Stan's Tablet Blog

Almost all wireless, finally!

2010-02-05T15:53:00.001+01:00

Hey there,

so I finally made the last step of getting rid of all the cables on my desk. I few days ago, I surfed the net a little bit and stumbled upon an eBay auction selling this Bluetooth stereo receiver for only €12.29 (~$16.80).

It comes with a :

USB-charger
USB to 3.5 mm Stereo Plug
mono earpiece
stereo headset.

and it supports the following profiles:

Headset
Hands free
A2DP
AVRCP

Now every time I want to listen to something just for my self, I switch it on and put it in my ear. The whole process takes me about five seconds and it’s completely without any hassle to unscramble cables and having to plug something into my laptop.

The auction’s description says this little box is supposed to have a standby time of 200 hours and a talk time of 10 Hours (yes, it has a build in microphone, but the quality is not that good), but It gets nowhere near that. I’m playing with the thought of opening it and replacing the battery with a better one, I’m just afraid, that there isn’t a way of opening it without destroying the casing partly.

The over all sound quality though, is pretty good (at least for Bluetooth and being so cheap). Like I said, the microphone works, but it’s very quite. I rather use my laptop’s mic for Skype and stuff.

The cool part about this is, that you can use the controls to change the volume, skip tracks, accept a call, hang up a call, and switch calls. So from the functions point of few, it’s fully equipped. I can walk around my flat and listen to my music and even skip a track if don't want to listen to it at the moment or pause it.

So for every one out there wanting detach himself from is PC a little bit more, just buy a cheap Bluetooth receiver/headset and enjoy the freedom.

Btw, during my search for a cheap Bluetooth headset, I also came across the Motorola Motorokr S305. It’s a little bit more expensive than mine, but still cheap. So if you don't like ear buds, the S305 is the right choice for you.

cheers

Stan

The Saitek Eclipse Bluetooth Touch Mouse

2010-01-17T18:49:00.001+01:00

Hey everybody,

hope you had a happy new year and got of to a good start. Today I got a little step closer on getting rid of all the cables on my desk. I had planed on getting a Bluetooth mouse for while now, but couldn’t decide which one to pick. I had 4 models, on which I had laid my eyes:

the Razer Orochi
the Philips SPM9800/10
the Kensington SlimBlade Trackball Mouse
the Saitek Eclipse Touch Mouse

Razer Orochi

First I had set on the Orochi, since it had all the features that I wanted. It had Bluetooth (of course), small size (good portability), good looks and on top you can connect it to the PC via USB in case the battery dies (connecting it doesn't charge the battery though) or you really want to use it as a gaming mouse (for what it is actually meant). But, reading a few reviews and testing it in store, I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t quite what I was looking for (it was a little bit to small and the battery is not supposed to last that long).

Philips SPM9800/10

So next I looked at the SPM9800/10 from Philips. It’s bigger than the Orochi, can be charged via USB (USB cord is stored inside the unit) as well and on top of that, it has a 360° touch panel, instead of the scroll wheel. You can use it as a normal mouse,the touchpad functioning as scroll wheel or hit a switch and use it as a trackpad in your hand. So I thought, hey that’s pretty cool, now I can sit back and relax while skipping through my documents and learn. So just when I was about ready to buy the Philips, I discovered the Kensington SlimBlade Trackball Mouse.

Kensington SlimBlade Trackball Mouse

The SlimBlade is almost the same as the Philips, only that it can’t be connected via USB, it looks much better and it has a trackball instead of a touchpad, but it as well has the the touchpad/trackball function. I was almost ready to jump from Philips to the Kensington, when I read a few reviews about the Kensington, saying that the trackball would stop working pretty fast, due to residue building up inside the trackballcasing. So I decided to go back to the Philips, since it doesn't have an mechanical parts that would stop working after a few months.

Saitek Eclipse Touch Mouse

Once again I was almost ready to order(the only thing that held me back was the look of the Philips, since it's grey color doesn't match that well with my ThinkPad x200t), when I read about the Eclipse Touch Mouse, which was being presented at CES in Las Vegas at the time. Liking the looks and functions of it, I searched the web and found out that it was already on sale in Europe. Since it looked great, had great features and the fact that it was a lot cheaper then all the other mice I had looked at, I went ahead and ordered the Eclipse.

As you can see, it has a very distinct design, has a brushed Aluminum top surface and holds one AA battery. The eclipse is a lightweight Bluetooth mouse, weighing only 553g (2.22oz) with battery. It has 3 Buttons, a 4-way touch scroll, and a 1600 dpi Laser sensor. The scrolling is smooth and you can even do a flick-scrolling. The special feature of the mouse is, that you can press the middle button and move the mouse ether forward, backward, left or right in order to open the web browser, refresh the webpage, go back or forward.

I love my new mouse and am very happy with it. It takes a little bit of time getting used to the size and form, but once you found a suitable position for your hand, it’s fine. The only things that I dislike up until now, is the clicking sound which is rather loud and the fact hat you can’t change the actions for the movements (at least I haven’t found out yet how to do so)

cheers

Stan

UPDATE: I contacted Saitek and found out that they will offer a new driver sometime soon, which will allow you to change the actions of the mouse movements. It seems we almost have a perfect mouse in in front of us^^.

The MaxiVista Triple Monitor Setup

2009-12-18T12:58:00.001+01:00

Hey everyone, sorry for keeping it quiet the last months, but I was really busy with university and unfortunately had no time for this blog. But now, I have a little bit more time and I can finally share with you my MaxiVista experience.

As I posted earlier I had planned a two monitor setup with an old Libretto, well that changed. I got a hold of an Sony Vaio PCG-GR315MP with 1,2 GHz, 512 Mb Ram and a 15” Monitor with a resolution of 1024 x 768. So I installed Windows XP on it and hooked up my monitor to it. Then I installed the new MaxiVista v4 Pro and installed two monitors (With MaxiVista v4 Pro you can use up to three extra monitors, but since I only have two at the moment it doesn't matter).

So what did this give me? Well, since MaxiVista expands the Desktop over the Network and I’m using a Wlan, I can now expand my Desktop over the network onto my Monitor and the Sony Vaio, wirelessly!!! Isn’t this great, now I have no more hassle hooking up the screen to my X200 every time I arrive at my desk and second of all I now have a third Monitor that I can use.

All though I have some trouble setting up the virtual positions of the screen, I still think that MaxiVista is one of the best Software out there!

(This is how it is at the moment

and this is how I want it to be.)

So for every one out there who wants another monitor and has a spare Notebook lying around, get MaxiVista!! Trust me, it’s worth it!

cheers

Stan

MaxiVista v4

2009-10-22T23:15:00.001+02:00

Technorati-Tags: MaxiVista,Monitor,Notebook

Hello everyone,

today I ordered the new MaxiVista v4, which is Windows 7 compatible and is available in a 32-bit and 64-bit version. For those of you who don't know what MaxiVista is, MaxiVista allows you to use a notebook as a secondary monitor over LAN or WLAN.

You can use MaxiVista to control another PC as well and it even synchronizes the clipboard. It is extremely useful for people who have a small screen resolution and need more desktop space to work efficiently. Of course you could just buy a new Monitor, but what for, when you have an old notebook lying around anyway. You can use any notebook or PC and it’s cheaper then a new Monitor. There’s a sale going on right now, just enter “donationcoder” and you’ll get 30% off!

I have a spare notebook and will use it as a secondary monitor. Furthermore I plan on hooking up my monitor to an old Libretto 110CT. That way I will have two secondary monitors, wirelessly^^!

cheers

Bing Downloader

2009-10-10T15:29:00.001+02:00

Technorati-Tags: Desktop,Bing,background

Do you have the same boring standard Windows background all year around and think you could use a little change, then download Bing Downloader. Microsoft's new search engine Bing offers a unique background picture every day. Bing Downloader grabs the current image from the Bing homepage and saves it in a folder name “BingImages”. Since there are several different backgrounds for the different Bing sites, Bing Downloader will download all of them.

If you run Bing Downloader everyday, you’ll soon have stunning archive of backgrounds. Now all you have to do is, to tell Windows use the pictures in the BingImages folder as background and have them change every minute or so. For those who are interested there is an iPhone version as well for only $0.99.

Enjoy your new desktop!!

Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet Multitouch

2009-10-06T23:06:00.001+02:00

Today I ordered the new X200 Tablet with the enhanced multitouch. It has the 1.86 GHz Processor, 4 Gigs of Ram, 120 GB of disk (plan on buying an SSD, so I chose the cheapest drive), Webcam, Fingerprint Reader, 8 cell battery and all that for only $1621.80 with the ‘USPXOFFER’ coupon code.

Now unfortunately I wont get it till mid November, but once I get it, I’ll make sure I do a thorough run down.

Sorry, for not posting anything the last couple of days, but I’ve been pretty busy studying for university so please excuse my lack of posts.

cheers

Stan

Next E.T.A.: Wacom Pen Driver

2009-10-01T11:48:00.001+02:00

Technorati-Tags: Wacom,Pen,Driver,Tablet

Now, as the name states this is only for you guys out there that have a Wacom digitizer. Although Windows Vista and 7 are already set for pen input, they don't really let you tweak the pen performance. Here’s were the Wacom driver comes into play. After installing you will find the Pen Tablet icon in your system preferences.

I’m sorry, but since my OS is German, the preferences of course are as well, but I’ll make sure to translate the important things. Now, when you open Pen Tablet the following window opens:

As you can see, there are several things to play around with, but the best thing is that you can alter the side button and give it a different action. By now, you’d probably wish you had another button on your pen to configure ;-)

The Popup Menu Tab lets you configure a small menu, that pops up when you have selected “popup menu” as the action for the side button (duh). You can configure the menu as you like. You can add programs, keystrokes or switch between mouse and pen mode. You can add and remove what ever you want.

Under the Calibrate Tab you can simply calibrate your touch screen just as in windows, so nothing special there!

I hoped you guys enjoyed this E.T.A., till then

Stan

The Tool Ring

2009-09-29T13:57:00.001+02:00

Technorati-Tags: InkSeine,ScrollControl,Ring Tool,Tablet,OneNote,Screen Shot

Hey there,

if you are a loyal Tablian as I am, then you’ve probably heard about InkSeine. InkSeine is an application kind of “like Windows Journal only on steroids”. InkSeine does much more than Journal and many people like working with it, especially because it’s extra designed for tablet users. All though it has some good functions, I never really became a huge fan of it. So why talk about InkSeine, because it has a really neat add-on, the Tool Ring!! The Tool Ring is a lightweight, small, translucent applet that hovers over any application you use. What it does is, it simulates a mouse’s scroll wheel. Simply press it with you Stylus and make a circular movement (just like an iPod’s Click Wheel) to scroll up or down. If you have to read through long PDFs hate scrolling with pen flicks or the scroll bar, then ScrollControl will be your best friend.

Another handy feature is the screen capture ability. It is ideal for people who often use OneNote and like working with screen shots. Simply press the camera button on top and select what ever you want to capture. Then all you need to do is paste it into OneNote. I know OneNote has this feature as well, but with scroll control it’s so much fast and it’s always right there when you need it!

If you want to have ScrollControl, simply

download InkSeine
got to the folder where you installed InkSeine
create a shortcut to ScrollControl.exe
and place it in the Autorun folder

Now every time you start your PC, the Tool Ring is right there and you can use it to scroll through web pages, PDFs or folders. I think, that this is an essential application for any tablet user out there.

Stan

P.S.: I think I will start an “Essential Tablet Application”–Section (E.T.A.). Hang around to hear about other useful tablet applications!

The Lenovo ThinkPad x200 Tablet

2009-09-27T14:36:00.002+02:00

Technorati-Tags: Lenovo,tablet

As mentioned in my last post, I’m currently using the x200 Tablet as main weapon of choice. This post is not supposed to be a review of the x200, since Warner Crocker did a wonderful job on that in his InkShow and review, but rather a list of all the tiny things that bother me and which I think could have been done better.

All in all, I’m very happy with the x200, it’s small, lightweight (at least without the 8 cell battery), has many features, is well constructed and it has the famous ThinkPad keyboard. On the other hand it could be improved at a view places:

The Screen Size

The x200 has a 12.1 in. screen with a 1280x800 resolution. This isn’t all to bad and a standard screen size in the industry at the moment, but considering the size of the x200, it’s a little bit small. Lenovo placed a standard sized keyboard into the x200. This makes it a little bit bigger than other convertibles of the same class (Dell Latitude XT2, HP EliteBook 2730p). The positive thing is that you have a small notebook and a standard size keyboard, but it makes the notebook about an inch wider then the screen is. The shiny boarder around the screen has a exactly the size of a 13.1” screen. I wish Lenovo had taken advantage of the extra space and placed in a 13.1” 1200x900 hi-res. screen.

The Fingerprint Reader

Lenovo did an excellent job with placing the Reader onto the screen in the lower right hand corner. It is easy accessible, whether you’re in slate or normal mode. Now for people who have the touch screen, this might not be such a problem, but for people like me (pen only), it can be very unpleasant scrolling through long PDFs while in slate mode. Here’s the point where the Fingerprint Reader comes into play. Other Companies offer the possibility to use the Reader as a scrolling device. This capability is build into the AuthenTec AES2810 which is the Fingerprint Reader build into the x200. For some unknown reason Lenovo doesn’t allow you to use this feature. It would be so simple just to swipe your finger over the scanner to scroll up an down. I have tried installing software form other Vendors in order to activate this feature, but did not succeed.

The Camera

The camera has a good quality but it’s not centered on the screen. As you can see, it is slightly left of the center. In the center it self is a small light that only indicates that the camera is in use. I don’t know how you guys feel about it, but I hate it when I sit in front of my tablet, skyping with somebody and I’m not in the center of the picture. Couldn’t Lenovo just replace the indicator light with the camera so that the camera is in the center of the screen?

The ThinkLight

The ThinkLight is a little LED integrated in the top of the screen. It’s purpose is to light up the keyboard when your working in the dark. Every series form Lenovo has this option, but for some reason they didn’t integrate it into the x200 Tablet. Sometimes, I really miss this feature!

The 8-cell Battery

The 8-cell Battery of the x200t protrudes from its back. It is rubberised on the top an gives a good hold while in slate mode. Many people like it this way, because of the good grip, but it also makes the x200t over an inch longer. For my taste, this is a little bit to long. I wish Lenovo had come up with solution, close to some thing like HP offers (the extended Battery goes underneath the notebook). The extending battery and the bigger form factor (do to the full sized keyboard) turn what could have bin a small tablet into a pretty big notebook.

The Pen

The Tablet pen is one of the best tablet pens around. It’s long, lightweight, has a good feel, a pen clip, an eraser and a button on the side. Now when you have a look at the pens that Wacom offers for their tablets, you will find two specific pens. Once the UP-714W which can be considered the same as

Lenovo’s and the the MP-102.

The MP-102 is almost the same as Lenovo’s pen except it has a second side button instead of the pen clip. I don’t know about you guys, but I would love to have another button on my pen!! It would make a few things a lot easier.

As I have said in the beginning of this post, I love my Tablet and I think that it is one of the best there is. If Lenovo would now take at least a few of the above mentioned changes and implement them, the x200t could become THE best Tablet!!!

Stan

First Entry…..Yikes!!!

2009-09-25T22:57:00.001+02:00

Technorati-Tags: tablet

Hello everyone,

my name is Constantin, I’m a 21 year old student from Germany and this is my first blog entry. As the title of my blog states, the content of this blog will focus mainly on tablets, their software and hardware. Please, excuse the standard look, since I just started this blog, I didn’t have time to work on the layout and style yet, but I’ll promise you will notice a few changes soon!

I’ve always been interested in tablets and have fallowed the evolution of designs and technology over last couple of years. I’m a loyal reader of gottabemobile, lifehacker, gizmodo and engadget and have finally convinced myself of starting my own blog. At this point I would like to give all of these blogs a huge compliment for their great work, these guys do a really good job and I enjoy reading their posts every day. For those of you who don’t know any of these blogs, just head on over and check them out, I’m sure it won’t be your last visit (I even got my girlfriend to have look at them once or twice a week and that says a lot!!).

In this blog I’ll post things I stumble upon on the net, my own thoughts on things and experiences I have collected with my own tablet. Currently, I’m the proud owner owner of a Lenovo ThinkPad x200 Tablet with the 12.1" SuperBright WXGA LED Panel with Wide viewing Angle, pen only and Windows 7 Professional. I’m playing with the thought of getting the new x200 with the multi touch screen, since real touch is what I’ve always wanted and couldn’t afford when I bought my current tablet.

I use OneNote to take notes at university and have gone all digital (I just couldn't take another year of unsorted papers flying around everywhere;-)). Every paper I get, I scan in, every book I need, I’ll try to get it as eBook and every paper I have to write, I write on my tablet and print it out and so far I can’t complain.

I’m currently not quit sure yet, if I’ll turn this into an ink blog (my handwriting is not the best^^). I’m using Windows Live Writer and have already downloaded Ed Holloway’s Ink Blog Plug-in, but for now I’m going to stick to the normal blogging style.

I invite you to leave as many comments on this page as you like, whether it be ‘cause you’re a fellow tablian, have something to comment on or have anything else of interest to say. I’m looking forward to your responses,

till then

cheers

Stan