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Happy New Year to my fellow Christians!
A New Year is for lists, right?
Here is my Christmas list (mostly for my own reference when RL people ask)
Stuff non-internet-dwelling people can get me:
Stuff that probably requires a base level of geekery:
Here is my Christmas list (mostly for my own reference when RL people ask)
Stuff non-internet-dwelling people can get me:
- a new bike I can ride to work so I don't have to decide what kind of bike to get
- an English/Icelandic dictionary
- Gift cards to the shops I walk to from work (Food Lion, Big Lots, Dollar Tree, Subway, Gianni's, Taco Bell, Lima Chicken, China Sea)
- passes for the county swim center or the new second-run movie theater
- small blank sketchbooks
- an instruction/recipe pamphlet for my Waring food dehydrator
- a replacement for my field pack
- a snow brush for the car
- a hair brush like the one I currently use
- a jar of garlic salt
- body wash type stuff, since I finally used up the last of what my aunts gave me last time
- anything off my Librarything wishlist
Stuff that probably requires a base level of geekery:
- a replacement battery for a Lenovo G580 laptop
- an ebook reader/tablet/smartphone-y thing that I can type on and take pictures with that holds a good battery charge, so I don't have to decide what to get
- the complete Young Wizards New Millennium Edition ebooks (in epub)
- Dreamwidth points
- a small Kelly Kettle (or similar chimney-based tinder-burning campstove)
- The Lego/Lincoln Logs/Tinkertoys part of the universal construction kit
- A subscription to some ecomics thingy or other (so I don't have to decide)
- someone to finish all my wips and/or write all my bunnies
- commentary to any of my fics on AO3
- someone to tell me what bike to get
- someone to tell me what ebook reader/tablet/smartphone-y thing I should buy
- a new lid for my longbox
- the new Agent of Asgard issues, the Tenth Realm trade, and the Kieron Gillen Complete Journey Into Mystery
...and here is my list of Stuff To Do between now and Epiphany:
finish some of yer dern wips
YULETIDE
write yt treats (after finishing YULETIDE)
draw a thing
give away the money you budgeted for charity
rake more leaves
christmas shopping
---finalize lists
---order online stuff
---buy non-online stuff
---make thing a and thing b (and thing c?)
---wrap them all
finish deep-cleaning room
---bag of junk
---pile o' bags
---loft
---hats
---closet shelf and other papers
---necklaces
---reorganize books
---put up little tree
attempt to make fudge for part(ies)
finish watching atla
finish all books on 'currently reading' list w/out starting any more
redo computer
---make backups
---wipe + reinstall windows
---re-set-up programs
---rearrange backups
do at least one basket of mending
go on one more adventure for the year
make and go to optometrist app't
get doctor for insurance, make app't
Do all December posts for December meme (currently at 11 topics)
get all caught up on tag wrangling, and stay caught up
make a start on plans for trip next summer
pay bills
try to make essential oil of clementine
...that's uh. totally doable right?
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I have a Nexus 7, which I love but use intermittently. I do write on it (and on my corresponding Nexus 5 phone) a lot using Swype, but if you aren't into writing with Swype, there are external keyboards. I haven't bought out yet because I don't think the tiny keyboards sold for 7" tablets are going to be more ergonomic than Swype, but YMMV. I like Android OS, and I like having a tablet rather than a dedicated ereader (I previously had a Nook, on which I couldn't install most useful apps or a tolerable keyboard unless I rooted it, which I was too lazy to do -- plus an Android tablet can have a third-party ereader app, Kindle, and Nook apps all at once, quite straightfowardly). The camera frankly sucks, but IMO tablets are way inconvenient as cameras. If you want to take an occasional picture of a thing, they're ok, but if you're thinking something to replace a compact camera, smartphones are a better bet.
I love, love, love my Nexus 5 to a possibly unhealthy degree, and I have read some books on it, but tbh I think reading that much microprint is probably literally unhealthy and I wouldn't really recommend any phone for ereader purposes. The camera is pretty good (certain reviews to the contrary) and IMO totally competitive with the iPhone cameras. I write on it with Swype, but this is again a YMMV situation, and all Swype writing has to be carefully proofread on a computer later.
Both of the Nexus devices are among the best value for money tablet/smartphones out there; there are better devices for some purposes (e.g. if you're interested in pressure-sensitive drawing, the iPads), but they cost a lot more.
I'd recommend a 7" tablet if:
-Reading and writing are your main priorities
-You only want occasional photography capabilities
-You carry a purse and plan to have it with you most of the time (for writing)
I'd recommend a smartphone if
-You want your writing device with you at all times even if the writing process is more inconvenient
-You want a replacement for a compact camera
-You don't plan to read a lot of novels on it or aren't worried about eyesight and microprint
-You are interested in being firmly tethered to the internet at all times
-You want a GPS unit in your pocket
SORRY I am the kind of person who went to the store and exhaustively compared options so I can't say I'm really helpful about telling people what to get, since I think UI compatibility is kind of a personal preference.
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I think my problem with the edevice question is that I want a bunch of things that don't always go together.
Things it must have:
1. Ability to read pdf, epub, & text files
2. Ability to type long stories and read them back as I go and reasonably easily keep them in sync with an rtf file on my laptop. (I've played with Swype and found it fun, but never tried to do it for anything serious? I can probably adapt to whatever keying technique - I regularly code-switch between qwerty and dvorak already, what's one more - as long as I can get software that will do the stuff I'm used to in basic PC text editors.)
3. Battery life of at least a day or so of constant use
4. Can put up with a huge about of physical abuse
5. Does not lock me into paying a monthly fee to somebody else forever in exchange for getting to access my own stuff; file transfer to the computer without having to use wireless.
Things I would like:
1. Can play podcasts
2. Can take reasonably good photos of still subjects (sleeping cats, piles of books, etc.)
3. Ability to play/read the library's DRM-locked efiles.
4. Reading spreadsheets would be nice too
4. FM radio
5. Don't care about realtime GPS but would like to be able to put maps on it
6. Enough internal memory to do the above
7. can mess around with app programming, maybe?
8. I don't *want* to be stuck on the internet at all times? But it would be nice to be able to get on in emergencies once in awhile.
9. Can text people.
..I think that's pretty much it.
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For file syncing, do you have a dropbox? Or google drive or other free cloud storage, but I think dropbox works better. I think there is an android app for dropbox (i don't use it on my phone because of insufficient internal memory).
You could get a Windows phone/tablet (or maybe iPhone/iPad) and put Scrivener on it, and then if you store the scrivener file on dropbox you'll have access to it everywhere - that's what I do with all my school papers these days. but I think you really want an Android given your other requirements.
Edit to add: a reasonably new android smartphone should be able to do everything on both your lists, except you'd have to check about the FM radio, and get a good case that can stand up to abuse.
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A blessed Advent to you! I'm enjoying my holiday songs including many lovely Advent carols.
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And I am enjoying my carols too! A blessed advent to you.
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