They say bad things come in threes, so I don’t see why good things shouldn’t too.
At least, I hope you find the things I talk about good! And I’ve got three things today.
First, several of you noticed that last time I said “I was sat in the passenger seat” when I should have said “I was sitting in the passenger seat”. Quite right, I hold my hands up to getting it wrong and at least with me sitting behind this monitor you can’t see my blushes… Like the car accident I was talking about at the time, I hope it won’t happen again!
Secondly, what I’ve been up to lately (apart from chasing insurance companies…) – something you might find interesting.
As you probably know, I’ve written books about using various devices and gadgets – phones, tablets, PCs. Some of you might know that in the past I’ve also recorded videos explaining how to use these devices.
But lately I’ve been working on something new that I’ve never done before – a new way of explaining some of these things. It’s something I simply couldn’t have done before, but I think could well be really helpful.
Anyway, I’m still in the thick of it and don’t want to give too much away just yet, but you might find it interesting, so watch out for my emails over the next few weeks.
Oh, and I’m afraid it’ll only be helpful to you if you use Windows 10 (for now at least… though you might find the idea interesting even if you don’t use Windows 10).
It doesn’t matter whether you use Windows 10 on a desktop PC, a laptop, a tablet or a “2-in-1” (or transformer) – in fact this is the first time I’ve done something to properly show you how to use Windows 10 on a tablet – before I’ve only really covered PCs and laptops. But now Windows 10 tablets seem to be becoming a little more popular… and so are “2-in-1”s or transformers…
Which leads me neatly onto the third thing I want to talk about today: what on earth’s a 2-in-1 or transformer?
Well, you know what a tablet is? Like an iPad or one of the other brands – you control it by touching the screen. Great for browsing the internet or whatever while you’re on a train, in a cafe or even stretched out on the sofa.
But not so great for typing up a document or letter.
A laptop on the other hand, with a proper keyboard as well as a screen – that’s great for typing up documents, working on a spreadsheet, doing your accounts and so on… but not so great for using on the sofa, in a cramped train seat, lying in bed or even for carrying around with you.
Which is where a 2-in-1 comes in – the idea is that it’s both things in one unit.
Different models approach it in different ways – some are like a small laptop where you can fold the keyboard behind the screen to get it out of the way. On others you can pull the screen off the keyboard and take the screen with you when you only want it to be like a tablet, then pick up the keyboard and click them together again if you want to do some typing. And you can either plug a mouse in or just use the touchscreen – up to you.
They’re not for everyone. It depends what you want your device for. But if you occasionally type longer emails, letters or whatever… but most of the time you want a small, light tablet that you can easily use wherever you’re sat, then a 2-in-1 or transformer could be ideal.
They also can be handy if you ever use a device in a cafe – smaller than most laptops, but handy for using on a cafe table.
Anyway, I’m not trying to say you should get one – but now you know what they are and what the point is!
That’s it for this time – more on what I’ve been working on shortly…
Dear Tim,
Yes, the gerundive,”sitting”, is more standard English than the gerund, “sat”, though it is creeping into common parlance. I’m sure I remember it being commonplace in the north of England many years ago.
I am finding your tips very handy and have bought two of your books, ( I Pads … and Get More from…). I can report great improvement in skills. I didn’t buy tour PC book because I thought I was familiar and reasonably adept, in spite of my age (pushing 96). However I have hit a snag… I recently bought a bluetooth speaker for use mainly with my PC, plus a dongle which came with a CD installation instructions. I downloaded it and it appeared on screen. Next day, the download had disappeared and I could not find it nor could I reload it. What to do?.
Yours, Pete
Thanks for the kind comments about the books and tips!
On the dongle – it could be that the download is running in the background and doesn’t appear on screen but is doing what it needs behind the scenes. Is the dongle to give your PC bluetooth capability so it can connect to the speaker? If so, it might be that it’ll work without appearing on screen and you just need to turn the speaker on and connect it (try going into the start menu and typing bluetooth to get the option to connect it if it hasn’t automatically).
Tim