Product Reviews
File Transer Utilities for the iPad Monday, 05 July 2010 10:17 |  Written by IT Doc |  |  | 
Do you ever want to load a file onto your iPad? I like to carry reference manuals, documents, reminders, with me in case I need them. I have recently been testing two separate file utilities for the iPad - FileBrowser and FileViewer XL - both software apps are purchased from the iTunes Store, both cost $2.99 and both allow one to transfer files wirelessly. Where, in my opinion, FileViewer excels is when transferring large files. FileViewer has the ability to transfer files using iTunes and USB which greatly reduces the transfer time. There is also a FileViewer app for the iPhone at $0.99, which I have not tested. FileBrowser excels at looking for files on other computers that you can connect to via your network connection - so with FileBrowser you, using the iPad search for files on your network, while with FileViewer you push files from a computer to your iPad. One can also email items that are less than 10MB using FileViewer. I've used both and like both - each has its benefits and considering the price, one could have both and not be too worried about the money. Happy computing Last Updated (Monday, 05 July 2010 10:34) |
Did Someone say Print?Sunday, 23 May 2010 14:59 | Written by IT Doc | | |
If you have an iPhone and would like to print your photos directly from it, you are in luck! For the low, low price of free, you too can print pictures from your iPhone - all you need is a network enabled HP color printer and away you can print. The software (app) is called HP iPrint and is downloadable from the APP store. It will only work with HP printers that have a network connection built-in. It will not work with HP printers that are attached to the network some other way (via a print sharing box or another computer). When you start HP iPrint, it shows you your photo album and you then select the album containing the image that you wish to print. Select the image, and iPrint starts to prepare the image for printing AND searches your network for a suitable printer. If you have more than one suitable printers, you can choose which one you want to print with. You can also select the paper size, the paper type, the image size, and lastly, the paper source. For more information, visit hp at: www.hp.com/go/iPrintphoto - this page also includes instructions on using the software - so enjoy. Happy computing Last Updated (Sunday, 23 May 2010 15:16) Cool iPhone AppFriday, 18 December 2009 16:54 | Written by IT Doc | | |
Must Have Apps for the iPhone Still need to get a quick and useful present for your iPhone or iTouch someone on your shopping list? Well consider the two following applications as a possible answer. Grocery Gadget is an application that does shopping lists - but also sooooo much more. It lets you build shopping lists on your iPhone or via a web site - a neat feature. Go to the site, create a Group name, set up a password and give it an email address and you are on your way to a new level of shopping list management. You, and anyone that you care to give the site credentials to can access your shopping list, or other lists, and can add items. I built three lists - one fpr the library, one for Costco, and one for the weekly food shopping. Now I or my wife can use a web browser to add items to the list. Go to the site, see the video for yourself, and see if you don't agree that this is one neat little application. Last Updated (Sunday, 07 March 2010 19:35)
What? My iPhone can print!Monday, 05 October 2009 17:47 | Written by IT Doc | | |
Yes readers, it IS true - you can print from your iPhone! I recently learned about a product - Print & Share ($6.99) from Eurosmartz that enable the lowly iPhone to print - you can even mount it as a network drive and move files to and fro! This little gem allows the user to load files onto one's iPhone and play them (an mp3 file played using Quicktime versus iTunes) or open them (Microsoft Office documents are supported). There are two pieces to this miracle - the iPhone app and the desktop program - the desktop program is available for Mac and Windows and is free and it allow the iPhone to print and to share files. I highly recommend this program to anyone who has want to carry alone a file, or who has wanted to print from the iPhone.
Last Updated (Monday, 05 October 2009 17:56) Cheap & Great Software!Sunday, 31 May 2009 08:32 | Written by IT Doc | | |
From Erik comes this alert: I thought you might like to know -- Macupdate is running a software bundle for the next two weeks -- 11 os x apps for $50 There you have it folks - be sure to check out this bundle - remember Parallels only runs on Intel based Macs, but TechtoolPro runs all all types of Macs - and is cheap at $50! Enjoy |
Fluid in your Mac?Monday, 19 January 2009 14:51 | Written by IT Doc | | |
Thanks to Rob Griffiths and MacWorld for bringing Fluid 0.9.4.1 to my attention. Fluid is a little program that will create an application (a site specific browser) that will launch any website (url) that you like - sweet. You can tell Fluid where to store the program on your Mac, and the program works like a charm (and its free). Why do you care? A quick way to add web sites to your dock, or anywhere else your little heart desires. To get a copy, follow this link, and to read more about Fluid follow the link above. Last Updated (Monday, 19 January 2009 14:59) Need perfect color?Tuesday, 30 December 2008 16:01 | Written by Administrator | | |
If you need perfect color, look no farther than the EIZO CG222W. Apple makes great monitors and I truly enjoy them, however when you are serious about color, as in photography soft proofing, you need a monitor that is easy to calibrate. The EIZO CG222W has a wide gamut that reproduces 92% of the Adobe RGB color space - the bigger the gamut, the more true the color. I have been using the EIZO CG22W for about six months and I find it exceedly easy to keep the monitor calibrated. Once the calibration software is installed it is a simple matter to plug in a monitor color sensor (I use a x-rite DTP94) and start the software. The EIZO software takes care of the rest. In about 15 minutes the softare has calibrated the monitor and created a color profile. You can even set up the system to remind you when it is time to recalibrate your monitor - sweet. EZIO makes professional monitors for photographers and graphic artists. They have several sizes available from 19 inches to 30 inches; I was able to find the CG222W on line for approximately $1,500 including shipping. For that price one also gets a monitor hood to shield the screen from stray light. The monitor has a built-in USB hub, two digital inputs, and comes complete with cables and a screen cleaner. EIZO now sells a color matching tool but I prefer using a package that lets me build color profiles for my other equipment including my Dell monitor and my Canon printer. In closing, while all monitors are capabile of displaying images, one needs to be able to calibrate one's monitor in order to ensure that the color you see on the screen is what will be printed. Last Updated (Tuesday, 30 December 2008 17:22) LaCie 5bigWednesday, 26 November 2008 14:42 | Written by IT Doc | | |
The device has five disk drives that can be configured in a number of RAID configurations. LaCie sells these devices in three different configurations - 2.5GB, 5GB, and 7.5GB - I choose the 5GB because it was shipping and was a reasonable cost (less than $1,200 at PC Connections). Setup was very easy - apply power and give it a network connection. Seeing as how this device is attached to the network and has a 1GB interface you will want to use gigabit switches for your network backbone - Linksys has a nice 8-port one. See my review of the Linksys SLM2008 for more information. If your network is set up for DHCP the 5big is ready to use. If you use static IP addresses, as I do, you will need to do a little configuring - easy and the included instructions are very clear and easy to follow. The 5big comes with backup software (Genie Backup Manager Pro for Windows and Intego Backup Manager Pro for Mac (3 licenses each), which is easy to setup and use - a nice feature having the ability to install the software on three computers (six if you have a mixed environment as I do). The 5big can serve up data via SMB (Windows/Mac/Linux); AFP (Mac); FTP; HTTP; Apple Bonjour; BitTorrent™ - sweet. It can be configured to send you an email if there are problems, and yes, the disk drives are hot swappable. LaCie offers a special support agreement, in addition to the three-year warranty. As I reviewed the special support, I thought it better to buy an additional drive versus buying the extra support agreement. The support agreement basically gets you a replacement drive faster than with the standard warranty, but by buying the additional drive, I have the ability to start recovery after an error much faster than with the extra warranty. If you want to know more about this great device, follow this link to the LaCie site. Happy storing! Last Updated (Saturday, 29 November 2008 00:09) |
I recently purchased and installed LaCie's 5big NAS (Network Attached Storage) for use with my Macbook and my Intel based desktop computer.
