a blog about me & technology
Technology
What We Learned From CES 2010
Jan 11th
CES 2010 in Las Vegas is all but over now and the convention center floor is being prepped for its next event. There was a lot of buzz at CES this year and toys on display at CES were more exciting this year than last, mainly as an effect of the economy. What was the theme of CES 2010? With out a doubt it seems to be small.
Small laptops like netbooks and UMBCs have skyrocketed in sales this past year and at the thought of Intel’s newly remolded Atom processors coming out soon, it will only booster sales. Intel plans on making a better processors by incorporating both the graphics and the CPU into a single chip.
Netbooks have also taken another interesting turn with the introduction of MSI’s dual screen e-reader.
Why I Won’t Buy A Mac
Dec 23rd
Let me preface by saying that I am an Apple fan boy. I love what they do and their ingenuity is amazing. I write this article in hopes to bring about some change to Apple products. The first computer I ever owned was an Apple II GS and I credit that computer with sparking my interest in technology. Since then we have owned a few other Apple computers but no new ones in the past decade. I have owned 2 iPods (the mini and a 5th generation video) and now own an iPhone 3GS which I am a huge fan off, AT&T is a different story all together.
As a computer science major, I am exposed to a lot of people using Macs, mainly MacBook Pros. They’re great computers, well made, solid OS and great usability while becoming more affordable all the time. This does not mean that Macs are the savior of the computer world like some people treat them to be. I will outline several of the things I don’t like about Macs in hopes they will be changed so I too will want to buy a Mac someday.
Currently, my main computer is a Fujitsu T4220 tablet PC running Windows 7. I am pretty happy with this laptop and I like Windows 7. As a student I always have my computer with me when I go to class, it’s essential for me to take notes and follow Power Points. Then at the end of the day I set it back up in my apartment connected to my 22″ HP w2207 monitor, my printer, speakers and all the other peripherals that I have, but I do this all via a docking station. When I’m running late to class, I don’t want to have to spend time to unhook every device and have the cables all over my desk, or falling behind it for that matter. I just want to pick it up and go. The same is true when I return home, I don’t want to waste time reconnecting everything and crawling under my desk to find the USB cable for my printer. Currently, no Mac’s come with a docking station and all the 3rd party substitutes for a docking station are a pretty lame excuse for a docking station. Until Apple develops it’s laptops to come with a docking station, I’ll never own one, it’s too essential for the way I use my laptop.
Another thing I wish Apple would change is their magnetic power cable connection. This is fine when the laptop is on a table or a desk, but I often use my laptop…on my lap and my knee always knocks it out. It becomes annoying to be constantly plugging it back in and finding a position where it will stay put. Some people love this feature, and I can see how it can be cool, but I think it’s rather unnecessary and an example of how Apple tries too hard sometimes to reinvent the wheel. Maybe try making the magnetic part closer to where it connects to the wall, this way when someone trips on the cord it still doesn’t rip the plug out of the computer while it can still be firmly connected on my lap like a more traditional plug. This feature isn’t a deal breaker though if I were considering buying a MacBook.
The battery. I understand where Apple is going with the design of their battery. By making it impossible for a user to exchange batteries when one becomes old or breaks, the user gains impressive battery life of 7-8 hours. However, for high end users like myself who often use their laptop on battery power, that battery starts to lose its charge quickly. There will come a time when the battery life just isn’t sufficient anymore but the rest of the computer is perfectly fine. Getting your battery replaced will cost money and time away from your laptop, and for people like me who don’t have access to an Apple Retail store, sacrificing a week without my laptop is no easy feat.
These are my three biggest reasons as to why I’m not interested in buying a MacBook yet. This doesn’t mean they don’t have great attributes, they have plenty of them. But some of MacBook’s biggest flaws are some of my biggest buying points. Until the MacBook addresses the issues of a docking station, power connection and battery replacement, I’ll stick with my Windows based laptops.
Review of Blu-Ray Player/Burner
Apr 19th
If you’re looking for the perfect Blu-ray player/burner combo, the LG GGW-H20LK is perfect. Newegg currently lists the LG GGW-H20LK at $179.99 with free shipping. I have owned this drive since November and I have had no complaints. True, it isn’t the fastest drive on the market with a Blu-ray BD-ROM read speed of 6x and a BD-RE write speed of 2x, but at this price point it’s the best deal on the market. LG makes quality products and it has stood up to the test I’ve put it through. I have burned, played and copied several disc with no problems. It’s whisper quiet too, so there is no need to raise the volume when the LG GGW-H20LK is in use. The included PowerDVD software is handy too. It took a while to install because it made you go through all of the updates, but this just built the suspense to test the player for the first time. It takes about 45 minutes to copy a movie to my hard drive and about the same amount of time to burn a movie to a BD-R.
LG GGW-H20LK
I have only used the RiDATA BDR-252-RD-JC disc to burn and haven’t had any issues. The best part about these BD-R’s is that they are the cheapest on the market at $4.99 a pop. This is currently the one thing that is holding Blu-ray burners from being becoming more popular is the price of blank media. When this price drops, the market for burners will rapidly increased. We have seen this issue resolved before last decade with DVD’s.
The biggest pros of the LG GGW-H20LK are the quality it has been built with, its price and the fact that is just works. There are only some minor cons. I wish it came with a flat black face plate to match my computer better and as with all drives, I wish it had a better, more universal mounting/install system.
Review of the Adesso WKB-4000US
Apr 11th
My current home theater setup isn’t anything amazing right now, but it’s being improved. I currently have an HTPC that I built last May hooked up to my roommate’s 20” Sharp LCD TV which is fine for a dorm room, but my lease starts in a few weeks and some upgrades will need to be made. I also picked up the Adesso WKB-4000US wireless keyboard with built in touchpad. This is a vital upgrade for any home theater with an HTPC because it gives you access to the computer outside of Media Center.
You may be questioning what’s wrong with a regular Bluetooth mouse and keyboard combo. The issue is that I like to sit deep in my couch and having a 2.4GHz wireless keyboard touchpad in my lap is extremely convenient considering the alternative. The other plus, is that the Adesso WKB-4000US is cheaper than most midrange Bluetooth keyboard mouse combos. It retails on Amazon for about $80, I was able to snag mine off of eBay for under $70 including shipping. I’ve had this now since January and I am very pleased with it. Some of my initial concerns were that since the market for this type of product doesn’t really exist, I was concerned about the build quality. Turns out it is built great. It’s taken some
small falls and has held up great. Nothing is loose and the keys don’t stick. The batteries also last a long time. I haven’t had to change them yet! One thing that took me a while to figure out was that to wake the keyboard up after a period of inactivity is that you need to push a button twice, the touchpad won’t wake it up.
If you are used to working on a laptop, this keyboard will feel like home. Honestly, I struggle to come up with any improvement
s for the Adesso WKB-4000US other than I wish it came in black. I love the reaction of people when they see it sitting around my room. Their first impression was that I hacked a keyboard in half, then I explain what it is, and they fall in love with the concept and its execution. All in all, this will always be a stable of my home theater setup.
Multitouch Surface Computer
Apr 8th
I’m sure many of you have learned about Microsoft’s Surface. Sure it’s a cool toy, but its a $12,000 toy. After doing a bit of research and investigation, there is a whole community out there that are making their own versions of Surface, which is a multitouch surface computer at a fraction of the cost. I have read stories of people building them for less than $1,000. I have dreams of building my own and keeping it on a really tight budget, luckily, I have some old spare computers lying around which help offset that cost. I would turn mine into a coffee table with some features that I haven’t seen in other homemade MSCs which I will reveal when I get an opportunity to build mine.
The basic theory behind how this works isn’t the use of a touchscreen like you have at ATM’s or to place a sandwich order. It actually uses a projector to shine the image onto a piece of acrylic. I know what you’re thinking; the projector isn’t going to focus on the acrylic since its clear. When building it, you essentially glue on a sheet of silicon or a number of other materials which create a surface to hold an image as well as give a good feel for your hands while interacting with the computer. I also know what else you’re thinking. How does it know when I am touching it then? Simple, the edges of the acrylic are lined with IR LED which shine into the acrylic. A property of acrylic is that it doesn’t let light escape it, so the IR light just keeps bounding around in the acrylic effictivly lighting it up with an invisible color of light. Then, a modified webcam (to filter out visible color) is placed in the bottom middle of the housing of the MSC which will detect a touch from an object. When a finger is placed on the acrylic, it will cause the light to scatter from that point which enables the camera to see it. The computer on the inside has software which will eliminate noise from the camera as well as run software to provide a nice interface for the user to play with. This is only a basic explanation, a lot more detail can be found on Maximum PC’s website as well as at the NUI Group’s website. Hopefully I can start on this project early summer and have it done in a few weeks. Below is a video of Microsoft’s Surface which has capabilities beyond those of the open-source software, but doesn’t have the same amount of fun or learning experience. It’s also over $10,000 cheaper too, so I think it’s a fair tradeoff.