Thanks everyone. The more I learn the more uncertain I am. The Asus' sound good - and I know Raven loves hers - but when I look at the negative reviews (on varous sites), there seems to be significant quality control issues. Lots of lemons - and defects - and terrible cusotmer service. There's enough of that type of review that I hesitate to buy an Asus tablet. I saw a google nexus 10. I prefer it to have a microsd card slot - not have fixed storage like an ipad. It also just did not feel or look good to me. Genes - you may be right about not finding that kind of battery life for video play. I thought that ipads were (at least older generations) got 9-10 hours of video play. On the one hand, i would expect video to be one of the biggest battery drains. But perhaps surfing the web - downloading content, etc also consumes battery life. Urlee - I interpreted that quote about really killing the tablet - and what battery life it gets - to suggest that even using it to the max - he gets 6 hours - and thinks "regular?" use could get 10 hours. Of course, we don't know what "regular is". That kind of leaves the Samsung tablets - either galaxy tab 10.1 - or Note. The actual pen aspect of the note doesn't do anything for me (maybe I'd wind up loving it - but it's not on my list of desireable features). I just saw a refurbished note at Best Buy for about $330 (something like that - I had a small credit - and there was tax). 500-600. They're often closer to $So I decided to order it and give it a try. It's supposed to be fast - 2GB ram - with ICS. I have not seen one in person. This has just 16GB on board storage - but with a micro sd slot, that doesn't matter since I can add 64GB more. For some reason, this Note doesn't excite me in theory the way the Asus tablets did. But the relatively large number of complaints (and consistent complaints) on Asus have made me pause. Mike - I am aware that many international flights have power ports. But we have not been that lucky in our last international flights. These flights have been booked through an educational tour group - and therefore the airline has been very reluctant to give us any information. I know we're in a Boeing 777. But from Seat Guru it looks like there are 5 different versions. And the one that looks closest to the seating chart on Delta's website - does not have power ports in economy. One seating chart looked like it might. Another suggested just ipod/iphone charging in economy - no tablets or laptops. But none of the charts on seat guru quite match what's on Delta. If there were power ports, that would make this easy. But my experience is, don't count on power ports. First - they may not be in economy. And if they are, they may not be at every seat. And even if they're there, doesn't mean they're working. (Heck - 2 of the last 4 domestic flights I took - the readling light for my seat was not working - and the flights were full - no reading for me (this was before i had the Nook). If I could really count on power ports that work - I'd just bring my nook tablet for now. But it's been acting up in terms of battery drain lately - and I don't want to risk this as my only entertainment. I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks. Lynn.

Cell phone so I don't have to get up and answer texts/calls. Count me in the warm lap crowd with the fluffer-doodle kitty. Possibly a snack and/or drink. Other than that, the remotes live on the table where anyone can use them. I know, right? A television democracy ;) During this particular season (hello, seed season?), a notebook with all my germinating seeds, be they winter sown or are under grow lights, diagrams of the flower beds and notes I've made about designs in my head or future wants. Later, it might be a book. Or the notebook which houses my blogs that are to be compiled into a book. I yanked them offline, and will turn them into chapters, so they're not readable at the present. So basically, a project is always close at hand? Yeah, that's it.

There are few software products that need more power than a good laptop, either Windows or Apple, require. That's a LAPTOP, not a TABLET. People do confuse the two and they are very different things. Heavy duty photo editing and CAD usually do require a desktop. Also, some business proprietary software may as well. Many colleges offer free Microsoft Word. Windows is already installed on most PC computers, laptop or desktop. It's Word that is free - free for as long as the student is enrolled. By that time (4-5 years), they will probably be buying a new computer/software anyway. My DGS's college-to-be does this. maifleir, I strongly advise your NIECE to look on the U of Seattle's website, for computer requirements/recommendations. It will be there, I promise. And the niece better start learning how to find such info or college is going to be a big challenge! No more "mom" doing things for her! Also, look at the prices on their Bookstore website. At Cornell, the laptop that I will most likely be buying my DGS, is $200 less than it would be on Apple's website. As the time for students arriving draws closer, they may have some "package offers" - free or heavily discounted printer with computer deals - they did when DD arrived there 27 years ago! Unfortunately, they were far more expensive than what the money her grandparents had given her, would buy, so we did not take up that offer. We're going to wait until a week or so before he goes to college to buy and he can pick it up in the bookstore when he gets there.

maddie, the Truecaller website doesn't spell out how it works. As a guess, maybe there's a database of numbers of user reported calls that get flagged? Or it could be something else? It hasn't eliminated all unwanted calls but the volume is way down since I installed it a month or so ago. In the reviews on Google Play (the Android version of the App store), some people are complimentary, some are disappointed. Where the truth lies is hard to say. But for me, not much thought is needed for apps that are free or only a few bucks. I download them, try them, nuke 'em if I don't find them useful and keep them if I do. It's not much of a commitment. This one in the Basic version is free.