SomeGadgetGuy’s 2013 Holiday Tablet Buying Guide!

ipad miniTis the season for shiny new glowing rectangles! Tablets are proving to be all the rage this year, and if you were thinking of shopping one for a loved one (or for yourself you cheeky bugger you), here’s the scoop on our favorite computing slabs.

Apple: iPad Mini ($399)

Ok. This one’s easy. The iPad Air is the big dog, but the Mini now sports a proper retina display and pretty much the same processor guts as its big brother. The Mini is a touch easier to leave the house with thanks to its smaller form factor, and you’ll save yourself a cool $100 opting for the little iPad over the bigger one. Thankfully that wont come with a performance deficit. This is likely going to be one of the hottest sellers of the year, so make sure you get that pre-order in before it goes on sale later this month if you want to secure a place in line.

Apple announces iPad Mini.

Microsoft: Nokia Lumia 2520 ($499, available later this month)

WP_20131024_19_19_31_ProWe’re restricting our discussion here to Windows RT powered devices. Microsoft is doing a great job of blurring the lines between proper PC’s and consumer tablets, but keeping the playing field equal here, we’re looking at ARM powered portable devices not X86. Sorry Surface Pro and Sony Tap.

The Surface 2 might be Microsoft’s example of what Windows RT should resemble, but Nokia looks like they might take the cake. The Lumia 2520 runs $50 more than the Surface 2, but it comes with LTE built in. Activate it on a carrier which supports it, and you can count on ultra-fast data anywhere you have cell service. To put it into perspective, for $499 you could get a WiFi only iPad Air with 16GB of storage (and no ability to add more storage), or you could get a Lumia 2520 with LTE, 32GB of storage, MicroSD card slot, and a proper USB port.

Microsoft’s OS is still geared a little more towards “work” than “play” but we should see the app ecosystem improve radically once Windows Phone and Windows RT merge early next year (Power Keyboard shown in this pic sold separately).

Hands on with the Lumia 2520!

Android: Tie – Samsung Note 10.1 2014 Edition ($599) vs Asus Google Nexus 7 ($229)

Samsung-Galaxy-Note-10.1-2014Sorry folks. I really tried. It was just too much of a Sophie’s choice to declare one clear winner. Thankfully these two exist at POLAR OPPOSITES of the Android spectrum. Samsung takes an “everything and the kitchen sink” approach to their devices and the Note 10.1 is audacious.

An incredible WQXGA (2560×1600) display exceeds the iPad by almost a million pixels, 32GB of on board storage plus a memory card slot, the ability to use two apps at the same time, Samsung’s excellent S-Pen stylus, and an IR port to use it as a huge universal remote for your TV. It’s a premium experience at a premier price point.

nexus 7 FHD side angle 2013Contrast that with with Google’s market disrupting Nexus 7. Asus helped Goog build out a high end mini-tablet with solid specs, and the two are offering it up at a price usually reserved for “disposable” gear. A 1080p HD screen paired up with a mid-range Qualcomm quad-core and 16GB of storage. You wont get some of the bells and whistles like expandable storage or an IR port, but it’s hard to be disappointed when you consider the bang for buck.

Honorable Mention: Kindles Galore

kindle paperwhite second generation ereader review somegadgetguy (3)So each ecosystem has its strengths and weaknesses, and there’s a lot of overlap.

If you’re an Amazon junky however, a Kindle Fire might be the content consumption platform for you. Powerful specs, great screens, and Amazon prices them low to encourage you to buy music, books, apps, and movies through their online shopping portals.

Lastly, if books are your thing, never underestimate the value of a proper digital ink eReader.

Those are our picks for the year! Did we miss your favorite slate? Is there another tablet which you think is better? Leave us a comment below.

Win an XBox 360 courtesy of Boored at Work and SomeGadgetGuy!

xbox 360 giveaway contest booredatwork somegadgetguyWe’re sending off the last generation of consoles with a Youtube giveaway!

We’re giving away an XBox 360, and entering is easy!

  1. Subscribe to Boored at Work on Youtube.
  2. Subscribe to Some Gadget Guy on Youtube.
  3. Leave a comment on THIS video explaining why we should give you the XBox.

You have to do all three, which means you also have to figure out the whole Google Plus comments thing. Sorry. Thems the breaks.

plantronics backbeat go contest giveaway booredatwork somegadgetguyTo sweeten the deal, we’re giving away a pair of Plantronics Backbeat Go 2 Bluetooth headphones to a runner up courtesy of AT&T in Southern California! They’ve been stocking some killer accessories lately, and are sharing some goodies to give to you! We’re all feeling generous. We’re cool like that.

We’ll accept entries until Thursday November 14 at 8pm Eastern, when we’ll go live on Youtube to announce a winner and a runner up, so get subscribing, and get commenting!

Top 5 for the week starting November 4 – Thor Red Carpet, and why you should shake up your tech habits…

thor dark world skype marvel somegadgetguy red carpetWhew! Another week and a bunch of exciting stories hit the web. Here are the most read and most shared stories from this here lil old blog.

5. On the Red Carpet for the Hollywood Premiere of Thor: The Dark World

A little shameless plugging here. Skype hooked me up with a pass to the red carpet premiere of Thor: The Dark World. I got to jump into the pit, and got a bunch of great pics of the film’s stars looking fabulous.

4. Why now is the perfect time to diversify your technology portfolio…

It’s becoming a weekly tradition, my cranky technology rant. I’m like the Andy Rooney of internet commentary, but I’ve figured out how to use the Start Button in Windows. Anywho, this week I turn my sights on fanboyism and why it might not be a bad idea right now to try something different than what you’re currently using.

Lenovo-Miix-2-Windows-8.1-8-inch-tablet3. Lenovo Announces most affordable Windows 8.1 tablet at $299

Tablets are going to be all the rage this holiday season (Our holiday tablet buying guide comes out tomorrow)! Lenovo is double dipping in both Android and Windows 8 slates. Funnily enough, this week more of you looked up info on their Windows offerings. The Miix 2 looks like it might be a decent way to jump into a mini-Windows portable with some decent computing power.

2. Review: The HMDX Jam Classic portable wireless Bluetooth speaker

A blast from the past, this post got shared around a lot! Our review of the HMDX Jam Classic showcased what this tiny little wunder-speaker was capable of. Utilizing our full audio test suite, and a hands on video, this review proved mighty popular.

0741. App Review: Top Task List for Windows Phone 8

Welcome to the list Chris! Mr. Trimble is a new contributor here on SGG, and he’s a fan of Windows Phone. His second app review for the site scored this week’s number one spot.

We’re nothing without you readers, and we certainly can’t compete against the big blogs by ourselves. We always greatly appreciate not only the likes, but the sharing on social sites like Google Plus, Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit. The more we get to talk with other tech fans, the better we get, and soon we’ll be able to reward that participation with some fun contests coming up soon!

Thanks for reading, and if you feel we missed a big story this week, or you have a hot tip, please drop us a line on our Contact Page!

Microsoft Support: If your Surface wont turn on, Tap on Settings…

LB_8705This is just funny.

Occasionally things bork. Happens to all gadgets. It’s frustrating, but you find some support and you get the problem fixed. For those times when your shiny brand new Surface tablet wont turn on, Microsoft has some helpful advice.

From the MS Support page:

If your Surface RT or Surface 2 won’t turn on, here are several steps you can take to pin point the cause and fix the problem.

Before you begin
***Step 1: Unplug the Surface power cord from the electrical outlet, and if you have any of the following remove or disconnect them from Surface:

  • Power supply
  • Surface Cover
  • microSD card
  • USB devices such as printers, keyboards, or mice
  • Video or audio cables or adapters

***Step 2: Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and tap Settings.
***Step 3: Tap Power, and then tap Shutdown.
***Step 4: Next, make a few preliminary checks:

Is the electrical outlet you’re using to charge your Surface working properly?
Try plugging something else into the outlet and see if it works.
Are conditions right for recharging?
It’s best to charge your battery near room temperature. Surface is designed to work between 32° and 95°Fahrenheit (0° and 35° Celsius).
Are the magnetic charging connectors clean and free of damage?

Wait what… Rewind that…

It doesn’t look like Microsoft really thought out steps two and three there…

App Review: Trivia Buff for Windows 8 and Android phones.

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Whether you are going to the DMV to register your new car or waiting patiently for your flight, you have a multitude of options to occupy your time on your cell phone while waiting. You could read some news, grind away at a game, or you could expand your knowledge of a subject through fun trivia bits. The Trivia Buff app from Dapper Panda may just be the cure for you!

The Trivia Buff app let’s you search for favorite topics. Just out of curiosity I searched for BMX as I used to race BMX bikes here on the east coast and I found out that Slash from GNR used to race BMX back in the day! How cool is that! With the Trivia Buff app you can start training your brain to collect all the info necessary to crush the next trivia night at your local pub.

The app pulls info from a variety of sources (though you will see a lot of wikis), so it’s only really limited by your own curiosity.

The Trivia Buff app is a no frills, straight forward app for your Windows 8 phone. There are no dark or light theme options. You can opt to buy the ad free version for a mere $0.99 to help support the fine folks over at Dapper Panda.  The options of the Trivia Buff app are few but very useful. You can change the font size, you can choose to show or not show the logo on the live tile and speaking of the live tile, you have 3 sizes, small, medium and large, and the last option is that you have a choice of browsers to use.

You really cannot go wrong with this app especially if you love to learn!
Trivia Buff is available for both Windows 8 phones and Android:

Trivia Buff Windows 8 phone

Trivia Buff for Android Continue reading “App Review: Trivia Buff for Windows 8 and Android phones.”

Google escalates war with Microsoft, Shutting down 3rd Party Google Voice apps on Windows Phone

nokia lumia 1020 google voice metrotalkThe cold war between these two tech giants is heating up fast.

Google is taking an extremely aggressive stance towards Windows Phone. None of Google’s services are currently officially available for Microsoft’s mobile operating system, and Google has been very vocal about not developing for the platform. Recently Google forced Microsoft to remove a nice and functional Youtube app from their Phone Store and replace it with a lame browser based version. Now Google has set their sights on 3rd party Google Voice apps.

As their Hangouts app looks like it’ll become the single backbone service for all of Google’s text, audio, and video communication they’ve issued a notice that all GV apps must be shut down by May 1st of 2014. Google Plus Product Manager Nikhyl Singhal had this to say: Continue reading “Google escalates war with Microsoft, Shutting down 3rd Party Google Voice apps on Windows Phone”

Ask Juan: Should I Upgrade my Desktop (non-touchscreen) to Windows 8.1?

Screenshot (1)From one of our readers using our contact page:

Hey,I have an older quad core AMD desktop running Windows 7 and was going to put in a SSD. While I was doing that I thought maybe I should upgrade to Windows 8. I don’t have a touchscreen though, so I was curious if you thought that would be a good idea? Thanks, Alex

First of all, I run an older quad core in my workstation, and installing a solid state drive (specifically a Kingston HyperX) made my system feel brand new. I think you’ll really dig it.

The upgrade to Windows 8.1 is a slightly trickier question. It’s pretty obvious that Microsoft is using this new interface as their first attack on tablets and touchscreens. Microsoft’s job moving forward isn’t to “save” the PC market, but redefine the what a PC is. If you’ve read much on this site, you would know that I’ve been fairly positive on their progress so far.

Stepping outside the tablet-y stuff however, I think Windows 8 can offer up some benefits to non-touchscreen users as well.

First of all, boot times are seriously improved. The combo of Windows 8.1 and an SSD will feel like an absolute screamer compared to Windows 7 and a spinning disc hard drive. My low power Windows 8.1 ultrabook with an SSD cache boots in about half the time as my desktop did with Windows 7 and a proper SSD. My Lenovo absolutely destroys my Nexus 7 in a cold boot race.

windows 8_1 file transfer dialog boxSecond, I think Microsoft has made some solid improvements to file management. It’s not the sexiest aspect of an OS upgrade, but you get substantially more info when moving files, better estimates for completion, and the entire file browsing experience has been more stable. I would run into issues on Windows 7 with folders that had tons of files. As my computer would scan through creating thumbnails it would occasionally just get stuck on a file and never finish the scan. What ever file it would lag on would just become completely inaccessible, and I’d have to jump through CMD prompt nonsense to fix it. I haven’t had any issues like that with Win8.1 so far (knocks on wood). Continue reading “Ask Juan: Should I Upgrade my Desktop (non-touchscreen) to Windows 8.1?”

App Review: Phonly RSS Reader for Windows Phone

wp_ss_20131029_0010Phonly is a sweet Feedly RSS reader created by Geek Industries. I actually stumbled upon this app in the Microsoft App store, and I decided to download this highly rated app to see what all the buzz was about.

I’ve never really used a feed reader before but what better time than now to try it out! Soon as Phonly finished installing I opened the app up to give it a go. The first thing I did was create a Feedly account and start adding feeds.  Adding your favorite feeds is pretty straight forward as you can enter a URL, title or topic to find your favorite sites or find a new feed.  You can also create custom categories to keep all your feeds neatly organized.

Phonly has a ton of options on how you would like your feeds to be displayed.  To refresh your feeds, a simple swipe down on the screen and Phonly will automatically refresh all the sites you’re subscribed to! The free (ad-supported) Phonly has a fluid modern UI with a light theme. The dark theme can be purchased in app, which also removes ads. Both the Light and Dark themes are very easy on the eyes.

Some of the key features of Phonly: Continue reading “App Review: Phonly RSS Reader for Windows Phone”