With the rise of the tablet on the horizon it was only fitting that I pick up one to try and use for my needs. But I wanted something that was different. Not something with a traditional operating system. I picked up the Archos 5 with the android operating system (which you can’t put other OS’s on it) and I have to say my initial response was, “WOW.” I will place the specs down below my review for you to take a look at. I’ve often wondered what kind of functionality and place a touchscreen tablet device would have in my world. Not so much the IT field or computer repair. But my world. I’ve found at first that I could easily replace my iPhone for a cheap no name phone that simply makes phone calls and carry around the Archos 5 for everything else. But why carry two devices? I’ve heard people using the iPhone for everything and from, videos, music, and even remote support, which sounds unreal simply because the iPhone only has a 3.5″ screen. Where the Archos 5 has a High resolution screen, 800×480 pixels, 4.8” TFT LCD, 16 million colors. How does that even compare to the iPhone? At first launch the Archos 5 has a down fall. Unable to work in a Mac OS X environment which is bad because that’s pre-dominetly my main operating system. (continue reading…)

Windows 7

Well you are all probably wondering my thoughts on Microsoft’s latest release. Windows 7. Now we all have been wondering is this going to be the downfall of the empire, the final nail in Microsoft’s coffin? Or will this be a chance for Microsoft’s’ to redeem themselves. Well I stand here today to tell you, yes Microsoft has redeemed themselves. They have put out a snappy, yet elegant operating system.
As you all may know I pre-ordered Windows 7 Home Premium back when it became available in August and actually was contemplating canceling my order to fully support Apple. (I think I drank too much apple cool-aid) Never the less, I kept my pre-order shelled out 75 dollars (pre-order download plus an official Windows 7 disk being mailed) which all in all after what I paid for vista when it came out, wasn’t bad. At first glance on the first machine I installed it on, I was a bit hesitant. I did a complete format install and not an upgrade as they recommend. Who upgrades Windows? Anyways, low and behold, everything went smooth in installing Windows 7 64bit. All the drivers were found. All the hardware was excepted. Viola, I was back up and running and installing my software in about 30 minutes. That was all done on my Dell Optiplex 740 AMD 64X2 2 GB of Ram 2.3ghz processor. (continue reading…)

Here is my review of the Wifire from hfield.

OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

Now that the world has experienced the full release of Apples OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard the votes are in. The reviews are out. The hype is over. The wait is over. Survey says? That is the question. I think the world of mac users are stunned because, dare I say we expected more? The long awaited OS from apple that has been released is dare I say nothing more than a $29.99 …. gulp …. Service Pack? After doing both a clean install and upgrade install* I’ve yet to see a vast improvement. Yes its slightly faster, Yes it adds a few new features that the everyday user may or may not use. But overall, it was a $29.99 service pack. It’s how leopard should have been. But I must say eventually I will do a clean install. The difference I see from those wondering wether or not to upgrade to Snow Leopard or not. For $29.99 why not? If you are currently running Tiger (OS X 10.4) then its a bargain. The hype surrounding Quicktime X was a bit over rated. They stripped a large chunk of features out of it. It’s almost as if they are making us keep Quicktime Pro 7 around. Then what’s the point? Now being a mainly apple user, I of course pre-ordered the software and couldn’t wait to get it on my machine. Overall the install and upgrade was seamless. Even the install process was almost exactly like Leopard. Even the intro video on clean install was the same.

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