A Bit Eclectic

Come this December, I will have been a Mac user for 6 years. I got my first mac (a sexy little iBook) for Christmas. My uncle was working at Apple in Cupertino which provoked me to look into Apple computers.

After my first visit to apple.com I got intrigued by the veil of mystery that surrounded the Mac. At the time I didn’t know anyone that owned one. This presented me with the opportunity to be the first to learn about the technology. I could safely fiddle to my hearts content without anyone telling me a better way to do things. It gave me a chance to take the longest way possible to arrive at the simplest solution and learn new things along the way.

I had plenty of friends that knew about Windows. I even had some that knew about Linux. Due to this fact, I would always be second best. I wouldn’t have the chance to learn as much. If they asked what I was working on it would eventually lead to just giving me the answer. As long as there were others that used these operating systems, I would always be second best in my mind.

With the Mac I had free rein to explore until I saw fit. I could come up with my own weird ways to do things without anyone telling me to do it differently. I developed my own opinions on software and created new habits.

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One of the most important upgrades I made to my computing setup was a second monitor. The extra screen real estate has greatly increased my productivity and allowed me to work more efficiently. The benefits aren’t really multi-tasking, it is really improved single tasking. I have seen my productivity increase in school assignments and photo processing, among other things.

School Assignments

One of the most noticeable areas is in my school work. When working on assignments, I have my word processor open on one screen and research on another. This allows me to keep my report open along with articles and my outline. These are all lined up side by side and are visible at all times. As I type, if I need any of the other information all it takes is a glance over. I can continue to type while verifying facts from articles. Another aspect that gains is my spreadsheet work. It is easier to copy data when it is directly to the left/right of the workbook. I can also follow directions just by a quick glance. I no longer have to shuffle around windows when doing assignments.

Photo Processing

I have also seen benefits when dealing with images. I use Aperture to manage all of my photos. Aperture allows me to have my browser on one screen and the selected images on the other. I browse through images while having a preview blown up on the other 20″ monitor. I can then apply adjustments to my image while maintaining the ability to switch to other photos or select multiple to compare. You could do all this on one monitor, but everything will be more limited. You can’t see as many thumbnails in the browser and the preview will be smaller. Additionally, you have all your tools scrunched up in one space.

These are just two examples of the benefits of dual monitors. Overall usage will be easier and more productive. You gain extra space to arrange your applications which makes it easier to switch tasks. You can easily switch from email to blogging just by shifting your view, you don’t have to minimize any windows. One of the simplest productivity upgrades for your computer is an extra monitor.

Edit: Here is an old photo of my setup.

A couple months ago I bought a new 26″ Westinghouse LCD TV. My main reason for the purchase was the size. Its sleek form made it easier to transport back and forth between school.

The TV had a great picture and overall I loved it. That was until I noticed the audio started becoming out of sync. At first I thought I was crazy and it wasn’t really going on, but it got progressively worse the longer the TV was on. The audio would happen half a second after the video.

I then started doing some research to fix the problem and came up with nothing. I started to make up excuses for the problem, like it was the power source or the DVD I was playing. So I learned to live with it, until last night. After watching 30 minutes of Silverado I got fed up with the issue and decided to look up a solution yet again.

This time I had a ton more luck. I found my solution in a review at Buy.com. Apparently, some Westinghouse TVs had a firmware issue that would cause this problem. Lucky for me, the firmware on my TV is user upgradeable. All I had to do was download the newest firmware from the manufacturer’s site and load it onto a portable USB drive*. That then plugged into the side of my TV and the update started. It was really easy and the whole process has renewed my faith in the company. The audio/video sync issue is completely fixed.

The whole process was so simple that I wish it was on more devices. This is the first TV that I have owned that allows the user to update the firmware with minimal frustration. Although it was a pain to deal with the audio issues, now that it is fixed I can easily recommend this TV.

*There are more detailed instructions with a few more easy steps located on the firmware page.