DECEMBER 2011
From the President Fred RoeserMerry Christmas everyone. Do you have your lists made yet? The number one item on many lists is a tablet computer. They have been selling fast in most stores. Several local stores have placed limits on the number of tablets you can buy. What a selection we have this year. You can get an iPad for about $600 or you can get one of the really low end units for about $100. Most of them use the Android operating system like many smart phones. The iPad had an Apple operating system, and some like the HP have a very proprietary operating system called Wed OS. Even the Android systems are different. The really low end units have an older version of the operating system and a very limited amount of memory to work with. Some have two cameras, one to take pictures just like you do with your regular digital camera and a second camera that faces the user for video calling like Skype. Before you run out and buy one, do a little homework on the various kinds available and the features they have.
Some of the low end Android tablets will not give you access to the Android market place. The market place is where you can download programs called apps, to run on your tablet. They may give you access to their app store which will have a limited selection. When you step up to a little better unit, you will get full access the Android market place. The market place has thousands of programs waiting to be downloaded to your tablet. A great number of these programs are free. The most expensive programs I have seen run about $20.
Recently I purchased a Vizio tablet from Sams Club. This is a middle of the road tablet with 4 GB of memory (2GB accessible), a rear facing camera, GPS, WiFi, and double touch. The double touch allows you to zoom into a picture or Web page just by touching the screen with two fingers and spreading them apart. It has a miniature HDMI port for streaming high definition pictures to a TV. The GPS is handy for mapping and many other features are available. For just under $200, this looks like a good deal.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
REMEMBER THE REASON FOR THE SEASON
HAPPY NEW YEAR
ONLY ONE MEETING THIS MONTH
ANYONE AND EVERYONE WELCOME TO
OUR CLUB
The M.U.C. MONTHLY is published eleven months of the year by the Mid-Nebraska Users of Computers. The club is in no way connected to IBM Corporation. M.U.C. (Mid-Nebraska Users of Computers) is a non-profit organization with the purpose of bringing together people with the interest of computing, offer assistance, share knowledge and further the understanding of the use and/or programming of personal computers. Other goals include informing our membership of the latest news in IBM compatible computing, and making available Public Domain Software. Meetings are held at Central Community College, Grand Island Campus, 3134 W. HWY 34, dates and time to be announced. Membership is open to everyone, Guests are welcome to attend two (2) meetings before joining. The Membership fee for one (1) year is $18.00, each year after is renewable at a $12.00 fee. The Club does not promote or encourage the illegal distribution of copyrighted software. If for any reason a copyrighted program is inadvertently entered into the Club Library, upon notification, the Librarian will remove the program and notify the membership, through the newsletter and at the next meeting, so they may scratch the program from their disk. Programs on club library disks are provided for the personal use of CLUB MEMBERS ONLY, and are not for resale. Fees charged by the club are not for the programs contained on the disk, but to recover the cost of obtaining, copying, and distributing the Public Domain programs. Editorial contributions are welcome from anyone interested in microcomputers or related products. Members! Have you purchased new software, hardware, got any comments or suggestions, or questions or answers?? Your input to the club and newsletter is needed to make our club more effective. Your articles need not be long or technical, you can either type it in a wordprocessor no printer codes or formatting commands, or type or write your article, in double space and send it. Members may run brief advertisement to buy sell or trade surplus computer equipment, software (Not Pirated), and supplies.
