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Online Shopping Tips, Online Sopping Tips

Android Tablets – How to compare them

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We’re in the market for an Android tablet. Right now, we’ve got most of the bases covered with Apple, Blackberry tablets and one Android mobile phone but we think an Android tablet would be a good test base for future posts. Just this week we returned a Samsung Galaxy 7″ tablet which froze several times, finally locking up completely on us. NCIX, our favorite shopping spot, took it back promptly. Thanks guys! While we were in the store, we saw the ASUS MeMO Pad HD 7. Here’s how we figured out that it is the best ASUS tablet for us.

1. We headed over to the ASUS (A-soose) site. We’re in Canada but you can find your local ASUS site from this link (it may default to your local ASUS site anyway): ASUS Canada

2. Up at the top of the page, look for Products and rest your mouse over the word. This menu comes down:

Photo of ASUS Shopping 1
We’re comparing tablets so we chose ‘All’.

3. After choosing All on the menu above, we narrowed down our selections to only 7″ models. Look on the left to check the size you want:

Photo of ASUS Shopping 2
Three sizes are available but we want 7″ for portability.

4. Right now, there are four models available. How can we know which one is best for us? ASUS, as well as many other shopping sites, lets us compare them. We checked all four.

Photo of ASUS Shopping 3
Choose the models you want to compare.

5. Once you have made your selection, look up on the top for the words Compare List. Ours had the number 4 beside it since we’d chosen 4 models to compare. This menu pops down and you want to select ‘Compare Now’.

Photo of ASUS Shopping 4
Compare Now.

6. Don’t be intimidated by the next page. First, it’s a long one, needing some scrolling. Second, it’s full of what looks like gobbledy-guck. Let’s go through some of the important lines, just so you know what we looked for. This might help you make your selection, here on the ASUS site but also when you’re comparing other hardware.

Photo of ASUS Shopping 5
Operating system, memory and storage are the main ones here.

You can see that there are different versions of the Android OS (operating system). All are current main version (Jelly Bean) but there are three different levels. Next, check out the display. The latest model, the Nexus 7 (2013) has the best screen resolution (1920×1200) while the old Nexus 7 and the HD7 have a slightly lower resolution. CPU doesn’t really matter to us but it’s something to consider in other hardware. Next, we looked at memory. Here, memory is NOT storage, it is RAM (Random Access Memory), basically how many things the tablet can think of at one time.

Lastly, we looked at storage. All have 16 GB of room but the Nexus 7 (2013) is available in a 32 G model.

7. More details here, just scroll down:

Photo of ASUS Shopping 6
Camera and Interface are the important items.

As long as the tablet has wireless, that’s fine with us. Bluetooth? Very handy since we just picked up a Bluetooth keyboard. Most tablets come with a camera. The Nexus 7 (2013) and the HD 7 each come with two cameras. One faces you so you can use it as a webcam for video chats while the other, the 5 MP (mega pixel) faces away from you. This allows you to take decent quality photos.

Interface, the things that go in and out of your tablet, is next. We’re happily surprised to find that the HD7, the one we have decided to purchase, has a Micro-SD slot which takes up to a 32 GB card. That makes total storage capacity for it up to 48 GB. Bonus!

We’re not too concerned about the sensors but we do want GPS support. Where is it?

8. Here it is:

Photo of ASUS Shopping 7
Two models support GPS, including the HD 7.

 

We’d already decided that the HD 7 is the model we wanted but this was confirmed when we compared the standard features to the price. Right now, the Nexus 7 (2013) is about $250.00. The HD7, complete with almost all of the features of the Nexus 7 plus the available 32 GB Micro SD slot, is only $159.00. We won’t miss the few features that the HD 7 is missing, certainly not for $90.00 more.

We’ve given you an outline of what to look for when shopping, at least for Android tablets. We’ve been shopping online since 1996, believe it or not. Let’s say that we know how to get a deal. We hope we can help you do the same.

Thanks for reading!

Adjust Default Privacy Settings, Facebook, Facebook 101, Facebook Secrets, Facebook Tricks

Summer Reruns – 10 Facebook Tips

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It’s late August and very hot here in Toronto. Time for a rehash of some of our most popular Facebook posts, then we’re off to sit poolside with a cool drink and a good book. We hope your summer is going well, wherever you are.

TIP: Each link will open in a new window/tab. That way you can read the post, close the window and we’ll still here here waiting.

1. Here’s how to hide your ‘friending’ and ‘unfriending’ activity on Facebook : Hide Facebook Friend Activity

2. Lost your likes? Here’s how to get them back: Get Your Likes Back 

3. If you want a private profile on Facebook, here’s where you start: How to Hide Everything From Strangers

4.  You can’t hide everything, though. Here’s what can’t be hidden on Facebook:  What Can or Can’t be Private

5.  All about you. This post describes hiding your personal details on Facebook: Hide Everything About You

6. Does everyone need to know who your Facebook friends are? Really? :  Hide Your Friend List

7. You can’t hide your Facebook profile photo..or can you?  Hide Your Profile Photo

8. How many hidden messages do you have on Facebook? Here’s how to find out : Facebook’s Hidden Message Box

9. Tired of game updates and other Facebook ‘spam’? Get rid of the noise! How to Stop Facebook Noise

10. All about Facebook Likes. The Ultimate Facebook Likes Guide

 

 

Photo of 10 Facebook Tips
Summertime…and Facebooking is easy, thanks to Computers Made Simple.

 

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Free Software, Mention in Moments, WeChat, Weixin

WeChat – Mention a Friend in Moments

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We had a question about the new ‘Mention’ feature on WeChat. If you use Facebook then you know you can tag someone in a photo or mention them in a post or comment. That directs their attention to the item, just to make sure they don’t miss it. Here’s how to do it on WeChat.

1. From any screen, tap Discover (or Social, depending on which platform you are using). When the following screen comes up, press Moments.

Photo of WeChat Mention 1
Press Discover to bring up this screen then press Moments.

2. As usual, press the icon of the camera up on the top right.

Photo of WeChat Mention 2
Press the icon of the camera up on the top right.

3. Next, choose your source.

Photo of WeChat Mention 3
Take a photo or choose one that you’ve already taken.

4. Once you’ve got the pic selected, press Done and this sharing screen comes up. This hasn’t changed much except that there is a new choice there, the @Mention button.

Photo of WeChat Mention 4
If you want to mention one of your contacts, press the @Mention button.

5. Here’s what you see next:

Photo of WeChat Mention 5
Press the big + sign to mention contacts in this post.

6. Your contact list pops up, allowing you to select up to 10 names to mention on this one post:

Photo of WeChat Mention 7
Scroll down and tap each contact to select them.

7. Type in a description, if you want, then hit Send. If you want to limit your sharing to certain contacts, do that before you press send.

8. The contact who is mentioned gets a notification of a message in Moments, the next time they open WeChat. Once they go to the message, WeChat tells them ‘(whoever) mentioned me.’ That’s it!

TIP: If someone has mentioned up in a Moment post, there is nothing you can do about it. Your friend can delete the Moment but you can’t remove the mention. Yes, that kind of sucks. If someone does this repeatedly, you might want to delete or block that contact.

Thanks for reading! If you’d like to keep up with our daily posts, Like us on Facebook. Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook. 

 

 

Keep Safe Online, Phishing Scams, Scam, Security, Security Questions

Avoid Phishing Website Tricks

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We had a curious experience this week that made us realize how easy it is to be tricked by an unscrupulous website. Here’s how it happened and here’s what you can do about it:

1. When you are on a Facebook page, you’re usually quite safe, right? It’s when you click on a link in a comment or beside a photo that you might get into trouble. Here’s an example of what we’re talking about:

Photo of Phishing Tricks 1
The photo itself isn’t the link, the blue line is.

In this case, you can click on the photo to enlarge it or you can click directly on the link. Where does the link lead? We don’t know, do we. The link has been shortened. When a link looks like this, you have to ask yourself, “Is this safe to click on?” In spite of the fact that we know and trust ‘Home Design’, how do we know their account hasn’t been compromised (hacked)? We don’t. Is it worth clicking the link? Better not.

2. Here’s an example of a safer link:

Photo of CBC Url.
The CBC uses full links, not shortened ones. It’s obvious where this link leads.

Just for extra security, hover your mouse over any link on a page then look down at the bottom of your browser window. The real url of that link will be shown there. Like this:

Photo of Phishing Tricks 3
Here is the real URL of the link, in this case it’s the same as the link in the CBC post.

3. Next, the phishing attempt. You’re already on Facebook. You know that. When you click on a link and the page that comes up happens to look like a Facebook page and asks for your password, wouldn’t that set off your warning alarms? Facebook knows your password, you are still logged into it. Why would they be asking for that password again? They’re not. The link from Facebook led to a page that only looks like it belongs to Facebook. Look up at the top of your browser window. This is what you should see if you are still on a Facebook page:

Photo of Phishing Tricks 5
Make sure the url reads: https://www.facebook.com

4. The above information is for Facebook but this also applies to your email, Twitter, Instagram and other accounts that you must sign in to use.

TIP: When you find yourself on a page that asks for your password, close your browser, reopen it and type in the URL yourself. If you happen to click on a link in an email and a page opens that asks for a password, close the tap, open another one and type the address that you want at the top.

We hope we’ve given you some useful tips about how to guard your identity online. There are many different ways that unscrupulous people can get access to your different social networking accounts. If you have questions or tips about this yourself, let us know.

Thanks for reading.

 

Free Software, WeChat, WeChat, WeChat FAQ, Weixin

WeChat – Tips and Tricks and New Features Part 2

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Day two of WeChat tips and tricks. We’re using Version 5 for the iOS (Apple) so our photos might differ from yours but the basics should be the same.

How to block someone on WeChat

1. Go to your contact list and press on the profile of the person you want to block.

2. Look for the three dots up on the top right:

Photo of WeChat Tips and Tricks 1
You can block from your contact list or from People Nearby. See the three dots?

2. After you press the dots, this will come up. Choose Block.

Photo of WeChat Tips and Tricks 2
Choose block and then confirm it. That contact can’t see you now at all.

3.

Photo of WeChat Tips and Tricks 3
See? They can’t send you a message and they won’t see your Moments. Cool huh?

 

Social is now named ‘Discover’. Look Around is now ‘People Nearby’. We kind of liked Look Around, it sounded cooler. 

Photo of WeChat Tips and Tricks 4
Social is now Discover, Look Around is now ‘People Nearby’.

 

Sticker Shop is available from your profile page. 

Photo of WeChat Tips and Tricks 5
Sticker Shop. Don’t expect too much.
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Maybe these names lost something when they were translated. We think we could do a better job.
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Are these worth spending money on? Really?

Sticker pricing isn’t bad but we can’t imagine anyone using these.

Photo of WeChat Tips and Tricks 8
Under a buck but underwhelming too.

 

That’s it for today. We don’t want to make these posts too long. You’re busy, it’s summer, we have a new Galaxy Tab 2 to test so we’re off to do that. Comments, questions, observations are all welcome.

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