I really like the idea of an iPad, but don’t want to join the Apple Cult. There’s also for me the issue of a lack of multitasking, Flash, SD card support and USB. The lack of an SD card slot is a killer for me. One of the things I would want to do with a tablet is to use it as a portable photo editor and gallery.

But what else is there? As it turns out, a lot. There’s a list of Seven Alternatives to the iPad here.

Here’s what I want in a tablet:

WiFi (naturally)
SD Card Support
USB
Multitasking
Windows Operating system (so I can run familiar apps, and so I can insert my Sprint U300 3G Modem and get a connection anywhere.)
Long battery life (6+ hours)
Swappable Battery

The only other thing I’d consider buying in a tablet is one that runs on the Palm WebOs. I think that’s a natural fit, and I’m surprised Palm hasn’t jumped into the market. It can’t be much of a technological leap to take the Palm Pre and blow it up to ten inches. They could have one out by the fall if they wanted.

Web Resizer is a useful tool for bloggers. It takes a photo that you’ve uploaded and shrinks the file size down to a web-friendly size. I’ve been doing this with the Microsoft Office Photo tool on my desktop, but it’ll be useful to have one that I can use when I’m out and about with my netbook. The program also lets you do some basic tweaks.

When I upgraded from Vista to Windows 7, I discovered that my bluetooth headphones (Backbeat 903) no longer worked on my Sony Vaio computer. It turns out that Windows 7 doesn’t support something called A2DP, which is required for stereo headphones to work. After some research and work, I discovered that the solution is to download and install a new Bluetooth Stack from Broadcom. I uninstalled my Bluetooth headset from Windows 7, then installed the new drivers. Then, I rebooted and set the headset to be rediscovered by Windows 7. I then opened the Audio panel, and set the headset as the default audio. It now works well.

As Cable and Satellite bills continue to rise, an increasing number of people are abandoning these in favor of streaming their entertainment from the Internet. I recently got a Blu-Ray player that streams NetFlix, and am finding that it’s wonderful. I just finished watching the first season of Dexter, which I missed because I don’t get Showtime. With Hulu on my computer, I’m beginning to wonder if cutting the cords from my Directv isn’t possible.

Here’s a blog post with a list of five ways to watch Tv over the internet.

Hulu

Cast TV

Streamick

Tioti

Just as people are cutting their land lines in favor of mobile phones, I see a day not too far in the future when cable and satellite packages become a thing of the past. If each of my dozen or so favorite channels would offer streaming for a dollar or two a month, I’d drop the satellite in a heartbeat. There are just so many channels on the package that I have no interest in.

With all of the grief Sprint customer service takes, I thought it only fair that I pass on a couple of good words.

Last month, I purchased a Spint USB wireless internet card. I spend a lot of time waiting on boys at their various activities, and with that and a netbook, I plan on being more productive.

At any rate, when the device arrived, I couldn’t get it to work. So I called Sprint, got a representative within a couple of minutes and he was quickly able to get me up and running. As it turns out, I wasn’t doing one of the procedures in the correct fashion.

Yesterday, I noticed that my current bill had a couple of charges on it from an unknown third party. I called Sprint, and after poking through an automated menu (about thirty seconds worth), immediately got through to a customer service rep. She found the charges on my bill, reversed them, and blocked the third party from any further activity. I was done in no time.

The third party charges apparently came from something Mrs. GolfBlogger clicked on in Facebook. So a warning to FaceBook users: there’s some shady business on that site.

Sprint has been my carrier for a couple of years, and I’m really very pleased with the company overall. Prices are good and the service in my experience has always been excellent. Even better: I have never, ever had a dopped call, and even “Up North” in sparsely populated areas have always had a signal.

Next on my wish list: a Sprint Palm Pre. I’ve been a Palm (Pilot) user for more than a decade, and am ready to make the move to gadget that will combine my Palm with a phone (one less device to carry). What’s sold me on the Pre is that it actually will run all of my Palm OS software through something called Motion Apps. There are tens of thousands of mature, useful and fun applications for the Palm OS, of which I am running a couple of dozen on my current device. This backward compatibility puts to the lie the Apple propaganda that the Pre is short on applications. And the fact that you can write a Palm Pre application with just HTML and Java means that there are far more coming in the near future.

One Palm app that I can’t live without: Documents to Go, which lets me use my Palm work with Word, PowerPoint and Excel files in their native format.