Apple iPad Released

The Apple iPad is the latest in a long line of products to bring our computer technology closer to that seen in the Star Trek series. Before you judge those who watch and enjoy Star Trek remember that those who have invented most of what makes our computers do what they do credit Star Trek as their inspiration. It took them about 20 years to do it but the iPad looks and functions a lot like the pads used by Captain Picard and his crew.

The iPad is not a replacement for a computer. The first drawback I noticed was that there is no way to directly print anything from an iPad. That does not mean that it can't be used on a daily basis to perform most of the functions a normal computer can do. As long as you can access a wireless network you are able to browse the internet, send and receive e-mail, store photos, music, movies and books. You can even view and create Microsoft Office files using the Apple equivalent software.

The iPad does not have a USB port so you cannot plug in an external hard drive to backup the device or add additional storage space. It does come with a cable to allow connection to a regular computer. To import photos from your camera you would need to either purchase another adapter or import them to another computer first then transfer them with the included cable.

There is also the part about the battery that may give some people pause. The battery is not customer replaceable. Apple will replace the entire unit for about $100 but the process takes a week or more and you lose everything stored on the unit. That means you need to make sure you are backing up to your normal computer using the iTunes software on a regular basis.

The iPad is available now and comes currently with three different memory options. Starting at $499 you get 16GB of storage space. For a hundred dollars more you can double the storage and for two hundred more you can quadruple the space (64GB). Apple plans to have three more models available at the end of April which add the ability to connect to the internet via 3G cellular service. The highest price model will sell for $829.

 

RCA cable

An RCA cable is an audio/video cable with yellow, red and white connectors on each end, allowing a VCR, DVD player, gaming system, or other audio/video device to be connected to a TV. The yellow connector is for video and the red & white connectors are for audio (stereo sound... red for the right speaker, white for the left speaker). In the picture to the right, is an example of a RCA cable.

RCA cables come in varying lengths, from 3 feet to 100 feet in length. However, as the length of the cable gets longer, there is a chance of some signal quality loss, due to interference along the way.

 

AVG - New Version

As some of you may know I have been a long time supporter of AVG Anti-Virus. I have recommended it to many of my customers who were looking for a good security product that would not slow their computer down. The best part is that it is free for home or personal use. The newest version is no exception.

Those of you that have an earlier version of the program may have already received notification that the new version is available. Clicking on the link in their notification will most likely take you to where they sell the paid version. I recommend instead that you use the link I have provided below. This will take you to the correct website for choosing the free version 9.0.

http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

If you have never tried AVG because you feel more comfortable paying for your protection but your current product is about to expire or you want to use AVG on your business computer, you can also use the link above to get the paid version. The paid version retails for $34.99 while the comparable version of Norton or McAfee retails at $39.99.

For computers that are behind a router this level of protection is more than adequate. For those of you that connect your computer directly to a cable or DSL modem you may want to consider purchasing their Internet Security which is also available from the link above. I will caution you that using any "internet security" suite will cause a computer to run much slower and internet web pages will take longer to load.

For the same price or less of AVG Internet Security you could purchase a router to put between your modem and the computer. This not only balances the cost but gives you the protection of a hardware firewall which to some is considered preferable to any software solution.

One other bit of advice is to only run one anti-virus or internet security suite at a time. If you already have AVG, the new version will remove the old version for you. If you are switching, uninstall the old software then reboot the system before you try to install AVG. Finally, a reminder that no security software will protect you 100% of the time. I can only say that during the past 9 years, since I first started using AVG, it has protected me against threats that friends, family and co-workers, who used another product, fell victim to.