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Whoops, I Bought An iPad Air (32GB, Space Grey)

By TechnologyNo Comments
Lit Up Reindeer I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a tablet for a while now. I wanted something I can access Facebook on, use to listen to Music and watch Films/TV Boxsets on while being in the living room with the cats.

When I saw the previous generation Kindle Fire for £99 on Amazon’s website, I wasn’t sure whether this was a Christmas offer or Black Friday offer. I wasn’t even sure if the Kindle tablet would be what I wanted. But at that price, I had to look into it.

So during my visit to Manchester Christmas Market (see Getting Into The Festive Spirit: Manchester Christmas Market) my friend and I nipped into Currys PC World to have a look at the Kindle.

I was looking at the newest Kindle the Fire HDX and the screen was just seven inches. So on the one hand the Kindle was cheap, but on the other hand the screen was far too small for what I wanted to use it for.

Undecided on cost or screen size, I spoke with my friend about it and then to mum. With some persuasion from mum, I decided to buy the much more expensive iPad Air (32GB in Space Grey). Whoops! Here are some obligatory photos:

iPad Air - Box New iPad Air - Case Boxed New
iPad Air - Cover Green iPad Air - Home Screen
iPad Air - Back

The reasons I bought the iPad Air were: bigger screen, compatible with my other Apple Products (iMac & iPhone 5), really light, great hardware specs (including better camera than most other tablets) and a massive range of Apps via the App Store.

I also splashed out on a cover. A cover, just covers the front of the iPad (the screen), costs £35, comes in a range of colours and is perfect for using the iPad at home. Whereas a case, covers the entire iPad (front & back), costs £65, comes in a range of colours and is ideal if you’re planning on taking the iPad out and about. Be careful when buying, as their package design is very similar.

I’ve had my iPad for a few weeks now, so I thought I’d give you my first impressions of some of the Pros and Cons:

Pros Cons
  • Light-weight, feels lighter than the average book.
  • Great Battery Life.
  • Charges really quick.
  • Compatible with my iPhone 5 charger and USB charging.
  • Like the Space Grey effect, reminds me of the Star Trek pads.
  • Easy to set up & use.
  • Always on, quick to check Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
  • Great Apps available on the App Store.
  • iPad specific Apps, to make the most out of the iPad Air.
  • Made for media consumption, whether it be: Music, films, TV Boxsets or ebooks.
  • Now comes with free Pages, Numbers, iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band.
  • It just works. No crashes at all (so far), not even Apps.
  • Silent operation – no sound of cooling fan.
  • Reasonable speaker sound quality.
  • iMessage & FaceTime.
  • Can be backed up through iTunes or iCloud.
  • Updates Apps Automatically.
  • Has Siri.
  • Find My iPhone – Works for iPad, so you can detect where it is if its ever stolen.
  • iPad as a device is expensive.
  • Doesn’t come with headphones.
  • Would literately be a blank canvas without the Apps on the App Store.
  • Covers are expensive at £35. Cases are extortionately priced at £65.
  • Made for media consumption – Feels difficult and slow to create things on the iPad.
  • Inhibits creativity and makes it less likely that you’ll spend your time creating something.
  • Pages, Numbers, iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band are all designed to help you be creative, but each takes up an awful lot of disk space.
  • iTunes doesn’t accept .avi files, so most of my movies can’t be played on the iPad. Have found a work around which I shall be blogging about soon, it’s just frustrating because I shouldn’t have to do this.
  • No way to access my wireless hard drive.
  • Doesn’t seem to want to link to my iMac through WiFi.
  • Missing the biometric security, the finger print scanner the iPhone 5S has.

One or two of the Cons might just be things I haven’t worked out how to do on the iPad yet. If you know how to do something that I’ve put on my Cons list, feel free to leave a comment.

The iPad Air 32GB Space Grey is available to buy on Amazon, on the Apple Store Online or on your local high street (at various retail outlets).

Write soon,

Antony

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Thursday 12 December 2013

Getting Into The Festive Spirit: Manchester Christmas Market

By Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, LifeNo Comments

Manchester Christmas Market Manchester Christmas Market Singing Tree

Manchester Christmas Market Bar It’s become a tradition that once a year, around this time, I go to the Manchester Christmas Market for a mooch around and a Bailey’s latte.

At the weekend, my friend and I completed this tradition together. Considering it was the end of November, it was relatively warm and the sun shone brightly – at times blinding our vision.

We arrived about midday and it wasn’t overly crowded (top left photo).
We started at the stalls straight outside of Manchester Victoria Train Station and began to make our way towards St. Ann’s Square and the City Hall Square. Along the way we saw a singing Christmas Tree (top right photo).

The stalls either sold food or gifts. The food choices were very varied from delicacies to more mainstream dishes. Generally most of the food stalls smelt devine.

The gift stalls had some lovely trinkets, some unique and original products (that would make perfect presents for Christmas), but also some over-priced tat.

Manchester Christmas Market Bailey's Coffee

Midway through the markets my friend and I managed to get seats at a coffee stall (above: left hand column), where we were able to enjoy our drinks. I had the Bailey’s latte as always (above: right hand column) while my friend had his Bailey’s white coffee. As we drank we talked, about many different things including: Christmas, our plans for 2014 and tablets (the Kindle & the iPad Air).

As the afternoon got later, going into early evening, the markets got busier and busier. I had expected that it would get quieter as it got later, but I was wrong. It felt like we were sardines (below: left & right). We had a great time, but maybe next year I’ll avoids the crowds by going midweek.

Manchester Christmas Market Giant Santa / Town Hall Manchester Christmas Market Crowds

Blog soon,

Antony

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Wednesday 4 December 2013

Christmas Tree, Cookies, Yule & Cats

By Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Life, Pets, TV, Online Streaming & FilmsNo Comments

The festive period was a busy one, but a good one this year. It started with the preparation I bought The Vicar of Dibley – The Ultimate Collection [DVD], Miracle on 34th Street [DVD] & The Grinch [DVD] to get me in the festive mood and watched them while I wrapped presents and dressed Norbert the Norwegian (not really a Norwegian but it sounds better):

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Norbert waiting to be taken home. Norbert fully dressed.

Then Sye dressed me up as an African Woman against my Will (honestly!) and we made cinnamon & whole nut cookies:

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Me as an African Woman. Cookies Up Close.
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The completed cookie batches.

The idea Sye & I came up with was to make these cookies to give as homemade gifts to family & friends for Christmas. I don’t know about Sye’s family & friends but all mine that received them said they were delicious.

Yule kicked off the festive period with a relaxed gathering at Chrys’, with tasty food, wonderful company and making of festive wreaths. Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling well as I’d caught a bug before finishing work for the festive period, so by the time it came to making wreaths in the evening I was shattered. In true Yuletide spirit the group banded together and made me a wreath which was so kind of them to do.

Christmas day soon came around and I cooked Christmas dinner for Steve. I was so impressed with myself, but only thought after dinner that I should have took a photo. Dylan & Russell my cats enjoyed the day. I bought them a Crinkle Bag. They love the sound of it along with the cat nip bag sown on a string inside:

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Oh a crinkle bag! OMG there’s catnip inside!

They discovered some wrapping I’d left out and decided to put it on their head and walk around bumping into the walls. After a while they sussed out that if they put their paw in front on them to feel for walls they wouldn’t bang their head. They spent the rest of the evening taking it in turns to play “blind cat;” so should have got a video but at least I got a few photos:

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I will not put my head in the wrapping…. Ah I can’t see!

I also got a number of wonderful presents including various DVD’s, smellies, gift vouchers and a beautiful Yankee Candle.

Boxing day concluded my festive celebrations with a visit to mum & Ian’s with Steve. Albeit brief it was good to see everyone and know that they had a good festive period to.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Sunday 6 January 2013

My Upcoming Readathon

By Amazon, Books & AuthorsNo Comments

The kind people at Publishers Group UK recently sent me a box of books:

upcoming-readathon-books-photo
(From Left to Right: Spanish Heart by Rachel Spangler, One Touch by L.T. Marie, The You Know Who Girls: Freshman Year by Annameekee Hesik, Love Match by Ali Vali, Strange Bedfellows by Rob Byrnes, Night Shadows: Queer Horror Edited by: Greg Herren & J.M. Redman, Inner Sanctuary: Book Three of the Sanguire by Jordan Redhawk, God Believes in Love: Straight Talk about Gay Marriage by Gene Robinson, The Raid by Lee Lynch, The Book of Eleanor by Nat Burns, Secret Societies by William Holden, Ladyfish by Andrea Bramhall & Crash Stop by Mary Griggs.)

Then just before Christmas another five titles arrived:
upcoming-readathon-books-photo2
(From Left to Right: Timothy by Greg Herren, Combustion by Daniel W. Kelly, Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman, In Stone: A Grotesque Faerie Tale by Jeremy Jordan King & The Jesus Injection (Buck 98) by Eric Andrews-Katz.)

I’ve been reading God Believes in Love: Straight Talk about Gay Marriage by Gene Robinson, if you’re undecided about gay mariage whether straight or gay I’d recommend it. Once I’ve finished as usual I’ll write a full review.

So expect lots of new book reviews in 2013.

Write soon,

Antony

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Sunday 30 December 2012
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