NEW iPhone - Beneficial for College Students?

• Author: Michael |University Scholar
• Filed under: Uncategorized
• Date: Jun 11,2008

The new 3G iPhone has been announced to launch July 11. It is a very tempting product with great improvements over the first generation iPhone. Is now the time to invest in an iPhone? Perhaps it is the right time, but I would like to examine whether or not the iPhone can increase productivity for a college student. Because increasing productivity is the purpose of smart phones. Correct?

Who Cares about the iPhone – Mobile ME is more Important

At the WWDC Keynote address Apple announced not only a new iPhone, but they also announced a new program, which I am very excited about, called Mobile ME.

Mobile ME is an email service that will be competing with programs such as Microsoft Outlook. You will have access to email, contacts, calendar, a photo gallery, and online storage with iDisk. There are two aspects of Mobile ME that appear very appealing.

• 1. It is not a program installed on your computer, but a great internet browser program. Therefore, you can access your email on any computer, and use a format similar to Microsoft Outlook or the Mac Mail program.
• 2. Push Technology! I won’t explain what “push” means, but I will tell you what it allows. “Push” allows you to sync many computers and phones together, over the “air” without needing to dock the phone. If you have ever heard of Microsoft Exchange for businesses Mobile ME is the equivalent for the individual.

Note – Watch the video at Apple to better understand Mobile ME

I will be testing the free trail first. If Mobile ME wins me over, I will pay the $100 and year, get rid of Gmail, and either get rid of Microsoft Outlook or sync it with Mobile ME.

Increase Productivity?

I believe that Mobile ME will increase productivity because it allows for easy access to your email on any computer, and is worth the yearly payment of $100. But what about the iPhone? One negative of Mobile ME is that it will only sync with Apple products and Microsoft Outlook. If you have a different model of Smartphone, you’re out of luck using Mobile ME.

The new 3G iPhone is priced at $199, which is a swell deal. But there is a catch. A purchase of an iPhone requires signing a 2 year contract with AT&T, unlike the first generation iPhone which could be purchased, unlocked, and used with other providers. The phone service + data plan will be $70 a month. With a two year contract that puts the total price of an iPhone at $1,879 for two years of use.

Will the increased productivity from using the iPhone be worth $1,879? For a business person the benefits may be worth the price, but for a college student you would have to work more to afford it. Working more would take time away from your studies and exhaust you, decreasing productivity.

Luckily for us, the iTouch has the same software as the iPhone. The only features it lacks are a camera, GPS, G3 internet, Bluetooth, a phone, and speakers (headphones are required for sound). What it does have is Wi-Fi, and on a college campus Wi-Fi is available about everywhere. Therefore, when you are in a hotspot you will be able to access:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Email
• Stocks
• Sports
• Weather
• Facebook
• eBay
• Notes
• Calendar
• Facebook… again
• Instant Messaging
• Wikipedia
• Maps
• And any website you can think of and any of the applications available in the App Store.

I figure the combination of Mobile ME($100), iTouch(currently $299), cell phone ($50), 2 years of cell phone service ($20 a month while on a family plan) will be a total of $930, half the cost of the iPhone scenario, which did not include Mobile ME.

Pre Game Opinion

I believe that the combination of Mobile ME and the iTouch will increase my productivity; however this is my expectations. Once Mobile ME is available for the free one month trail I will be borrowing an iTouch to test everything, before spending the money on technology that is not beneficial.

If you currently use an iTouch or iPhone for productivity purposes, not just music and videos, leave a comment with your opinion.

I will give an update as soon as I begin my experiment.

In the meantime, check out Lifehacker.com’s thorough review of the new iPhone.

Just a Post and an Interesting Video!

• Author: Michael |University Scholar
• Filed under: Uncategorized
• Date: May 27,2008

It’s been a while since I have posted. I recently got a job and my schedule got out of whack. In a few days I will write a post explaining why I failed at maintaining a schedule and tips for staying on track, even when there is a major change in your life.

For now I will share a fun YouTube video. The instrument in this video is a hang (pronounced hung) drum. It is a very new instrument made by two guys in Switzerland. If you want one of these, be prepared to pay a pretty penny. To get one to America will cost about $3,000 — $1,200 for the drum plus the amount for a trip to Europe or the shipping. At least that was the cost last time I checked a few months ago.

I have jet to actually see one of these in the United States. They are probably fairly common in Europe, because obviously it is easier to get to Switzerland from Europe than from the Americas. Has anyone from the Americas seen a hang drum in America?

Enjoy the Beautiful Music!

Computers for College Students

• Author: Michael |University Scholar
• Filed under: Uncategorized
• Date: May 2,2008

Photo by Andrew*

This post is for all of those high school seniors who are about to run off and buy a computer with their graduation money. When I graduated I saw a lot of my friends who went out and bought computers that were not worth the amount they paid for them. Shopping for a computer should be like shopping for a car. The more you know; the better deal you will get.

Desktop vs Laptop

The majority of students are going to want a laptop, the desktop computer seems to becoming less and less popular. I bought a desktop, and absolutely love it! Chances are I wont convince you to buy a desktop over a laptop, but I will list the positives of both.

Laptop:

• Portable

Desktop:

• Cheaper: You can get a lot more for your money.
• Larger Monitor: I love my 24 inch monitor. I can put two word documents side by side, or an internet browser and a word document. I am much more efficient with a large monitor than a small monitor. If you are working with programs such as Photoshop you will want a large monitor.
• It can be a TV too! For about $30 you can put a TV tuner in your desktop computer. You no longer need a TV in your dorm. You get to save some space!
• Easily upgradeable! It is very easy to buy a new part for your desktop and update your computer. With a notebook you will just have to buy a new one.
• When it comes to ergonomics, a desktop is much better for you. When you are at a keyboard your arms should be about parallel to the floor and the top of the monitor should be eye level. Which is impossible with a laptop.
• If you are a hardcore gamer(Like I used to be!) a notebook will not cut it. Especially if you want to play new games like Crysis!

Mac vs PC

We all have seen the commercials, and even I, a PC fan, think they are absolutely hilarious! I do not want to get into a discussion about which one is actually better, but I would like everyone to know that if you do like the look and feel of a mac, you can install a Windows operation system onto a Mac. In the next section I will explain why you may want to buy a Mac with Windows installed.

Love Your Computer

I believe the most important quality for a computer is comfort. When you sit down at your computer you need to enjoy the feel of the mouse, keyboard, and gloss of the screen. Even if you buy your computer on the internet you should first go to stores and test out a few of the possible choices.

When determining a comfortable computer do not look at the price. For example, the mouse I am currently using was $60. I love my mouse! I was at BustBuy one day and I was browsing, I put my hand on the mouse and said “THAT’S IT!” It fit my hand perfectally. My keyboard on the other hand was only $10.

Having an actual mouse is very important. Trying to use the pad on a notebook is very time consuming and inefficients. If you buy a notebook, get a mouse to go along with it. You may also consider buying a keyboard for your laptop. That way when you are at a desk you can be ergonomically correct, but you can always take your notebook somewhere else.

The Tech Stuff(specifically for notebooks/laptops)

CPU: Chances are you will want to get an Intel Core 2 Duo. Most will say it is the best CPU out there. Now when you are looking at the specs it will say something like 2.0GHz. That is the speed of the processor. What speed do you need? If you are only going to use word processing and the internet you could probably go as low as 1.33 GHz. If you want to watch movies, use advanced programs, possibly play a few games, you will want 2.0GHz or more.

Note: Sometimes you will see a computer with a 2.0GHz CPU and then a 2.1GHz for $100 more. Unless you are a hardcore gamer, and you pay attention to your computers benchmarks you will not notice a difference between 2.0 and 2.1. Save yourself some money and get the cheaper one.

Graphics: You have three options when deciding on a graphics card in a laptop. There will be an on-board card, Radeon, or Nvidia. On-board graphics cards are very disappointing, I would avoid them altogether. I would get either a Radeon or Nvidia. If you are buying a desktop and you want a good graphics card for gaming I would get the Nvidia 8800GTS (G92) as of today it is the best bang for the buck.

Memory Size: You need 2Gigs of RAM. More is better, but you wont see a difference unless you use intensive applications or games.

Screen Size: Screen size changes the value of your laptop in an unpredictable way. With a monitor for a desktop computer, the bigger it is the more expensive. But with a laptop this isn’t necessarily true. The smaller the screen is the more difficult it is to fit all the parts in, which causes it to be more expensive. When determining your screen size its all about your own personal preference.

Hard Drive: Chances are you will find a notebook with 100GB or more, and 100 GB should satisfy the average user. If you are obsessed with music and have tones of songs on your computer you may need more. Or if you are a photographer you will need a lot of hard drive space for the high quality photos. But you may consider getting a notebook, with a small amount of hard drive space, and purchasing an external hard drive to put your photos or music on.

Those are the 5 major specs you will looking at when buying a computer. Just do yourself a favor, do not assume that because it is more expensive it is better. You can do yourself a bigger favor by asking a friend who knows computers to help you out.

How much should I spend?

For a good notebook, I would not spend more than $1200. I believe if you spend more, you are wasting money. The cheapest I would go is $600, any lower and you will feel as if you were in the stone age.

Here is a perfect example of a good notebook that I would buy. ASUS M51 Sn-X2

It has a 15.4″ screen, 250 Gig Hard Drive, a NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS graphics card, 2.50 GHz CPU, 4GB of memory, an integrated webcam, and even a mouse and a cheap carrying case. I honestly do not know what else you would want in a computer, and it is only $1200. There are notebooks that cost more, but they can’t possibly have much better specs than this one.

Do realize that most of this is my opinion, and there may be other people that may tell you something different. If you are about to purchase a computer, and would like an opinion, just contact me and I will be more than happy to help a fellow student. Or you can visit Newegg.com and read the customer reviews. Newegg.com is where the hardcore computer nerds, like me, shop. You may be using your computer for several years and you should not take shopping for one lightly.