Thursday, September 7, 2017

Samsung Chromebook Plus

my youngest is in 7th Grade now! holy shit.. she's been half-ass using the Gateway Netbook with Win7, but only 2GB and small 10 inch screen, and old as dirt at this point- she needed something new.. which meant I got to get something new!

school started Tuesday- I was hoping for delivery by then, but it came today. made sure everything synced properly, logged out of the ASUS, slid it across the counter and told her to log in! she just gained 3 inches of screen, 2GB more RAM and they live in Google-land at school, so all her stuff was right there within minutes. happy kid!

and happy Mom- the smaller size and lack of frame will visually take some getting used to, but so far, I love the Plus! gorgeous difference between the classic LED screen on the ASUS C300MA and the Gorilla Glass, smooth, crystal clear surface of the Plus. I like a dimmer screen, and this does not disappoint, without noticeable glare.

I downloaded the Kindle app and added a few books I've been wanting to read- I have an old Kindle Touch that I want to use, but it always loses it's charge by the time I get to it.

the hinges seem stiff. I enjoy the keyboard, for the most part- need some practice with the smaller format. touch pad is also of higher quality- feels less susceptible to finger residues.

Play Store is nice- grabbed Facebook Messenger and Instagram apps too- will surf around some more at a later time.

the iPearl case (in red) is en route- it does feel awkward to me to use in Tablet mode and feel the keyboard on the other side, makes me super cautious and therefore, my hold is uncomfortable. the iPearl case bottom easily snaps over the keyboard to avoid this issue.

I'm looking forward to using the Plus in Tent mode in the kitchen, instead of trying to scroll through read stuff from the Nexus 6P, especially with messy hands.

also excited to mess around with the Pen. touchscreen is responsive and I enjoy using it so far.

what pisses me off?
- the Backspace and Tab keys are mini.
- in Tablet mode, the virtual keyboard pops up in Sheets constantly- I hope there's a setting, as having to hit the down keyboard every time I swipe the screen is getting annoying.


4 hours in- seriously diggin it.




Wednesday, April 12, 2017

LG Watch Style

far more for curiosity than actual necessity. but so far has helped me walk the fuck away from my phone and avoid the surfing, time-wasting hell I am so easily sucked into almost every time I go to "just check notifications".


got here Monday, today (Wednesday) is the first all-day test. put it on at 6:30am- at 3pm battery is 80%. 6:30pm is 60%. 11pm set on the charger at 34%.
      used it throughout the day to send text messages using my voice, read notifications, install/uninstall apps, and look at the weather.

syncing with my phone was easy - install Android Wear from the Play Store and go through the steps. app gives you a better platform to make some personalized adjustments to your watch. I have yet to get into it. 

BT and WiFi are on- as far as I can tell, BT is the primary connection between my phone and the Style, but if I get out of the BT range and both phone and watch are on WiFi, my range is extended to the reach of WiFi. I like this.

I have gestures turned off.

to change the face or settings of your current face, swipe to the right or left. 

I've used the Quoti face- currently happy with Atoms. weather, calculator, battery, steps (click opens Fit) and Events. I like the swipe-down menu on the stock faces- options for Airplane Mode, what I assume is Sleep (have to press the side button to wake instead of touch the screen), DND, and Settings; also shows battery %, alarm icon if one is set, and the date. use the button to slide up from the main face to see any notifications. 

ANY notification my phone gets, shows up on the Style. if those notifications are set to vibrate on my phone, the Style will also vibrate, a little wrist tickle- having notification sounds is moot, as the Style has zero speakers- something I absolutely love about it.
      some notifications you can respond to- text, Facebook messages and email. others are read-only, but that is fine by me. 
      response method options are: Voice, Emoji or Keyboard. the keyboard is teenie tiny but fairly usable. you can program preset responses in addition to those already available.

Maps uses my phone's location, so I don't care about the lack of GPS.

I don't intentionally exercise, so I also don't care that the Style is missing a heart rate monitor.

long-press on the button brings up Google Assistant- just talk and she does her best- responses are displayed (no speaker).
      "text Andy"
      "how's your day going handsome"
make sure she got it right, edit if not, and click send
      "add paper towels to my shopping list" (adds to Google Assistant Shopping List)
      "show me my shopping list"
      "set a reminder for..." (adds to Reminders)
      "make a note..." (adds to Keep)

I'm sure it can do more stuff. for what I would use it for, this thing is pretty cool.

getting used to the weight of it- certainly not a Casio digital $12 work watch. quite thin for what it is. I have the Titanium color, and it does look slick. 

there are no open ports- it's said you can take a shower with it on, but I'm not going to test that. I did put on a screen protector and clean with a lens wipe before putting on the charger- a nifty little magnetic disk with USB connection and wall adapter.
      also replaced the included stupid-fancy Italian Leather band with a metal loop-type with strong magnetic closure. easy to adjust, take off, put on and I'm not worried about it falling off or catching on anything.



I'll update as I figure out more neet stuff this gadget can do.