First I want to say… pardon my dust around here. You may see the design of my website change from day to day as I try to perfect my new design. I had a great one, but it started crashing my site, so I’m back to the drawing board. While it’s not perfect yet, it’s kinda getting there. I don’t expect to have it all complete until the end of January, so just bear with me.
Today I will be on Studio 5 talking about the gadgets and apps that can help you keep your New Year’s resolutions. I researched what some of the most common resolutions were, and came up with…
1. Spend more time with family
2. Get fit
3. Maintain a budget
4. Organize your home
5. Learn something new
So I am going to talk about each of these in the next few posts.
First up is to spend more time with your family. You may be thinking that technology is the thing that is driving your family apart! I am definitely here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be that way! I have found the ultimate family computer! (and I’ll even explain how it can actually hit all FIVE of the top New Year’s resolutions.
The Lenovo Horizon and the Lenovo Flex (Horizon having a 27″ screen and the Flex using a 20″ screen, but both have the same features). I really love an all-in-one for a family computer because the footprint is small. You can put it on a kitchen counter or on a desk in the family room, and it’s not going to require a lot of cords or space. Especially now, with Windows 8, it’s essential to have a touchscreen to get the most out of the operating system. You CAN use Windows 8 with a mouse, but it’s designed for touch, so that’s what works best with it.
So not only is this a family computer that can allow the kids to do homework, you to pay bills (and maybe browse a little Pinterest), and do everything else you need a computer for these days (which almost feels like EVERYTHING), but drumroll please………..
It lays down flat and becomes a gaming device that the whole family can come together to play. It comes with a few pieces that work with the device like a die, and There are board games like Monopoly with an actual dice that registers on the screen when you roll it in real life, or my kids favorite… Air Hockey…
There are also coloring pages and educational apps in the Lenovo Aura interface, but one of my favorite things to do is to pull up pictures from the computer and “pass” them around on the table. It’s just like when you sit down with your family with a big box of pictures and pass them around and start telling stories about the photos and reminiscing. I would say that most people don’t print out a lot of their pictures anymore (myself VERY much included) so this is the best way for everyone to enjoy looking through all of these pictures together.
Like I mentioned though, it’s not only a gaming device, here are some other ways you can hit the rest of your Resolutions.
Get Fit – There are several apps in the Windows Marketplace that can help you with your fitness goals. Some of my favorites are Bing Health and Fitness, FitBit’s app, and Bodee Fit. With Bing Health and Fitness you have fitness and health trackers, PLUS it’s got various videos on exercises you can do, and a symptom checker (kinda like webmd, but better). Plus it’s a great way to learn all about the anatomy, since it’s got information on all of that.
Maintain a budget – Since this computer has full Windows on it, really, any program you use for budgeting will work like Quicken or even if you just use an Excel sheet. There are also a couple apps in the Windows marketplace such as Mint and MoBu.
Organize Your Home – Like I mentioned earlier, having an all-in-one PC for your family computer really eliminates the clutter that usually surrounds a family computer. Cords, and various pieces that plug into a full computer tower with a monitor can really clutter up a counter or a desk. With an all-in-one, it can look a lot cleaner and definitely more organized.
Learn Something New – With apps like Bing Health and Fitness, and Bing Food and Drink, there is definitely a lot to learn. I have also started to re-learn French (I took several years of French when I was in school, but heck if I can speak it now), so I’m using a website called Duolingo. I can access it from the Lenovo and do my lessons right there. There are typing programs you can install, and everyone knows how much I need to learn how to cook better, so Bing Food and Drink and All Recipes Video Cookbook are definitely helping with that.
As I dig into the other devices, I’ll also point out how most of them can be used for the other areas as well. There are so many tools available to us now, that we should be able to keep our resolutions this year!
Disclosure: I was given a Lenovo Horizon as part of my participation in the “Lenovo Moms” campaign. I am also being compensated as part of this program. I was not told what to write about or even the features of the computer to highlight. All thoughts and Air Hockey losses are my own.
I am a mom who can fix your blog, your computer, or your server. I have been in the IT industry supporting small businesses for over 15 years. As a diehard PC and Android user, I can usually be found sparring with Apple fanboys, or watching movies with my family.