Day 6 – The Audacity of a Windows 8 Tablet
Day 6 – The Audacity of a Windows 8 TabletA Windows 8 Tablet for Teaching and Learning - Day 6
Monday, December 10, 2012
Today I continued exploring some of the apps that I regularly use on my desktop PC. Todays target was Audacity, a free open-source application that I regularly use to record the TechTalk4Teachers podcast. I downloaded the latest version of the application, now at Version 2.0.2, and lucky for me it now works with 32 bit Windows 8 systems like the Samsung Ativ 500T Tablet. Once installed I opened Audacity, clicked on the red record button and began speaking. I pressed the Stop button to stop the recording and then the Play button to hear the playback of my first recording on the tablet. That was easy.
By default Audacity uses the onboard microphone of the Ativ 500T tablet and sound quality was acceptable but being a podcaster I knew I could do better. I grabbed a Logitech USB headset with a microphone boom and plugged it into the full size USB port located on the top of the tablet. Have I told you how much I love having a USB port on a tablet? Since Audacity is a Desktop PC application I went to the Desktop in Windows 8 and launched the Audacity program from the shortcut left over from the initial install. The Logitech USB headset was automatically recognized. Tip: When you use Audacity always plugin your microphone and headsets BEFORE you launch the Audacity program. This allows the Audacity program to find the hardware it needs before it is opened.
If you need to double check your playback and recording default settings in Audacity you can go into Edit > Preferences and use the pull-down menus on the Playback and Recording pull-downs to select the sound output and the recording microphone for input. I have not yet done any editing so I cannot speak to the performance of exporting out a typical 30 minute TechTalk4Teachers audio podcast but I had no problems with the recording.
The speakers on this tablet are located on the left and right sides on the front of the tablet and actually sound good compared to many laptop speakers that I have heard. Plugging in earbuds in the headphone jack provides for an even better auditory experience.
The speakers on this tablet are located on the left and right sides on the front of the tablet and actually sound good compared to many laptop speakers that I have heard. Plugging in earbuds in the headphone jack provides for an even better auditory experience.
Uninstalling Apps
I tried updating the Shark Dash app again today with the same failed result. Shark Dash had to go if it was misbehaving. I also uninstalled the Norton Security app that I had no use for and heard reports from others that it slowed the tablet down. I did have a case where the tablet “froze” today and was unresponsive to touch. I held down the power button for a few seconds to shutdown then turned back on. Not sure if it was Shark Dash or the Norton Security program causing this problem but I decided to uninstall these two apps since I do not use them. To uninstall a Windows 8 app you press on the Live Tile of the app with your finger until it is selected (or right-click on the tile if you are using a mouse). You then swipe up from the bottom of the screen on the tablet and an app menu pops up with additional choices. One of those choices is Uninstall.
Discovery of the Day – Print Screen
I have been in need of some screenshots to share in this blog so here is the secret. To take a screenshot with this tablet press the Windows button AND the Volume-Down button simultaneously on the screen that you want to take the screenshot of.
If you are using a keyboard you can press the Windows Key and the Print Screen key together simultaneously on the keyboard to take a screenshot. Either method will store the screenshot in a subfolder called Screenshots in the Pictures Folder.
Keep on Learning,
Dr. Grissom
Dr. Grissom
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