Apps I plan to use: Isilo, A time keeper, Epub JWreader, MP3 Audio Player, Video Player, Medication Reminder. Some apps that I plan to load and others to try are marked at AppAware.com


 • My Review:  I know there are plenty of other reviews out there, but hey, I'll have my own opinions as well. My review will also cover theocratic usages that other reviews may not. I will place my tablets photo's in a Picasa Album. I will also add any videos to my YouTube Channel.


Other than my personal comments, Source material is gathered from around the web.

Palm Tungsten E2

My current Palm Tungsten E2 and my even older Palm Pilot

 • My Comments: My Palm E2 has been a GREAT tool for me. It is still very useful even though the battery life has shortened. I hope my next tablet serves me so well for so many years. I really do look forward to better WiFi usage, A bigger screen, and more than 1 Gig storage for Apps and MP3's on a newer tablet.




 •  Features: Bluetooth sync, IR file transfer, Cable sync(with XP and older), Propitiatory cable, One Gig full size SD card reader, Wi-Fi card option.


 • Bad: Outdated to get software, Battery getting weak. Bluetooth sync, IR file transfer, cable sync, Proprietary cable sync with XP and older PC's only, Wi-Fi card is Clunky/Buggy, Wi-Fi snail slow, incompatible with many sites, WiFi needs reset often, WiFi file size DL limit. Small screen, does not view Epub or PDF. Can be slow to respond, Photos in documents lag.


 • Good:  Screen looks and works great and has great color. Resistive touch sensitivity great with stylus, nail or even a knuckle. 1 Gig on this unit is usable unless you want to store pictures, MP3's or a movie. I do own 3- one Gig SD cards for it. I use few videos so this has not been an issue. Video clips look good although small. Reading on it using the 'iSilo' App has been great.


 • Palm E2 specs from Wiki page: "The Tungsten E2, introduced on April 13, 2005 replaced the similarly named Tungsten E, has 32 MB of memory (29.7 available), a 200 MHz Intel XScale processor, 320x320 Transflective TFT color display, and runs Palm OS Garnet v5.4.7. It is 4.5 tall by 3.1 wide by .59 inches thick (114 x 79 x 15 mm) and weighs 4.7 ounces (133 g). It has a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack, a longer lasting battery than the Tungsten E, has Bluetooth capability, and a single speaker on the back." Paragraph from: Palm Tungsten Wiki

My original Palm Pilot

• Before My Palm E2 I had a the classic Palm Pilot which I used before replaced it withe my Palm E2. Notice from the Wiki article below that it states the Palm Pilot creator Hawkins "carried a block of wood, the size of the potential Pilot, in his pocket for a week." Not knowing this I had also already made a block of wood the size of the ASUS 370T prototype tablet to try out in my various jacket pockets. "The first two generations of PDAs from Palm were referred to as "Palm-Pilots" has entered the vernacular as a synonym for PDA regardless of the brand. Before starting development of the Pilot, Hawkins said he carried a block of wood, the size of the potential Pilot, in his pocket for a week." Paragraph from: Palm Pilot Wiki


• Acronym history: You old timers might remember when tablets and smart phones were referred to as PDA's(Personal Digital Assistant). The fact that PDA's are still remembered is proof that Microsoft, Apple and Android all had older kinfolk before them, lest they should forget there elders.


• Future: I expect my next tablet to be the Nexus 7 which was based on the ASUS 370T that was announced at CES 2012. 

 • The Palm specifications and history are directly taken from the two Wiki articles.

Anticipating Google Nexus 7

 • As I have been looking for a 7" tablet I have been using a spreadsheet to compare ebooks and tablets for purchase because of the limitations of so many. I added this article to share results from that sheet in an easier to read format. I have looked carefully, especially between the Thrive 7 and the Galaxy Tab+ and find even though these are among the better 7" tablets they each have weaknesses. With the showing of the Asus 370T at the 2012 CES I was thoroughly impressed. Finally my search to find the best screen, battery life, full android market, together all at a good price may finally be realized. It has all the ports, battery life and reputation to be a high end tablet. Its only compromise seems to be that it may have no rear flash and no front camera, if you can live with this then one may have just found the 7" tablet that one has been looking for. There will always be another tablet coming around the corner, but this one is enough to make one really stop and be satisfied with. At the now expected price of $199.00 it will beat the 'Nook Color 2'' by $50 and be the same price as the 'Kindle Fire' for a VERY MUCH better tablet.

 • The 370T and the Google "Nexus 7" ???: The "ME370T" may have been reborn as the 'Google "Nexus 7" for $199 using a new Nvidia "Kia" process as announced at the May 2012 Nvidia investors meeting(30min. in) to help lower the price and still keep the Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core. The Google Nexus 7 has been bench-marked at RightWare.com on may 12, 2012 that confirms many Nexus rumors as fact. The ME370T went through the FCC on May 29, 2012. So will we get both?, or just the Nexus 7? The Google Nexus tablet will be sold at the Google Play Store. If the 370T is still to be made perhaps it will still show up later.

 • 370T General Features: Subject to change but was stated at 2012 CES to have 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, microSD card reader, WiFi, Bluetooth, aGPS, micro HDMI port. Videos for up to 8.5 hours as stated pre-release by MFG. 8 megapixel rear camera only with auto-focus with a large F/2.2 aperture for taking clearer images with great depth of field but no flash. No front camera was slated at that time. Optimized media center user interface. Non-slip textured plastic back. Screenshot software button. Google Play Market and open to add others. These  features subject to change if ever released.

  • NVIDIA Quad 4-PLUS-1 (5)Core Tegra 3 Cortex-A9 processor: There are (4-PLUS-1)=5 cores that kick in as needed according to CPU needs on the Tegra 3 processor . The 5th low power (Ninga) companion core(up to 500Mhz) runs during low power needs to save battery life. But as needed the CPU can ramp up the other cores up to 1.3GHz. The four fast cores are used for higher intensity tasks such as gaming and HD video streaming, launching apps smoother and loading Web pages, Even making UI operations snappier. This processor tested at around twice the speed of other processors at the time of writing. Kal-El was the project name that this core was created under. Of course there will be faster CPU's coming out, but price for the buck this one is fantastic. 4-PLUS-1 is a licensed trademark created for this processor. Most likely to use Nvidia's new "Kia" technology to help keep the price down. It also sports a 12 core NVIDIA ULP GeForce GPU.

 • 730T Rear Camera: f/2.4 - 8MP camera that’s capable of shooting 1080p video, 5-element lens, Auto focus, Camcorder at 1920x1080 (1080p HD), Color enhancement, No flash. The same 8MP camera on the Asus Transformer Prime is well liked.

 • Battery life: There are 5 cores that are turned on/off as needed to run at lowest power needed thus saving battery power. The 5th (Ninja) 500Mhz companion core runs at very low power when needs are few like when reading, running audio or even video.

 • Software / UI: Software that generally comes with ASUS tablet are: ASUS Launcher, ASUS Waveshare UI, Polaris® Office® 3.0 mobile office which provides documents (.doc), spreadsheets (.xls) and presentation (.ppt) file making and sharing. ultra-convenient 8GB EeeSky (WebStorage space) provides worry-free cloud computing, and is free forever.  Newspapers from Press reader, magazines from Zinio and books from Amazon Kindle. Based on actual Transformer series bundled software.

 • Nexus 7 Availability The Nexus 7's final reveal was on June 27, 2012 at Google I/O. It was announced to be available for purchase immediately and delivered in July.

 • Acronym Trivia The series Star Trek has long used the acronym PADD (Personal Access Display Device) for there tablets in their television series which is very similar to the acronym PAD(Personal Access Device) that some devices use. As far as ASUS company acronyms I had to look it up to see that 'Eee' has been stated to mean both "Easy to learn, easy to work, easy to play" and "Easy, Excellent, Exciting" so take your pick. ASUS, is pronounced Ae-suse and was originally taken from the mythological creature Pegasus. You old timers might remember when tablets and smart phones were referred to as PDA's(Personal Digital Assistant). I still have my old Palm Pilot and Palm Tungsten E2. Proof that Microsoft, Apple and Android had older kinfolk before them lest we should forget our elders.

 •  If I do purchase this tablet look for a review sometime after my purchase which will not be so much about specs as they are already covered here and all over the web, but about my experience with this tablet< Future Link. Meanwhile I have done more Device Research.

 * This articles specs based on statements and reporters from CES. It is a given that CES specs are subject to change upon tablet release and so will this article and its sources.

 • If you want the specs, reference and rumor source material for this tablet article you can go to my 370T spec comparison spreadsheet where I originally gathered information sources for this article. I placed my photo's in a Picasa Album. I also added some videos to my YouTube Channel.
All personal comments are mine. Specs are compiled from chosen sources from across the web.