You want to buy yourself a laptop, but what type should it be: an Apple macbook or notebook pc that has a Windows operating system?

In the next lines we will present to the cons and pros for each one so that you will the best choice for you.

There are many myths surrounding both of them and the first myth is that a macbook is not able to do the things a notebook pc can. Well this is not entirely true, because nowadays macbooks can support almost the same application as notebooks can. Let’s take, for example, Microsoft Office, this software can be used on a notebook but also on a macbook. Thanks to the Intel Core Duo or Intel Core 2 Duo processor you can find on a macbook, you can use your favorite applications on your macbook. Some voices say that the macbooks have an operating system that is more intuitive than notebooks operating system and because of this feature macbooks are easy to use and more intuitive while notebooks are less intuitive and have a complicated way to work. This aspect is a matter choice because not everyone is looking for an intuitive computer and some of you like a challenge. If you like a challenge and you don’t like an intuitive environment than you should have a notebook pc.

The operating systems are very different. The macbooks operating system comes with everything your computer needs to work well: all the basic applications are already installed so you don’t have to install them, the web camera is installed that means when you fist turn on your macbook you can chat online with your friends. At notebooks is not that easy, you have to install a lot of divers for a lot of application if you want your computer to work: the hard drive software, the webcam’s software, software for the wireless recognition (if you want to have a wireless connections to the Internet) and many more.

The macbook are save form the Internet viruses while notebook pc’s aren’t. If you want to be safe while browsing the Internet and you have a notebook you have to find an antivirus software and install it on your computer, but sometimes even this antivirus won’t keep your notebook safe from the malware aimed at it.



Both computes use the same universal file formats: MP3, PDF, AVI, WAV etc. and by using similar programs we can say that they work in the same way at this aspect. The price between them is not the same; the notebook pc’s cost more than macbooks even if they have the same features, applications and can do the same things like surf the Internet, basic business functions and more. But if you want to write a document on Microsoft Word or to open a PDF file you should buy the software because notebooks don’t come with these applications and a lot more.

Buying a macbook or a notebook is a matter of choice because both support a lot of new applications and new technologies. The notebook pc is a lot easier to use than a macbook but the macbook has a better operating system than the notebook has.

The macbooks and pc’s market in a free one in terms of design, software and hardware, so if you want to buy a macbooks you have the possibility to choose what type of software will be in it, what kind of hardware, you can choose the display, the memory, the brand and the design. Apple doesn’t allow you to do that and you only have a few options to choose from when you want to buy a macbook.

The Mac is based on Darwin, NetBSB and FreeBSD which makes the macbooks user-friendly and a lot more flexible than the notebook.



At aesthetics department many of you tend to believe that macbooks win, because they are more appealing than notebooks and have a great look. If you search the market you will find a lot of notebooks that look better than the macbooks, let’s take for example Sony Vaio Nebula, Ailenware or Dell Latitude Z, all of these notebooks look great.

At software upgrades the macbooks win because the Apple OS software upgrades are a lot cheaper than the software upgrades on notebooks and Windows.

The notebook pc’s have a life time of about 5 years and in this 5 years the costs of the software you are going to use will add up over time but when you buy it, you can buy it with a lot less money than a macbook. For example the cheapest macbook an Apple Store is $999 but not anyone can afford it and if you don’t have that money you can always buy a notebook that will cost you around $500.



Macbook vs notebook pc’s are a matter of debate and they will be for a long time even if they got closer and closer in matter of the applications they have and support, the hardware they use, the design and the cost of them. The only think that separates them a lot is their operating systems that are very different and will continue to stay this way.

Doesn’t matter what type of laptop (macbook or notebook) you buy, if you get one that will be able to help you a lot with your job or your hobbies. The most important thing for a laptop is to be able to do the things which it was programmed to do.

This is a quick reference guide for your iPod mini to help you discovering the options and the features of this iPod.

The first thing you have to do after you buy an iPod is to install the software from your iPod CD; this installation will help you import songs from your computer or from your CDs to your iPod. The CD will install iTunes software from Apple and this is the only way you can import tracks into your iPod.

Let us start with the buttons; iPod mini has the following buttons: Menu button, Hold switch, Previous/Rewind button, Click Wheel, Select button, Play/Pause button and Next/Fast-forward button. It has also a Dock connector port, Headphones port and iPod Remote port.

The Click Wheel and the Select button are used if you want search through songs, to play them, to change settings, to navigate through onscreen menus and to see information.

If you want to skip to the next song you have to press the Next/Fast-Forward button. If you want to listen to the previous song you have to press twice the Previous/Rewind button. The iPod mini allow you to skip into any point of a song, to do that you have to press the Select button from the Now Playing screen and then scroll to the point to want in the track. You have to press the Previous/Rewind button if you want to play again a song. To rewind or to fast/forward a song to have to press and hold the Previous/Rewind button or the Next/Fast-Forward button depending on what you want to do.

iPod mini can play songs in a random order, if you want to shuffle the tracks all you have to do is to select from the main menu the option Shuffle Songs. If you have a lot of favorite songs and you want to listen to them over and over, iPod mini has the possibility to do that. From the main menu select the Setting option and you will see 2 options: to repeat all songs in the list or to repeat a song over and over. The first option is going to play all the songs again and the second option only one song.

Its annoying when a song is lauder than the previous one (this happens because they wore recorded to different types of volume) and you can set iTunes to adjust the volume to all the songs in your iPod. To do that you have to open the Edit menu and select the Preferences option if you are using a Windows operating system or open iTunes and the Preferences option is you have a Mac. Select the Click Effect option and then click on the Sound Check option.

The iPod mini turns on by pressing any button. If you want to select an item from the menu you have to press the Select button and if you want to go back to the previous menu you have to press Menu found on the Click Wheel. If you want to turn off or on the backlight you have to select the option Backlight from the main menu or press and hold Menu. You can set the Hold switch to Hold if you don’t want to press any buttons accidentally on your iPod mini.

The iPod mini gives you the possibility to listen to the songs you want in the order you want. This feature of the iPod mini is called On-The-Go playlist, to do this type of playlist fist you have to highlight the song you want and to hold and press the Select button until you see the title of the song flashes. The iPod mini will play the tracks in the order you select them and to view the playlist to have created you have to go to Select Music > Playlist and select On-The-Go. It you are happy with the playlist you have created and you want to listen to it, you have to follow the same step as above but when you see the On-The-Go playlist you have to select a song.  You can delete songs from the playlist by highlight them and by holding down the Select button until you see the track flashing. If you want to make a new playlist and you want to delete the existing one from the On-The-Go menu you have to select Clear Playlist option.

For your iPod mini to work in the right way you have to connect it to your computer only in a USB 2.0 port or to its Dock. The iPod will recharge from the USB port and when you are transferring music from your computer to iPod you will se the message “Do not disconnect”, this message will disappear after the transfer is complete. Do not disconnect your iPod if you see that message.

iPod mini is your favorite mp3 player and you have to take good car of it. You can clean the outside but also the inside of your iPod mini. To do this you have to use a soft sloth and a lint-free one. Do not try to use alcohol, solvents, aerosol sprays or abrasives when you are cleaning it.

We hope that this quick reference guide will help you understand better how your iPod mini works and now you know how to use it in a safe way, to make playlsit, to delete them and to enjoy it better.

If you have problems with your iPod Mini you will find the answers in the following lines. Most of your iPod mini troubles can be solved by resetting the device. To reset it you have to toggle the Hold switch off and on. The next step is to hold and press the Menu and the Select buttons for 6 seconds and your iPod mini will be restarted.

If your iPod mini troubles continue and the device doesn’t want to responds or won’t turn on, you have to keep the Hold switch off. The next step is to restart again your iPod mini or to connect it to your personal computer because the problem may be the battery and it needs to be recharged.

You synced in iPod mini your favorite songs, the transfer is complete, and you want to disconnect it but the iPod has the message “Do Not Disconnect”. You have to go at the iTunes Source list and select iPod mini from the list and then click on the Eject button. After you did this you will se that the iPod mini will disappear from iTunes Source list and you can disconnect it even the message “Do Not Disconnect” in still on your iPod’s screen. If you saw that iPod mini didn’t disappeared from iTunes Source list and you are using a Microsoft Window PC, you have to click on the Safely Remove Button from the right down side of your computer display and select the iPod mini. If you are using a Mac you have to drag your iPod mini icon (you will see in on the desktop) to Trash.

If you imported the songs you want, but iPod mini isn’t playing music you have to follow the next step to solve the problem: the Hold switch must be in Off position. If you are using the remote you have to see that the Hold switch from the remote is Off. The next step is to look at the headphones connector and to see if it is pushed all the way and look at the volume if it is adjusted properly (you may have it on Mute). If your iPod Mini still doesn’t work you have to push the Pause/Play button (the iPod may be in pause mode). If you are using the Dock and the iPod isn’t playing music, you have to look at all the cable and make sure that they are connected properly and the iPod stays correct in the Dock.



When you connect your iPod mini to your computer, iTunes should open and the connection between iTunes and iPod would have to be automatically. If this doesn’t happens you have to open iTunes manually and to search for your iPod mini in the iTunes Source list. If the iPod appears in the iTunes Source list the problem in solved, but if doesn’t appear make sure that the software is installed correctly from your iPod CD.  If the software works and you can’t see your iPod, reset it. The solution for this iPod mini trouble can be as easy as looking if the cable is connected correctly and if it is orientated correctly.

Look at your iPod battery, if it is low on power once you connect to the USB port, your iPod mini will charge for about 30 minutes and you can’t use it in the mean time. Wait for the iPod to be charge and then try to use it. If your iPod still doesn’t work you may have a problem with your computer, restart the computer and try again.

If you on your iPod screen a folder with an exclamation point you have to reset the iPod or charge it. Be sure you only connect it to USB 2.0 ports because it works only on them, and if you connected to other ports, for example USB 1.1 will not work correctly. If it doesn’t work you may have to update the software. We will talk about this in the next lines.

If you set by accident the screen contrast to dark or to light you can bring your iPod mini to its default setting by pressing the Menu button for 4 seconds.

To restore or to update the iPod mini software you have to follow the next steps. The update and the restore software are 2 different options: by restoring the software all the data on your iPod is going to be deleted (photos, songs, contact, files or calendar information) and by updating the software all data, songs and setting are goring to stay the same.



To update your iPod mini to the latest software you have to go at www.apple.com/support/ipod and from there you have to download the software. The software is easy is easy to install, just follow the instruction on the screen and the software will do the rest. After the installation is complete you have to open iTunes and connect your iPod mini to the computer. The update application will open automatically and, so the update is complete.

To restore the iPod mini you will find the application on iPod CD and if you installed the CD you will find the application in Star > All programs > iPod if you are using a Windows PC and in Applications > Utilities > iPod software Updater if you are using a Mac. The steps are the same as in updating the software.

Now you know all about the problems an iPod mini can have and the ways to solve them.

iPhone is the coolest and the best smartphone on the market. It can do a lot of thinks and it can help you with its features and applications even if you are a business man or you just want to play some mobile games.

The iPhone 3G is very fashionable but you can’t forget iPhone 2G, the iPhone that many of you still use. In this line we are trying to find out the main differences between them and the features that both have.

Many of you think that 2G comes from the 2^nd generation and 3G comes from 3^rd generation, but this is not entirely true. iPhone 2G was the first iPhone on the market, so this is the first generation iPhone and iPhone 3G was the second model which makes it second generation. The main difference between them is the technology:

-          The 2G technology comes from second-generation wireless phone technology. This technology allows digital encrypted conversations and the technology that allows us to send SMS text messages and e-mails. In the 2G technology the radio signal are digital a huge advancement from the 1G when the radio signals were analog. In 2G technology the digital voice data can be multiplexed and compressed more efficiently than the 1G. 2G mobiles are smaller due to the digital systems that were created to transmit less radio power. The 2G technology increase a lot the sound quality comparing it to the 1G technology. 2G technology offers to mobile phones a lot more privacy because 1G phone didn’t have any protection against eavesdropping.



-          The 3G technology comes from third-generation wireless phone technology and allows us to make video calls, to send and receive data at higher data rates. This technology support multimedia applications (Mobile TV, Video Conferencing and Video on Demand) which 2G technology can’t support.  The 3G technology has increased the bandwidth which allows it to support multimedia applications. This technology offer greater protection than the 2G technology thanks to feature you can be sure that the network you are connecting is the one you want and not an impersonator network. You can view live television from your mobile phone, make video conferences with a lot of people, you have the possibility to view live road traffic and wheatear information.  The 3G theology is an amazing one but it has some flaws: there are many places that have a lack of 3G technology because it doesn’t have good coverage, it takes a lot of your phone battery and the phones with 3G technology are expensive because the technology is expensive.

At design and dimensions iPhone 2G and 3G look almost the same. Both of them have 3.5” displays with a resolution of 480x320.  If you look closely at both of them you will see that iPhone 3G is completely flat when you put it down and is a little thicker.

The iPhone 3G has a plastic back case while the iPhone 2G has an aluminum back case and the iPhone 3G is slightly wider then iPhone 2g. The display of iPhone 3G offer better colors and a better view than iPhone 2G offers.

The 2G technology gave iPhone 2G the possibility to support only Bluetooth, GSM and WiFi. The 3G technology gives iPhone 3G the possibility to support all the features from iPhone 2G with a lot of new ones like video calling and GPS and the 3G network allow you to download files from the Internet up to 3 times faster then the 2G network.

Both of them have a 2MP camera without video recorder feature (but if you jailbreak the iPhone 3G you will find out that you can make videos). The iPhone 2G is better at battery’s life because the battery can stay charge up to 10 hours when the iPhone’s battery stays charge only 5 hours.



Thanks to the 3G technology, iPhone 3G supports network which iPhone 2G doesn’t support. iPhone 3G has is own GPS which helps you find your way by finding the places you want by name and giving you essential information of the places and the way to go there: by public transportation, bus, train, personal vehicle or by foot. The iPhone 2G doesn’t have this application.

The fact that we know what are the main differences between iPhone 2G and iPhone 3G we must say that if you don’t need video calls and video conferences, and you don’t travel a lot in places you don’t know iPhone 2G is great for you.

But if you are a business person or you just want to gave the best, you need all the feature and application iPhone 3G has to offer: GPS (to help you find your way at your hotel of cafeteria by foot, train, bus or personal care), Microsoft Word and Excel to help you stay in touch with your work, video calls with your business partners, a lot of music and video options- you can view the movies you want until you get to your meeting or hear your favorite songs until you get to work. And if you are a very busy person you can enjoy the applications that are able to write down what you say to them, so you don’t even have to type a message or an e-mail.

iPhone is a great smartphone with state-of-the art technology even if it is 2G or 3G and will give you the satisfaction to have one of the greatest phones the world has ever seen.

iPhone provides a lot of applications from a lot of different domains: wheatear, radio, video, games, multimedia, movies and you can even find free drug guide application.

The last domain is the one we are going to talk right now presenting you free iPhone drug guide applications.

If you are a person that wants to stay in touch with clinical new and you enjoy reading many medical research articles the next application if for you for free. Epocrates Rx is a free drug guide application for your iPhone and iPod touch. The application has a large variety of commented articles from the following domains: Alzheimer Disease, Diabetes, Infection Management, Epilepsy, Breast Cancer, Atrial Fibrillation, Pain Management and Venous Thromboembolism.

Epocrates Rx gives you immediate access to information for about 3.300 generic drugs and brand, with the possibility to search them by drug class or name.

In the application you will find: common and serious adverse reactions, pediatric and adult dosing for off label instructions and FDA approved; cautions, contraindications and warnings for black box; monitoring and safety information, for example for pregnancy information like lactation safety ratings and risk categories; a lot of pharmacology information (drug class, excretion and metabolism).

If you want to see how a pill looks like you will find the drug monograph and the picture.

If you find yourself in the situation when you don’t know the origin of a certain pill, the application gives you the possibility to identify it by imprint code, shape and color. The way to do this is very simple, first you have to select some main characteristics of the pill and then the application finds you drugs that match the characteristics you have selected. It you saw a drugs that looks like the one you want to identify, you can tap on the image on the pill – this action will enlarge the picture and you will be able to the imprint codes on the pill and to identify it.

Epocrates Rx has a feature called InteractionCheck which can make a list of potential interactions for 30 pills at a time and MedMath that can calculate the right dozes for useful medicine.

The application has detailed formulary information for regional and national healthcare insurance; therefore you can download the insurance formularies you need. You can search for the therapeutic alternatives and fin details on: quantity limits, copay tiers, therapy guidelines and authorization requirements.

The Epocrates Rx database is always updating to ensure that you have newest information available on your iPhone, for example new interaction and new drugs, drug recalls and new indications. The updating process in for free and all you have to do is to perform an application update.

For this application you must have at least 8 MB memory on your iPhone or iPod touch.

The next free drug guide application for your iPhone is CPR Drugs. This application will helps you calculate a lot of different drugs just by entering the patient’s weight. CPR Drugs gives you information and helps you calculate the next drugs: Atropine, Adrenaline, Ketamine, Fentanyl, Etomidate, Adenosine, Lidocaine, Midazolam, Rocuronium, Amiodarane and Succinycholine.



FDADrugsLite it helps you to make the medical decisions quickly and with confidentially. This application has official information for: therapeutic biologicals – 139, over the counter – 545, prescription 13.494 human drugs.

FDADrugsLite allows you to: find drugs by a specific active ingredient, find FDA approved labels. The application is free and you can use it on iPod touch or iPhone.

The application has 3 bars: the drug bar, the label bar and the generic bar. The label bar gives to its users access to a collection of FDA approved package insert. The files include information like: dosage and administrations, contraindications, overdosage, drug interactions, description, warning and precaution and nonclinical toxicology.

The drug bar contains FDA approved drugs and it has also information about the dosage, the form, ingredients and market status for all drugs. The generic bar offers you direct search information for FDA’s Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations.

The next free application is for you if you want to know a lot about psychotropic medications in an easy and quick way. Psych Drugs is a free drug guide for your iPhone in which you will find useful and important information about antipsychotics, anti-anxiety medications, mood stabilizers and antidepressants. The application gives you the following information about each medication: brand name, generic name, indications, class, maximum daily dose for children, maximum daily dose for adults, dosage forms and half-life.

This application is perfect for: medical students, therapists, psychology students, psychiatric residents and everyone who wants to know more about psychotropic medications.

You have a search option and a search box in Psych Drugs, therefore you will find very quickly the medication you want and all you have to do if you want to learn about it is to tap on it.



Skyscape RxDrugs: Dosing Compasion is another free drug guide for your iPhone. The guide has thousands of generic drugs and used brand drugs. You can find the medication you want by generic name, by indication, by class or by Canadian or U.S brand name. You also find information about breastfeeding, pregnancy and dosage. The guide is updating to provide you the newest information about many medications, including: cardiovascular, psychiatric and antimicrobial agents.

The application also has: Drug Reference, Clinical Outline resources and Medical Calculator. The information you need comes from trusted resources, for example: AAP Red Book, 5MMC (5 Minute Clinical Consult), Washington Manual, Labs360, HIVGuide and many more. You can trust in the information that this drugs guide is giving you regardless of your profession.

As you can see, you have many free drugs guide applications to help you when you need to find precious information about any type of medication.