If your water hardness is 6 grains or higher, it is advisable to use the built-in salt water softener. Keep in mind that it is activated every time the unit fills with water (pre-wash, main wash, rinse, final rinse) so the water is at the proper softness. The only time the liquid rinse aid is dispensed is during the final rinse. As I said earlier, I have used the half-tab in the Normal and Pots/Pans cycle, but also have with the China/Crystal mode when washing Christmas dishes with gold edging. The half-tab works OK on all modes, including when using the Turbo option. The only mode that I don't use is the Express, since it does a 3 min pre-wash, 10 min main wash, and 5 min final rinse. That just really isn't enough main wash time to clean some baked-on foods. So that is why I have used the Normal and Pots/Pans modes. The half tab works just fine with both of those. Remember, if your unit has a "Tab" function on the front display, selecting it (turning it on) will disengaged the internal water softener and not dispense the liquid rinse aid at the final rinse. That's why I said it's best to have the Tab set to off, so you can use the built in water softener and the rinse aid at the end. From what Miele told me months ago, the small amount of salt and rinse aid in the new tabs are ONLY to help with the wash cycle, it is not to replace using the normal salt and rinse aid.

I have a 10" Samsung tablet and the newest iPad. I use them for reading books, newspapers, and magazines. If I only read books, I would probably get a Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Fire for that purpose, but it makes a big difference to have the larger screen for magazines and newspapers. I also do routine Internet things like email and Skype (and of course you can Skype with anyone who also has Skype, regardless of what device they have it on). I find a tablet is essential for traveling as I can have access to more magazines than I could ever read on vacation, and the tablet is all I'm hauling around. We also use one of the tablets in the living room for email and looking things up, as well as bringing it into the kitchen to use while cooking. I don't carry them with me around town, but rely on my smartphone instead. We use a regular computer for long emails or for long posts on GardenWeb, but if I'm doing onscreen typing the bigger screen on the tablet means that the typing is easier than with a 7" device. If I have to do a lot of typing and I only have access to my tablet, I have a compact wireless keyboard ($20) that I can type on faster than using the onscreen keyboard.

So many good suggestions - thank you all. I think I will try the Otterbox. It will make DH happy since he researched it plus it does offer good protection. DH really did all his homework - he also bought the 2 year full protection plan' and a stylus. Checking the reviews I read that many complained about the difficulty in installing it and that Otterbox's own video wasn't too enlightening. many also mentioned that it's not something that's easy to put on and take off. Good point about the foldable headphones. DH doesn't care for ear buds so he'd prefer them too. I have a Kindle eReader and all of my books transferred to the Fire. I have subscribed to several free Kindle sites but I really find the best recommendations are when KT members mention titles they've found and post about it. The number of books are overwhelming and it can be hard to pick the good ones from the mass of mediocre books. DH paid the extra $15 so I don't get any of Amazon's "special offers" (a.k.a. advertisements) but I did notice today that there are small adds on the top of some pages. So I guess I'll have to install Adblock Plus. And I should download Avast too. Pammyfay I got a chuckle out of your suggestion to pick up a little pouch for my charger and earphones. It's amazing how quickly the cables, connectors, chargers and other accessories for these devices multiply. I started out with a small clear plastic zippered pouch to hold the cables and chargers for my cell phone and iPod. Then when DH gave me the eReader I bought a slightly larger one. I have so many duplicates that I finally labeled them and I now keep one set at home, another in the car and a third set at our vacation house. I'm sure I'll be hitting the 'Mayday' button regularly. I've already jotted down a few questions. I'll save Raven's link to the 12 tips - there are 5 or 6 that are useful now and the others might come in handy in the future. Although I don't think I have the courage to 'root' my device and void the warranty. Thanks again, Maire

I followed the suggestion to search Google for asus tf300t shuts off. Have you turned it off and back on yet? What about a Cold Boot? Cold Boot - wiping the system cache partition (sometimes called Hard Reset) Unplug the power cord and shut the unit off. Press and hold the VOL DOWN and then POWER button at the same time for at least 10-12 seconds until after the start-up screen appears and is joined by some small print at the top left of the screen then let them both go. If the TF booted the way it always does, you have not accomplished the task, try again until you have seen the 2 icons, (if you have Jelly Bean there will be 4 icons, the left most being RCK, which is correct), in the screen. After a few seconds you should see a couple of shapes in the middle of the screen called "Wipe Data" and "Android". The right "Android" will have a green highlight fading in and out. Wait a few more seconds until the term "Cold Booting Linux" appears in the list near the top of the screens and let it reboot. If you own a keyboard dock be sure you do this with the dock connected. If you are using JB there will be 4 icons, disregard the 2-4 icons unless instructed and the 1st icon (RCK) will be flashing.. This applies to all TF models, however, if your Prime or Infinity are locked up, there is a reset available using the hole just below the SD Card slot, this is NOT the same as a cold boot. If your TF is on 4.2 press vol down key to choose the middle Android icon & once you do that press the vol up key, that will start the cold boot process. Credits at the link below: http://www.transformerforums.com/forum/asus-transformer-tf101-help/11510-various-quick-fixes-links-help.html