Categories: Computers, Peripherals
01/21/10
SBR-02E1S-U Bd-rom 2X USB2.0 Galaxy Blue
Every time a new optical disc technology emerges, products related to it become interesting: One reads reviews, investigates features, considers the price. For a while, and then the drives commoditize and nobody cares. I remember agonizing over which CD burner to get. Then, I spent $300 dollars for a DVD burner that burned both + and - (!). Now, it's more complicated to buy a mouse than a DVD burner. I don't think they even sell cd burners anymore.
Blu-ray is the latest optical technology. Blu-ray isn't a huge deal for me, but it only costs a couple bucks more to get Blu-ray discs on Netflix, and if I ever do purchase a movie, it will be Blu-ray.
Another change has been the emergence of the multi-PC home. In the Asymmetric household, we have a desktop running the TV in the living room. The kids use that one. My wife and I each have our own laptops.
We bought a Sony BDUX10S internal Blu-ray reader for the desktop. It worked well. Not every Netflix shipment is kid-friendly, however, and my wife wanted to see some of the movies on her laptop.
Sony BDUX10S SATA Blu-ray Disc-ROM Drive (Internal)
I needed to buy an external Blu-ray drive. The only reason this review is slightly interesting is because one really can't be sure if Blu-ray will work on their computer. One's PC has to have a compatible video card (My wife's Intel 4500 MHD video on her Dell Vostro 1320 qualifies, the "HD" standing for "High definition.") and a 2 GHZ or thereabouts processor, amongst other issues. You have have the benefit of my three hours of research below:
There are surprisingly few models available, maybe having to do with the cost of tech support. I disqualified the expensive ones that burn (as opposed to just reading) Blu-ray, as I didn't anticipate using that feature.
The portable readers I investigated were pretty cheap, under $150.00. A caution here: Many of them don't come with software. Blu-ray will not play on Media Center or any free player, and purchasing the software separately can be as expensive as the drive itself.
I chose the Asus SBR-02E1S-U. It comes with Cyberlink PowerDVD. It's an attractive shiny black and can set up to operate horizontally or vertically. It's different then some of the other drives in that it doesn't run completely off of the USB bus- you have to use an AC adapter. This fact is more comforting than an annoyance to me. If Asus engineers felt the need to require AC power, they must have had a good reason. Who am I to argue? I also noticed that some people on Amazon complain about other drives not working well under USB power.
The most important thing is that it works. After a software update, I successfully saw a Superman cartoon, both of the watchable Batman movies, and Independence Day ( I doubt the 100Mhz Powermac in the movie could have played Blu-ray). It worked so well, that I'm selling the internal Sony and sharing the Asus player with all three computers in my house.
Another question I had was whether the VGA connector (also RGB connector, D-sub 15, mini sub D15, and mini D15 connector) would be able to export the Blu-ray image to an external monitor (my wife's computer doesn't have DVI). It works fine, for now. Movie studios can turn on ICT copy protection which would require blu-ray to play through a digital connection meeting that DRM standard, and then we'd be sunk.
I doubt that this would happen, however. Media companies are rarely that inconsiderate.
01/01/10
Acer H233H bmid 23-Inch Widescreen LCD Display (Black)
Acer X233H bd 23-Inch Widescreen LCD Display - Black
This monitor has been a source of conflict in our home. My wife and I each have laptops (I use it for important things, like Dragon Age and bringing important world events to your attention; and my wife piddles around, selling stuff on eBay and communicating with her family). On a lark (what's a lark? why would I be on one? why would it encourage irresponsibility?), I decided to buy a monitor. Well, now we fight over who gets to connect their internet rig to it.
The monitor:
It's truly a wonderful experience going from the 14" screen on my E6400 or 13" on my wife's Vostro to a large monitor. Everything's bigger, brighter. Since we use our computers for watching TV and movies, the extra size is especially welcome.
The Acer's a very solid monitor. It's full 1080P and 16:9, ideal for Hi-def movies. I like the semi-touch controls. It has Digital (DVI- with HDCP), HDMI and standard analog VGA inputs so you can hook up your Blu-ray player, but not your old VCR or portable media player (like mine, below).
IOGear GMD2025U 120 GB Video MP3 Player (Black)
I like that it's a matte screen, as the new, low-energy light on the ceiling would make viewing impossible otherwise.
I got the one with the speakers. The sound from my laptop is better than the Acers' so plan on using external speakers. There's also one with USB ports. It arrived with no dead or stuck pixels and all necessary cables.
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Science (IADAS), home of the Webby Awards, chose the ten-best web moments of the 2000s. It's a good approach to take, to concentrate just past the primordial websosphere, since a complete survey of the internet would have dwelt on such wheel-and-fire-level developments as email, Navigator, the first online forum, newsgroups, Drudge, etc.
I thought it would be fun to list the ten best web sites of the 2000s. The criteria? I use them every day, in most cases. A couple I don't, but recognize those sites' influence. I avoided sites that promote piracy, which are really variations of a trend that started in the 90s with Napster anyways. Online dating grew in the 2000s. Again, a practice that started in the 90s.
1. Wikipedia.
Every technological advancement brings benefits and harms. Whatever derision the Internet may receive, there are two undeniable society-wide benefits to that vast series of electronic tubes: information and communication.
The king of online information is Wikipedia. Online encyclopedias like Encarta and Britannica have been around since the nineties. Wiki holds its own against those established info-peddlers. It's Wiki’s user-generated content that makes it stand out. Wikipedia has in-depth articles on important but unjustly-ignored subjects like Stargate. Does Britannica have a picture of weapons-grade Naqahdah? Want to find the third song on Debarge’s second album (“I Like It”)? No problem.
Stargate SG-1: The Complete Series Collection
Some people deride Wikipedia as an unreliable collection of yahoo-generated ephemera. My experience has been different. It's well-written and factual, in most cases. It's also pretty fair, politically and world-view-wise, which makes ideology-based imitators like Conservapedia, ridiculous crybabies.
2. eBay.
True-life situation:
I’m a squid (nerd, to the layman). I got deep into James Bond for about six exhilarating months in 2002, reading all of the books and watching the movies. One of the items mentioned in the books is a Ronson lighter. I don’t smoke, but I’m a squid: I must have one.
James Bond Ultimate Collector's Set
Pre-eBay:
I go to garage sales, look in papers or the yellow pages. Cost: gallons of gas, hours of time. Probably wouldn’t get what I wanted. Surely, wouldn’t if I lived in a small town or another country.
Post-eBay:
Search, buy, happy squid.
My wife and I have sold hundreds of things on eBay, some of which would have ended up in the trash.
Bottom line: The time saved lets you spend more time with your product and it's good for the environment.
2b. Paypal.
Now we can bypass greedy credit card companies and pay fees to other greedy people.
3. Youtube.
Like all of the services in this list, I didn't understand what Youtube quite was when I heard about it, nor did I anticipate using it. Well, at least a half hour a day, now. My friend Noel was the first person to show me a youtube video. I think it was late 2006 or early 2007. He's into Call of Cthulhu and wanted me to see this video.
H. P. Lovecraft: Tales (Library of America) by H. P. Lovecraft
4. Amazon.
Sells everything. Good service, prices. Interactive, with many competent reviews and instructive playlists. DRM-free mp3s. I can see myself using the movie service. I've also sold stuff online when I was too lazy for a full eBay write-up. When/if I get a Kindle, I'll spend even more time on it.
Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation)
5. Daily Kos.
The Huffington Post has since surpassed it in popularity, but The Daily Kos was the one that started the blog craze. It spoke for a large group of people and served as a gathering place for a large community of like-minded individuals. It birthed the term "netroots" and held real, as opposed to virtual, gatherings called "Netroots Nation."
6. Facebook/Myspace.
These two services basically do the same thing. I've included both because while Myspace was first, Facebook has more momentum, at least with people over 17. They extended the blog format to allow participants to find and acquire "friends," keeping each connected to each other and automatically updated of their goings-on.
Being mostly interested in my blog, I don't use Facebook often; however, it can do something impossible otherwise: connect me to friends of whom I only remember a name or graduating class.
Sarah Palin's "death panels" comment signaled that Facebook had become a serious influencer. Rapes, murders, suicides, child molestation, and various crimes seared social networking sites into the consciousness of even non-techies.
7. Craig's list.
I used a site called Recycler to sell things that were impractical to send over the mail, like my brother's motorcycles. Craigslist's taken off and rendered that site and the newspaper classifieds obsolete.
8. Netflix.
Another service that's greatly enriched my life. I tend to only watch movies once** so a movie collection would be a complete waste. Renting takes time and resources, if you can even find what you want. Enter Netflix. Everything I could ever want to watch- documentaries, drama, comedy- and some I don't, just a couple of days away. Could anybody have imagined such a thing just 30 years ago?
Netflix has rebuffed challenges from Walmart, Blockbuster, and disposable DVD formats like Flexplay, DVD-D and EZ-d. The former never had the homey feel of Netflix and the disposable DVDs were just dumb. Blu-ray and on-demand content will keep Netflix relevant for years to come.
**Exceptions for Lord of the Rings (Extended, of course), Star Wars, and a few others.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Extended Editions) [Blu-ray]
9. World of Warcraft.
Not a website, exactly, but influential. It's wasted more time for more men than anything since pyramid-building. It proved the viability of MMORPG and gave the green light to X-Box and Playstation gaming.
10. Google.
Google revolutionized search by ranking pages by "authority," how many other sites link to it, rather than their repetition of keywords. It's continued to grow, adding the marvelous Earth in 2005, tools that I incorporate into my classroom like Google Docs, and stuff for almost every web task one can imagine- all for free.
It's hard to imagine that the 10s will have as many breakthroughs as the pre-tens.
Tags: best internet sites, best websites ever, websites12/20/09
I bought my wife a Vostro 1320, which reproduces audio worse than my son's old crib mobile. Turned all the way up, Youtube is barely audible. DVDs? Forget it. If my wife wanted to maintain her routine of watching El Gordo y la Flaca while cooking for her devoted husband, she needed external speakers. The Logitech USB V-20s I have didn't seem the right solution considering that she uses her laptop all over the house and on different furniture- kitchen, sofa, bed, as well as the desk.
Logitech V20 Notebook Speakers (Black)
Husband to the rescue! (Technology is a plot by men to stay relevant to women)
Criteria: The speakers had to be of one piece and USB or battery powered. Mini-plug (3.5mm), USB, and Bluetooth were all acceptable connections: The miniplug allows one to use the speakers with cell phones and iPods. I didn't want the miniplug and USB combo- too many wires. Bluetooth was cool as it would have allowed my wife to take a call and use the device as a speakerphone. She could also have placed the speakers anywhere and listened to music with the computer in another room.
Fire up Amazon.
Tags: extreme, sound bite extreme, soundbite11/29/09
There will come a day when people call their friends and keep to-do lists with an implanted chip activated by brain waves. Until then, we're stuck with the squarish apparatus you might be staring at right now.
The best of them may well be the new Motorola Droid.
Decision process:
1. I had the opportunity to steal an upgrade slot from my daughter (shhhh).
2. I have Verizon, so my choices were limited.
3. Blackberry phones won't download Army emails and have poor browsers. The Storm, my previous phone, doesn't have a physical keyboard. The Storm 2 is worse than the original Storm- the screen feels flimsier. The Tour 9630 has a keyboard, but the browser and Army email issues remain.
4. The HTC Imagio is an interesting device with more software options than the Google. I was and remain weary of the Microsoft Mobile Software, however, and it doesn't have a real keyboard.
5. The Droid Eris is cheaper. It has physical call buttons and a custom HTC Sense UI. Over the buttons is a Blackberry-style trackball, which seems redundant on a touch screen. It's $100.00 cheaper.
On the other hand, it doesn't have a flash for its camera, a physical keyboard (although the touch keyboard is very good), the Google Navigation app, and cool docking station and car mount. The Eris comes with a lower-resolution screen, an older Android operating system, and smaller 8GB memory card.
6. I heard the chicks dig the Droid.
The goal of any modern multimedia/web-enabled phone is how easy it is to summon, accept, and transmit information. Or, the facility with which you can get that tweet off right after checking your email, annotating your calendar, and browsing the internet. Enjoying music and video on a phone can be a wonderful experience on a phone in the correct circumstance.
But first, the technical stuff:
1. The Droid is world-capable, which might be essential for some of you. Certainly, for frequently traveling soldiers and businessmen.
2. 16GBs of storage, enough for your lossless Michael Bolton collection and two seasons of Night Court. Purchase additional cards and you can have, say, a card for Classical music and another for Rock (I mention that because the iPhone doesn't have expansion slots). The card plays mp3 and mp4. If you have some stuff on AVI, you're going to have to take some time to convert.
3. Call quality if fine. If you use your phone pretty often, you're going to have to charge it every evening.
4. This is my first phone with Wifi and I now consider it a near-essential feature.
Why?
Because Verizon limits download to 5GB a month. Fine for email and web browsing, but not for streaming music or podcasts. Most everybody's wifi connection at home or school is faster than 3G.
5. The screen is high resolution and very nice. It's 480 by 854, besting the iPhone's 480-by-320 by [320/854 %!*math]...by a bunch. A higher resolution makes for a better browsing experience because sites are optimized for higher resolutions.
On to usability:
As I mention in the title, I feel that I need only think a task, press the screen a few times, and the Droid grants my desire.
1. I like the integration with Gmail accounts. Gmail is the best free email, since it's the only one that allows for free POP-3 access. Facebook, Friendfeed, Youtube and a bunch of other Web 2.0 applications use a common login with Google. Google also has webmaster, analytics, and ther apps I use.
2. The phone is easy to use. I can use the Droid's other features while I'm on the phone. The proximity sensor turns off and locks the screen while the phone is close to my face.
3. The camera and video recorder work fine. I can send pics easily.
4. The Android browser is fantastic. Pages look like they would on a regular computer. I used Viigo for RSS feeds with my Blackberry. On the Droid, I just use the web-based Google reader. I use a standalone app for podcasts, but that's another post.
5. Toggling wifi, airplane mode, silence, and Bluetooth are three clicks away, each.
6. The Droid can satisfactorily replace a standalone GPS unit for the car. I bought the car mount that automatically turns on car mode. The Droid speaks the streets like on high-end GPS units. It integrates with Bluetooth, another high-end feature. The display is good and includes some 3-D effects. You can choose to navigate places from a Google search or from contacts. Google Earth pictures show up at times. It'll give you walking and bus routes.
All-in-all excellent except for some niggling features that I can't remember right now. It may have been not having a "Home" button.
7. The GPS allows people to goecode their tweets and pictures. You can plot your journeys and trips as you travel, making a sort of digital keepsake.
8. The music and movie apps are OK: Nothing special, but they get the job done. A big feature coming soon is Adobe Flash 10 which will allow people to view online videos besides Youtube (the Droid already streams youtube) and possibly stream audio from internet feeds.
9. The keyboard takes a little getting used to. It's more difficult than the best keyboards (the LG ENV keyboards are my favorite) because of the flat buttons and the fact that the keyboard is off-center to accommodate a direction pad. Still, it's very handy for precision typing.
10. Lots of apps. I can scan documents into PDF files using the camera. There are Bible and breviary apps. All kind of stuff, and the ones that aren't free, cost a couple of bucks. Even OpenDoc Office is only $14.99.
But:
1. The Google Android operating system doesn't support two services I use: Rhapsody and Audible audio books. I think it's because of DRM issues. I hope they resolve it soon. I'd also like a Sirius/XM app.
There you have it. I really like this phone. With its keyboard and great browser, it's the first phone or PDA I've owned that can reasonably impersonate my laptop for short periods of time (half of this post was written on my Droid).
11/21/09
The difference is definitely that Facebook has won a reputation as the mature person's social networking site. There's only so many teens and even many teens want to interact with people who care about more than partying.
), 04:36:32 pm, 37 words PermalinkCategories: Computers, Internet/Blogging :: Leave a comment »
11/01/09
I upgraded my computers to Windows 7 yesterday. Some thoughts:
1. I partition my drives. I place all of my music, documents, and video on one partition and the operating system and programs on another. This allows me to perform a backup without using an external drive. You may partition using Paragon, Acronis, or the built-in partition tool in Vista.
2. It might be a good idea to reinstall an operating system anyways. Hard drives can get pretty nasty after a year or two of constant use.
3. I bought the 3-license Family Pack. Good deal.
4. I upgraded the family computer "in place," or over the old, broken installation that wouldn't connect to the internet. It connected to the internet but I'd click on programs like the Windows Explorer and they wouldn't open. My point is that a Windows 7 install won't necessarily cure all that ails a Vista installation. I recommend a clean install, especially if you have the disks and/or serial keys to all of your programs.
5. I performed a clean install. I received a "10" from all of the judges except for my son who gave me a "4" for erasing his game saves.
6. It then worked flawlessly. In fact, all of my Windows 7 installations have worked perfectly. I feel that Windows 7 is to Vista what XP was to Windows Me.
7. I installed the 64-bit version on all of my computers. I haven't had any problems with drivers or 32-bit programs. Even my Icewind Dale II game works great.
8. The killer feature of Windows 7 is its solidness. If I had to name two injuring features, they'd be the easier home networking, the superb Windows Media Center, and the newly non-sucky Windows Media Player 12.
9. I installed all of my favorite apps: Roboform, Clipmate, Directory Opus, Adobe Photoshop Elements, 7zip, Openoffice, and Firefox. I was too scared of using any registry-fixing software and switched from my previously favorite anit-virus app, Avast, to Microsoft's Security Essentials, which is unobtrusive. On my own computer, I added Nuance PDF, and some Army smart card and document readers. I also had to force-feed myself Microsoft Office 2007 instead of OpenOffice.
10. These nerds will tell you more than you need to know. By the way, have you noticed that many of these shows pair super-nerdy guys with Martha Quinn-like, thin, wispy, Elven, goofily-fun waifs that the guys have little chance of dating?
11. They recommend Secunia, Drop Box, and some other programs that I'll try later.
drop box
09/18/09
When my Lenovo T61's screen and motherboard went out two months after the warranty expired, I faced a number of laptop decisions. The first one was how much to spend. I could have gotten a cheap laptop that would have done 99% of the tasks I performed.
Or, a high-quality, mid-priced computer. I consider the T61 I had such a computer. I could have had another T61 or the thicker R61 at the Lenovo outlet for under $600.00.
Or, a very nice computer like the Dell Precision M6400 or Dell XPS. Concerning things tangible, I place my laptop right under my family and above my car and pets in importance so I wasn't going to get the cheapest computer. My financial situation prevented a luxury purchase. Mid-level it was.
I entered with some non-negotiables:
1. 14" Matte (non-glare) screen. This is the right size for me. I don't understand the Rube Goldberg fascination with shininess. It's distracting in all but the perfect conditions, like watching a DVD in the dark. This requirement precluded a retail, store-bought computer from Best Buy or Fry's.
2. Media card reader. I would always carry a PC Card media reader with my T61. The only problem is that it would only be in my bag until I needed it, when it would magically teleport itself back to my house.
3. No netbooks. Just too limiting. Forget video editing with one of those cute things. Even flash is a problem.
I narrowed it down to the T400, another T61, and the Dell business notebooks which are the only mainstream notebooks available with matte screens.
How I decided on the E6400:
1. For the same processor, the Dell was cheaper. I had a Dell Outlet coupon which made the E6400 super-cheap, about $700.00
2. The E6400 has some nice extras. I'm in the military and I use the built-in CAC card reader- one less thing to carry. The T400 can have a CAC card reader, but at the expense of the media card reader. The Dell also has a lighted keyboard, which is a very useful feature. It's really spoiled me.
3. The selection of T400 computers at the Lenovo site was very poor. I didn't see any with an LED screen (brighter, more energy efficient, and thinner than the older CCFL screens), which I would have felt necessary with the Lenovo since my T61 seemed to lack a little brightness compared to some other laptops.
So, how is it:
1. Very good. I've had some quality issues. The paint on the speaker peeled off. The processor would clock down after the video temperature went up, making the computer useless and requiring a reboot. I sent it in for this problem and they fixed it (the fan, although it gets hotter now. Ahhh, I don't care- it works now). Service has been excellent, actually. They came over to change the top after some conscious-less worker scratched it. I've replaced the keyboard as well.
2. The computer is of medium-quality build. It's made of metal which I like, but it's nowhere near as sturdy as the Lenovo T-series; the keyboard is bouncy and quiet, but I feel that a key would pop off if I got a finger underneath.
3. The screen is bright. Mine is the WXGA+ (1440X900). I recommend it to everybody with decent eyesight.
4. I can play Call of Duty fine with the Nvidia Quadro NVS 160M graphics.
5. Battery life is great- over five hours with the 9-cell. The lower-resolution screen with the integrated Intel 4500MDH graphics should last even longer.
6. I don't like the touchpad. It's not nearly as responsive as the one on my T61. I often have to wait for the cursor to catch up. I don't think ALPS touchpads are as good as those from Synaptics. I don't use the trackbutton.
You can get the E6400 in black, red, or blue (this would sway my wife, as she prefers red or pink technology) and two toughbook-style versions called the Latitude E6400 XFR and E6400 ATG.
Overall, I'm very happy. If they were the same price, I'd probably choose the Lenovo T400 for it's ruggedness and superior keyboard, even if I had to schlep a media card reader.
Go to the outlet here to purchase an outlet Latitude. The coupon code is P34M4N4G7KS$M7. The coupon expires September 23.
08/02/09
This ad for some online game called "Evony" keeps showing up on my sidebar. I'm all for mixing two (or three, in this case) things I enjoy. On the other hand, I feel kind of patronized. Yes, I clicked on the ad, the only one or two of mine I ever have, but I didn't feel good about it.
), 05:11:19 am, 66 words PermalinkCategories: Computers, Internet/Blogging, Gaming :: Leave a comment »
07/26/09
I very rarely purchase movies, as I usually only watch them once, and Netflix satisfies my movie needs nicely. If I were to purchase movies, however, they'd be Blu-Ray.
It's not that I'm super-picky when it comes to picture quality, and the only "special feature" I've every used is the documentary on the Special Editions of Lord of the Rings (OK, I saw the cheesy space alien "documentary" on the Stargate DVD): It's that prices have fallen to where Blu-Ray isn't too luxurious a choice.
Rent or buy, you're going to need a player. I went to the place where everybody knows my name, Fry's (in Industry), and sought a Blu-ray player for my computer.
I purchased the Sony BDUX10S because it was on sale. It works fine and comes with different color face plates, not unimportant if your computer is in your living room like mine is.
One problem I have with a computer Blu-Ray player versus a set-top unit: Software. The Sony I purchased comes with software to play Blu-Ray discs, Cyperlink PowerDVD, but I've had to update several times to play some of the newer discs like Firefly. So far, it's played everything I've plopped onto the BDUX1OS's tray, but I don't expect my luck to hold out forever.
The solution would be to buy standalone software. Well, buying the software separately costs $99.00 or, more than the drive itself.
I'd advise everybody purchasing a computer to consider a Blu-Ray combo player- one that plays but doesn't record Blu-Ray, at least, if the cost isn't more than about $100 more.
Sony SATA Blu-ray Disc-ROM Drive (Internal)
Stargate (Extended Cut) [Blu-ray]
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Extended Editions) [Blu-ray]
Firefly: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] by Joss Whedon
Blu-Ray story below:
Tags: "should i buy a blu-ray player", blue-ray, blueray
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