Gadgets I Use (Early 2011)

It's been a while since I have written, and since then I've purchased several gadgets that I'd like to share.

Back in 2008 I bought an Acer Aspire One netbook. My wife and I still use this netbook on a regular basis. I've since replaced Windows XP with Windows 7 Home Premium. Even with Windows 7, it still has a quick startup time and runs as fast as it did with XP.

In November 2010 I purchased two Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7 phones, one for myself and one for my wife. It's a smartphone that gives us access to our online media, Xbox Live games, an

d has a growing number of software titles. It also has pretty accurate speech-recognition built

in, with the ability to make phone calls by saying the person's name and with the maps app, you can find local places by speaking or typing the name of the place (for example, if you say Walgreens, it will show you the nearest Walgreens stores on the map, and when you click on one of them, it provides their phone number and can give you directions).

For Christmas 2010, we got the Xbox Kinect sensor. It's a contoller-free sensor that allows you to control the menus on Xbox and games without using a controller. It has facial recognition built in, so when my kids stand in front of the TV, it recognizes them and logs them in automatically. The Kinect Adventures game was the hit of the party at our house on New Year's Eve. There are a variety of games already available, from fitness to dance to sports. Kinect also does voice commands, so you can control the menus by saying things like 'Xbox Play DVD'.

Several years ago I wrote about how I wasn't ready to purchase a high-definition TV. With the recent purchase of Kinect, I got the itch to buy one. After a small amount of research, I purchased a Samsung 42 inch plasma TV. It's been a great TV for watching over the air high-definition TV, playing games, watching up-scaled DVDs from the Xbox 360, and watching Netflix.

Back in October 2010 we signed up for Netflix. In addition to our home theater PC - Xbox setup where we record HD TV shows for later viewing, we now have a wide variety of movies and TV shows available on demand. We can watch these shows on up to six devices, all with the same account. We watch shows on our new HD TV through the Xbox 360, on our two analog TVs via two Nintendo Wiis, or on our Windows phones. The service remembers the recently watched shows, and resumes the show where you left off if even between devices.

What are you using for entertainment or to keep in touch these days?

Acer Aspire One Netbook

Do you like laptops? Have you heard of a new category of laptop, called a netbook? It's a smaller, cheaper laptop. Netbooks have less-powerful processors than their more expensive laptop or desktop siblings, but plenty of horsepower for what most people do with a laptop, like surfing the web, watching video and sending email.

In November, 2008, I bought an Acer Aspire One netbook. It has proven to be a great little laptop. Of course the keyboard is smaller than a desktop or larger laptop keyboard, but I type with my two index fingers and after a little practice I can type on the Aspire One without looking at the keyboard.

Most netbooks lack a DVD/CD drive, but I haven't yet needed one, because the software I use is available for download online (i.e. OpenOffice.org, Firefox, iTunes, Thunderbird, Avast! Anti-Virus, Sunbird, etc).

My Acer Aspire One's specifications:

• Operating System: Windows XP Home
• Hard Drive: 160 GB
• Memory: 1 GB
• CPU: Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHz dual-core
• Battery: 6 cell (about 5 hours of run time between charges)
• Built in wi-fi
• Screen: 8.9" (measured diagonally)
  

Overall, this netbook is great. It gets used by either myself or my wife on a daily basis. When the lid is closed, it's about the size of two stacked DVD cases.

If you're in the market for a new laptop and want something small and portable, check out a netbook at your local electronics store.

TV Digital to Analog Converter Boxes

In my last post, I talked about how I had applied for the government-sponsored coupons that were available. I received my two coupons mid Match, 2008. Curious about how the converter box would change my TV viewing experience, I went and bought one Best Buy branded Insignia converter box the next day. That evening, I took it home and set it up. Wow. What a difference. The digital signal offers many more features than the analog signal. Here are the features that I now enjoy with this converter box hooked up to my older analog TV:

• DVD quality picture and sound
• Program guide - I get a description of current and upcoming TV shows
• Many more channels - In the Salt Lake area, over analog I received these stations: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 30 and 50. Over digital, I receive these stations: 2.1, 4.1, 4.3, 5.1, 5.3, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 9.1, 9.2, 9.91, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 13.1, 13.2, 16.1, 16.2, 16.3, 16.4, and 30.1. Some of the sub channels (i.e. 13.1 and 13.2 are the same program in letterbox and 4:3 formats, but most of the stations broadcast different programs during the same time slots)
• My kids like it, because now they have a couple of channels that play cartoons throughout the day
• The model I purchased has a power and channel up and down buttons on the box itself. A necessary feature, because sometimes all I want to do is change the channel without having to hunt for the remote control
  

This purchase was well worth the $20 after using the coupon. I recommend it to anyone who can receive broadcast stations over the air and also doesn't want to get rid of their analog set.

Why I'm not ready to buy a High Definition TV

February 17, 2009. Does this date ring a bell? If you watch TV in the USA, it should. It's the date that the US government is requiring that TV broadcasters stop delivering their signal in an analog format over the airwaves. What does this mean to you? If you watch TV and subscribe to cable or satellite, it means nothing. If you watch TV via rabbit ears or other antenna, it could mean that your TV will stop receiving a signal on Feb 17, 2009. I won't go into the details, but you can read more about it here and here.

Why do I care about the February 2009 date? Because I currently have two analog TVs at home. They are great TVs, never had a problem. Am I going to replace them with high definition TVs (HDTVs) by February 2009? Unless one of them suddenly stops working, no. Am I going to subscribe to cable or satellite service? No, we don't watch that much TV (the local stations provide all the programming we need). Are we going to get converter boxes for our analog TVs? Yes. Why? The after coupon price of a converter box should only be around $20 per TV. This will allow my existing analog TVs to receive digital broadcasts before and after Feb 2009.

You may be asking the question: Why don't I just replace my old TVs with new HDTVs? One answer: Price. High definition TVs provide a great viewing experience, but in my view and as of the date of this writing, they are too expensive.

Let's rewind a few years to when DVD technology was introduced. When DVD players were an emerging market, there were only a handful of manufacturers that made DVD players. These companies set the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) for DVD players fairly high, which remained high for a couple of years. When DVD players began to became popular, other manufacturers jumped on board and began making cheaper players (see marginal cost pricing). They flooded the market with $20 and $30 players, and the original manufacturers were forced to reduce the prices on their low-end players to compete.

When you compare the early and expensive DVD players that were first on the market and the players that are sold today for $20, functionality is at least the same, and in some cases better than what was available a couple of years ago. If this pattern for consumer electronics holds true, I see large screen HDTVs dropping in price in the next two or three years. I expect the current and new HDTV manufacturers to sell large numbers of HDTVs before and just after Feb, 2009. Once that date passes, however, I see HDTVs becoming a commodity item like DVD players, with lots of optional features, lots of manufacturers to choose from, and much lower prices.

When the day comes that I can buy a 42 inch 1080p TV for a couple of hundred dollars, I may consider replacing one or both of my existing TVs. Until then, I'll keep what I have, thanks. :)

LASIK Eye Surgery

While not a piece of technology that you can hold in your hands, LASIK is a technology that can dramatically improve your quality of life if you currently wear contacts or glasses. I know, I had LASIK surgery on January 14, 2008.

My earliest memory of needing glasses was back in elementary school. In fourth grade, our teacher had us shift our desks closer to the chalkboard once a month. The kids who were on the front row one month would be on the back row the following month. I remember one month that my desk was moved to the second row, and suddenly I realized I could see the writing on the chalk board. I was nearsighted. When it was my turn to move to the back of the class, I had to get special permission from our teacher to stay at the front. I don't remember whether I told my parents that I needed glasses or whether my teacher mentioned it, but soon afterward I was wearing a my new glasses to class.

When I started high school, I discovered gas perm contacts, got a prescription, and wore them every day for years. I hated to wear glasses, and when I wore them in public, people were surprised to find out that I needed corrective lenses.

Contact lenses weren't allowed on while I was on my mission, so I got an updated prescription before I left. I continued to wear glasses for about a year afterward. For the next ten years I wore soft contact lenses.

Because I was extremely nearsighted, I had to wear corrective lenses whenever I left the house or apartment. I preferred contacts to glasses, because my glasses would irritate my nose and my ears and had to be cleaned constantly.

A couple of people at work recently had LASIK surgery to correct their impaired vision. I asked them the usual questions about pain (there is none), dryness (yes, for the first couple of months), and recovery time (patients normally see much better immediately following the surgery).

I decided I had had enough of glasses and contacts. I asked around at work, got office contact info and made an appointment with an ophthalmologist. He and his LASIK coordinator explained the benefits, the risks (infections, additional enhancements down the road), and I scheduled a date and time for surgery.

During the surgery, I was nervous, but the doctor explained every step he took. I had Intralase LASIK (also known as bladeless LASIK), which means that a laser was used instead of a fine blade to cut the flaps on my corneas. After lying on the table for about 15 minutes, one of the assistants helped me up, and helped me into another room. In the follow up room, I could immediately read the magazine covers on the other end of the room. The doctor checked my eyes, said they looked good, and sent me home (my wife and kids were waiting in the lounge).

The next day I had a follow up appointment. I was shocked by how clearly I could see without corrective lenses while I was driving myself to the appointment. The LASIK coordinator checked my vision, and I had 20/15 vision (my right eye had normal vision, while my left eye could see at 15 feet what most people can only see at 20 feet). I have and will have the following follow up visits with my eye doctor, since the surgery: 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 6 months.

In the morning, I'm still in the habit of reaching over to the nightstand to grab my glasses, and when I look at the nightstand and see that they're not there, it's great. When I shave in the morning, I don't have to feel my face to see if I missed a spot. When I get out of the shower, I still have the habit of reaching to grab my contact lens case, which is no longer there, and now I can look down and see that it's not there. I can take naps on Saturdays without waking up to clouded contact lenses, and stay up late at night without my contact lenses feeling like sponges, soaking all of the moisture out of my eyes.

If you need corrective lenses to function throughout the day, like I did, go for LASIK surgery. You'll be glad you did.

Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote

Back on September 12, 2007, I wrote a blog post entitled "HDTV on your PC". In the post, I briefly mentioned that I watched recorded TV on my Xbox 360. It's much more convenient (and comfortable) to watch a TV show while sitting on the couch in front of the TV and the Xbox.

A week ago I was in a CompUSA store where they had their Xbox 360 Universal Media Remotes on sale. I bought one, and tried it out at home that night. It's great! The two-handed controller is great for playing games, but when I just want to watch live or recorded TV, the remote makes it easy. It has a Windows Media Center button in the middle of the remote. One push of this button, and the Xbox turns on and connects to my Windows Media Center PC. This is a 5 step process with the two-handed game pad. The remote also makes it easy to change channels and turn the Xbox off. With the game pad, it takes a couple of button presses to do the same.

With the remote, the Xbox behaves more like a digital video recorder (DVR) than a gaming machine. Watching TV on the Xbox has never been easier. If you connect your Xbox to a Windows Media Center computer, you've got to get one of these remotes. If you use your Xbox solely for playing games, you can skip this accessory.

Vonage Visual Voicemail

A couple of years ago I reviewed Vonage Broadband Phone Service. One of the features that Vonage provides is the ability to have an email sent to you when someone leaves you a voicemail. I have used this feature since I originally signed up for Vonage's service. I like the ability to get a new email with an attached sound file that lets me listen to the voicemail while I am at work.

Earlier this year, Vonage introduced a new feature called Vonage Visual Voicemail. This new feature translates the audio from the voicemail into text. After enabling this option, my voicemail emails now contain both the audio file and a transcript of the text. For example, previously, when someone left a voicemail, I got an email with an attached wav file that I would need to open in Windows Media Player. Now, with Visual Voicemail, I get an email with a wav file and text like this:

"Hi, Kevin. This is Seth. Hey, when you get back, please give me a call. Thanks. Bye."

No need to fire up Windows Media Player, now I can read what they said. Very quick. Very handy.

HDTV on your PC

A couple of months ago I started looking for a way to capture high definition TV (HDTV) for later viewing. Last season I had been following the TV shows Lost and Prison Break. While both shows have full episodes available the next day on their websites, I wanted something like a TiVo, but without the monthly subscription fees. I wanted a digital video recorder (DVR) that would give me the flexibility of being able to record shows that are not available online. I previously wrote about the flexibility and ease of use of console-base DVD recorders. Yes, they work, but as time went on I kept having problems with the recorder not recognizing the blank DVD either when it turned on to begin recording, or recognizing the DVD it just burned after the recording. Probably just an issue with my recorder.

Enter the PC. I bought a Windows Vista Home Premium a couple of months ago, primarily to use as an entertainment hub. Home Premium ships with Windows Media Center, which, when combined with an HDTV tuner (I also bought the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950), makes an outstanding DVR. The 950 is a small USB device that can record television in both standard definition and high definition. I have a $60 high definition antenna in my attic. A coax cable runs from my attic to a splitter, and then into the 950.

I currently receive about 13 high definition channels, and 12 standard definition channels over the air, directly from the antenna. No subscription fees, all the programming you could want.

High definition TV (HDTV) has many advantages over standard definition TV (SDTV). For one, HDTV is broadcast in either 7020p or 1080i resolution. Compare that to a movie DVD, which is 480p resolution. Let me state that another way: DVD is better quality than SDTV, and HDTV is better quality than DVD. On a computer monitor, the difference is night and day when you watch TV in SDTV and then switch to HDTV. Another advantage HDTV offers is more audio options, such as surround sound.

Another feature of HDTV is that stations can broadcast on sub channels. For example, my local PBS station, channel 7, broadcasts in SDTV only on channel 7. In HDTV, they broadcast on channels 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3. This allows them to broadcast separate programming on each sub channel, and gives the viewer more reasons to watch PBS.

When I'm not watching television on the PC, I can stream them to my Xbox 360. The 360 acts as a remote control for the PC, where I can watch recorded or live TV, all in standard or high definition, on a larger screen.

Windows Media Center has a number of useful features:

• Record a single episode of a show or the entire series
• Pause and rewind live TV
• Burn shows and movies to DVD
• Automatically delete old shows to make room for new shows
• A movies guide
• Information about the show, such as the date it was recorded, the name of the episode, the channel, a brief description, etc. Handy for when I view the list of files in Windows Explorer.
• Because it records to a file, I can copy the file to my laptop for later viewing
  

Conclusion:
I am happy with the options that Windows Media Center (WMC) provides. I record Saturday morning cartoons for the kids, CSI for myself, and Rachael Ray for my wife. WMC has settings which allow me to keep only the most recent episodes (no lost recordings because my hard drive is out of space). As the new fall TV season starts, we will be ready.