Greetings from Techneal Consulting!Greetings from Techneal Consulting! http://technealconsulting.com The Definitive Site for Business Technology Advice and Assistance Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:28:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Don’t spend a fortune on software until you’ve tried these! http://technealconsulting.com/2011/11/03/27/ http://technealconsulting.com/2011/11/03/27/#comments Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:26:00 +0000 techneal http://technealconsulting.com/?p=27 Continue reading →]]> The Definitive Site for Technology Advice and AssistanceWhen I build a new computer, one of the first things I do is install the most useful free applications I know of. Avast! free antivirus is widely used and tested, and scores favorably against most of the paid antivirus solutions such as Norton and McAfee. Paint.Net is a photo-editing application which makes a near-perfect substitute for Photoshop. LibreOffice is so good at creating Microsoft Office documents I use it to create and update my resume. VLC Media Player allows you to play any music or video format on your computer.  And of course there is Microsoft’s own Windows Live Essentials,which include a blog editor (perfect for updating those WordPress posts!), a movie editor, a mail client with functionality which rivals Outlook, file sync between computers and offline storage on “SkyDrive”, where you can store up to 25 gigabytes of your documents, spreadsheets, music and movies online for free.

There are free software programs for accounting, budgeting, investing and general money management. Some have low-cost add-ons which provide payroll and check-writing capabilities. I don’t use that stuff
so I can’t comment much on it.
Tell me what software you need to use in your business, how
much it costs, and I’ll tell you which free alternatives to try first.

]]> http://technealconsulting.com/2011/11/03/27/feed/ 0 Adding Some Kindling to the Tablet Fire http://technealconsulting.com/2011/11/03/21/ http://technealconsulting.com/2011/11/03/21/#comments Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:14:23 +0000 techneal http://technealconsulting.com/?p=21 Continue reading →]]> The Definitive Site for Technology Advice and AssistanceIn the game of Tablet Poker, Amazon is saying “deal me in” with the new Kindle Fire, the latest entry into the tablet market.

The Kindle Fire is essentially a heavily modified Google Android-based system optimized for use with Amazon’s services. It has a compelling price-point vis-à-vis the iPad; $199. But for that price you get decidedly fewer goodies:

Amazon Kindle

Apple iPad
WiFi Only Wifi & 3G available
Internal storage: 8GB Internal Storage: 16 to 64GB
Screen size: 7” Screen size: 9.7”
No camera Front and rear cameras, video chat
No Bluetooth Bluetooth

I guess it all depends on what you expect to do with your tablet! The Kindle Fire is primarily aimed at users of Amazon’s content (eBooks, video, MP3s), whereas the iPad is more suitable for light-duty, general-purpose computing. A user who hates desktop computers can probably get by with an iPad. Doubt the same could be said for the Kindle Fire. But, since it is based on Android, that is likely to change!

Regards,

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