My Thoughts On The HP Envy X2 Tablet/Laptop Hybrid

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HP ENVY x2

I’ve been testing out the HP ENVY x2 tablet/laptop and the HP ENVY 120 e-All-in-One printer and what follows is my very untechnological review of these devices. I say that because I often read reviews that are filled with fancy terminology that I just don’t understand. I figure if I get confused by all that, then there must be others who feel the same way I do. That said, I am going to speak to functionality of these devices as they related to me.

I have never owned a tablet before but after learning how to use Windows 8 on my smart phone, I felt I was up to the challenge of navigating the ENVY x2. The first thing I noticed about the tablet/laptop hybrid, is that it is very comfortable to carry around. I do a lot of my writing in local coffee shops and I immediately noticed the difference between the ENVY x2 and clunky mess that is my regular laptop. It might sound trivial but there is a lot to be said for comfort and personal space, especially when you are writing on small cafe tables.

Although I’ve heard complaints about the Windows 8 functionality, I happen to think it’s great to be able to slide the screen and customize the live tiles any way I want. I especially enjoyed the Netflix tab and the HD touch screen made watching the new season of Arrested Development that much more exciting. I think if you give Windows 8 a chance, you’ll see how cool it really can be.

One of my favourite things about the HP ENVY x2 is the battery life. On my recent road trip, I got almost 11 hours of use out of it before I needed to recharge and as someone who travels to conferences now, I can tell that this is going to become one of my favourite features. Another thing I loved is how easy it is to convert between tablet and laptop, with my only real complaint being that there is no USB port on the tablet portion of the device.

Overall, I loved the sleek design of the HP ENVY x2 and most of the features it offers. I am learning to really like the Windows 8 design as well, but wish there were more apps available for it. As a blogger, this device suits my needs for writing on the go and that’s all I can ask for, so I am incredibly happy with it. The added bonus of the HP ENVY 120 e-All-in-One printer has been amazing for the quick printing my photos and invoices as well.

Disclosure: I received compensation for my participation in the HP Loves Dads program.

Get Ready For Microsoft Canada’s #SummerSwitch Program

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Nokia Lumia 920

It’s Baaaack! Due to the great feedback from the Windows Phone “Holiday Swap”, Microsoft Canada has decided to start up a “Summer Switch” program. They have asked me to nominate two bloggers to swap out their smartphones for the Nokia Lumia 920, to see how they like the Windows Phone’s functionality.

Before we get to the nominations, though, I have a few updates from my final review of the Holiday Swap Program. A recent update to the Twitter application has made the functionality a lot better and although there is still no Instagram available, the Windows Phone is slowly becoming my go to device. I was unable to completely switch over at the end of Holiday Swap due to contractual obligations, but that time is almost up and I have some decisions to make. In the meantime, I’ll be mentoring the new recruits and hopefully be learning a bit from them as well.

Now, with further ado, watch the video below to see which two bloggers I thought would be perfect fits for the Summer Switch Program.

There you have it. I’m happy to report that both Julie (Sober Julie) and Rebecca (A Little Bit Of Momsense) have accepted the challenge and can be found by tracking the #SummerSwitch tag on Twitter, or by following them on their blogs. Good Luck, Ladies! Have fun with it!

And The Winner Of The HP Loves Dads Giveaway Is…

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HP Envy X2 Laptop HP Loves Dads

I’d like to thank everyone who entered the HP Loves Dads giveaway. I didn’t expect so many entries and so many touching stories of amazing fathers. While I did read every single one of the entries, I had no part in deciding the winner, other than being the one who selected the panel of judges, who did a great job.

Without further ado, I would like to congratulate the winner of the HP Envy x2 and the HP Envy 120 e-All-In-One Printer, 11 year old, Mason. Here is his story:

“hi! My name is Mason, I am 11 years old and I would like to nominate my Dad for the HP Envy prize package. My mom is helping me with the typing.

My Dad is a great Dad. He used to be in the Air Force but now he works as a manager downtown in Ottawa helping to keep military computer systems working. When I started getting bullied at school last year, my Dad signed us both up for TaeKwonDo classes together, so we could get in good shape and learn to defend ourselves. We go three times a week, even when Dad is tired from work. I have ADHD but my Dad is really patient with me. He tells me that some day soon I will probably grow out of it and not to worry. One of the best things ever was when my Dad took us to Comic Con and we met William Shatner and Patrick Stewart. How awesome is that???

My sister has Down Syndrome and she loves to sing with my Dad and they tell jokes to each other all the time. My oldest sister loves to sing too and Dad taught her how to play guitar. She is really good now.

My Dad uses his computer to help us do our homework, to plan summer vacations together, to print photos of our trips and we also got to see all of these really cool photos sent by Cmdre Hadfield from the space station on Twitter. He takes good care of all of us, even my grandpa and my grandma because they have been sick a lot lately. He buys my Mom flowers and takes her out for dinner sometimes too. His computer is old so I know he would love a new computer and printer. I hope you will pick him for your contest and that you will get to meet him, as he really is a great Dad.

Yours truly,

Mason”

Thank you, Mason, for your amazing entry. Your Dad sounds like a great person and I hope he enjoys his extra Father’s Day gift this year. Now, go upstairs and brush your teeth!

Thank you to HP Canada for allowing me to host this incredible giveaway and for giving me a chance to see all of these amazing stories. For more information about the HP Envy x2, you can visit HP’s Website.

Disclosure: I received compensation for my participation in this program.

A Dad’s Guide To Being Completely Unstylish

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Sherriff Woody

This post is part of the YummyMummyClub.ca and Philips “Win a $1,600 Makeover for the Man in Your Life” program. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. This post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by the sponsors.

To say that I am not stylish may just be the understatement of the century. Every time I flip through my old high school yearbook’s, I am reminded of why I didn’t have as many dates as some of the other fellas did. I was the guy that wore black track pants and a t-shirt, every single day. I had/have amazing parents, who gave me pretty much everything I could ask for, but if I have to pick one criticism about my youth, it’s that I wasn’t forced encouraged to dress a little hipper.

Until I met my wife, at age 20, I didn’t even own a single pair of jeans. It even took her about 3 years to convince me that jeans were kind of cool. It was weird going from a closet filled with way to bright khaki’s, to a closet filled with way to bright khaki’s and one pair of jeans. I’m happy to report that I now have an entire arsenal of different fits of jeans and wear them with pride.

Nice Watch!

Nice Watch!

I wish I could say that it was just clothes that I had an issue with, but, you know…

Is She Really Going Out With Hiiiim?

Is She Really Going Out With Hiiiim?

I know, I know, she’s beautiful, right? What was she doing with this guy? For the record, I knew HOW to shave; I just didn’t necessarily do it all that often. You’ll also note the way too bright khaki pants again. And the hilarious glasses. And the crazy hair cut… Alright, enough laughing!

It’s not all bad news though. I got a little wiser about my choices as I grew older and can now say that I at least look presentable in most situations. I still have a long way to go before I could ever be considered “cool”, but I’m learning more every day and I have no doubt that I will be the sharpest dressed cat in my retirement complex someday.

I guess you’re probably wondering why I am humiliating myself on purpose like this. The simple answer is that I have no idea. The real answer, however, is that this is my story after reading about YummyMummyClub.ca’s Philips Father’s Day Makeover contest! One lucky Dad is going to win a $1600 makeover courtesy of Philips and their new SensoTouch 3D Wet and Dry electric razor. Details on entering are below and I wish you the best of luck in topping my style disaster. How about one more picture for good measure?

Why Am I Sharing These?!

Why Am I Sharing These?!

Live in the Toronto area and think you’re in dire need of a makeover? YMC and Philips are giving away a $1,600 makeover that includes being whisked away via private car service to a spa day for you and your partner! Plus you’ll dine at Morton’s Steakhouse and receive a Philips SensoTouch 3D Wet and Dry electric razor. The Philips SensoTouch 3D is the first 3D, wet and dry electric shaver that minimizes pressure and skin irritation. It’s one tool that does it all! Go to YMC’s Facebook Page to enter.

How To Make Awesome Crafts With Your Kids: Dad Edition

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Dad's Book of Awesome Projects

I am not handy. There, I said it. I don’t know how to build a deck or a planter. I can’t fix a car or figure out how to fix a leaky pipe. Heck, I am not even confident in my ability to paint a room properly. That’s not to say I don’t try these things. I’m just not good at them.

That brings me to today’s topic. I picked up Mike Adamick’s, “Dad’s Book of Awesome Projects”, mostly because I was tired of making the same old crafts with the kids and I thought it might help me with my aversion to crafts and general unhandiness (it’s a word, get over it).

Where most “How To” books fail due to lack of information on the “How To” part, Mike’s step by step instructions make it so that even “accidentally glue gunned my fingers together” old me can complete any project with ease. Case and point, this weekend my children and I took to the dollar store to complete our latest Awesome project: Canvas Art!

Dollar Store Craft Materials

You’ll notice I mentioned the Dollar Store. That’s because this entire project, with all the supplies you see above, cost us a whopping $11! I used to make fun of my wife for keeping the old egg cartons but as it turns out, they are pretty good for holding multiple paint colours. So…sorry, hunny. I simply turned to page 139 in the book and went to work on everything we needed to create our very own Jackson Pollock. As you can see, while my son chose to stick to the book’s task of flinging the paint at the canvas, my daughter had a different idea about what Mike should have written about.

Dad Awesome Paint Project Completed

In the end, the best part is the quality time we got to spend, flinging paint, laughing and creating incredible works of art for my “half man garage, half day care toy pile”. So if you are looking for something to get for your husband this Father’s Day and beyond, I highly recommend Dad’s Book of Awesome Projects. If I can take this book and create something amazing, anybody can! On top of that, it has inspired me to take on a few more projects I have been thinking about. Stick around and I’ll be posting them once they are done.

Win An HP Envy x2 With Printer In The “HP Loves Dads” Giveaway!

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HP Envy X2 Laptop Tablet

This Father’s Day, HP Canada would like to give one of my readers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to think outside the box and win a brand-new HP ENVY x2 and HP ENVY 120 e-All-in-One printer. You are invited to participate in the “HP Loves Dads” Father’s Day Gift Challenge. To enter, you must complete ONE of the following THREE TASKS:

1. HP Loves Dads: Nominate a special father in your life and share why they should receive a new HP ENVY x2 and HP ENVY 120 printer for Father’s Day. Please explain how your father would use the new PC and printer in their everyday life, to balance being productive and staying connected with their loved ones. You can express your nomination through words, photos and captions, or video.

2. Dad’s First Gadget: Nominate a special father in your life and share what his first tech gadget was and what it meant to him.

3. Think It! Make It! Build It!: Create a unique, personalized Father’s Day gift and share it with me. It could be an old, cherished jersey, niftily framed for dad’s “man cave”, a recipe book of dad’s favourite dishes, or a video of the kids doing a choreographed dance created especially for dad. You will be required to share step-by-step instructions on how you created the project and will need to provide a photo or video of the finished Father’s Day gift once complete.

The winning entry, as chosen by me and a panel of great Dads in my life, will be featured on the blog, along with step-by-step instructions on how to recreate it at home, a couple of days before Father’s Day. Sound good?

How To Enter

Entering the giveaway is easy. Simply choose one of the three choices above and email your entry to [email protected], with “HP Loves Dads” as the subject. I will gather all the entries and the winning entry will be posted on the blog by June 14th.

Rules and Regulations

Contest is open to residents of Canada, excluding Quebec. Winner will have 48 hours to respond after being notified and will have to answer a skill testing question. Prizes will be supplied by HP Canada. Contest closes Tuesday, June 12th at 11:59pm.

Disclosure: I received compensation for my participation in this program.

A Huge Father’s Day Giveaway, Courtesy Of Terra20

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Terra20

I’m so excited to be partnering up with North America’s largest eco store, terra20, to bring you an amazing Father’s Day giveaway! They just recently launched their new Tech Zone, which features some amazing products from House of Marley. I have your opportunity to come home a hero this Father’s Day by offering you a chance to win a prize pack valued at $350, which includes the following:

House of Marley Chant Portable Audio System
House of Marley Chant System

 

Take your music with you wherever you go with the Chant portable audio system with Bluetooth. The built-in rechargeable battery and convenient 3.5mm input and included cable make it simple and easy to connect hundreds of devices and fire up your tunes whenever and wherever you need them. Designed and built with natural bamboo wood and durable canvas, recycled plastic, earth friendly metal plating and printing inks.

 

House of Marley Stir It Up Harvest On-Ear Headphones
House of Marley Headphones

 

The Stir It Up Noise-Isolating Headphones offer a real uninterrupted experience. You can hear the bass, the drumbeat and every colourful melody the way they should be heard. They have an on-ear design for exceptional comfort, with a frequency response of 15Hz – 22kHz and a 40-millimeter dynamic moving coil speaker drive for sound reinforcement. Designed and built with recyclable aluminum, FSC certified Beech wood, responsibly tanned leather and canvas. Fabric cord.

 

House of Marley Smile Jamaica Fire In-Ear Headphones with Microphone
House of Marley Ear Buds
 

With the Smile Jamaica noise-isolating earbuds, what you see is what you get. They have stripped the in-ear headphones down to their essence and built them back up using natural materials and recycled plastics. They have an in-ear design for deep bass, with a frequency response of 18Hz – 20kHz for authentic sound and a 8-millimeter driver, 16 ohms impedance and a dynamic micro speaker with neodymium magnet for sound reinforcement. Designed and built with FSC certified sapele and beech wood and recyclable aluminum. Fabric cord.

 

I know, I’m making uncharacteristic grunting noises right now. Ladies, as a husband, father and owner of these three items, all I can say is “Please win this for the husband or father in your life!” And, fellas, I won’t blame you for entering this one yourselves.

HOW TO ENTER

Here’s how it works. All you have to do is pop on over to terra20’s amazing online shop, find one thing you would love for yourself and leave a comment with the item and the link from the shop page. That’s it. I will draw a winner at 3pm on Friday, June 14th.

RULES & REGULATIONS

This contest is open to residents of Ottawa and surrounding area (If you can pick up the prize in store, you can enter). The winner must be able to pick up the prize pack at the terra20 store at 2685 Iris St. Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3S4. One entry per household. Good Luck!

You can also visit terra20 on Facebook and Twitter for more great deals and information on their product line.

And Now A Grown Man Gets Excited About Hasbro’s Iron Man 3 Collection

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Hasbro IronMan 3 Tpys

You’d think I accepted the opportunity to review some cool news toys because I knew my son would love them. For the most part that’s why I do it, but this time was a little different. I am a huge superhero geek and the second I saw the full sized Iron Man 3 mask, I immediately went into selfish mode by thinking about all the hilarious places I could bring that mask, for myself to wear…

My evil plan was foiled when the box arrived while I was at work, and my son noticed the Iron Man logo. Without a leg to stand on, I gave in and let him and his daycare friends play with the toys. They obviously had a blast, as I looked on with toy envy. We were fortunate enough to receive three different items, and they are as follows:

MARVEL IRON MAN 3 ARC FX Mission Mask

Hasbro Iron Man 3 Mask

 

 

As previously mentioned, I was most excited about the mask and the plethora of places I could wear it around town. There’s something satisfying about watching people’s brains try to figure out just exactly what it is I am trying to accomplish by wearing this thing to the local grocery store.

 

 

MARVEL IRON MAN 3 Avengers Initiative ARC STRIKE Iron Patriot

Hasbro Iron Man 3 Patriot

 

 

Having already seen Iron Man 3, I was excited to get this Iron Patriot figure, ven if my son had no idea who it was. Don’t get me wrong, I love Iron Man but I also enjoy having a variety of different characters at my disposal. No lie, we had about 6 Iron Man’s after the last movie..

 

 

MARVEL IRON MAN 3 Avengers Initiative Assemblers Battle Vehicle

Hasbro Iron Man 3 Car

 

 

This turned out to be the big ticket item. I know this because my son’s eyes bugged out so much when he saw it that I almost got knocked over. The only thing cooler to a little boy than cars, are cars that shoot rockets out of them and this fits that bill.

 

 

For the most part I am kidding about stealing my son’s toys. He plays with them all the time and loves them more than most of the things I have purchased for him. The mask however…

Daddy Iron Man

Disclosure: I was provided these toys by Hasbro for review purposes. While my son did love the toys, I may underplayed how often I actually wear the Iron Man mask. It is addictive for adults and you should proceed with caution.

My Way Overdue P90X Review! (Sort Of)

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P90X

There are a million reasons for why I took so long to write about the P90X. I received the package from Beachbody back in February, just as I was crashing down from the inspiration that was the Dad 2.0 Summit. The truth is, I was afraid. I am overweight, out of shape and I was petrified to try out the system for fear of dropping dead. That probably sounds ridiculous but it’s what was going through my head.

I have always prided myself on providing the work I promised in a timely manner and this one has been hanging over my head for a couple months now, taunting me like the ghost of reviews past. I even thought about returning it a couple times but have since decided to face my fear and give it a go.

Due to prior commitments, I will be starting the program next week but promise to make amends to Beachbody by posting an update on how everything is going at a later date. I’m still scared of passing out but I feel like this is something I need to do for myself and my health.

While I gear up to get started, I’m looking for some tips and tricks from all you fitnessy people on things I should be doing to get through this unharmed. Please leave them in the comments for me and maybe others. Thanks!

Sailun Tires ~ With You Through Every Turn

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sailun_standard

I’m happy to be partnering up with Sailun Tires on a new program to put their tires to the test. When shopping for tires, there are three things that I look for above all others; Quality, Safety & Value, and Sailun Tires promises to deliver all three.

As someone who has been let down by his previous tire manufacturer, I am really excited to put the Sailun brand to the test. Just last year a faulty tire left me and my children stranded at the side of the road and it was an extremely unpleasant and helpless experience. There is nothing I would love more than to know that my family is completely safe while we are out on the road.

ABOUT SAILUN TIRES

Sailun Tires manufactures and distributes various types of passenger and light truck, medium radial truck, and off-the-road tires in all major markets throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. Sailun’s international teams have the ability, knowledge and long term strategies to expand in the tire industry.

Building on real world testing and continuing to develop a motorsports proven product, Sailun will continue to build the most advanced and cost-efficient platform for tire manufacturing and distribution, while utilizing its information technology and substantial research platform to help establish new tire enterprises.

PTPA WINNER

PTPA Winner Seal

I think it’s also important to note that Sailun Tires are also the recipients of the PTPA Award. The PTPA’s seal is one of the most publicized and highly recognized award seals in North America, and whenever I see it, I know that I am getting a high quality product.

I will also be joining the PTPA and Sailun Tires in Brampton on June 12th for the Sailun Tires Summer Track Event, where I will get a chance to test out the tires first hand. I hope you’ll check back in to read about my experience and to check out the great giveaway we have planned for you!

 

That’s all for now. Please take a minute to follow Sailun Tires on Twitter and Facebook, and don’t forget to check back in for the big giveaway coming this June!