Saturday, November 16, 2013

Desktop PC's coming back as 'Androids'.

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Ricomagic is one of hundreds of companies in China that make small runs of computers (10,000 per week). Most of these manufacturers have noted the desktop PC has disappeared from the retail sector, and realise the time is right for a small inexpensive computer to fill the place. The model shown is priced at US $143 (NZ $170) and is a 1.6G quad core with 2G of ram and a 5MP built in camera for Skype. This unit runs Android and is capable of everything that a normal PC does. Its primary input is keyboard and mouse, with HDMI (modern monitors) or AV (old TV's) output. I have  personally been using an Android system for everyday use for the last month and I have found there is an application for everything I have needed from word processing to electronic circuit design. Best of all there is no updating and virus checking required. Unfortunately these systems will have to be bought online as they compete with the more expensive 'Windows' computers and retailers prefer upselling products, especially ones that slow down with time or catch a virus making the subsequent sale sooner.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Desktop Monitors

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As  the Desktop PC has virtually disappeared from the retail stores several manufacturers are putting an Android Computer inside a conventional monitor. If a computer is not connected to the monitor an internal Android system will immediately start up and can be used as a Desktop computer when a keyboard and mouse are connected, either by wireless or USB. Android has a large number of online and offline applications to choose from including browsers, e-mail clients, office suites, media players, games etc. Printing and scanning is achieved through wireless printers or cloud printing. Files can be stored on an external hard or flash drive. Virus checking and updates are not required. The monitor in the picture is a Viewsonic 24" with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 and should be around NZ $500. Sound is built in to the monitor.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Lenovo's Android Laptop

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Lenovo, the second largest PC manufacturer, is starting production of an Android laptop simply called the A10. These will run on the same hardware as the Windows 8 RT computers that failed to sell due mainly to incompatibility with Windows 7 and prior programs. As Android is now a household name and holds over 70% of the Mobile market (Phones & Tablets), Lenovo hopes these could sell even though they manufacture Chromebooks that would suit this computer better. Android does work well on a Laptop for Internet, e-mail, media playing and has many office suites to choose from. Also Lenovo is starting to put an Android computer into their latest Monitors meaning a PC can be connected or just use the built in Android computer as a stand alone system.