Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • Me and My Shadow…I Mean, iPad

    I absolutely love my new iPad. I loved the last iPad I had and the one before that. I know many of our readers are iPad users and many of you have already updated. I just wanted to give you my take on this device after having used it for a couple of weeks now.

    So, the big thing. Retina display=amazing. I love the display. This one feature is what prompted me to upgrade for the third time. I mostly do reading on my iPad (I believe I’ve written about that before), and I get nearly every magazine and a good chunk of my books are on my iPad. All the magazine apps that have been upgraded to work with the higher resolution truly look amazing. It seems like the change over to the higher res has been slow going but when it happens it’s worth the wait.

    There is one thing that you should keep in mind, however. Higher resolution means larger files. Don’t be surprised if your magazines take up double the space the lower resolution ones did. This also applies to all apps that are upgraded to take advantage of the display. If you were like me and had a 32GB iPad 2 and always had to finagle things (in terms of free space) to get them on the iPad, buy the 64GB iPad (3rd Gen).

    Next thing (and one that has been in the news): the battery. This battery has a roughly 70% larger capacity than the iPad 2 battery. It does take longer to charge than the old one, but this should make sense. Larger battery, longer charge time. In my experience when the iPad is running it takes about 10 hours to charge. I haven’t tested it with the iPad off as mine is nearly always in use.

    Another change is that when the iPad hits 100%, it will stop charging the battery and let it start to drain. Then, it will start to recharge the battery–this is to protect it from overcharging. Apple’s current line of portable computers do the same thing. In the past, with the older MacBooks and MacBook Pros, if you left them plugged in for long periods you could damage the battery.

    This battery protection can lead to the impression that the iPad takes longer to charge once it hits 100%. The battery had to be increased to allow for the greater power consumption of the display and to a lesser extent the processor. You still get the same 10 hour run time, which I can attest to with my iPad. I’m hoping Apple will release a software update to make this less confusing for the user.

    The other thing that’s been in the news lately is the heat generated by the iPad. Personally, I think people are blowing it out of proportion. It should be expected that this device will get warmer than its predecessor. The processor is more powerful and the display is insane compared to the old one. They draw more power, and will generate more heat. It’s the same with all electronics. The more powerful and faster you make it the more heat will be generated. Keep in mind there are no fans in this device to cool it down, so it has to use the aluminum as a heatsink. I have yet to have this iPad get so hot as to be uncomfortable. Apple could, of course, add cooling elements inside the device but then people would complain that it’s too thick.

    It still doesn’t have the capability of adding an SD card, but it really doesn’t need that. It still doesn’t run Flash either, but at this point it’s irrelevant as even Adobe has dumped the mobile version. Overall, I think it’s a great device and well worth the upgrade if you use your iPad on a daily basis–and especially if you do a lot of reading.

  • Happy April, Tech Tails readers!

    It’s been many years since I last wrote for Tech Tails and it’s my pleasure to introduce this issue. I’m the Director of Marketing for Small Dog Electronics, and I am returning to this position after a near six year hiatus. It was a good break for me and while I was gone, I was the Technical Coordinator for The Warren School in Warren, VT.

    Thankfully, the school was entirely Mac so I was able to learn the ins and outs of network management on a platform that I knew pretty well. In addition to maintaining the school network, I was the primary go-to person if anyone had a problem. The computers in the school ranged from the G4 eMacs to the newest MacBooks and iMacs and every operating system from Mac OS 9 to Lion. I need to salute all the Tech Tails readers out there who man help desks, service computers and solve technical problems. I’ve been in your shoes and I know how much you need to juggle!

    Please read on for articles by Glenn, Carl and RJ about iPads, Tech Tip of the Week and how to add Smilies to your iPhone (I can’t wait to do this!). Did you know that our Waitsfield and Manchester locations are Apple Premium Service Providers? It’s all thanks to the hard work of our service technicians–these folks immerse themselves in your problems to help you solve them. I think that Small Dog is really lucky to have them!

    If readers ever have ideas or questions that pertain to marketing and making Small Dog Electronics a better shopping or service experience, don’t hesitate to send me “*email.*”:mailto:dawn@smalldog.com

    I’m excited to hear what you think.
    Dawn

    (PS. I didn’t want to be out done by the guys pics with their pets so I chose an image of me and my pet, Willow)

  • April 17: Tax Day!

    Have you been procrastinating on those taxes? Well, it’s OK. There’s still time (and actually, an extra two days this year). Take real…

  • Orginally $28, the iWrap for iPad 2 is over 65% off at $9.99 with free shipping. Grab one for your iPad 2—it protects…

  • Coupon | 04.12

    Mention this newsletter and: *buy any iPad and get a free Hammerhead Stylus in your choice of color!* ($14.99 value)

  • New Products!

    *Wingstand*
    With the Wingstand and an Apple Bluetooth Keyboard, turn your iPad into a workstation anywhere!
    *$14.99*

    *Joy Factory Valet Valet Seat Bolt Mount*
    For iPad 2 and iPad 3rd Gen–works in your car!
    *$149.99*

    !(image)http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2845.jpg!

  • Adobe CS5.5 > CS6

    Purchase a Creative Suite 5.5 full license or upgrade between March 26th and May 6th, 2012 and receive an upgrade to CS6 at no additional cost.

    When you register your version of CS5.5, the license for CS6 will be provided to you when available.

    “*Read more here!*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/article/buy-adobe-cs55-get-adobe-cs6-free/

    !(image)http://blog.smalldog.com/images/222.jpg!

  • Hard Drive Specials

    *LaCie Neil Poulton 1TB USB Hard Drive*
    $139.99

    *LaCie Rugged Mini Disk 500GB 7200RPM Portable Hard Drive*
    $129.99

  • Classes | 04.12

    *Absolute Mac Basics*

    Sunday, April 15th and Sunday, April 29th.

    Classes are held in our South Burlington store from 5:15-6:45, and are $39.99. Call, come in or “*register online!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/Classes/

  • Product of the Month | 04.12

    Hammerhead Premium Leather Case
    In stock now (it literally just arrived this morning) in our Waitsfield location.

    Come in today and grab one (or we’ll get it to you quickly if you’re in S. Burlington, VT or Manchester, NH)!

    Mention this newsletter and save $5!

  • Back Up!

    Back up, Back up, Back up. You might feel like we are a broken record on this topic, but we just can’t say enough about how important this crucial step is with your data. Sadly, all too often customers forget about this step, and just like a car, they break down at least opportune times.

    Over the years we have had the unfortunate job of telling more than one parent their children’s photos are lost or a student their last six months of work is gone.

    Drive failures can’t be prevented, but what you can prevent is the loss of your data; Apple makes it incredibly simple to get do. Time Machine is Apple’s built-in backup software, and it’s saved my data twice over the years! Many customers still don’t utilize this software and I believe it’s because so many assume it’s complicated.

    Time Machine truly takes about 5 minutes to set up, and once it’s running, will continuously back up all your files and programs (without doing a thing on your part). Should tragedy strike and your drive fails, you just have to plug the backup drive into the new computer or your old computer with the new internal hard drive installed.

    In no time, you’re back up and running like nothing ever happened!

  • iPhoto for iOS

    On March 7th, Apple released iPhoto for iOS. As a heavy iPad user, I wanted to check it out, and right away I was able to see some big improvements over the built-in photo app. The new design seems to flow a lot more intuitively, and the tools that it gives you are great–you’re now able to access all of your existing albums (including PhotoStream) in one place!

    The user interface (UI) is awesome–it allows you to move a lot better through your photos. The tools allow for very focused editing, whether you need to clean up the color because your photo is oversaturated or you need to crop it.

    There are some sliders available for making more custom upgrades. The sliders allow for great customization of your photos. Just like in iPhoto for the Mac, there are some auto-adjust tools. These are good for those who aren’t very comfortable with photo editing can make proper adjustments with little effort. They range from Auto Enhance to Desaturate to Sharpen.

    By bringing iPhoto to iOS, Apple has really brought iPad to a new level, as it now allows for better amateur editing. Before this release, the best way to edit your photos was to import them onto your computer and then work with them there; now you can do some real work to them without all of the extra steps and with the ease of your iOS device!