The estimated reading time for this post is 3 minutes
Welcome back to Tech-Knowledgy, where I answer your questions about tech. I continue to get many great questions from readers and I am posting the questions and answers below so others can learn and/or respond. Feel free to post your tech questions in the Comments section or email me at [email protected].
Q. Your blog Back It Up! inspired me to back up my 4,000 pictures I have on my computer. I’ve already deleted them from the SD cards (too bad I didn’t read your blog first!) so I want to use an external hard drive to store them. Do you have any suggestions which one to get?
A. I suggest you get the Clickfree Automatic Backup C2 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 1037 sold by Amazon for $99.
Although I have not tested the product, it has received strong reviews on Amazon. The reason I like this one is that it automatically backs up your entire hard drive without you having to remember to do it. Just keep it connected to your computer. (There is a wireless version but that one seems to have some connection issues.) The product is available in different storage sizes, but I recommend getting the 1TB size at it only costs $8 more than the 250GB model.
Q. How much is a terabyte?
A. A terabyte, TB, is 1000 gigabytes (GB). Storage of data on hard drives in computers, smart phones, iPods, etc. is measured in gigabytes and 250GB would be the minimum you would expect to buy for a desktop or laptop computer. Your backup external hard drive should be bigger than your computer’s hard drive so you can both back up your computer and store unnecessary files on your external hard drive.
Q. I’m excited about the Academy Awards this weekend! Any iPhone apps you can recommend for following along with the show?
A. The App Store has quite a few apps to enhance your enjoyment of the Academy Awards. Most are free, so you can sample them if you wish. The most highly rated app is E! Live From the Red Carpet which covers not only the Academy Awards, but other awards shows as well. The app is free in the App Store and is also available in the Android Market for Android phones.
Q. I have mixed feelings about getting an eReader. I commute to work on the train and it would be really handy to have an eReader that’s light and easy to carry in my laptop bag. But I stare at a computer all day and think I’d get a headache if I had to stare at another screen to read during my commute. What do you recommend?
A. I suggest you try an eReader with E Ink that shouldn’t strain your eyes. E Ink is a technology that makes the printed word on a screen look like a printed word on a page. There is a big difference in eye strain looking at words on a screen using E Ink versus looking at words on a computer screen.
Here is a list of eReaders currently sold that use EInk. As you can see from the pictures, which have been magnified 25X, reading on a screen with a E Ink is very different from reading on a computer screen. Of the listed E Ink readers, I recommend the Kindle. I will do a more thorough blog post soon about the Kindle, but the only way for you to know for sure if you’ll like it is to try out the Kindle. Try to borrow a Kindle from a friend to see if reading on an E Ink screen works for you.
Note
Many thanks to iReward Chart for their kind tweets about my blog yesterday and for featuring my blog on their website and Facebook page.
Tweet: “@iRewardChart: This is probably one of the best reviews written on our app … thank you Carolyn (@carpathia16)! http://fb.me/V5XIhy2Q”
Hi Carolyn
Firstly thanks so much for visiting my blog and staying to join the conversation. You were the first to comment on my new post and it was good to meet you. I don’t usually post on a Saturday, so will probably go back to Tues/Wed posting from the week after next.
Thought I would come visit your blog and see what you have over here for me to read and learn from.
Soon as I arrived and began reading this post, I knew I would need to tell my techie friends about you. I am a complete technophobe so don’t have anything techie that I don’t need lol With all the geek-speak over here I know my friends will enjoy visiting.
Patricia Perth Australia
Hi Patricia, Thanks so much for visiting my blog. I’m so happy you find it useful and think your friends will enjoy it too! Your kind comments mean a lot, especially coming from someone who has a wonderful blog, Lavender Uses. Best wishes for much continued success with your blog!