We recently sent our computer packing. Hubby had hinted that he no longer needed the monster of a PC we had at home and frankly, with a new toy I too didn't need the additional power, so after much discussion, we parted ways with our faithful monster of a computer and sold it at a steal of a deal price to hubby's uncle, the gamer, who cherishes it (much more than either of us ever did).
We've been without a secondary computer for a few weeks in which we've debated between an Apple and something else. We'd started thinking to purchase a Mac but the price made us shy away and so hubby started looking around at other options finally settling on an Acer mini-PC. We played with that a few days and came to the conclusion that it was sluggish (even with only the onboard applications). Hubby returned it yesterday, unsure of what to get but when I walked int he door last night, I saw it. Our new baby and wow, is the darn thing heavy.
After much back and forth, hubby decided to take the plunge and spend the cash on a MacMini, the first computer we'd been looking at when the conversation of an upgrade came up. It's small, sleek and compact and I can't wait to use it.
It was late last night so we didn't set it up before heading to bed but I'm sure it'll be up and running by the time I get home tonight. Can't wait to try it, particularly iMovie and Garage Band!
More adventures in Apple world to come. I'm sure!
So my new mp3 player arrived last week. Along with the player itself, the Matchstick folks also sent along an AC adapter (handy!) and the premium headphones. The first thing I did: unbox all the little tidbits and install the software. I still haven't tried the headphones but they'll come up in a later installment I'm sure.
My laptop, which acts as my main PC is pretty handy but it's a bit on the slow side so while installing the software, I decided I needed to do some more work so I brought my Eee in for action.
The install of the software itself had a few speedbumps. For some reason, my last WindowsXP update didn't work quite 100% and after a bit of hair pulling, I decided to reboot. That seemed to fix the problem and the software installed without a glitch. I'm pretty impressed with the install. The Zune software migrated in all of my music, along with the podcast feeds from iTunes so I was set to go from the beginning. I had a minor freakout when the player wouldn't turn on. I figured it would come partially charged as most of these things do but not this one. I had to charge it before I could actually check it out.
It sat on the counter for 2 hours charging at which point I checked started my first sync. First things first, I deleted all of the pre-loaded material and started adding music, podcasts and a few photos. The software is fairly intuitive and I didn't have to read any of the instructions on how to use it.
The player itself is pretty nifty. It's a little longer than my iPod but now that I've been using it for a few days, I admit I like the shape of it. It fits nicely into my hand when I'm walking though it's taken a bit of getting used to not being able to squeeze it into some of my pockets - mostly my fault because I'm using some fairly big headphones with a large headphone jack plug.
The other thing I did almost immediately was set up the software at work. I refused to do this with my iPod because iTunes seems to slow down the computers when I run it and the sync on multiple computers has always been a bit troublesome for me. The Zune was no problem. I've added all of my podcasts and set up my Zune as a guest device which lets me add the downloaded shows without losing any of the data already on the device. Very nice.
I'm really liking the basic usages of the device. It's doing all I was doing with my iPod and more than that, I'm able to listen to the radio too. I still haven't tested any of the more advanced settings like uploading video or photos or trying the wireless sync but for the time being, I'm a pretty happy and impressed camper.
A few weeks ago I was approached by the folks at Matchstick, a marketing company specializing in word of mouth marketing. Surprisingly, I'd heard about them through word of mouth, specifically, via local blogger extraordinarie Miss 604. They asked if I'd be interested in filling out a questionare to see if I qualified for an mp3 offer. I took a few minutes, filled it our and a few days later I was contacted via telephone for a few other questions. To make long matters short, I qualified for the offer and was the new owner of a Microsoft Zune. Sweet.
I came home that night and did a bunch of research comparing my current mp3 player, a third generation iPod Nano 8Gb with the Zune 8Gb player I would be getting in the mail. Checking the specs, the two are not that much different. Here are a few of the important ones, side by side:
| Spec | iPod | Zune |
| Weight | 1.74oz | 1.7oz. |
| Display | 2-inch (diagonal) | 1.8-inch (diagonal-music; horizontal-pictures & video) |
| Resolution | 320 pixels x 240 pixels | 320 pixels x 240 pixels |
| Playback Time | Music-Up to 24hrs on full charge; Video-Up to 5hrs on full charge | Music-Up to 24hrs on full charge; Video-Up to 4hrs on full charge |
| Charge Time | 1.5hrs (80%); 3hrs for full charge | 2hrs (90%); 3hrs for full charge |
| Radio | Not included (extra) | Built-in |
| Wireless | Not included | Built-in (up to 30ft range) |
On specs alone, the players are pretty much identical though the Zune is slightly longer than the iPod. The size difference is minimal and when you consider that the Zune also has a wireless sync option and the built in radio while they both cost about the same...the Zune seems to be the better of the two. Where on earth was this player when I was shopping for a replacement last year after the death of my Sansa?
More info to come. For now, let's just say I'm ready to start playing!
It seems like the entire web world came to a screeching halt today for Steve Job's announcement of the iPhone 3G. As much as I want one, and I do, I'm a little concerned that so many folks have their apples stacked in the Apple basket (ha! that was unintentional), I'm seriously contemplating not getting an iPhone to be different. But we all know how my last hold out ended.
Regardless, in conjunction with the annoncement, the web was also given a fabulous little commercial featuring our favourite man about Hollywood, Robert Downey Jr. Check it out:
It's true. It's really true. It's not enough that nearly every other person with an MP3 player carries an iPod, Apple is taking over Vancouver in a big way.
On Saturday, May 24th, Canada's fifth Apple Store is opening at 10AM. The reason this is oh so cool is that it's also the first Apple Store on the west coast. Local geeks are overflowing with excitement and there's all sort of talk from folks about making trips in from Vancouver Island and even camping out for the big opening.
I'm not quite as excited as everyone else but I'm still curious to see what they've got that I can't find at other local electronics shops. I can tell you this much, I won't be dropping any big bucks soon on Apple products...except maybe for an iPhone....
Lots of details on the opening care of the fabulous Miss 604!
