My Christmas present.

[Mark R]

This year Father Christmas brought me an an android tablet, the first one did not charge and was replaced.
Today I have finally got it to a place I want it to be , with the apps I want and wifi, I wonder how I managed without one. What a brilliant piece of kit.

cheers Mark

[Radio Fixer]

YeaH! I got one too Mark, the Nexus 7 with 3G. Have to confess I'm struggling at the moment. Making slow progress though. Bought a brilliant router, the TP-Link with 4 aerials. Great coverage anywhere in the house and a piece of cake to set up.

Not sure its going to work out for me yet but eventually after reading about them you have to take the plunge.

As you say the technology is incredible.

Gary

[Yorkie]

I've reached and age at which - with not a moment to lose - I don't wait for birthdays or Christmas (which has no personal significance to me) - if I want something (not to be confused with 'need' something!), I get it right away. Hence, in October, I treated myself to an i-pad - what I suppose could be called an 'early Christmas present'. One aspect of modern technology which I'm not keen on is 'touch screen'. I appreciate the advantages of course - no cluttered clunky buttons, switches etc to go wrong. All operations on the i-pad are touch screen, including the keyboard, which - when needed - for example, to type a seasch string into google or write an e-mail or forum post - is quite large and easy to use. Clever too, in that there are two screens - not one. For example, when you want to use caps or numbers. I still prefer a 'proper' keyboard.

Apple do make a separate keyboard for the i-pad, but it's nothing like as neat as the one that Logitech make. Initially Logitech only made them in black, but just before Christmas they brought out a white one which matches my white i-pad. My younger son treated me to Logitech jobby for Christmas and I've been very chuffed with it. Basically, it converts the i-pad into what is to all intents and purposes, a 'netbook'. It doubles as a sort of 'clamshell' which - when you close the lid, shuts off the power to the i-pad and protects the screen. When you open the lid, it wakes up the i-pad, and you detach the keyboard - which is attached magnetically to a 'hinge' on the i-pad - and slot it into the ipad. It then connects wirelessly by bluetooth to the ipad, and you can then use the keyboard as you would on any laptop. When you've finished, you take it out of the slot, put the keyboard to the magnetic hinge and close the lid, automatically switching off the i-pad. Clever eh - so simple that even I can use it!

The pics make it clearer. The first pic is the appearance of the standard on-screen i-pad keyboard without the Logitech add-on. (The i-pad keyboard is only visible when you need to type something - otherwise all that's on the screen are the touch-screen icons for whatever apps you've installed). The only difference between men and boys is the price that they pay for their toys'.

[Retired]

Hi,

I don't have an i-pad but your's looks the business David and I bet it gets a lot of use.

Like you David I don't wait for Christmas to splash out on something special.

I too bought a top class router Gary but not the kind you describe; here's mine;

http://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-erb380...240v/81664

I also bought a powerful SDS drill/chisel which when needed is needed badly;

http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb279sd...40v/55660#

During 2012 I also bought a garden shredder and petrol chainsaw. Later in the year bought a Jubilee wood-turning lathe together with a new inverter drive (VFD) to convert it to 3 phase variable speed. A new SIP compressor with nail gun to add air power into the workshop and a second hand nail gun for use with the big compressor in the garage. A very clean second hand Dewalt mitre saw for workshop use. A second hand VAX to keep the workshop clean and for Christmas Bron kindly bought me the Clarke engineering lathe. I had ordered a brand new computer for Christmas but this didn't arrive so the new computer was the first item to land in 2013.

Also in 2012 I paid £250 to have the two Myford lathe beds reground and another £250 for materials to construct my new computer desk with.

I cleared out my electronics workshop and am still converting it for woodworking hence buying a lot of kit.

All in all I reckon Santa has been very kind to me and once the warmer weather arrives this side of the valley will come to life.

Kind regards, Col.

[Raditechman]

I also am at the age in life when I do not wait for birthdays or Christmas, (like Yorkie Dave Christmas does not mean much to me). Yesterday I was driving to Dorset to pick up an old TV and tried my Samsumg Galaxy mobile telephone on its GPS navigation application, which worked and got me near to the destination address. After collecting the set I wanted to try something else instead of the Smartphones satnav so called in at a store and bought a Garmin!
Last night I connected it to the PC and downloaded some map updates which were free.
Nice to be able to play with these new gadgets, but of course they are more or less throw away items. Not like my vintage radios still working after decades of service, (and now an old TV too).
I am considering a Tablet unit, but will probably go for a Google Android.
John

[Retired]

Hi,

If your Garmin sat nav is as good as our TomTom you will be pleased with it John.

Sat nav is one bit of modern kit I like. The TomTom is built into our Aygo but is detachable for plugging into the computer for updates.

I usually drive to within a few miles of my destination then let the TomTom take over; it takes me right to the door. The distance read out is great for pin pointing turn offs.

Kind regards, Col.

[Nick]

I'm with David on "Just getting stuff" if you can - life is too short!

SWMBO's family is HUGE - our kids have 21 first cousins & 22 aunts & uncles - for many years, there's been a set limit on < 10 quid for inter-family prezzies - obviously intra-family the ante is upped, but generally "capital items" don't appear as seasonal gifts... I did, however, buy myself & SWMBO a set of Damascus steel kitchen knives - things of absolute beauty - I know you're not supposed to give knives as presents, but we trust each other (she did get other, less lethal, presents too) !

SWMBO gave me a Metabo planer-thicknesser for my birthday and I bought a decent router & router table to go with it. Wood is wonderful stuff to work with, but I have little internal space for table saws & big machinery - it all has to go outside when I'm working with sheet or long stock, so that pretty much rules out winter work with wood...

FWIW, I have a Samsung S2 (and no tablet of any sort) - I use the Satnav on the Samsung a lot, but using GPS drains the battery really quickly, so I have a "cigarette lighter" charger for the phone to keep it running when in the car - the Google Satnav, for a freebie, is IMHO excellent...

I'm extremely tempted by a tablet but am waiting for the super-OLED android ones to come out later this year...

[Radio Fixer]

Well I was speaking casually as I dont actually wait for Christmas, for all the same reasons, either. But the Nexus 7 just happened to come at that time ...

I was waiting until things on the Tablet front settled a little and there was enough feedback to go for the best value. From all I have read thats the 7 at the moment. Your iPad looks bigger David and I wanted something that would go in the pocket, a large one admitted, or easily in the backpack and not weigh me down.

I dont know if it works on other models but there's a coupla quid cable for the 7 that plugs in the mini USB skt and adapts to full USB ... its great to attach a laptop wireless mouse to it if sitting down. If using a finger I'm impressed with the 'swipe' typing and even without much practice it's good.

I wanted the 3G version as with a Roamline SIM card I can connect anywhere in the civilised world even if I'm not near a WiFi point, with charges only paying for what I use, which will probably be small. Seems a good idea to have the option.

Nice router Colin ... reckon I'm done with those now.

Cheers Gary