Monday, January 22, 2007

Tiny Computer

This past week I purchased a Sony Vaio UX180P, a tiny little computer. It is not the most current model of the device, which is the UX280P, but it was on clearance at my local Staples store for half-price and I could not resist!

It is not an UMPC, since it does not run Windows Tablet Edition, but is categorized as a Micro PC. It does have a passive touchscreen and runs the full version of Windows XP Pro. It does not have the RAM nor the hard drive size to install the upcoming new Windows OS, Vista, but that's okay with me!

I had played with it at the store for a few hours and was very impressed with the really bright and clear screen. The 4.5" widescreen display and the high resolution means that the type size is really tiny, but surprisingly readable. (You can zoom in from a button if you need to!)

At 1.2 pounds with the battery installed and a size of 5.91"w x 3.74"h x 1.27-1.5"d, this device will be carried in my Vera Bradley Bowler bag each day to work. It has an easy-to-use thumb-mouse, two cameras (back and front), a slide-down keyboard, BT, Wireless, USB, and also comes with a little dongle with an Ethernet connection, a VGA out, and AV out, as well as a docking station with all of these connections plus two more USB ports and a Firewire connection. My only gripe with it is the 2.5 hour battery life, but I think (hope) I can live with that!

I have decided to bring this as my computer for presenting at FETC this week. My carry-on bag is very light even with the UX180P, my DS Lite, and my Motorola Q.

Long live tiny, shiny gadgets!

Kathy

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Monday, January 15, 2007

Old Computer Advertisements

I happened across this blog, called Moderm Mechanix, which has thousands of scanned-in advertisements from technology magazines of the past. I especially liked browsing through the computers section!

Some other "old" technology sites include:
-- The Obsolete Technology Web Site
-- Computer History Museum
-- The Obsolete Computer Museum (one of my computers!)
-- Old-Computers.com

Kathy

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Monday, January 01, 2007

googleearthmeme

Lucy Gray has come up with a another great way to demonstrate the power of blogs and edubloggers and the sharing of information. Please visit her blog at this blink to find out more about it. It involves a Google Earth mash-up and two simple questions.

Don't really worry about tagging five others, just create your kmz file and send it along to her as per the instructions. Lucy will post the results at this blink.

Thanks for letting us participate, Lucy! (My kmz file has been sent to Lucy and is also attached here.)

Kathy Schrock

KathySchrock.kmz

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