Mossberg’s Mailbox
Larger Mac Font
Q:
I bought a new MacBook Pro, and need larger font size in order to read what’s on my 13″ screen. I know I can increase font size within individual programs, but what can I do about increasing the diminutive Finder items and others within the operating system?
A:
You can adjust the size of the text and icons in the Mac’s Finder—its desktop and file system viewer—by hitting Command-J, which calls up a menu that allows you to set the size of icons and text such as file names. In general on the Mac, you can zoom in on any screen that’s hard to see by pressing Command and Option and the equal sign key simultaneously. There’s also a way to Zoom in on just a small area of the screen. That feature, and other settings for people with low vision, can be found in the Universal Access section of System Preferences.
Windows 7 users can change the size of text and icons using the Display control panel and can zoom in on text using a magnifier tool that can be activated in the Ease of Access control panel, which contains other options for making items on the computer easier to see.
Q:
I am reading reports that the Epic 4G Touch lacks a dedicated microphone for noise cancellation. I was curious if this is true, and if it affected voice calls in your recent tests?
A:
According to Samsung, neither the Epic, nor any of the other Galaxy S II models, has a second, noise-canceling microphone. However, as I said in my review, I found voice calls on the phone to be clear.
The Epic 4G Touch
Q:
Do you have any suggestions for new phones for those of us wedded to the old Palm interface? Now that Palm is a dinosaur, I know I must upgrade, but so far, I find that none of the software associated with other phones comes close to the Palm functionality for taking notes and categorizing contacts and tasks.
A:
You’re not the only veteran Palm user in this quandary, and I wish I had a great answer for you. Neither of the two most popular smartphone operating systems, Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS, emphasizes elaborate functionality in these areas out of the box. However, both the iPhone and Android phones have access to numerous third-party apps that deal with tasks and notes and contacts. If the built-in functions for these things lack features you like or need, it’s likely that one or more of these apps can help.
Email Walt Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com.