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RE: Using Nexus or Galaxy 7 as Dash GPS
No cell service needed in order to use a smartphone as GPS. My son has an old phone of his that he no longer has cell service for that he uses as a GPS and music player.
A Nexus 7 or Galaxy 7 should do an excellent job as a mobile GPS.
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strollin
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05/20/13 10:57am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Using Nexus or Galaxy 7 as Dash GPS
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Using your phone as a GPS is convenient but it is also inconvenient if you get a call or need to use the phone while in GPS mode.
Yes I know talking and driving is bad . But you don't even have to talk if the phone rings at a critical point while in GPS mode you can miss a turn. Using the phone as a GPS is not foolproof and has itys pros and cons. ...
I used my phone on a 4000 mile trip last year. It was in constant use not only as my GPS but I also used it to listen to music using Pandora or mp3's on the phone. When calls came in, I was able to answer them without issue using the speakerphone option.
Everyone has their own preferences, likes/dislikes. For me, my phone works great and I don't need anything else. I have a Garmin GPS, a Nexus 7 tablet, my phone, a netbook and a laptop that are all very capable GPS navigators. I feel my phone does as good or better a job for me as any of the others and is by far the most convenient. Your mileage may vary.
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strollin
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05/20/13 09:23am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Using Nexus or Galaxy 7 as Dash GPS
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A Tablet will have to be carried to the vehicle...or....no GPS would be available. ...
This is one of the key reasons that I prefer my phone, I ALWAYS have it with me. With my dedicated Garmin GPS, I never kept it in the vehicle since I always feared that it would get stolen so I kept it in the house and only put it in the vehicle when I was going on a trip. There have been quite a few times when I was out & about and wished I had my GPS with me but my phone is always in my pocket ready to go whenever I need it.
I have seen projects where guys built their Nexus 7 into the dash so it essentially becomes an in dash navigation device. That's nice but means you have to dedicate the N7 to that vehicle.
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strollin
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05/20/13 05:06am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Using Nexus or Galaxy 7 as Dash GPS
I don't use my Nexus 7 with CoPilot but use my phone with it and it works very well. I doubt I will ever go back to using a dedicated GPS unit again. I'm fine with the smaller screen of the phone since it's much easier to mount and use in a vehicle than a 7 or 10 inch tablet and I really just need the voice prompts while driving anyway. I don't use the phone for trip planning, I do that on my laptop.
I have CoPilot and a couple of other navigation apps installed on my Nexus 7 but I've never attempted to use it to navigate since my phone does the job so well.
Those that say your tablet needs to be connected to wifi in order for the GPS to function don't understand that it depends completely upon which app you use for navigation. If you use Google Maps for navigation then, yes, you need a data connection (it can cache a limited amount of map data but not enough to be useful IMO) but some navigation apps such as Sygic, CoPilot, Navigator, etc... store the map data locally and don't need a data connection to constantly retrieve map data.
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strollin
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05/19/13 05:02pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Win8 Tablet--Is It a "PC"?
Yes, steer clear of the "RT" versions.
Shouldn't be any problem running videos from one of these tablets. One of the prime uses for a tablet is as an entertainment device so they are generally designed to excel at video playback.
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strollin
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05/17/13 08:54am |
Technology Corner
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RE: What is Optimizer Pro?
Did it come pre-installed with your computer? Calling it malware could be somewhat of an exaggeration. More of a paid app that may offer little benefit over freeware apps that can achieve similar results. Just uninstall it.
Using a free uninstall utility such as RevoUninstaller or Comodo Program Manager may do a more thorough job of getting rid of all its program remnants.
This is the correct answer to your question. It's not malware (malware is short for malicious software) since it's not malicious. It may be of dubious value since it probably is only a trial version with some features disabled until you purchase the "full" version. This type of software is more often referred to as "bloatware".
Many people swear by this program: PC Decrapifier in order to help clean out all of the unwanted bloatware on a new PC.
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strollin
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05/17/13 08:41am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Delete new programs ?
As I recall, your new laptop is running Windows 8. One "feature" of Win 8 is Live tiles on the Start screen where they constantly update to show the latest news, Twitter posts, Facebook, etc... If you are on a measured data service then you really should turn the live tiles off. You can do that by right-clicking on the tile and selecting "Turn live tile off".
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strollin
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05/17/13 08:32am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Recommendation for Internet Cellular Connection
I looked into Millenicom on Verizon and asked what the cost of exceeding the 20GB limit was. I was told that if you go over they simply shut you down until the next month.
If you don't think that you will ever need more than 20GB then Millenicom is a good solution but if you think you might go over some months it may not.
Millenicom does have an unlimited plan but it uses the Sprint network and is limited to 3G (as opposed to 4G). I had that plan a few years ago and hated it. Sprint's coverage (IMO) is terrible compared to Verizon and even though I had an unlimited plan, any month that I exceeded 20GB of data I would get an email from Millenicon chiding me for using more data than I should.
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strollin
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05/16/13 08:45am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Win8 Tablet--Is It a "PC"?
There are quite a few tablets out there that run the full Windows 8, just make sure you don't get one that is designed for Windows 8 RT since that version will NOT run your old Windows software.
Having your data on an external USB drive is fine but as far as running programs from that drive, that's a little tricky. Some programs can do it while others can't. The ones that can are referred to as "portable". Programs that aren't portable need to be installed on the computer itself. You can do a custom install and put the bulk of the program on an external drive but certain files need to be installed in the system folders and entries need to be made in the Windows registry.
Here's a link to a site that lists many portable apps: portableapps.com
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strollin
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05/16/13 08:34am |
Technology Corner
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RE: which tablet?
I have a bulky Dell lap top, that works great on the desk but way to big to haul in the RV. Just gets in the way. I have a Kindle Fire and does not operate the way I need. I've had Ipad, which I liked but it won't blend with my android phone. Looking very strong at a Samsung tablet 10.1. I only want Wifi, and really will not need over 16 gigs. I look on Amazon and just get confused at the different models. Local Radio Shack has one for 599.00 with 100.00 off if you sign up with Verizon for 2 yr. contract, which would cose me another 18.00 per month counting taxes. Way more then what I want to spend. Anyway do all sugest any certain model that will fill my needs. Thanks
You stated that you only needed wifi so why are you even considering the one at Radio Shack with the Verizon 3G built-in?
Personally, if I was wishing to buy a 10" tablet, I would buy the Google Nexus 10
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strollin
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05/15/13 07:07pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: intel-core vs AMD
Microsoft has already announced Windows 8.1 and confirmed that it will be a free upgrade. Rumors are that it will bring back the Start Button and that it will have the option to boot directly to the desktop. It is supposed to be available in the October time frame so I wouldn't be too quick to dump Win 8 and return to Win 7.
Microsoft confirms Windows 8.1 is a free upgrade
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strollin
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05/14/13 03:51pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Cool app to transfer pictures/files from your smartphone....
The Samsung S-II and S-IV do that between like devices (That is other devices with the feature built in) less you disable it.
To transfer photo's between computer and phone.. I prefer USB, much safer.
If the devices have NFC (Near Field Communication) built-in, then you can do it between them by just coming close to each other.
This app is somewhat misleading because it doesn't actually transfer the items between your phone and computer, it transfers them between your phone and your computer's browser (technically, the browser's temp storage location). Once transferred you have to download them where you want to save them on your computer.
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strollin
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05/13/13 12:09pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Verizon droid - losing pictures
Can't say that I've lost any pictures but I will offer up something I ran into the other day. Since you seem to be only referring to missing individual pictures and not your whole gallery, it probably doesn't apply to you.
My sister was complaining that she couldn't find the "Gallery" on her Droid Razr Max phone. I looked and found it as "My Gallery". When I checked my phone, a Droid Razr, I found it as "Gallery". The difference is that her phone has ICS on it and my phone has JB.
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strollin
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05/13/13 12:03pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Cool app to transfer pictures/files from your smartphone....
Interesting concept, not sure how practical it is though. I think it's easier to just use something like ES File Explorer to do file management between my phone and computer.
The instructions say a light tap is all that is needed but when I did that it complained that I didn't tap hard enough! Had to tap with a little force to get it to work. Once it's transferred to your browser, you still have to download it to your PC so it's a 2 step process.
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strollin
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05/13/13 07:57am |
Technology Corner
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RE: intel-core vs AMD
The fact is that Intel and AMD keep playing leapfrog with each other so that at one point in time Intel has the highest performance chip until AMD comes out with their latest and greatest.
For most users, either will do the job although AMD generally offers a better value. I have used both and have not had issues with either. I personally lean more toward Intel but that is just my personal preference.
The suggestion above to get an SSD is good but you need to be aware that an SSD is much more expensive on a per gigabyte basis so you will pay more for a smaller SSD than you will for a larger HDD. An ssd will improve boot times and application load times but actual application performance improvement will not be noticeable.
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strollin
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05/13/13 07:41am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Wireless (outside) Speakers Hook-Up.. How Do I?
Any chance the radio has built-in Bluetooth?
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strollin
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05/12/13 11:20am |
Technology Corner
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RE: diferent smart phones
Everybody posting must only be using very high end phones with lots of internal memory. Drop down from that and you will quickly learn that you are very restricted to how many Apps you can run. I'd say that a phone without at least 1 Gig of internal memory should not considered and 2 Gigs would be much better. (What good is a plug in SD memory of perhaps 16 Gigs when a large number of Apps only can be run on internal memory?)
both of our iPhones are 16GB models (no SD card memory...all internal). I have somewhere north of 75-apps on mine, my wife has a few less.
16G refers to the total amount of memory on board, some of that is set aside as RAM while the rest is used as storage.
A phone with 1G of memory set aside as RAM can generally run more programs simultaneously than a phone with only 512M.
My phone (Droid Razr) has 16G of memory, 1G of that is RAM, the rest is application/data storage. On top of that I have a 32G SD card that extends my total application/data storage to nearly 48G.
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strollin
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05/09/13 04:27pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Laptop battery charger?
Strollin - you are correct.
The power adapter connection is failed. So, an external laptop charger will allow me to charge more than one battery and switch back and forth between two batteries, charge one and use one.
But I can't find that kind of item anywhere ... I can find batteries, not a charger. Must be available, as someone makes everything it seems. But maybe I'm asking for it and it has some odd name?
I posted a link to a charger for Dell Inspiring above. Did you miss it?
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strollin
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05/04/13 09:00am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Laptop battery charger?
I just bought a genuine Dell charger for my Inspiron for less than $15 on Amazon. If you buy one from Dell they are like $50-60 but used and new ones are readily available from Amazon and other vendors.
I don't think you are talking about what monkey44 wants. Monkey44 wanted a battery charger that charged the battery separately from his laptop, I think you are referring to the laptop power adapter.
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strollin
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05/03/13 08:35pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Ice Cream Sandwich
How about this?
Click here.
I think I'm getting hungry!
That's funny. Ice Cream Sandwich (Android) cases for the iPhone (iOS).
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strollin
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05/03/13 01:16pm |
Technology Corner
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