Cold Front

Orange City, Florida

A cold front arrived last night and we got down to 37 degrees!    Once the temperature started dropping, it dropped quickly.

The campground is full of tenters,  and I’ll bet they froze last night!  We  kept the heat pump running last night and turned the electric blanket up.  We kept nice and warm.  The kitties even have their own electric blanket!  Hey, they’re Florida kitties and wimps like us! 

Last year we didn’t have a heat pump on the old motorhome (and we didn’t know such a thing existed actually) and had to rely on the propane furnace only.  It got very expensive to use.  We sure do appreciate having electric heat with the heat pump.

The good news is that the cold front iwill be short lived.  It’s supposed to be back up in the 70’s today and 80’s Monday.  Gotta love Florida in the winter.

 

Thanks for all the comments on the iPad verses the Xoom.  I gotta say, at first blush, we like the Xoom much better.  The main reason is that there is a “back” button.  Such a simple thing, but so important!  It works like my Droid which is more like a Windows based system than the iPad.  I guess you get used to that system, but I think it’s much more difficult to navigate around the internet.  I like the keypad on the iPad better…mainly because it’s a little larger.   If you are considering an iPad, I suggest really playing with it.  Go to some websites and see what you have to do to flip between sites or go back to where you were just at.  For instance, if you read a blog and click on another blog from the first on.  Easy with Xoom, and a pain with the iPad…at least in my opinion.

A good thing about the Xoom is that I don’t have to log on to iTunes in order to even look at an App.  I hate that!  I also hated that I had to give them a credit card number before I ever bought any apps!  With Droid or Xoom, you don’t have to do that.

I also prefer a laptop, and I would never give up my laptop for a tablet.  I probably won’t use the tablet much, except for when we’re traveling.  I use my Droid X a LOT for navigation and to find particular things and will probably use the Xoom a lot.  It’s just so much easier to navigate than the iPad.   My laptop is always going to be my favorite.  I agree about needing a keyboard! 

The Xoom or iPad  is mainly for Al.  He’s not the most computer savvy  and the touch screen is nice for him.  He is a two fingered typist (and not a every good one at that).  he’s going to kill me when he reads this!

He will not be writing a blog, downloading pictures or sending a lot of e-mails.  He mostly just likes to surf the web, read his sports articles and the USA Today, so a tablet is good for him.

When we bought the iPad, it was an impulse purchase.   It looked pretty cool in the store, but until you actually get one home and use it,  you don’t know how you will like it.  From the beginning, I had a lot of trouble with it.  I thought it was just operator error and once I learned how to use it, it would be wonderful.   The problem was that it was only partially operator error…mostly the problem  was that was just the way the iPad operates.  You don’t navigate it like you do your laptop or  your Droid smart phone.  There is no back button.  You don’t just easily flip back and forth between “windows”.   After we learned how it actually operated, it was too late to return it.  We got it for a real good price because the ipad2 was just about to come out.  I’ve been looking on ebay and Craigs list and I feel sure we can sell it for what we paid for it. 

I have been doing some research online to compare the two tablets.  Here is a chart I found that was a pretty good comparison about some of the technical things.  This comparison is with the original iPad, which is what we have.

We use a Verizon Mifi for internet and I find the iPad is slower than the Xoom.  I don’t know why.  My laptop runs fast using the Mifi.   Something to do with the processors, I guess. 

The Xoom has usb and HDMi ports. The iPad has no ports!  I like usb ports!

We have 2 weeks to decide on the Xoom.  We don’t want to make another mistake.   If we don’t like, it we will return it to Walmart.  I’m pretty sure we are going to keep it though.  I love my Droid X phone,  and this is basically just a larger version.

Any of you that are considering an iPad…please give the Android operating system a close look.  After using both operating systems, I very much prefer the Android.  Maybe it’s just me.