WINNER! - GIVEAWAY and a bonus techo review

UPDATE:  WINNERS NOTIFIED BELOW IN COMMENTS! 

ARE YOU ONE?

(groovy model - from here)

I watch a lot of TV.  Probably more than I should, so how come I still miss some shows I’d really like to see?  Why don’t you record? I hear you say (OK I can’t hear you say that, but somebody is saying it in my head).  Well, that would be because we moved the video recorder downstairs to the kids' TV that doesn’t connect to any TV channels (not that I could ever get the timer right when I set the recorder).

One day we might have a big, smart TV that has TiVo or iQ or whatever those magic boxes are that record whole seasons without you having to stumble around with the program five minutes before you’re rushing out the door. But for the next couple of years I will have to catch up with my favourite programs on the internet.  Unfortunately my laptop is the smallest MacBook Air you can get, great for carrying in my handbag but not great for watching TV on.  Particularly when you’re as short sighted as me.

That’s why I was very interested in Belkin’s Screencast TV Adapter, a tiny little black box that turns your normal TV into a giant computer screen.  This is how Belkin describes the Screencast:

“The main purpose of the Belkin ScreenCast TV is to make it easy to throw content up on your TV (or other big-screen device), without having to fiddle with cables or excessive configuration settings on your laptop. In its most basic form, the Belkin ScreenCast TV duplicates your laptop screen exactly…”

When I talked to the Belkin guys at the Digital Parents Conference in March, I wondered whether this smooth looking device would stump me technically, just like the old VCR did for many decades.  But they assured me it was as simple as clicking on the icon on my laptop.

So when it arrived (along with the ScreenCast AV4 device which I'll be reviewing at a later date) on my doorstep, I wasn’t nervous at all and wanted to get right into connecting it up.  This of course required every other human being to leave the lounge room and not tell me how to do it or get in the way when I go off my head because I can’t do it.

It wasn’t that bad.  Besides the fact that I spent way too long trying to work why it wasn’t turning on.  Where there should be a thin, blue light going around the front of the box, all I could see was a very small red light at the back. I thought I was switching it on (does anyone else get confused with whether | is on or O is?), but actually I couldn’t see the soft, blue light because the sun was shining through our lounge room (which also makes our TV impossible to watch during the day any further away than a couple of feet).

After an embarrassingly amount of time, and some research on the Belkin site (which made me aware it would not work on my MacBook because it had to use Intel’s WiDi software and Apple doesn’t use Intel, does it?), I pinched my husband’s Intel friendly laptop, which I ensured had the latest version of Intel’s WiDi software installed (you can check if you already have it or install it from here). Once that was showing up on the desktop it was as simple as clicking on the icon and then tuning the TV into the HDMI port the device was plugged into.  And there it was, my computer was up there on the telly as clear as day.

I yelled to a tense audience downstairs that I had, in fact, done it!  I had achieved a technical milestone.  I could now show all those old iTunes music clips from my teenage years to the kids on the big screen.  My husband and son could watch live streaming soccer. My daughter could watch those awful US teenage sitcoms.  And more importantly, I can catch up on more of this

If you happen to buy the Belkin’s Screencast TV Adapter (available at most electrical retailers for around $149) you may want to read up on a few tips on the PC World site here.

Now for my next technical challenge, the ScreenCast AV4 which will make any HDMI device in the house wireless!

GIVEAWAY!  I've got four classy looking iPad Mini covers to give away from Belkin, valued at $19.95.

All you need to do to win one is 'Like' Belkin's Facebook page here, 'Like' Birdy Num Num's page then comment below on what Belkin product you think would benefit your life the most (and if you don't already, and follow @beccibird). Giveaway ends 9pm 21st July 2013 and is open to Australian residents only.
To found out more about Belkin's products, go here.

Disclaimer:  *All my opinions are my own and I did not receive payment for this review, but I did receive the devices from Belkin to review and keep.*

**Joining With Some Grace FYBF**

My name is Becci and I love the internet

from here

I love the interwebby.  I'm not a total nerd but as I remember what it was like before the web was known only as that amazing structure built by your average creepy crawly, I can appreciate how amazing it is.  (In fact, we just had a Skype conversation with The Moneymaker who is in Taiwan this week, checked out his hotel room and the Nugget was even able to show him his new soccer gear and the dog's radical haircut!)

I first entered the internet world when I was pregnant with my first (over 14 years ago). I was working for a large company in the city as a secretary for 12 Leasing Executives.  We were introduced to the World Wide Web and at first it didn't make a huge impact as there really wasn't alot on it.  Then when I reached my six month mark the work got the better of me, the hormones must have leaked out and I had a little crying episode in front of my boss.  As he knew nothing about what pregnant women were like, he panicked and took most of my work off me, sat me in the corner till I started maternity leave and gave me the task of investigating the internet and what it might do for the company.  Total bludge but lots of fun.  I did do a bit of desktop publishing but I mostly read a lot of disjointed and messy websites and learnt what worked and what didn't.

Once I left I made sure we could connect our home computer into the web with one of those lovely, quaint dial-in modems (remember that buzz and whirrrrr while you waited patiently for it to connect?).  I then spent the next year connecting up with other mums around the world in forums and chat rooms learning how to be a mother. The.Best.Use of the internet to date (besides Pinterest, porn and gambling of course!).

So it came as no surprise that when I went back to work part-time I found myself a job at a local website development company.  This position taught me many things, including being a web designer and also selling websites.  I absolutely loved the work.  It was creative, fast and exciting.  I learnt how the retail world was changing and had an inkling how being online was going to be imperative if you were in any sort of business.  It also helped me create the website for our home business which operated for the next four or five years until we sold it.  We sold model trucks and machinery online to collectors - you can still see the site, Machinery Models, here, now run by the couple who bought it who have not updated it since, as far as I can see.

I haven't looked at in in a while and even though it looks so raw and basic, I was very proud of it.  I learnt Dreamweaver and HTML to make other (and much better) websites during my time there.  Thankfully it's become so much easier to create sites (thankyou Blogger).

Now it's all about Apps.  Websites have morphed into beautiful, useful spaces but apps are where it's at.  We're all looking at the big old internet world through our tiny smart phones and tablets.  Not so good for the old eyesight but now we can find a place to eat, book a table and pick our meal from the menu before we even get there!  Not to mention banking, finding cheap petrol, cooking advice or even reading a book.

It just blows me away having all this in my pocket.  It's a million miles away from when I used to listen to that endless whirring, dialing up at 3am while having a baby attached to my boob.

**Joining up with Grace for FYBF**