Gadget Guru May 2011
Q: My son is asking us to buy an iPad to replace his old, dead Windows laptop. Will he be able to do all his homework and so on it or would a proper computer be better?
A: That depends on
what, exactly, he needs to do with it. First, an iPad needs to be
connected, at least once, to a computer and the iTunes software to
initialise it. Future updates to its software arrive this way too.
Second, the iPad is designed primarily as a way to consume media -
books, music, films, internet content - rather than create it. That
said, if you add an external keyboard - Apple make a nice wireless
model - and the Pages word processing app (£5.99), he'll
be able to do any written homework. Pages is compatible with
Microsoft Word, but getting documents to and from his iPad MAY be a
little tricky; they can be sent by e-mail, or transferred via
iTunes - so, again, he may end up needing to tether it to a desktop
computer somewhere (either an Apple Mac or a Windows machine, it
doesn't matter).
Next is the question of storage capacity; the largest (and most
expensive at £559, or £659 if you get the model with 3G
wireless access for when he's out of WiFi range) tops out at
64GB capacity. This may sound like a lot, but if it's going to
be the only place he keeps his music, photos and films as well as
his school work, it won't be nearly enough. You can't plug
an external hard disc into iPads so, again, he'd be looking to
keep lots of his digital stuff on another computer. Ultimately, I
think the iPad and other tablet computers (ones with touch screens
and no keyboard) are fantastic second computers, but it'd be
hard to have one as your only computing device. I predict that, if
you do buy him one, he'll sooner or later be presenting a very
strong case to have another laptop to go with it.
Q: The charger for my mobile phone is on the verge of breaking, does it matter if I use my old phones charger, or will it overcharge it?
A: Phone
manufacturers, with some honourable exceptions, have a habit of
making their chargers just different enough that you can't
interchange them; even if the plug from one fits into another
telephone, odds are that they work on different voltages or
polarity and you won't get it to work on another phone. The
exception is where a phone has a Micro- or Mini-USB plug - these
are interchangeable. You can check if you have such a plug at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus#USB_Mini_and_Micro_connectors.
Q: I want to send emails to a group of people and (a) have a confirmation that they've received them and (b) prevent them from sending them on elsewhere.
A: Some email
programs like Outlook can be set to ask for and send read
confirmation receipts, but a lot of people turn these off. Other
methods, such as embedding tiny images in emails, sometimes work
but are complicated to set up and don't always work anyway.
Ditto for any online service you see offering such a facility. But
if that's hard, preventing people from sending your emails on
elsewhere is physically impossible. Anything they can see on their
screen, they can copy and send anywhere they like. Youre going to
have to do this manually - ask them to confirm that they've got
your message and that they've not sent it elsewhere.
Tips:
* Youve probably already checked out satellite and street-level photos of your house in Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/ and http://maps.google.com/help/maps/streetview/) - now you can also visit a detailed 3D image of the human body (not your own - yet, anyway) courtesy of Google, http://bodybrowser.googlelabs.com/body.html. Great for kids studying biology.
* If your home WiFi network won't reach all the way upstairs, have a look at the Homeplug or Powerline systems - basically, they use your house's existing electrical wiring to spread your computer network. You start with two plugs, one which connects to your internet connection or computer and the other in the room where you want to connect another machine, and you can add further plugs as you wish. You'll find pairs on Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk) for about £40, and setup is very easy.
* A very simple tip to keep your computer running: vacuum dust from all the outside vents and holes. Computers attract dust and dirt like toddlers - a quick once-over with the vacuum now and then will stop this clogging up the interior. Don't try this inside the case unless you know what you're doing.
* When you come back from holidays, DON'T check your email first - update your anti-virus software, THEN check your messages. New viruses come out all the time, and if your AV software hasn't been updated for a week or two you could be in trouble.
* TV, DVD, satellite box remote controls flaking out on you? Try a replacement Universal remote - they're ridiculously cheap now and most will replace several remote controls with one handset. Try electronics stores or even supermarkets. Most are pre-programmed (or programmable) for all popular makes of TV.
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