macbook pro convert!

After years of being a 'PC person' (from MS & PC DOS, through windows 3.1, and beyond, to windows 7 and 8), I eventually decided to give a mac a go. It's been at the back of my mind for a while. I've had ipads and their durability,  range of apps and usability have impressed me. I had a stint with an iphone 4s and was very impressed (and now back to using an iphone 5s- having been mostly an android user, though I am still using android alongside IOS).

Anyway, back to this macbook pro retina- it is difficult to put into words just how good this is compared to any other laptop I've had before. Most recently a lenovo yoga, and before that various samsung laptops, sony, acer, HP, Toshiba... (of which my favourites at the time included the samsung q45 and a sony vaio). Anyway, this macbook beats all of those. The following reasons stand out:

• the trackpad- responsive, practical and feels good. I've had touch screen laptops- but this trackpad obviates the need for that (I've used styluses on laptops & am using still them regularly on tablets- I'm using this macbook as a laptop and I don't miss a stylus) 
• Screen quality- this is a pleasure for viewing, browsing... (not too surprising given it is a retina display)
• keyboard- after the lenovo this is so so much better!
• general hardware- this feels well build, durable and a quality feel that comes from attention to detail (I'm starting to sound like an apple marketeer! But after some of the so-so hardware I've had the difference is noticeable. As an example press the screen and it doesn't wobble (unlike some of my previous laptops). Also it doesn't overheat my lap and no sound of fan whirring away.
• Audio quality- when I first played music on this I had to look to see where the sound was coming from - it sounds very good and that makes watching videos even more of an enjoyable experience
• battery life: what can I say- this beats my previous laptops by some way
• Mac OS: feels integrated and intuitive- time to get used to this after windows, a few days if that 
• versatility: using parallels I can use windows on this macbook- and the experience is better than on my previous laptops. It also gave me the opportunity to run chromeOS on this mac (and android though that's not great)
• I'm sure there's more but this is easily the best laptop I've ever had and well worth the price difference (which for what I was after wasn't as much as I was expecting compared to the windows laptops I'd been looking at- and, touch wood, this feels like it would outlast the ones I was looking at as well as providing a more enjoyable experience along the way)

LG tab 8.3- one month on

I've been using the LG gpad for over a month now. It's grown on me more and more. It's practical,  has excellent build quality and is a pleasure to use. I've had a Samsung 8" and ipad mini but I'd choose the LG G pad in preference. I've used the Samsung 2014 8.4 which has a great screen. However, I didn't find it as enjoyable to use as the gpad, due to the feel in the hand of the Samsung 8.4, and the gpads's more practical approach to multitasking gives it an edge over Samsung's equivalent.

What orientation do I hold my phone

After a recent discussion that touched on one handed phone use,  I decided to
actively pay attention to how I hold my phones.

For the gflex:
Portrait: 75% (70% one handed, 30% two handed).
Landscape: 25% (25% one handed, 75% two handed. The one handed use mainly whilst watching video)

iPhone 5s and htc one:
Portrait: 95% (60% one handed, 40% two handed)
Landscape: 5% (10% one handed, 90% two handed)

So overall,
Gflex: one handed 59%
IPhone & htc One one: 58%

I was surprised that I was using the larger gflex more one handed than the smaller phones. Thinking it it's the back button on the flex and a couple of other features to support one handed use that lead to this. And with the smaller phones two handed use helps with being able to see the screen better when typing- though I do considerably more typing on the flex)

Google Chrome cast - initial thoughts

*updated: my views of chromecast have dropped as I've used it a bit more. I hoped that Google's music app would let me play the music on my Android device through my TV.  But first you have to log into a Google account in the music app before the chromecast icon is displayed in the music app.  And then,  if you play a track that wasn't bought through Google it says "can't play sidelined music."  So, even though I can play non Google music on my phone using  Google's player (Eg loaded from my pc or bought from Amazon mp3), chromecast limits itself to playing Google bought music. I'm sure other third party apps will step in but I'm surprised at Google - this is more restrictive than apple - where any music on your Ipad (Eg from Amazon) can be played on your TV using the Apple tv.

Also, I've now had to unplug the chromecast dongle twice now,  due to apps freezing. I do wish Google would introduce some quality control - though if I wait long enough I'm sure many of the app providers will fix their apps (does raise that slight niggle at the back of my mind about Google's apparently laissez faire approach to security of apps on the play store eg the recent issues with WhatsApp on Android). Also,  when unplugging the chrome cast dongle I was surprised at how hot it was after only a couple of hours of use.

Overall:

Got a chrome cast dongle. Overall,  for £30 chromecast is a great way of getting somethings from your Android device to your TV.  Doesn't work as universally with apps as the Apple TV, and perhaps a few edges to improve. However, given it's 3/8 the price of an apple TV it's great value.

Setup :

I stuck the chromecast dongle into an hdmi socket on my TV, downloaded the chromecast app onto my Android phone (lg flex) and connected the chromecast dongle to my wifi network (via instructions on my phone's screen). The set up was very smooth. Though I had hoped I wouldn't have to plug the chromecast dongle into a power socket as well as the TV,  but heigh ho.

Sending stuff from my phone to my tv:

1) I started by using  YouTube on my phone and clicking on the chromecast icon in YouTube got the video and audio on my TV -  great stuff.  For comparison I did the same video with the Ipad and apple to- very similar though slightly better audio with the Apple TV (might be the hardware Ipad vs lg flex). I was surprised to see the chromecast icon on the Ipad in YouTube -  tried it and that worked very well.

2) Next tried showing photos on my TV. Sadly no luck at first, but after downloading a third party app it worked well (not as good as the Ipad - it wouldn't use full screen and was a bit slower to show the next photo).

3) BBC Iplayer - works perfectly on my TV from the Ipad,  and worked very well with chromecast from my Android device (possible slight lag and I had an application error, but only once).

4) I tried a few more apps like audible on my Android device but no luck. I'll have to get more third party apps or possibly a future version of Android or something that will be built into future android devices.  By contrast I can get whatever appears on the Ipad on my TV with the Apple TV (Eg art apps to show paintings).

I'm a bit concerned how quickly my phone is draining power since using chromecast (surpringly, the rate of power drop seems to have continued even when I thought I'd disconnected from chromecast).

I never really understood why apple didn't do more to promote one of the best things to have if you already have an iPhone or Ipad ie the Apple TV.  It means you can put pretty much anything on your TV from your Ipad/iPhone eg iplayer, video,  audio/music, photos, games,  PowerPoint presentations ...    (or why they didn't take the step of allowing two or more people to use their iPhones/Ipad to interact on a shared TV Eg for games (some games work where it's built into the game,  and also where you are collaborating using 2 devices through a single web site Eg for collaborative painting,  collaborative mind maps...). A bit of advertising by Google 
and chromecast could go a long way. And with YouTube,  Google has a ready made channel it can use at any time. Shorter term it would help if Google would make it easier to find chromecast ready apps (there are third party apps to help find chromecast ready apps,  but the one I looked at needed some unusual permissions that I wasn't happy to give).

NB for people who already have an apple tv,  there are apps on the Google playstore that can throw content to your TV,  from your Android device via your Apple tv.  I haven't used these (I use my Ipad at home for content throwing),  but having a quick go with my lg flex and the app 'zappo tv' it seemed to work with YouTube, music,  videos and photos on my Android phone.  Though it seemed to be a bit slow at times when changing what was being shown on the TV. There are also apps that let use your Android device as a controller for your Apple tv.

New HTC one

Had a brief play with the new HTC one today,  wow!

It's a pleasure to hold,  and feels perfectly balanced. The Lg flex is still my work horse (just had kitkat update). But for a smaller phone there's nothing around that feels as good as the new HTC. I like the larger screen size and the louder volume which still has the best audio quality of any phone. The sd slot is a nice addition, though I've gone off sd cards for security and lag issues (on certain phones). A higher resolution camera would have been nice,  but for my usages,  the HTC one camera is more than good enough and better than some for certain situations. I can't really justify buying it,  but it's a world of difference to the s4 I used to have, and even to the g2 (though I like those back buttons). If I was going to get a new phone I can't see any other phone around or due soon that comes close (though will be interesting to see the rumoured iPhone 6, 4.7" and  5.5").

But if I had only one phone for work and personal usage,  for the extra productivity that the 6" screen gives me,  whilst still being able to use one handed  and feel comfortable,  the Lg flex is still my first choice (though picking up the HTC one a few more times I'd become less inclined to let go of it!).

Got the Lg flex kitkat update:)

Looks good so far. It would be handy if Google and phone manufacturers launched a what's new screen after the update that had a bit more detail than 'android upgrade,  wifi improvements...'

Notification pull down is more customisable - you can choose whether to show the volume or brightness sliders.

Handy being able to have the home screen in portrait or landscape or locked in portrait.

The way that the soft keys disappear to allow full screen has been improved (now swipe up to get the soft keys where you've chosen to hide them).

You can say OK Google after you launch Google by swiping up the home key and it responds (I use a voice search icon so no great change).

If I had to choose just 1 tablet and 1 phone?

I'm lucky I get to use a range of tablets and phones. If I had to choose just one of each which would I go for? 

I've used various iPads, surface devices and android tablets (Samsung, lg, ...). At the moment it's an easy choice- the iPad Air feels great and is a brilliant all rounder.

Phones wise is harder- I loved my htc one, and now the lg flex (which took over from my note 3). I was impressed by the lightness and convenience of the iPhone 5s. For my needs I'd plump for the lg g flex.