Scattered Thoughts . . .

Microsoft Surface 3 with keyboard and mouse... I've had a couple of days to play with my new Microsoft Surface computer. This laptop/tablet combo is really nice! I've loaded most of the software I will be using on this computer including Adobe Photoshop. I tried it out... not only is this Surface far better than my two year old HP laptop which had better specs but it is, without a doubt, the best laptop I have ever used. I'm quite impressed! Sheila played with it for a bit last night while I was cooking dinner... she loved it as well and was left feeling as though her Kindle Fire tablet is feeling a bit old and clunky by comparison. To be honest, I don't think my Kindle Fire tablet feels old and clunky (I have the same Kindle Fire tablet as Sheila) ... the Fire is just as light and nimble as my new Surface 3. Sheila may feel this way simply because she has a crappy screen protector (and it is scuffed up a bit too) on her Kindle Fire which cuts down on clarity.

As I wrote a few days ago, my not quite two year old HP X360 laptop bit the dust during a thunderstorm over the weekend. It crackled and sizzled loud enough for Sheila to hear it in another room. It was fried and about as dead as dead could be. This HP X360 model could be flipped around so it could be used as a tablet which came in handy for certain situations. This HP model allowed me to handle photos and video while on the road and also allowed me to backup all my photos and video. I did, however, have problems with this laptop as well as some regrets. Before I get into the history of how I got to this point, let me quickly say that my new laptop of choice (for my specific needs) is a new Microsoft Surface 3. Here is a short promo video for the Surface Pro 3... the non-Pro version I bought is slightly smaller at my preferred 11 inches, full HD resolution, and significantly less expensive yet with few compromises... So, let's go back to some boring info about how I got

I had just finished adding a new additional 8gb memory card to my desktop computer and now it was time to swap out the RAM on my laptop computer for a new 8gb memory card. I use this little laptop whenever we are on the road or at the lake house for music, editing photos, updating my blog, and any other internet activities. Because I use this laptop for editing photos, I needed more RAM than the stock 4gb's.  Wow... this 'little' task which was a piece of cake on my desktop computer was significantly more complicated on this little laptop!  I had to dismantle the entire laptop to gain access to the RAM card. To say this made me nervous is a gross understatement. First off... just figuring out how to open the case was a pain in the butt! There are about 17 tiny screws holding this thing together... most plainly visible but some were hidden under rubber feet and flush covers. Next... everything on this little laptop is miniscule and I have big hands and rather poor eyes