Hasta La Gadget!

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Richard-Keith, who leapt before he looked and now needs our help. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“Sheepishly, I have to admit that I didn’t do my homework, but when the chance to get a Mac Pro came around, I didn’t stop to think about the consequences. Now I’ve got a lovely new desktop, but now I’m lamenting the lack of an SD-card reader, built-in speaker and a webcam. I’m sure there are other displays that do the latter three jobs, including the Apple Cinema Display, but is there something a little cheaper than its rather staggering $999 price-tag? Thank you from the bottom my heart.”

Let’s be fair and help out our friend, after all, we’ve all made that odd impulse purchase without doing our homework. There aren’t that many monitors that can do all of the jobs you need, but you can pick up a Cinemaview with extra USB ports, or perhaps ASUS’ VK248H (and related), which even have Displayport outputs and a Webcam, although it may be a bit weak in the speaker department. Still, it’s high time we passed this question over to the throng of Engadgeteers, to find out if they know of anything better.

Filed under: Desktops, Displays, Apple

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We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Nikunj, who wants to produce his own apps for both sides of the smartphone war. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I’m a C++ student and I was wondering what’s the best language to develop apps in both Android and iOS? Is C++ enough, and if not, could you all suggest some other languages? Thank you.”

Your humble narrator isn’t a developer, but has scratched out the knowledge that neither platform’s SDK is that germane to C++. iOS, for one, uses Objective-C or Cocoa, while Android at least does provide a C++ developers kit, it’s apparently not as nice to use as the Java equivalent. Beyond that? That’s where we’ll turn this question over to those developers who proudly call themselves members of the Engadget fraternity.

Filed under: Mobile

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We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Arthur, who has asked one of the most dangerous questions it’s possible to ask the internet.If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I’m out of contract, and my employer is offering me a company phone of my choice. I’m currently using a BlackBerry Bold 9700 and I handle a lot of e-mails on any given day. What phone would you recommend for someone who needs to send and receive plenty of emails during travel and downtime? I’m not tied to an ecosystem and I don’t care about app libraries or anything else — I just need the best email phone on the market. Please help me!”

What a question! Your first concern should be comfortable typing and if it’ll play well with your work server. If you’re wedded to a physical keyboard, then you should probably wait for the BlackBerry Q10. If not, then Windows Phone’s keyboard is pretty good, but the added real estate offered by the Galaxy Note 2 might be more your scene. What do you think, friends? Give the man some options by filling in the comments below.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Jeroen, who wants to use an app-builder to help realize his smartphone software dreams. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I was wondering what online app builders you’d recommend? I only want to make a simple app for an event, but I’m wary of services like AppsBar which offer free development. What should I do? Thanks!”

Let’s assume you’re not a hardcore hand-code it yourself type, but do need to dip your toe into the app-building world. A lot of the more reputable app design services charge a fee to build and submit your app, which can be as small as $5 (Magmito) or as much as $120 (Shoutem) a month*. Which should you go for? Well, it’s probably one of the better questions with which to test the knowledge of our Engadgeteers — so, dear friends, if you’ve been down this road before, what would you recommend?

* Plenty of other services are available.

Filed under: Internet, Software

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We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Charles, who’s capping off the year with a fine question about DIY PC chassis. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I work in motion graphics and it’s upgrade time. I’m a DIY and Windows nut, so I’m looking to build my own tower, but the cases are all so horrible! I don’t need a plastic window, or something that looks like it was designed by aliens — just something that’s sharp, solid, good looking and has a respectable airflow. Is that too much to ask?”

Well, we trawled our brains (as well as a fair chunk of the internet) looking for some classy chassis, and this is what we found:

• Corsair’s Obsidian 550D may have a plastic window, but otherwise it’s a monolithic piece of imposing black metal that won’t ugly up your office.
• Coolermaster’s Silencio 650 is hewn from diamond-cut aluminum and drops the plastic window, and given the company’s heritage, should have excellent airflow.
• Finally, there’s the Lian-Li PC-A71F, which can only be described as terrifyingly sleek.

But what about you all? Let’s cap the year off with some stylish PC cases, peace and goodwill to everyone and a very happy New Year to you, the Engadgeteers.

Filed under: Desktops

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