I have two (one iPad and one Android)...each is fine. I like them because they take up little space, can do most anything a laptop can do, and I use them to download a number of magazines and newspapers I subscribe to. And they can be used as an e-reader for books (like a Kindle, etc.). Once downloaded, these documents are on the device, and I don't need an Internet connection to read them. However, I would imagine that any hospital these days will have wi-fi available. The only disadvantage I see is that they are a little slower to type on because you are typing on the touch screen. However, if this is a big deal, then you can get a cheap, compact keyboard that pairs with the device wirelessly (I just bought one for $20). As far as apps, the choices are endless, and often free...I've yet to pay for one. Most tablets have an icon to tap to take you to the "store" where you type in the sort of thing you are looking for and then you choose and download it. Some of the apps I like are: a weather app; a flight app that gives the realtime schedule for any flight in the world; a wi-fi locater showing where free wi-fi is available anywhere in the world based on my location; a dictation app so I don't have to type; game apps (Mahjong and crossword puzzles); music app to play digital music files; calendar, shopping list, and reminder apps; video player so I can watch Netflix movies; and several recipe apps with 10's of thousands of recipes available (I just put the tablet in a little stand in the kitchen). That's about 10% of what I have installed. If you are going to get one, I suggest a 10" screen as it makes reading books and magazines, as well as surfing the web more enjoyable. You also have to decide whether you are going to get one that has only wi-fi, which means it can only access the Internet when you are in range of a wi-fi router, or whether you are going to get a more expensive one that can also access a data plan from a cell phone company. With the latter, you are not dependent on finding an available wi-fi connection to surf, but you are paying probably $100 more for the capability, and you will need to pay monthly for a data plan like you would with a smartphone. I don't have a data plan for my tablets. I mainly use a tablet at home so it connects to my router, and at other places, like major airports, university buildings, public buildings, Starbucks, McDonalds, etc., there is usually free wi-fi. If I really need an internet connection when I am out and can't find a free one, I just use my smartphone. Lastly, you can use most tablets as cameras, and more expensive ones have two cameras built-in so that you can also make phone calls via Skype. This post was edited by kudzu9 on Wed, Mar 27, 13 at 15:21

I've come to the conclusion that it's best to use an iPad (even a cheaper earlier version) to access the Internet, and leave the TV for TV. We have a 46" TV mounted on the wall, and it's Internet-connected, but we use the Internet connection for things like Netflix, not to browse the web. Tablets are also nicer because you don't have to worrry about where to put the keyboard or mouse. NDSA -- for the cable box, in my case I pulled cables through a wall and put the box in a cabinet. You also have to remember to have a remote sensor from the cable box to the TV, so your remote control will still work. Either that, or you would buy a custom remote control that can work through cabinet doors. You may also need to deal with venting because cable boxes produce modest amounts of heat.

Fish, yes they held together, but whether they still have cleaning power is yet to be seen lol. I imagine if the enzymes died that they will still clean non stained, non tragic loads. Thank you for the suggestion on using liquid detergent as a sort of glue, it worked well. And I'm thinking had I used water once it dried it may have sll crumbled. Jean, your gonna make them? So cool, sometimes I just have to do a little experiment, others watch TV to relax, I never watch TV, ever so I find little things that I enjoy to relax.lol. if you decide to make some, have fun lol. OnegoodthingbySandythescientist!!!

I'm going to try Bugspop1's suggestions. I have Xfinity1 and ATT routers, so it may be perilous and require calling them again for help. Also both routers have been replaced in the past 2 weeks because of other problems: The ATT router suddenly and mysteriously stopped allowing any telephone caller ID and calling features...the technician who replaced the router said he didn't know why this happened or what caused it. ATT provides 3 mbps speed, which is (from my experience) not fast enough for Amazon video, so we use ATT mainly when Xfinity isn't working. We have just one phone connected to ATT. The Xfinity/Comcast router was replaced last week because of tv issues. I got fed up with the poor service on the last cable boxes. All channels not HD were stretched to fit the format of our HD tvs. So all the people on tv look like they weigh 500 lbs. Comcast refused for months to provide info to change this in the setup menu of the cable box. So after hours on the phone to them and several trips to their store, we now have tv that shows HD and SD in the proper formats. I also had to accept yet another phone line from Comcast, their bundle, to save money. Their internet/tv bill was $270. The new bill including phone is now supposed to be $190. The stupid downside to this is the Comcast rep said I have to call Comcast on the phone number they provide, otherwise they won't provide any support. I already have 4 phone numbers so this is very annoying to me. After the cable boxes were replaced the internet router was reset by Comcast when they set up the cable boxes. That evening I logged in to the xfinity web site and saw that some videos would play and others wouldn't. CNN wouldn't play anything at all (though accessing the site outside of the xfinity portal allows some videos to play). So I called up Xfinity support who weren't helpful at all. They actually said they don't support video playback help issues on their own site! So their support is less than adequate imho. I tried the suggestions about changing video quality...Amazon works ok in SD. In HD videos start off in very poor quality and gradually get better. I don't use amazon streaming when I'm out of town because the site only streams in HD and would quickly use up my data allowance. Windows Defender is up to date. Nvidia has automatically updated it's drivers several times since I got the MSI laptop. The MSI also did the update where it installed a new version of Win10 (It took about 17 hours). There isn't any software in common on the two laptops. I tried a system restore on the MSI. It didn't help, but it didn't hurt. I uninstalled and reinstalled Adobe flash several times. If I can get inside the router setup menus is it easy to figure out if the routers are allowing adobe flash video? I'll keep working on this....