EliteCM.net

Since a lot of you guys are geeks and you bring a lot of tech shit into other threads, I figured this would be a good spot for everyone to talk about gear they have or want.  I'd prefer to keep the discussion non-car related since we already have forums dedicated to that.  Let's keep the topic on other gadgets.

Anyway, I'm looking for a new bluetooth headset for my cell phone.  They usually break every 6-12 months.  I've already had 3 different Motorola ones, and went through 2 LG ones.  I'm looking for something else that may be better quality and doesn't sound like total dog shit.

I've had good luck with products from jawbone

http://www.jawbone.com/ (http://www.jawbone.com/)

For some reason, I've always thought they were clunky and stupid looking.  The other part is that I've never had one that was remotely comfortable.  I'm waiting for the one that my company is making to become available.  They use a similar design that they use for in ear headphones, and they're super comfortable.

I agree the most difficult thing with Jawbone is finding one that doesn't look stupid but, they do work well

Do they fit well?  Comfort trumps looking stupid.  I'm still holding out for a different one that I think will work better.  Those jawbone ones look just as cheap as the other ones I've used.

They fit me well but, my ears are huge.

Tim, I have never been able to find a comfortable earpiece and finally picked up an in car solution (you already know what it is). The car was my only reason to source the handsfree to begin with. Is handsfree driving your reason for the inquiry?

I misspoke earlier.  I should have said comfort instead of fit.  Actually, who am I kidding?  The ones I've used always fit like shit and fall out on top of being really uncomfortable.

Exactly why I stopped looking for those things because they never fit right, fell out of my ear, uncomfortable, and just an all around pain in the dick.

Z, I have hands free bluetooth in my car already.  It sucks.  Alpine just can't get it right, and I'm not willing to use something that isn't integrated into my audio system.  I installed a Parrot in Robyn's car, and I am very unhappy with it.  She hasn't used it in 8 months because it took a dump. 

I'm really looking for a wireless hands free headset that I can use in and out of the car.  An in car only solution just won't cut it.  I have a wired headset, but the wire just gets in the way and makes using it cumbersome.  I've already mentioned the fact that I'm interested in getting the headset my company will start selling in another week and a half.  I just wanted to see if there were any other functional, elegant, and comfortable solutions that you guys may know of.

I got ya man. That sucks that the Parrot in Robyn's car took a shit. There's always duds. Anyway, I wish I could help out in this particular instance but my advice isn't going to be much help since my experience is with earpieces that I didn't care for and my Parrot kit that's still going. As for wired, you're absolutely right. They are very cumbersome and the only way to get around that is a bluetooth earpiece or tuck the wire under your shirt. Obviously, you want the bluetooth solution so the second option is not going to even be considered.

Is there a thread somewhere about the Parrot? I don't want to go into full detail since it's car related but, how does it work with say my navigation, and my soundgate auxiliary adapter?

Hearing about this makes me want to get one now for my Droid, haha.

ive always been a fan of the plantronics headsets.

Jeff, check out Parrot's site.  They have some decent stuff.  Maybe I got a dud.  I also know that Honda blamed my install on her headlight issue, even though my install was nowhere near the headlight switch.  I think they just used it as an excuse to charge her to fix a known issue that should have been TSB'd.

Which one do you have David?  Is it comfortable with decent sound quality (for both ends of the call)?  Plantronics has been manufacturing communications headsets for a long time. 

The best blu tooth ive ever had has been the ps3 one. It's clear on my end and is clear on the other end. Mind you I've used it for like 4 or 5 phones. But I usually wear it for hours while drunkenly playing mw2. It's comfy. I used to wear it for hours at a time.

I've had good luck with Parrot stuff..  Only time I had bad luck was when I bought a used unit from a guy on Craigslist.. He lied on the ad saying that the unit was perfectly functional, but the second I turned it on, it wouldn't hold a connection or stay on.  I've bought 3 of the CK3100 units new, and I was happy with each one.  Unfortunately, they all ended up staying in the car they were installed in when they were traded in :(

Only place I use hands free right now is when I'm in the car.  Outside of the car, I just put the phone up to my ear or sometimes use speakerphone, so I haven't looked into bluetooth headsets.

I got a Parrot MKi9100 and it crapped out in like 4 months.  I have to pull her dash apart again and see what the hell is wrong with it.  I think Honda fucked up my install.  I know that it worked fine for a while, but then the mic started getting really shitty. 

this isn't really tech gear per se. but tech related.. does anyone in here know how to write Visual Basic, or any other type of code?  I'm interested in learning and could use some pointers, and resources.

I know some Objective C and I am learning HTML right now. Not sure if that counts, ha. I think Jeff is pretty knowledgeable in that area, maybe not that specific language though.

I took a course in college about 10 years ago. Not sure how much I retained but, feel free to shoot me a PM.

I'm good with XHTML and CSS, but know nothing about anything else, haha. I'm just a really good copy-paster, so that's how I manage. This site is coded in PHP, but I'm still able to get around with it.

Funny you mention the CK3100 and buying it used because that's what's in my car now. I got it dirt cheap and its worked great since.

Tim, if Honda was fucking around in Robyn's dash, it wouldn't surprise me that they fucked with the Parrot since it would've been "in the way" of whatever they were doing.

The Parrot is behind her glove box.  They were fixing the harness in her steering column.  It stopped working before Honda touched it though.  I just need to tear into her dash one day.  The part that sucks is that it's too cold and wet out now and I don't have a garage.  I can't wait to move out of MA to an area that's affordable enough for me to get a place with a 2 car garage.

i have the plantronics voyager 520, ive had for a couple years and it has been a great headset. imo far better than a jawbone. ive tested numerous different types of headsets in the past when i managed a radioshack and this one was by far the best! sound quality is great, i mainly use it when im on long phone calls and never get complaints from the person i talk to, even if im in the car with the windows open.

You're a bold man.  I have trouble driving in my car with the windows up.  Exhaust drone sucks. 

Weird. Something may have popped loose with it. I know mine was a bit fidgety until I checked and the connections. As for a cheaper area with houses that have two car garages, I'm right there with ya man. I hate paying over $300 a month for power in an 1800 sq. ft. house. Its a bit much if you ask me.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/05/parrot-minikit-smart-windshield-mount-cradles-your-phone-caress/. (http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/05/parrot-minikit-smart-windshield-mount-cradles-your-phone-caress/.)

new parrott windshield mount.. I know jeff was looking for something like that..

For that price, you can get the same one I have and not have anything exposed.

Not a bad product actually. 

configuring a new router right now.. hopefully it performs well..

I just ordered one of these today:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/wireless-router.shtml (http://www.verizonwireless.com/wireless-router.shtml)

For $10, it's not that bad of a price. Technically we're not allowed to have wireless routers in our dorms, so if they catch me and confiscate it, it was only $10, lol. It's so annoying not having wireless in our dorms.

^^wow, that's cheap..

A new router?  Tell us more Mark.  My router has to be reset at least once every 2 or 3 days.

Jeff, that's fucking retarded.  Tell them to join the fucking 21st century.

I am fairly happy with the fact that I got a 1st gen 160 gb Apple TV for like $60.  It took forever to put all my movies and music on it, but it works great now.

It's fucking retarded. They opted to get security cameras installed in the hallways instead of getting wireless installed. What a bunch of idiots.

well am into my dd-wrt router still works like a charm

I'm not sure how that equates to you not being allowed to have wireless because they decided to spend their money on something else.

It's just a part of NOC's rules (the group/company/organization/whatever that handles the campus internet)


My guess is that it's a way to prevent people from having crazy LAN parties in one room, sapping all of the bandwidth. I plan on hiding the SSID and using WPA2-AES encryption with MAC filtering to prevent any other people from connecting to my network. That's going to be the least suspecting route.

Yea thats what i was about to say hide your connection and hide the router well you should be good

I won't even be hooking up the router straight to the wall. I'm going to have it plugged into my computer to keep it hidden. That way on UCF's side, all they see is my desktop. The only downside is that my desktop would have to be on for there to be internet to other devices, but that's fine with me, lol.

Well, I picked up a D-Link DIR-825.  I wanted an N enabled router with gigabit ports and a usb port.  It also needed to have DD-WRT support, since the first thing I did after unboxing it was flash it with DD-WRT.

I'm pretty happy with DD-WRT as I've had it running for years on my Linksys WRT54GS.  I'll have to keep an eye on this new D-Link for the next few days or so and see how it performs.

I connected my usb printer to the D-Link and enabled the print server.  I'm planning to turn the Linksys into a client bridge so it doesn't just sit in a drawer collecting dust.

The Linksys has been performing great, haven't had to reset it in a while.  I just wanted something with a usb port and figured I might as well take advantage of wireless N and gigabit.

Damn Mark, you should've sold me your Linksys haha. I've never used DD-WRT before, but it looks awesome. We have a Netgear WGR614v7 which is like the only version of that model that can't be flashed. That router has been collecting dust for a couple years now though; at my house I'm using a Trendnet TEW-633GR router. It has gigabit ports, draft-N (bought it a looooong time ago), and overall performs very well.

Gigabit is awesome though. I can download large files from my server (which is connected via gigabit) over the wireless N at upward speeds of 10MB/s. I can't even imagine what it would be if it was a wired to wired transfer.

My parent's family business has a Linksys WRT54Gv2, which can be flashed. I've thought about replacing it with the Netgear we have (we don't actually own the Netgear, it was given to us by our ISP), but I didn't want to deal with the trouble of returning it should we change providers.

Wireless N is so much better than G too, even if the hardware I have is draft (what's the difference, anyways?). My 360 has the older G adapter, and it would blow when I played upstairs, which was a shitload of walls away from the router.

So if any of you guys need to set up a wireless network, wireless N all the way, haha.

I got the client bridge up and running.  I actually still have G devices, but the D-Link is dual band, so I have one wireless network set up on 5GHz N and the other on 2.4GHz G.

Jeff, I recommend DD-WRT.  It's pretty awesome, and really powerful.  It opens up a lot of features.

Can you guys dumb it down for people like me?

Mark runs his N network on 5ghz because there's less interference probably. There are various household devices that use 2.4ghz that can interfere with the signal.

My wireless network runs on 2.4ghz, and my wireless 360 controllers use that too. Whenever I would download something large on my desktop, and if I walked over near it with my controller, the controller would lose its signal to the Xbox lol.

Other than that though I've never really had any problems with 2.4ghz because all of our household phones use 5ghz+.

DD-WRT is like putting Kpro in your car. It lets you control every aspect of the router, haha.

Yes i have been runing dd-wrt mega over-clocked and sd card/usb enable with heat sinks with 12dBi  Antennas with the open networks in my area bridged so theres always internet around my house i have also hidden my network for security reasons i dont see why to upgrade yet but N wireless seems decent but i leave all the bandwidth for the ps3 and desktop anyways

so i have a question for you tech heads, my router is shit, i have a connection of 11mbps to 19 mbps and i usually play ps3 online and search the internets at the same time. bu tmy router keeps cutting out , any router you recommend ? i see a wireless n , so like this one? http://www.walmart.com/ip/Linksys-Wireless-N-Router-WRT120N/12538152?sourceid=1500000000000003142050&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=12538152 (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Linksys-Wireless-N-Router-WRT120N/12538152?sourceid=1500000000000003142050&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=12538152)
i just dont have a clue

That should suite your needs.

Jeff, be careful. We have wifi everywhere but the speed is about 2mbps and the ethernet connection is about 25mbps download and oddly its 30mbps upload. So, we turned on internet sharing on on his iMac and we both had ethernet speed with wifi. Long story short, he go caught and his iMac was quarantined from the ethernet network and the only way to get it undone was to go see the dean. He got caught because we had 3 computers running off the same ethernet jack and they noticed the increase in data transfer.

Alec, you can probably guess what I am going to say. I know I am not the only one with one, get an Apple router. It's the most dependable router and has the best range of any other router I have used. Apple was the first to utilize 802.11, so they have been doing it for a while. Plus, you can hook up both a printer and a hard drive that way you can have wireless printing and wireless backup.

Honestly I don't expect my data usage to increase. I'm basically doing this to make it easier to get internet on my netbook. When I'm on my computer, I'm not on my netbook or Xbox. same thing for when I'm on my netbook. When I'm on my Xbox, or when my friends are, I'm usually watching, playing, or browsing ECM while they play. I don't do anything intense, lol.

Way to much $ for what he's going to use it for

Yeah, I decided to try 5GHz..  There's a lot of 2.4GHz networks around me since I live in an apartment.  I haven't experienced any real issues with 2.4GHz though.  I'm running it at 5GHz simply because I can and I wanted to try it.

do you think there would be performance benefits to running xbox live over a 5 GHz network.

If you haven't already gone out and bought that router, I would take a look here:

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=145&name=Wireless-Routers&Order=RATING (http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=145&name=Wireless-Routers&Order=RATING)

Another thing. There's no point in getting a wireless N router if you don't have wireless N adapters for your devices. In that case, you may be able to save a few bucks by getting a wireless G router.

doh, my server just took a shit.. now i have to figure out how i'm going to get data off that hard drive..

i just went through cleaning it too.. :( :'(

What happened to it?

that's a good question..

i went through cleaning it, and i reorganized some of the cables inside the case..

when i went to go hook it up and power it on, it powers on but there was no video output.  i initially thought my video card died, but it's getting power.  random devices are getting power, which is weird.  i don't hear my hard drives spinning.  i'm starting to think it may be a mother board issue, or a power supply issue.

right now, i have no video output; i don't hear my hard drives spinning, and when i have everything hooked up, only one out of 3 cd drives power on.   all three of the cd drives get power when they aren't hooked up to the motherboard though.

maybe a short somewhere? it's been a long time since I've taken a computer apart.. back in the days of windows 95 was the last time i opened a case.. so I have no idea what machines look like these days..

test the power supplies with a voltmeter see if is faulty ,you can always plug the hard drives to another computer with a usb converter to get your data back. Am a linux and a mac user so i stop getting so many errors on my drives like i used to with windows and i like my auto backup features saves me tons of time not having to maintenance them

yeah, that's my next step.. planning to do some troubleshooting this weekend..

i'm initially guessing its either power supply or mobo..

jeff, what about this one? it says its g/n, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127288 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127288)

my router now is a dlink wbr 1310. which is only 54mbps is that why it keeps resetting?

D-Link is a good brand, and for the price, that can't be beat. I couldn't really find a better one for the price. There are a few people who complain about speed issues, but it looks like the majority are pleased.

The fact that your current router is 54mbps doesn't mean that's the reason why it's been having problems. It's likely something else. Just remember that just because you have a wireless N router doesn't mean that all of your devices will run at N speeds. All of your devices will need N adapters as well. However, I've noticed that some of my devices using G adapters have improved performance on my wireless N router, so it won't hurt anything, that's for sure.

Sweet, one of the hard drives in my desktop's RAID0 array just took a dump, lol. Good thing for Dropbox, though. I think I'll be going with RAID1 next time.

I just used regular satas drives 7200rpm blank name ones 1tb for cheap never any issues but then again i only use linux for my desktops

Christmas present possibility - Anyone had any experience with Bluetooth hands free accessories for your car? I find it hard to shift and hold the phone up. With this kit I can keep it completely hands free. Thoughts?

Blueant S1 Sun Visor Bluetooth Car Kit with Multipoint for Motorola Droid
http://store.androidcentral.com/blueant-s1-sun-visor-bluetooth-car-kit-with-multipoint/3A64A5643.htm (http://store.androidcentral.com/blueant-s1-sun-visor-bluetooth-car-kit-with-multipoint/3A64A5643.htm)

this may just be me, but if I'm going to use a handsfree bluetooth speakerphone type of gizmo, I'd like it to be wired into the car so I don't have to ever take it away from the car to charge it.  but as I said, that's just my personal preference.. I'm lazy

Typical battery time is 30 days depending on time of usage, I don't mind so much, and I was lazy after using bluetooth in the TSX too  :D

I guarantee you that those 30 days will go by a lot quicker than you would imagine.. it'll end up using more power every time you have to re-pair the device when you get in the car.  it's just one more device you have to worry about keeping powered.. which is why I hate my bluetooth headset and rarely use it, it's almost always dead if I leave it turned off for more than two days. I just turn on my phone's speakerphone if I need to have a conversation while driving. (thank you hands-free laws, I can now talk on the phone while eating a burger because eating's not illegal while driving /rant)

Lol...good point

Really Brian?  I don't use my bluetooth headset unless I'm in my car, and it hasn't been charged for at least 2 or 3 weeks.  That sucks about the hands free laws.  Here in MA, the new law is no teenagers are allowed to use a cell phone while driving, texting is a $100 ticket the first time, $300 the 2nd time, and $500 the 3rd time you're caught.  You do not have to have a hands free headset like some of the surrounding states (CT, NY), but you must have one hand on the wheel while driving.  So, you can either talk on the phone or eat a burger, but not both at the same time.  Fucking liberal idiots.  As if the drivers around here weren't bad enough.

yeah, I have some crappy motorola one.. I probably should invest in a better headset with the new laws and such.. but I'm too poor to spend my money on myself.

yeah it's illegal to talk on the phone or text (texting is clearly understandable) down here in MD.  It just makes me mad because drivers do such worse things than talk on their phones while driving that distracts them so much more.  Hell my soon to be brother-in-law just totalled his car because he dropped his blue tooth and rear ended someone while trying to retreive it, so he could be a good citizen. ironyyyy.. sorry I'll stop ranting now because this isn't the forum for that..

In my experience Motorola = Junk.  Motorola products are so cheap and flimsy they aren't even worth the materials they are made of.  I've never owned one Motorola product that didn't break or stop working in a few months.  And for the record, I've owned at least a good 20-25 of their products over the past 15 years.  My cable boxes are Motorola and neither of them work properly.  Even the one that's less than a week old.

so before i drop some monies on a "n" router i should state the problem with my current set up is at max i play the ps3 online, with 2 laptops connected and a iphone. and the connection gets disconnected, usually the router resets its self anything else is could be ? am i pushing my router?

What's the model of your router, and how old is it?

Jer, you should look into the Parrot installed kits. They have a few that go for less than $150. Like Brian said, that thing is going to start losing life each charge.

dlink- wbr 1310. at least three years old modem is  motorola surfboard sb5101 same age

I would look into replacing that modem Motorolla Junk...

What do you suggest mike? That's reasonably priced.

I bought a lower end Linksys cable modem, and it solved alot of my problems. Your probably looking at replacing a router to 3 years is about the life cycle for the lower end products. Wireless N is nice to have if your equpment supports it.

Just ordered a new bluetooth headset today.  It's the one I talked about before.  I've tested it a few times already and was really happy with the comfort and performance.  Being on the other end of the line, the call clarity is pretty good.  When I get it, I'll let you guys know what I think.

So I modded my Linksys WRT54G router a little, just for the heck of it. I threw a heatsink on the CPU chip, and I soldered in a 12V fan to the case (first time soldering). It's all pretty pointless since I won't be overclocking the router or anything, but it was still fun to tinker with it. /nerd

Not a bad idea though they do get quite hot.

i got the tmoblie version with the dd wrt mega build and heat sinks running on 216 mhz am happy never needed to bump it up over that runs cool still, i have it on Open Dns and my speeds are desent. I also have one i bricked once i repair it ill try the full 300mhz to see if i see a difference. Now i have a question any of you guys use E-book readers? i like the android  base ones

the android e-readers are basically just android tablets that have been handicapped.  I'd rather spend the money on a regular e-reader (kindle) because the battery lasts for a MONTH.. I don't want something that's supposed to be a reader that will die in 4 hours of reading.  that alone renders it completely useless to me.  long flights all I do is read, and if I'm flying over 4 hours I can no longer read. plus the e-ink displays are better on your eyes over long periods of time.

jeff, you are an uber nerd, but I approve.  :)

You guys are all nerds.  Reading books is for nerds.  I watch movies on my laptop or iPod when I'm on flights.  However, my fiance has a kobo e-reader.  She ordered the kindle, but it was on backorder.  So she got impatient and canceled the order and bought the kobo.  She likes it and uses it all the time.  I can't say much for the battery life or anything.

I'm not a nerd, and I read a lot...

Mike, face it.  You're a nerd. 

As long as the pocket protectors have a honda sign on it we good lol i seen the Nook ebook reader they say it will get a full android interface i wouldn't mind a good tablet beats carrying a laptop around

so on my laptop my network card? or wireless card? is fried according to hp online support. so my question  is rather than get a new network card and try to install it does this work?  or is there something else?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Cisco+Linksys+-+Factory-Refurbished+AE1000+High-Performance+Wireless-N+Adapter/1401612.p?id=1218255562859&skuId=1401612 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Cisco+Linksys+-+Factory-Refurbished+AE1000+High-Performance+Wireless-N+Adapter/1401612.p?id=1218255562859&skuId=1401612)

That will work for a little while but, with HP's its usually a sign of things to come, and you will probably have Motherboard issues down the road...

I can't stream netflix in Puerto Rico.  WTF!!

I'd kick a puppy.

Right in it's tiny puppy nuts!

How bout this for a nice start in 2011?who would by thishttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQkIs8Sp11k

I saw Andy Android... Im in!!!!

Alright guys.  Two topics that I need some input on.  Wireless routers and an external hard drive. 

First, I need a new wireless router since mine is about 7 years old now and is acting up.  I tried working from home today and every 5 minutes my work computer lost connection from my wireless network and my company's VPN.  My laptop is a brand new IBM Intel Core i5 ThinkPad that I literally got 6 days ago.  I don't seem to have the same severity of problems from my MacBook, but my network seems to crash a lot and I usually have to reset my router and cable modem up to 5 or 6 times a day now.  I was looking at the Cisco - Linksys routers, but know that I don't really need N even though that's pretty much what they're pushing now.

Second, I need a new external hard drive.  I just ran out of space and don't really want to keep deleting stuff from my laptop.  I know that Seagate made good stuff in the past.  I'm just trying to find something that won't break the bank, will be reliable, and will give me more space.  Here are my requirements are that it must be at least 1 tb and have firewire 800 and USB 2.0.  One nice feature would be that it does not require an external power supply and can be powered via Firewire or USB.

Suggestions and feedback are welcome.

Tim, here are some initial suggestions based on what you've described.

For a wireless router, go with this: http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-Linksys-WRT54G2-Wireless-G-Broadband-Router/dp/B0014J07R2 (http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-Linksys-WRT54G2-Wireless-G-Broadband-Router/dp/B0014J07R2)

For an external hard drive, I had some trouble looking for one that supported IEEE1394b (Firewire 800). You can go to the link below though, and it'll list all of the external hard drives that are 1TB or larger on Newegg, which is where I shop for computer stuff. I usually sort them by best rating.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007601%20600030763&IsNodeId=1 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007601%20600030763&IsNodeId=1)

Get a wrt54g there old hackable routers that will last you forever and for external go for Western Digital  My Book Essentials i own the 3Tb version came with usb 3.0 rock solid so far

Clemente, don't forget that I'm not going to hack or modify it.  I'm just not that good with computers to be able to accomplish that.

That router comes out to being about $47 with shipping, plus I have to wait.  I can pick up a Cisco Linksys E1000 locally for about $50.  How do you think that would compare?  This may also be something that I may be able to get reimbursed for as an office supply through my work.  If that's the case, I might be able to get something a little nicer without taking it too far.

The verdict is still out on the hard drive.  I have used LaCie drives before.  My 40 gb portable pocket drive is unreliable and doesn't work any more, but it's about 8 years old and I carried it around in my bag all the time when I was in college.  My other 250 gb LaCie drive has worked like a charm the past 8 years.  I also know that Seagate makes good stuff.  I used to have a Glyph drive back in the day with my recording set up.  It was basically a modified Seagate drive with a ridiculous warranty.

I also use a My Book essential, and have no problems but, its not the most poratable thing in the world.

I may just get a hard drive that I can keep at home, but a smaller portable one to bring with me when I travel.

does any one here have the new apple tv?  I have an oppurtunity to get one for free with my credit card reward points and I'm pretty tempted, since I just opened a new card on USAA to transfer my  balance. (in process of switching all my banking/insurance to USAA because I moved over an hour drive from my current credit union)

I have never used this but, if it is the best option for your reward points what do you have to lose.

yeah, well I don't typically get anything for just me anymore.. and I talked to the lady about it and she told me that "if I want it go for it, don't worry about what we need for once and do somethign for you.."  so I have permission. haha it's just I dont know much about it and was hoping to get some input from people who have it or have used it before I get something I may never use.

I have the first generation AppleTV and I really like it.  It syncs with my iTunes account on my laptop so it has all my movies, TV shows, music, and pictures.  It's also connected to my wireless network for youtube and to download directly from iTunes.  If I buy something on my Apple TV, it will automatically transfer to my laptop and download there too.  The addition of Netflix is definitely a nice plus.  Just remember the new Apple TV only has an HDMI output.

apple tv is sick i had a jailbroken one now i switched to 2tb Argosy media center which play's every type of media i throw at it.

I think if I get the 2nd gen Apple TV, I'd want to set up my old desktop with a better processor, more memory, and a 2 TB external hard drive.

Thanks for the input guys.  I'm going to do a bit more research and will probably pick it up.  HDMI out is great for me, my tv has two inputs for it.

just bought a new router, going to try and setup a Wireless N bridge..

My wife wants to get a netbook, so we decided to go to best buy to check it out.  We looked the iPads and she really liked them.  They seem pretty cool for what they are.  The 10 battery life is great and it's response time is really quick. 

It's an oversized ipod touch!

Normally I'd agree with you Z but, the Ipad2 is pretty cool, and does alot of shit and I pod touch couldn't come close to. I won't buy one because they are over priced but, I'm sort of a fan of the innovation they have made to tablets.

anyone use Google TV?

That was my impression too from what I saw.  When you compare it to a netbook, the 16gb version with just wifi, is pretty comparable.  Most netbooks come with 250gb hard drives, but she doesn't need all that.  That's what her desktop is for.  It's really for when she wants to look at recipes when she's in the kitchen and to do some surfing when we're in bed.  She complains that my laptop is too heavy and refuses to use it anymore since she broke it last week and is now getting repaired.

I got a 64gb iPad 2 3G and then a 64gb iPad 3G for my grandmother and I honestly don't think the 2 is worth the extra $100. Unless you just really want the facetime camera. I have the iPhone 4 jailbroken so I can facetime whenever I want. It's really awkward to take a picture with the iPad. It is faster and thinner and mine is white, but I would have rather pocketed the $100 and gotten two iPads. I waited in line at Best Buy for an hour only to find out they didn't get any 3Gs so I walked next door to Wal-Mart waited for 10 minutes and got one. I wanted the 16gb but the 64gb is all they had left.

I'm still against Apple's shit and I still say the ipad is an oversized ipod touch. Most of the apps are exactly the same for both platforms. And like you said Mike, they're way overpriced. I'd rather get a netbook and pocket the rest of the money even if I had a netbook and hated its small size.

Samsung Galaxy Tab

or the Motorola Xoom. I played with one for a couple minutes at Best Buy, and it's pretty sweet.

Samsung > Motorola

Oh right, I forgot about your intensely passionate hate for Motorola. Haha.

I just think they suck as a company and all their products are junk.

going to be a busy and nerdy night tonight..

all my stuff for upgrading my laptops came in today, so i'll be working on those tonight..

but while some hard drives are being formatted, i'll be working from home as well.. :(

I've been thinking about something...

Some roommates and I are going to be moving into an apartment this August, and utilities aren't included. I've been thinking about ways to save money, and here was an idea. If we paid just for Internet, then set up a computer hooked up to the living room TV via HDMI and whatnot, then used it exclusively for Internet TV / Hulu or whatever. What do you guys think?

Go for it man!!  I'm basically thinking about doing the same thing in my 2nd bedroom/office.

Mark, what kind of upgrades did you get for your laptops?

Also, the only downside to having Internet TV would be that I would need a dedicated computer for each room. However, I don't really know if my roommates will be watching TV a lot in their rooms. I say fuck em, and will just hook something up in the living room.

The only thing I haven't researched is what online service to use. So far Hulu looks the best, but has limited HD shows with the free membership.

My cable provider has an iPad app for watching TV.  I'm sure I can watch TV online too, but I'm just too busy to look into it right now.

I got a 7200rpm 750gb sata ii drive for my lenovo as a storage drive.  i already have the OS on an OCZ Vertex 2 120gb SSD, but i wanted more space for data and music, etc.

well, to be technical, i bought two of the 750gb sata ii drives, and i bought another OCZ Vertex 2 120gb SSD.

the other 750gb and the other ssd will go into my 3.5yr old macbook pro.  i also picked up 4GB of ram to max out the ram in my macbook pro, along with another battery because my current battery went to shit.

i would talk to your roommates about internet tv.  if it works for all of you, i say go for it.

Damn, how do you have a hard drive and an SSD both in a laptop? Or are you just replacing the SSD with the hard drive?

In a MacBook Pro, this is how: (http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5110/5579094576_9a5d0b2692_z.jpg)

Lenovo makes it much easier by supplying this accessory (http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=38&Code=43N3412&current-category-id=2478535BAB3C417CA9D77F5867D31462&model-number=4313).

It replaces the dvd drive, but you can swap the Lenovo accessory with the dvd drive fairly easily.  Must use an external dvd drive with the MacBook Pro now.

Now you've really got me thinking Mark.  I really need to upgrade the hard drive on my macbook.  250 gb isn't enough space for all my music and videos.

I did the dual ssd upgrade on my 2011 macbook pro you will lose the superdrive but alot of people don't mind then i sold it profit profit profit  got my self a a decent notebook since am not going to do nothing to power consuming on them anyways and about going without cable i got a Hd antenna for the basic channels and a media center which streams video to any tv in the house i did the hdmi hookup's using cat5 converters to slip it threw walls easy look into that there inexpensive  

My apple TV finally arrived today.. Can't wait to go home and set it up.. I've been dying to get rid of comcast's extra services.. they rape meeee

Took advantage of HP dropping out of the tablet game this morning and picked up a touchpad for $99 (marked down from $499 on Friday) Figure I can port Android 3.0 on it.

They were only in it for a few months too.  I guess they wasted money on all those commercials.

I thought of doin this, but just gettin Netflix for my xbox... only problem is when football season starts up... I NEED to see it, and they don't broadcast the games online anymore. :(

I'm pretty sure @ $99 they are losing money on it.

I've been scouring the internet trying to find one of those touchpads, but everywhere already has it sold out. any thoughts on other sites?

Early bird gets the wrom... I got mine at about 8 am from barnes and noble.com. I'll see if I can find anymore.

I didn't hear about it until last night while I was browsing from my phone in bed.  I'm going to check the best buy next to my office after work.  I'm not going to be upset if I miss out on it.. it'd just be a perk for me really.. with all the tech crap I have laying around, it's really unnecessary. haha

amazon and sears have yet to drop there prices. Keep an eye out.

will do. Thanks

What's the general consensus with apple tv?  I know some of you have it, just trying to get opinions on it before I make a purchase.  My wife and I finally sat Down and figured out the whole home shaing thing with iTunes.  I know we're a little bit behind, but whatever.  Let me know and thanks in advance.

I just recently got the apple tv 2 (the newer tiny one) for free with credit card reward points..  Prices for HD movies are about the same as comcast ondemand prices.. comcast seems to get newer movies faster though.  I've never used the pay for a single episode of a tv show before because I can't justify spending a buck on a single episode of some show to watch one time.  If you have an extensive movie library on your computer, then that's where it can come in handy..  you sync it with your itunes on your computer through your home network (it can do wifi out of the box) and you can watch anything you have in itunes through it on your tv.  So say you want to listen to music you have on your computer but don't have loud enough speakers, or your home entertainment system is setup, you can listen through it wirelessly without having to hook up your computer to those speakers.  Also, if you're watching something on your computer, you can pause it, then send it to your apple tv and continue watching it on your big screen instead of computer monitor.

My fiance and I do use it quite often to watch movies, and such.  And renting the movies is easy as well, as long as you have it set up with your itunes account with a credit card or debit card.

So it's akin to streaming netflix?

^^ So I just read that as Media Center plus Netflix subscription.

Brian, so I take it that you really like it and would recommend it. 

I'd say it's somewhat similar, but you do have the option to own instead of rent.  I have a fairly large music and video collection from stuff I already owned and purchased on iTunes.  I also have a 1st generation Apple TV and have been very happy with it.  I prefer it over the 2nd generation Apple TV because it has a hard drive, so I don't have to worry about keeping it linked to my computer to stream content.  It's also cool to bring with you if you go to someone else's house or go out of town.

That's pretty much it, except you have to pay for each movie, there's no monthly fee.  if I remember correctly, you can use netflix with it.. but I dont have netflix so I don't remember.


For being free (because of my rewards points) it wasn't a bad "purchase".  it has definitely gotten it's fair share of use in my house and will be getting more once I purchase a surround sound system.  Not to mention, I hate comcast and don't want to give them any more money for on demand movies.


That's the one thing I wasn't happy with.. no hard drive.  But with it hooked up to my home network over wi-fi, I don't really think about it.  All of my content is still easily accessible that way.

Yes, it does have netflix on the one you have.  If you could get netflix on the first generation AppleTV, I'd be in love.

Ok.  So I'm about 700 points away from my $80 rewards from my credit card.  I'll just use that and just add in the extra $20 to get it.  Thanks for your help Brian.  Greatly appreciated.

Oh ok, thanks.  I've just never been overly impressed with the selection on netflix, so I have never signed up.

No problem man.  Hope you like it.

I've never used netflix, so I don't know what I'm missing.  At this point, I have enough stuff to keep me occupied without adding netflix. 

I don't have cable tv, so I use netflix constantly.  Their selection is half assed, but it's better than nothing.

anybody know where I can get 150ft of CAT5E cable for cheap? 

Why do you need such a long cable?

ACE Hardware used to sell 100ft cable pretty cheap..  I don't know if they still carry it or if they sell longer.. A 150ft cable may need to be custom made..

http://www.amazon.com/SF-Cable-150ft-Snagless-Patch/dp/B0057XBV4Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1314316844&sr=8-2 (http://www.amazon.com/SF-Cable-150ft-Snagless-Patch/dp/B0057XBV4Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1314316844&sr=8-2)

As far as I know, cat6 is supposed to supersede cat5e, so it's up to you. I bought a 75 foot cat6 cable off of Amazon and have had no problems with it.

Thats a long ass cable.

I want to hardwire my xbox 360 to my router.  The router is in the bedroom and my xbox is in the living room.  Have to run it up the wall, into the ceiling across the hallway, kitchen and living room into a closet, down the wall to behind the TV.  I may be adding a couple of feet as a safety blanket, but our apartment is 90 feet long and it's basically from one end to the other.

N wireless is the key... Thats how I run my xbox live...

i have a wireless belkin n router.  For some reason the signal is sketchy in the living room.  Still won't cut it.  depends where in the living room.  Right were the tv is at, it's a dead zone.

I could only find 500 and 1000 foot lengths.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=101-013 (http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=101-013)



That's probably because your tv is generating interference.  I've seen it happen with different types of tvs.

Xbox running on wireless N or G?

it's all N.  My laptop even has some dead spots in the living room. 

The link that Jeff posted seems like a really good price.

Better price than what I posted.

you could get a big spool and terminate the ends yourself.. basically make your own.  it's not terribly difficult if you get the tools.. just a matter of matching the same colors at each end of the cable.

http://www.firefold.com/Cat5E-500-Foot-Bulk-350Mhz-UTP-PVC-Solid-Cable-Blue-P1583C264.aspx (http://www.firefold.com/Cat5E-500-Foot-Bulk-350Mhz-UTP-PVC-Solid-Cable-Blue-P1583C264.aspx)

Which wireless N adapter are you using on your Xbox?

is an ssd 60gb ocz for 56 bucks after MIR worth its?? I can't find the review for it. I want to replace my 500gb one with  faster one for my macbook.

which OCZ?

I have two OCZ Vertex 2 120gb SSDs, and I'm fairly happy with them.

Anyone have Google TV?  I just picked up a Logitech Revue.

Sorry Tim, didn't see this till now.  Nope, no experience with the google tv but I've been hearing it's fizzling out.. :/

On another note.. I'm looking into getting a new TV.  Anyone have any suggestions?  Looking at the samsung LED's right now.

I have a Samsung 9000 series LED and I fucking love it.

This!!!1

http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/UN46C9000ZFXZA (http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/UN46C9000ZFXZA)

holy shit.  That thing is insanely thin!!! want!

zero interest in 3-d.

I don't either but, I loved the stainless/brushed aluminum look

So Apple fixed my 4 year old MBP that died earlier this year, for free too! Pretty stoked about that..  I got it back today, and then swapped the stock 120gb 5400rpm hard drive for a 750gb 7200rpm hard drive and swapped the 4gb RAM back in.

I sent it in with the stock hard drive and the stock 2gb RAM.

The turnaround time was incredibly fast.  They sent out an empty box on Monday, which I received Tuesday.  I then sent in the laptop on Tuesday as well, and their repair center received, fixed, and sent it back out all yesterday.  Everything was shipped via FedEx Priority Overnight.

Their customer service in this case was awesome!  I am very pleased.

Now to finish the OS install and test everything to make sure the new logic board works..

I have a Samsung plasma and lcd and I'm happy with both of them.  Get whatever is in your price range that looks best to you and has the features you want.

Mark, thats awesome about the mbp. free is always best!

I have no interest in 3D either, but it's built into almost every tv available now so why not have it? I'll never end up using it, but the 2D picture on the samsung TV's are just incredible compared to the 5 year old 32" Toshiba Regza LCD I have right now.

Fuck it, get the new Sharp 80" LED.  That thing is totally worth the money.  It's got yellow pixels. ::)

hahaha I wish i have room for an 80" tv.. I would get it in a heartbeat.. lol  55" would be the absolute max for my apartment, and that's pushing it.  46" should be juuuuuust right.

I was kidding.  Sharp is trying to make up for the fact that they have a shitty picture by making the biggest LED and adding that yellow pixel shit.  I've seen their 80" and it looks like garbage.  Give it 6 months and there will be 80" LED's with a good picture.

no matter what size you get, your gonna wish you went bigger. my lady said no bigger than 50' so i ended up getting a led/lcd vizio 47. and bout a week later she said next time we'll go bigger.

am happy with my 63" Samsung plasma all i need now is a nice 7.1 surround sound upgrade from my current 5.1

7.1 is a waste of money.  A lot of companies are banking on the fact that people will think that more is better.  5.1 is really all you need for a good surround sound system.  7.1 doesn't bring much to the table and is a waste of money IMHO.

if i bought a external hard drive is it possible to connect it to my tv and watch movies?

Possibly. If your TV has the USB input, I don't see why not.

If your TV has wifi you can connect your Hard drive to your wireless router and access some content that way.

Get yourself of media player like asus or western digital that you can plug in external drives and play them on your t.v my current media center has 3Tb of space internally and 3 tb of space externally which i am able to stream threw wireless N all over the house while keeping the quality of the movies in 1080

any one use/using a roku? most likely picking one up this week. canceled cable. now that college football is over

I've seen the Roku's, but have bad experiences with their products.  They are used in some of the displays I work with, and we have had quite a few problems.  I think that's why all of our newer displays use a different media player now.  I would guess end consumer stuff is probably the same quality.

The best i have used have been agrosy media players there quick and simple plus company stays up to date with firmware updates which i like the support

Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk

I hope so..  *knock on wood*  It's my third one, two previous ones failed.  My first one failed within 30 days so I was able to exchange it, but the second one failed after a year; luckily, I had purchased the extended warranty, so it was repaired.  It then failed again earlier this year.

Doesn't Sony fix them for less than the cost of buying a new one?

I've heard that but I have no idea if they are still doing it. I bought a used one last year and I haven't had any problems with it. Why on earth do the new ps3's not have backwards compatibility with ps2 games? That is the only reason I bought a used one.

Possibly.  But I think last time I looked into it, the cost was at least $150.  When my second unit failed for the second time, I didn't care much to have it fixed since I didn't really have much time to play with video games or anything; so I bought a blu-ray player since I really was only using my PS3 at the time to watch movies.  Well, that player started failing the other night, so I went to go look for a new one and thought to myself that this may be an opportunity to pick up another PS3.

I actually never had a PS2, always played it at friend's places.  I had the ability to play old PS2 games on my previous one, but I don't have any old PS2 games, so it was a moot feature for me.

XBOX ftw... ;)

You can keep your Blu-Ray players and I'll keep my working console. haha jk

My bro got my dad a Blu-Ray player last year.  He was workin at Sears and it was a floor model.  Just for display, never turned on.  He got it for $50 with his employee discount!! lol

Xbox's have there share of issues. I need a new blu ray player also...

I'm actually on my second XBOX 360, lol..

I have owned alot of Xboxes... Two members here are using xbox consoles that used to be mine lol. I just like upgrading.

I'm on my 3rd.

1st was original Xbox, obviously traded up to 360.

2nd was Xbox 360 and last xmas that started to act up, so I traded up to an Xbox 360 Slim w/ Kinect. :D

And the 3rd has given me no problems what so ever.

Nice, I've considered upgrading, but since I don't use it much, I just haven't had a reason for the splurge.  Sad part is that I rarely ever use Xbox Live these days, yet I continue to pay for it because I don't want to deal with trying to cancel it.. If we're counting the original Xbox, I'm on, I believe, my 4th.  I think I remember that my original Xbox failed too.  For my 360, I'm still using a second gen.  I have thought about upgrading, just because I like the look of the black ones better, lol..

LoL! I'm on my 5th one (They really don't like pet fur and/or smoke :p) only paid for one though, so I can't complain. Microsoft just kept replacing them for me (after like 4 hours on the phone arguing with them each time :p) lol

Funny Mike mentioned current owners and Mark mentions black because that's what I have.

I'm on my fourth repaired console as well. Microsoft repaired it each time for free. The one I have now is a launch day console with the upgraded heatsink... its lasted for awhile so far!

I'm on my 2nd Xbox 360. My first got the rings of death. After they replaced it, it's all been good since then.

The tech discussion has been moved.  Please continue.

thoughts on the roku so far:  pretty good, glad i dont have to use the ps3 for netflix, plus now crackle is on my tv,  and got a hook up for epix, other than not having espn, i should be pretty entertained.

also being unemployed ive discover playstation media sever. that has been a life saver. all 22 seasons of simpsons. and its always sunny.

So I'm currently thinking about purchasing a tablet.  My primary uses will be for casual browsing and watching movies while on travel.

That being said, I'm not sure if I want an Android based tablet or the iPad 3.  I've heard about issues with the data versions of the iPad 3, but I don't know if I would get that or WiFi only.

Thoughts and recommendations?

FYI, I'm scheduled for a trip towards the end of the month, so I'm thinking about purchasing one maybe in a couple weeks or so.

All depends what you want Mark. Were it me, I wouldn't get an Apple product. Period.

That said, if you're looking at the pad, your price point is in the 600 range. Right? I'll tell you one thing, the transformer prime is huge by large and surprisingly light for what it is and its a powerhouse. If you want something smaller, the galaxy tab is pretty good from what I've seen. Plus, it's android and I love that OS.

I have a motorolla xoom thats treated me pretty well.

I forgot about those.

This is probably going to sound odd coming from me but, I actually prefer the Ipad....

Blasphemy!

Ipad 3 is amazing apple gets the job done its just works , so its well worth it

Blasphemy x2!

I don't own one but, Androids tablet interface leaves a little to be desired. 

I've dealt with customers that have from the xoom, to galaxy tab to the new ipad, all are great. I still until this day don't understand why people hate Apple products but the new Ipad is the best out there now, it's 4G.

Because Apple does more marketing than product improvement.

All the products I've tried have worked flawlessly. The cellphones have nowhere near the demand for a replacement like all other companies.

I've had the least problems with my Apple products compared to anything made by Motorola and Samsung.  Based on my experience, I would never purchase another Motorola product.  I'm hesitant to buy anything from Samsung that isn't a TV.  This is just my experience though.  :hmm:  I have heard great things about Asus products.  My KPro laptop is an Asus and it's held up pretty good so far.

What it really comes down to is what you're comfortable with.  If you're a fan of an Android format or an Apple format, chose the one you like the most.  Fuck what anyone else thinks or says, you're the one that's paying for it, not them.  Let them spend their own money on what they want to buy.  The blind hatred/blind love of Apple products is completely retarded.  It's proof that some people just have their heads shoved so far up their ass that everything around them looks like shit.

I laughed so hard when I read this lmao.

OT: Yeah Tim, I was going to say 99% of Motorola phones are horrible. Droid X, Droid X 2, Droid 2, Droid 3, Droid 4 all require replacements in a short period of time. Reason I say 99% is because the Bionic is ok and they stepped up well with the Droid Razr's.

I wasn't just talking about cell phones.  I have never owned one Motorola product that worked properly or didn't break in a few months of getting it.  By the way, I'm not exaggerating.  I've probably gone through around 20 different Motorola products starting back in the day with pagers, cell phones, cordless phones, cable boxes and bluetooth headsets.  They ALL broke in one way or another after a few months. 

I've also been fairly disappointed with Samsung lately too.  I had one of their cell phones about 12 years ago and it worked well.  I have 2 Samsung TV's in my home and I've been content with those too.  I was just extremely disappointed when they had that Windows phone a few years ago that was ridiculously convoluted and extremely tedious to use.  Then I got a Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate based on the suggestions of the Android peeps in the cell phone thread.  It was supposed to be a great phone.  No, not really.  Ask those same people that told me it was a good phone like 1.5-2 years ago and now they'll say it was a shitty phone.  Then we get into Samsung cable boxes.  I have to reset my cable box in my bedroom and living room at least once every day or two.  It's frustrating when things like this crash so consistently. 

I'm not anti Apple I'm just pro open source. If I pay for a device I should be able to do whatever I want with it... I dislike companies that lock shit down, and charge for every little thing. I like devices with a development community that is actually embraced and encouraged by the manufacture.

I know you're not anti Apple Mike.  I know you own a few Apple products.  It was a general statement that wasn't aimed at anyone specific.  I thing the biggest issue that I have with Android is that it's less stable.  Open source leaves a lot of room for a lot of "bugs", which in the end turned me away from Android.  I don't feel that I'm losing out on anything by replacing my Android phone with an Apple product. 

Well, to be honest, I'm leaning towards the iPad 3.  The current Android tablets to me are just OK.  None of them have truly impressed me; with the closest being the Transformer Prime.

I don't plan to root it, or jailbreak it if I do get an iPad.

I would really like to see a 1080p tablet.  I know that the iPad's retina display is more, but it would be pretty cool to see a 1080p display.

Don't get me wrong, I like Android, and I love my Galaxy Nexus.  But I'm leaning towards the iPad because I think it'll do what I want it for well.  I think an Android tablet could do it too, but I think the UI for videos is a bit more refined in iOS.  I'm also leaning towards not having to deal with Force Close issues, etc.  But having Google Chrome on a tablet would be nice..

I'm actually excited to see what Windows 8 will have to offer for the tablet market.

Tim, I know I should get what I want since I'll be the one spending money on it, but I just wanted to see if there were compelling reasons to get or not get a certain tablet based on people's personal experience.  Oh and FYI, one of my coworkers told me this yesterday, the primary manufacturers for Apple's displays are Samsung and LG.  Apple holds the exclusive rights to it though.

I like Samsung displays actually.  I think that's really the only thing they do well.

The couple people I know that have the new iPad say they love it. Honestly though, if it were me, I think I'd go with an android tablet. Although, I do like the iPad's, I just think they are lacking something.

As for Motorola and Samsung, I will never buy anything from Motorola ever again and I will never buy a Samsung phone again. I like Samsung TV's though. I just bought one a couple days ago. And like Tim said, their cable boxes are horrible.

Apple + jailbreak ftw

Tim, I knew you were not only talking about phones, I was just simply giving an example.
OT: Motorola products are way too buggy, any 'system update' you accept, is the end of the life of the phone. At the end of the day, we all have our own tastes, wants and needs.

I'm getting tired of the ear fatigue that I'm getting from using in-ear headphones while traveling on a plane, so I'm looking into getting a pair of noise-canceling on-ear or over-ear headphones.  Any recommendations?

Beats by dre, are great but way overpriced

Beats by Dre are not noise canceling headphones.  They are noise isolating headphones.  What they do is just play white/pink noise (static) to drown out any noise around you.  

IMHO, the Beats aren't very good quality either.  They just blast a shitload of bass, which will damage your hearing.  They have had a ton of issues with headbands breaking.  Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.  I was talking with someone that had the Solo's (or something), and he lost one of the ear cushions.  When he called up Monster, they wouldn't even sell him a replacement cushion.  They just told him to buy another pair of headphones.  That's horrible service if you can't even replace a cushion for a pair of $300 headphones that are under warranty.  Unfortunately, the artist endorsements create a ton of hype and kids don't know that a lot of bass does not equal quality audio.  That's why they sell so much.

Mark, you know my opinion on what to get for headphones for traveling.  If you want me to hook you up with a pair of headphones that have actual noise canceling, made by the company that invented/pioneered noise canceling technology, hit me up.

I have to agree with Tim.  I am not impressed with Beats by Dre, especially for the price point they are selling at.  I tried them, and as Tim said, they blast a shitload of bass.  I don't equate more bass to mean better SQ.

I plan to use the headphones for casual listening also, so I want something with a more balanced sound profile.  I'm more interested in the noise-canceling than SQ, but I don't want to sacrifice the audio quality too much either.  I'm also looking to possibly use these as my primary set of cans.

They will either be hooked up directly to either my laptop, iPod, phone, or future tablet; or they will be connected to my portable DAC/headphone amplifier that will be connected to one of those devices.  I currently have a couple pairs of vmoda in-ear buds and they aren't shabby.  One of the pairs is better than the other (forgot model names), but I mostly use them for travel, casual listening at my desk, or when running.  I plan to continue using them while running and at my desk at work.  But I'm tired of having to turn up the volume while traveling to only have my ears hurt by the end of the flight.

I also have a set of Pioneer HDJ-2000 that I mostly use for music.  I sometimes use them for casual listening, but I prefer to use them when I am mixing or when analyzing songs/mixes.  While they have a great seal, they aren't noise canceling and I would prefer to leave them at home.

Tim, I do know your opinion, and honestly, that's where I am leaning towards.  I was just curious if folks have had experience with other models, or possibility multiple models of the competition, so to possibly provide a comparative review or mention a set I haven't looked into yet.

Any suggestions on a tablet ? Primary use surfing the web,netflix, movies music. I've hear bad things about the tablets with Android. I don't wanna pay a monthly fee so just WiFi. Any sugs?

I'll let you know what I think of the iPad when I spend some more time with it.  I just got it on Friday and haven't had any time to play with it yet or set it up.  I have a feeling that I'm going to like it based on the fact that I own other Apple devices and am already comfortable with iOS.

The new iPad is 4G, I've played with it, its really nice.

I got an iPad2 unfortunately.  It's a 3G one, but I haven't decided whether I want to set up the 3G or not yet.

The 3G one is still nice Tim ;D

Yeah.  I'm debating whether or not I want to set up 3G on it.  I'm guessing it wouldn't be that hard to add on to my current cell phone account.

If you do, it's not like you'll commit to anything. It'll be a month by month plan. Where did you buy it?

I didn't.  Work gave it to me.

So my job gave me a brand new ipad3. I'm not an apple fan but if it's free...

I love that thing. No complaints about ours. I know you guys don't like apple ijunk but I can't really complain.

Your job gave it to you? I'm workin at the wrong place..... lol

Yeah. I now work in the science department at the coast guard academy. Perks of the job.

Z, the mad scientist!!

Anybody read any reviews on the nexus 7?

Am thinking of picking 2 of them up my self  from what read it got good reviews

(http://img.tapatalk.com/aeff7e5f-0b13-a058.jpg)

Sonofabitch.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/102150693225130002912/posts/Qj5WnLJXLXX
Enjoy.

http://shutupandtakemymoney.com/

So, I was on the verge of buying a Nexus 7, because my netbook is pretty useless now. However, I stopped myself and said that I would wait to see what the Microsoft Surface Pro will be like. I think that would be a bit more suitable as a laptop replacemet. I do like me some Android, though.

The week I buy a kindle fire for school, is the same week they announce the new kindle fires. :mad: oh well it was cheap

So I finally bought a tablet, an ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity..  bought the keyboard dock as well..

I was waiting for the Surface Pro, and still am; but with as much travel as I'm expected to do til the end of the year, I wanted one now.  Granted, I'm surprised it took me this long to buy a tablet..

So I'm building a new computer I have most of the parts already (just need a case) so far I have..

ASUS P8Z68-V Pro/Gen 3 Motherboard

Intel 7 2700K Unlocked Quad Core Processer w/Hyper threading

GIGABYTE GV-R787OC-2GD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Corsair H100 Liquid cooler

(3) OCZ Vertex 3 240G Solid State Drives

OCZ Z-Series Z1000M 1000W ATX PSU

8Gb of DDR3 Ram G-Skill Ripjaws

and probably a Fractal Arc Midi Case

Using it to record and edit videos and play games. It will play any game out there at max settings with HD texture packs at crazy resolutions. I'm either getting two 23" monitors or one 29" I can't wait to put this beast together :D

Edit: Forgot to mention I'm going to Overclock the hell out of it hence the unlocked processor, video card and liquid cooler. Hoping for 5ghz stable but 4.8-4.9 is the norm from a setup like this

My oil submerged pc project (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuNkB_8fJeY#ws)

I personally would prefer an Ivy Bridge processor and skip the overclocking.  Sandy Bridge is still a great processor, though.

Any particular reason you are going with a Vertex 3 instead of a Vertex 4?

If you're planning to do video editing, I would suggest getting more RAM.  What's the max your chosen motherboard will take?  RAM is fairly cheap nowadays.

Mostly price. I got the i7 2700k on sale, and the OCZ vertex 3 as well. My motherboard can take up to 32GB. There is definitely room for improvement in the parts list. This is my first build so I didn't want to go too overboard and accidentally break something...

So I should pickup some more RAM? H

Honestly, if it were me, if the motherboard can support 32GB, the machine would have 32GB.  Only thing that would prohibit it is cost, but RAM should be anywhere from $40 to $60 for 8GB depending on configuration (2x4GB, 1x8GB, etc.).

32 GB is definitely overkill.  12 or 16 GB should be more then enough seeing as it looks like this will mainly be a gaming rig anyway. 

video editing creates a high ram demand.

I missed the video editing part in his post, but my point remains.  Unless you do heavy video editing for a living, you'll probably never use 32GB of ram.  Plus he would have to use only 8GB sticks to hit 32GB total (assuming the motherboard only has 4 ram slots).  8GB sticks of good quality ram isn't cheap.  

I guess in the end it really just depends on his budget.  

That's true, which is why I stated the only prohibiting factor is cost, or how much he wants to spend.

I was curious and looked up the mobo specs, which does have 4 slots.  I proceeded to check out 8GB in 8GBx1 config on Newegg, and saw that the range of prices was anywhere from $35 to $100, with a median around $40 to $50.  I would at least buy 16GB of RAM, in 8GBx1; this would leave you the option of adding more RAM if desired without having to replace old memory.  This could be done for about $100.  I just don't think 8GB is enough for any decent video editing these days, but maybe it is.

But I'm also the type of person that likes to max out my build.

Has any one tried out the magic jack for phone service ?

I know of guys that used it overseas. They didn't have problems with it.

I am thinking about building an HTPC..  pretty tired of using these sorry excuses for a set top box that Time Warner leases out..  just starting the research..

I have a popcorn hour c-300 its a beast but am a upgrade to there smaller version soon look them up

So I have parts on the way for my HTPC build..  It's a bit overkill (OK, a lot overkill) for an HTPC, but I do plan to make it multipurpose.

The primary purpose will be for live TV and DVR capabilities; other purposes will include, but not be limited to: playing blu-ray movies, streaming, video encoding, and other media based duties.

Intel Core i7-3770K
ASRock Professional-M microATX motherboard
2TB SATA 6gb/s Seagate hard drive
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (8GBx2) DDR3 1600 RAM
4 x Antec TriCool 80mm case fan (don't know if I'll use all 4, but the case supports up to 4)
Silverstone ML03B HTPC Case
Silverstone ST45SX SFX 450w PSU
Inteset CIR Receiver
Ceton InfiniTV 4

Parts that will be used that I already have:
LG Blu-Ray Writer
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB SSD
Windows 7 Professional (will be using Media Center)

Now to request for a tuning adapter and a CableCard from the cable company.

So my newly built HTPC doesn't POST.. ugh..

I think I've narrowed it down to either out of date firmware on the mobo, bad mobo, or bad processor.. :(

Well, looks like I'm going to have the Apple fanboys here at work sold on getting some Android tablets (preferably the Nexus 10) for one of the classes. There's a pilot program we're going to run and see how it works out. I may even convince them to get me one so I can trade in this iPad I don't really use and let another fanboy use it. :fingers crossed:

New development. I decided to dual boot Ubuntu 12.10 next to windows 7 ultimate (both 64 bit) so that I can build android on it. Figured I'd get my hands dirty doing something else I enjoy.

Which OS is going to be your dev environment?

Ubuntu is the best for android development with virtualbox and a good kitchen setup you can customize roms easily

Ubuntu is going to be the dev environment. I left windows on there (the laptop had been running 7 since the day I bought it two years ago). I gave each OS equal HD space on a 500 GB so I think they'll play nicely with each other. They both have plenty of space to grow should the need arise. For now, its to get my feet wet but I'm afraid the machine won't be able to take it for very long due to its age. So long as it holds me over until I can upgrade my tower, I'll be happy. If it dies, that'll just be the perfect excuse to get me a Nexus 10.

Nice.  I have Ubuntu running in a VM, granted, I need to update it.  I'm debating if I want to setup some sort of triple boot on my laptop or not..

How would you setup a triple boot? VM or partitioning?

I have a dual boot via partitioning now. I'm debating how much I want to add a third partition for Ubuntu vs keeping it in a VM.

Gotcha. What do you have on your existing partitions?

OS X Lion and Windows 7.  I'm not particularly a fan of the Unity desktop, so that would have to go.  I also don't boot into Ubuntu as often, which is my initial hesitance to adding a third partition for it.  If I were to add a third partition, I might also take the opportunity to install Mountain Lion and Windows 8 on it.  Then the laziness factor comes in, especially since I don't use my laptop as much these days.

I hear ya. I have the same thing just in reverse. My desktop is older than dirt (technology wise) as I've had it for about 5 years and haven't used it in months. I think the last time I fired it up was to setup my home network. It certainly has the HD capacity to dual boot. Hell, I could quad boot if I really wanted to but the processor and memory wouldn't be able to keep up. The beauty of dual HD's in a desktop machine. Now to wait for tax time so that I could upgrade.

I used to dual boot on my mac book pro but ever since I upgraded to a ssd hard drive I refuse to risk using more space then I have too its only 255gb

The upgrades I've been looking at throw in a 1TB SSD but last thing I want is for that to crap out from multiple writes and shit. I'll stick with the drives I have now so that I can pursue my developing endeavor.

I have a 120gb SSD as my primary boot drive.  I swapped in a 750gb SATA II drive in place of my superdrive for data storage.

Thats my next upgrade the data doubler i have a original 750gb drive but with mac os x lion it was super slow , i got a samsung 840 pro series ssd with trim enable and the change in speed notice is incredible. the battery life even improve which is always a plus. and Z the price of a 1TB SSD is ridiculous right now but am sure the pirces will drop soon

That's the thing. The upgrade packages for new case, mobo, processor, ram, power supply, and that hard drive is about $300. It's really not that bad tbh.

It's nice having a separate data drive.  That way, I can re-image my boot drive without worrying about backing up data.

But I honestly haven't touched my laptop lately.  I pretty much only use it for downloading new music or making a mix, which I haven't done in a while.  I pretty much use my tablet for my casual browsing nowadays.

On both an unrelated/related note, I'm considering purchasing a Surface RT.

I almost got a Nexus 10, but then I realized I have no practical need for a tablet.
Today I've been playing with my Raspberry Pi (http://www.raspberrypi.org/). Got it running XBMC, and made a lego case for it.  :droid:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gc6motwa59hv1ry/2012-12-13%2000.20.02.jpg (https://www.dropbox.com/s/gc6motwa59hv1ry/2012-12-13%2000.20.02.jpg)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/y9mt31s7vekxqix/2012-12-13%2000.21.12.jpg (https://www.dropbox.com/s/y9mt31s7vekxqix/2012-12-13%2000.21.12.jpg)

i bought my tablet with the primary reason of using it to watch movies on a plane.  It has now become my primary device for casual browsing.

I just purchased a Mophie juice pack power station pro.  My hopes with this is to keep it in my back pack for emergency uses. It supposedly can charge my phone 4 time before the  juice pack needs to be recharged. It's a whole lot smaller than I thought it was going to be.  Here's a link if anybody is interested.

http://www.mophie.com/juice-pack-powerstation-PRO-smartphones-tablets-p/2028_jpu-pwrstion-pro.htm

The Mophie looks pretty good.  I know a bunch of people that have the power case thing that Mophie makes for iPwns, and they really like them.  The Juice Pack would really fit my needs when traveling.  I don't like the case style because it is not easy to remove and I would not be able to use my phone on any of my docking stations with it on.

supposedly that battery pack can charge an ipad from empty to about 50%.

I've found that my iPad battery life is pretty good.  I use it daily for work.  I can go about 4 days without having to charge it.

My ipad battery life is pretty good too. It goes for almost two weeks because I don't use it.  :laugh:

Glad you're capable of providing factual non-biased information Z.  It isn't painfully obvious that you don't like Apple products and daydream about sucking Android Andrew's cock.



















































 :trololol:

Lol!

Tim, STFU!

And its Andy. Not Andrew.

Anyway, its not because its an Apple product. Its because I have a smart phone, two laptops and my desktop. I have no reason to use a tablet be it Apple, Android or Windows. I rarely even turn on my desktop anymore. Granted, its because the hardware is old and needs upgrading but I don't have a need for so many devices. Honestly, the only reason I would ever BUY a tablet is to toy with it. I would probably never actually USE it. My phone can do those tasks just fine and its much more portable. So again, STFU Tim!

I'm hoping that my Nexus 10 will prove to be useful for school and not something to just toy around with. It does satisfy my hunger for hacking Android devices though. Completely open source, hell yeah! This thing is a beast. The new iCrap may have a faster GPU, but Android is so much more versatile. It took me forever to try and figure out how to get some pictures off of an iPad without having to plug it into a computer and sync itthrough itunes. I hate being locked down like that.

Z, remember these?  You make it too easy.







I added the :trololol: for a reason.

I have the seven and I love it. I use it all the time.

I'm waiting on the next generation iPad mini to come out.  I'm hoping the specs will be better than this one.

I like the iPod mini it will make a great stereo replacement in my point of view , but keeping up with apple is a headache

I hate technology!!!

I had to download a practice program for my ARE exams. So I install it on my windows 7 laptop. Program doesn't work bc my version of windows is 64-bit and it needs to be 32-bit.

So now I need to download virtual pc and install windows xp on that side and reinstall the stupid program!!

Yeah Tim. I remember those. Again, STFU! Lol

What's the best hand written note taking app out there?

Guess i'll put in my 2cents, i've used the imac in college, it was great for Photoshop and Illustrator, but I can't afford those programs now, and I love my Sony Vaio laptop, I spend more time away from home so a desktop would be inconvenient. I played with the Iphone before I got my Droid 3 and I wasn't impressed by it. The only Apple product I own is an Ipod classic. Apple is too expensive IMO. I'm with you Z, long live Android! And I don't want your sloppy seconds! Haha!

What do my sloppy seconds have anything to do with this? Weird.

I'm referencing Andy the Android....

Ah. Gotcha.

So what you're saying is that Windows is just as difficult to keep up with as Apple?  Maybe we're on to something here?  :hmm2: Companies are out to make money, so their upgrades make older software/hardware incompatible.  It's a great method to nickel and dime their customers since this all ends up snowballing into a bigger mess.  The shitty thing is that it really fucks things up for 3rd party companies that make supporting products or software.  Everyone acts like it's the 3rd party company's fault when their product doesn't support the changes made by the primary manufacturer.

In this case, it is the responsibility of the third party company.  64-bit vs. 32-bit is not a matter of making more money.  There are shortcomings of 32-bit OSes that make it apparent for 64-bit OSes to be installed.  A company that only develops software for 32-bit needs to either catch up with the times or get out of the game because they will fail if they don't.

I feel like a god at electronics right now (even though I'm far from it). I took apart my old Viewsonic 20" computer monitor, removed the bulging capacitors, and put in new ones. Now it works like a charm. It was actually extremely easy despite the fact I've never soldered capacitors before.

My new monitor setup consists of two of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236153 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236153)
I gave the monitor I just fixed to my mom, since it was 16:10, and 16:9 monitors suck balls when 20" or smaller.

I hope you replaced the caps with the right ones.

thats the one thing i dont like about my monitors, the 16:9 resolution..

:fuckthat:

I made sure that the capacitance and the voltages were different on the new ones. That's what I learned to do in Physics 2 last spring, do everything wrong and ass-backwards. :flip:

And by that I mean yeah. I got Rubycon caps with the exact same specs from badcaps.net. It was only like $9 total for the new ones. Better than tossing it and buying a new monitor.

It really sucks. I hate how 16:9 monitors are so damn wide and short. 16:10 monitors are a lot better since they're a little more square. I can't really tell with my new 24" monitors though since they're so large.

Attaboy.

Lol.. I have 24" monitors too, and I wish they were 16:10.  I dunno, I think its mostly the idea that I am missing some potential screen real estate.

I'm thinking about building a new desktop.. Now I have to figure out which laptops to sell..

I've been thinking about this as well

So my phone took a dive and now am waiting on my Nexus 4 to come in some how i cant seem to live with phones with out root , Even though the spring line up is going to be nice i pass the fan boy phase and as long as its functional and "hackable" i can live . Did any of you tmobile users here the news on getting Lte ?

Slight thread revival. The other day I ordered a new am3 socket athlon dual core processor to replace my aging single core. Turns out, the stock motherboard that supposedly supports said chip, doesn't. So, today I ordered a replacement biostar mini atx board and a couple of 2 gig ddr3 ram sticks to replace that shitty Compaq board. The only thing that's going to be left of my 6 year old cheap desktop is the cabling and the case. Good thing about this new board, it supports AMD's octocores so I still have room to upgrade later and it also supports up to 16 gigs of ram. Not a bad initial upgrade investment of $130 if you ask me.

Just picked a galaxy tab 2 7.0 for myself and an ipad mini :shudder: for the wife. Getting ready to gain root access on the galaxy tab. Tech stuff is fun.

And for those wondering about my governement issued ipad, that shit is geeting turned in. I dont need uncle Sam spying on me through that thing.

Spying on you how?

Long story.

That's why I don't use the free WiFi at work  once you agree to terms and conditions they track everything and use it against you , damm antitrust

(http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/30850068.jpg)

^haha I just noticed that...

Question...shopping for a flat screen tv. Maybe a 55 or up. No higher than a 60 inch. No plasma.. what do you guys recommend for companies? Got around 1k for a budget. It's a little intimidating...lol

I particularly like Sony, Sharp, and some Samsungs.

Get a Samsung LED TV.

Yeah we seem to be leaning that way..

I'm a fan of Samsung and Sony stuff.  Why no plasma though?

I heard they burn out faster. Plus my dad said you can't play video games on them. In some of the reading I did for research, it seemed like companies were abandoning it and focusing on LED instead...

I have a 55 inch Samsung led that I love.... I think it was around 1500 but prices should have come down.

Lol Mike we got the same one :)

I have a 60 inch LG plasma 600hz for my latest setup in one of my rooms I play games all the time there is no motion blur the plasmas gives a nice smooth quality picture that's y I picked it over LED. My movies and video games look amazing only thing is its heavy as hell took 2 of us to lift and mount on wall all the old issues pretty much been fix there is No burn in affects or non of that on recent ones

Hmm. Well I heard that from my Dad and he has some strange information sometimes. Lol There was only 1 plasma when we went, I thought that was a sign...we'll see how this TV goes :)

what model?

It's the 6 series, 1080p and 120hz, no smart tv though, we don't need it.

I think the only plasma there was a Panasonic...

Nice, Congratulations!

If I were to get a plasma, it would most likely be a Panasonic.. lol..

My Sharp has smart apps, or whatever Sharp calls it.  I never use them.

I have a 60" Samsung  plasma.  I stuck with plasma because I like the picture quality and notice motion blurring with most of the LED's.  I have even noticed motion blurring on the new Sony 4k tv's.

We saw that Sony monster at Best Buy! Big price tag! Hubby wanted to get the Bose sound bar until he saw the price lol it was more than the tv!

I had to upgrade my audio system to optical i guess thats the new wave with new TV sets now adays. I think the sound bars are neat some times thats all you need but i like my 7.1 ch logitech speakers they was pretty affordable when i got them

I know a guy.  :suspect:

Oh that's right...you don't like Bose right?

Nope.  Never said that.  I just said I know a guy.  ;)

I went with Harmon Larson / klipsch surround sound and I'm pretty happy. I want with a smart tv and I'm with alpha... Only app I use is netflix which I could have gotten on any other device. I'm in the market for a 40 - 46 inch now for my game room... Waiting for a real good deal.

So Friday, Lori is buying her new samsung smart TV, and I want to surprise her with a keyboard for it since the tv does not include one. Can any of y'all suggest a decent wireless keyboard to use with it? I know samsung makes one, but its really expensive, I am going to have a source talk toSamsung and see if she cant get me hooked up with one of theirs, but if not, I would like other options.

You can buy a remote with one built in cheaper... Logitech makes one I think.

So am waiting for the new nexus 7 version 2 to come out I hope I can get one of these by the end of the month if the rumors are true

Cool thanks! Only problem I've been finding, the remotes I've looked at are Bluetooth. The tv is not Bluetooth capable.

GF wants to upgrade her Kindle for her bday.  Looked into it and looks like two front runners are Kindle Fire HD and Galaxy Tab 2.  Any personal experiences with either?

Out of those two options, I would go with the Galaxy Tab 2 because it is an Android with more app support. If you're thinking about going that route look at the Nexus 7. That's what I have and I like it better than the Galaxy (my Dad has a Galaxy so I've used both). I think the Nexus is around the same price but I can't remember.

The Kindle Fire HD runs a custom version of Android.  I don't have one though, so I don't know if it is locked down at all, or what the support in the world of custom Android OS is for it.

The new Nexus 7 releases on Jul. 30.  I am thinking about getting one, actually.  16:10 HD screen, it would be more portable than my current 10" tablet, and its priced  less than $300 for the WiFi only version; it's hard not to consider purchasing one.

Ryan, what is your GF's plans for the device?

She's reads a lot on her Kindle and honestly I think that's all she's gonna be doin with the new one.  Shes not gonna be customizing it or anything. 

That's why I'm kinda leanin more towards the Fire HD, it does what she wants it to and if she gets tired of readin... which she won't... she can play some games or whatever.

The other two do look good and you can get the Kindle app on them but a lot of what I read said the app pales in comparison to using it on the actual kindle.

Idk ill guess ill try and do some recon, her bday isn't until the end of August.   Just don't wanna give it away cause I don't think she expects it at all. :)

I don't like my galaxy note 8. It might be up for sale soon.

Aaaaaanndddddd... I purchased a new Nexus 7 today.  :)

I just got home and it is charging right now.  I plan on setting it up and playing with it later tonight.

Oooh! 4.3?

Am waiting for the 32g nexus 7 to come in the mail stores around my way didn't have it yet did you get any accessories with it ?

Yes sir..
Not yet.  I pretty much just want a case for now, and I am deciding between the travel cover or the premium cover (leaning towards the premium cover).  I only question how long it would take for accessories to come out.  Accessory support for Nexus devices doesn't have the greatest track record.

How does 4.3 compare to 4.2? From what I've been reading, there isn't much difference but no one has created any 4.3 stuff for the gs3 yet. Obviously, google has been rolling out the revamped apps to give a taste of the minor update but I hear there are security updates and some other under the hood stuff.

To be honest, I hadn't really used 4.2 very much before getting this.  I gave my Transformer Pad Infinity to my mom a while ago, and I don't currently have an Android phone, so my experience with 4.2 has been minimal.

That being said, reading through the changelog, it doesn't seem like there are that many new features as much as bug and security fixes.  It's pretty snappy, and it looks like the OS has improved since 4.1.  Any improvement, in my opinion, is great for Android; since at times, it leaves quite a bit to be desired.

My initial impression of the new Nexus 7 is that its a good device; quick, awesome screen, and ,so far, pretty good battery life.  We'll see how it goes as I continue to use the device.  I will be on travel this week, and I am not planning to bring my laptop, so it'll be tested with one of my typical use cases.

After playing with the nexus 7 tablet  4.3 seems more responsive to me when it comes to multitasking and wifi connection is a lot quicker for me now when I want to stream from it to my network , I already rooted it am a give it a few days to check if the battery life improved from 4.2 and also test out the gps on it

Mine updated this morning it does feel quicker.

Mine updated last night. It does seem to be quicker. My WiFi connection seems to have improved but I don't know if the update had any effect on that.

So far the battery life on the nexus 7 v2 is amazing gps is quick when using hotspot for data bluetooth streaming is working good no issues as of yet all i need now is a nice case, i was hoping balistic type ones came out but nothing heavy duty yet

I agree.  The battery life is amazing for an Android device.  I haven't used the hotspot or bluetooth yet, as I mostly use it for casual internet browsing and watching movies while on travel.

I picked up a Chromecast last night.  It's pretty nifty, and for $35, it's actually pretty cool!  I bought it for when I go on travel, so I could stream movies from my tablet to the hotel TV.

I am also refreshing my laptop from a SATA2 SSD / 7200rpm HDD combo, to a SATA3 SSD/SATA3 SSD combo.  I finally decided it was time to upgrade.  I am hoping for improved battery life.  I also did not want to buy a new laptop, so I figure this is a good way to improve its performance; it should feel like a brand new laptop, and for a lot less than I would have spent buying a new one.  It should also be screaming fast!
On a side note, these 7mm SSDs are fucking slim as shit..

Ended up goin with the Kindle Fire HD 7 inch for GF and she loves it!  Had no idea I was gettin it for her.  We went to Best Buy to get it a screen protector, man are the fuckin con artists... $15 to install a $30 piece of clear plastic.  I just put it on myself.

Thats why i ended up getting one of those tempered glass screen protector no bubbles just stick and go, At lest they didt get you for warranty on it

Well I didn't buy it there, got it on Amazon.

So I just purchased a tablet! It's for my parents though. Dell venue 8 pro. From what I've seen of the windows 8.1 platform with full MS office, I think it's going to fit both of them very well.

^ nice pick up. Slickdeals? the 230 deals?

I am waiting for my levono thinkpad tablet 2 to come in still. something happend at USPS and it got delayed.... So pissed this morning when I woke up and saw the asus t100ta for 300 shipped no tax.

My roommate works for dell and they have her a 100 dollar off coupon. For the 8 pro and the micro USB to USB adapter was 238 after tax.

Never got my levono thinkpad touch2... USPS lost it so refunded.

On the plus side. The surface RT I massed order came in. Suppose to be both to flip on Amazon, but end up keeping one.

Its pretty good considering how much people bitch about the RT. It does lag if you open tons of apps, but it is a good overall. Pretty good if you just want something to take notes on and do some web surfacing. App store is still limited and there are ads in some official apps that really piss me off. Eg. Pandora ads that interfere with split screen function. Also having a keyboard is a plus for it. This is my first tablet with a keyboard. I used ipads and a Nexus 7 before this. They keyboard just makes big difference in productivity.

SNES app is pretty sweet through. Playing super mario on it with a 360 controller :)

I got the Dell Venue 8 Pro. It was the best bang for the buck for what I need it for. I prefer my desktop for work and such and I have my phone for everything else. The Dell Venue takes a a little getting used to especially trying to use the desktop mode without a keyboard or stylus (these are also on my christmas list). On the plus side, it's easily portable, feels solid, snappy performance, better battery life than an ultrabook/tablet with the same OS and features and retails for $300. Got mine for $230 and if you really want it. Microsoft is offering it for $99-$199 tomorrow morning.

Ordered a refurbished Roku 3 for $70. I don't pay for cable, so I look forward to this filling that gap. It looks like it has a shitload of features. I was originally going to get a Chromecast, but it doesn't even support Amazon instant video yet.

How is amazon instant working out for you do you like it better then Netflix? I seen they have some good choices to choose from but never gave it a chance yet.

I like amazon instant a lot, considering that i use amazon prime for my textbooks and pretty much everything else, it's a nice addition. I think having Amazon Prime is cheaper than netflix too, and you get more out of it.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/netflix-hulu-plus-amazon-instant-video/ (http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/netflix-hulu-plus-amazon-instant-video/)

I just got a Gear Power by Iogear. Heavy little sucker. But it'll charge 2 phones at the same time and will come in handy when I can't get to an outlet. It's cool so far..

Got a 39" Insignia basic little TV for kids play room. Out of the box the picture sucks which I knew going in. Thinking of investing in a calibrator. Any recommendations? Budget is maybe $250. I figure I'll use on all my TVs as well. Are these with the money?

I have a Spyder4PRO that I use for my computer monitors.  They sell a separate TV module.  I've never used one for a TV though, so I wouldn't be able to comment on that aspect of it.

I was contemplating buying the Spyder4 for the TV. They say it does the job but it's basic. As long as it fixes the color I'm good!!

My laptop has a 25w amd Athlon dual core and I'm looking to upgrade. I don't see the point of shelling out a fuck ton of cash to replace it. I have found other cores that fit the socket. Question is, should I go with a triple or quad core phenom chip?

Do you have the brand and model number of your laptop ? Just want to check out stats compared to todays midrange computers

I'll do you one better: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c02497777&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c02497777&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en)

What are you looking for in your laptop that a new CPU would provide?

(http://ih0.redbubble.net/image.14386575.2514/fc,550x550,white.u1.jpg)

Your best cpu choice would be the phantom II P960 25W-35W quad core, it is cheap but you would still be considered as a slow pc. everything else on your laptop is considered slow as heck compared to today's standards

 For comparison , this is the cpu from a low en 450$ 15.6 in laptop vs your actual and the quad core.
=328&cmp[]=126&cmp[]=1861]http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=328&cmp[]=126&cmp[]=1861 (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[)

and this vs a 800$ laptop.
=328&cmp[]=126&cmp[]=1947]http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=328&cmp[]=126&cmp[]=1947 (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[)

My advice, If you only look for a small boost and everthing else is fine, get the cpu and ram upgrade. otherwise, get a new laptop. For 1000$ you'll be mind blown by the performance gain.

I'm already maxed on RAM. The only thing I can hope to boost is the CPU. I've found the trip core and the quad core for under $100. I don't have cash lying around for a new machine. I'm looking at a career change this summer so shelling out that kind of cash is out of the question.

BTW, your links don't work.

So I was looking for more clarification than just a picture that said "Power!"

Since you already have 8GB of RAM and that is the stated max, you're not going to see much gain there, even if you could swap in a some faster RAM.

What I was trying to ask with my previous question is:

In what situation are you being CPU bound?  Games?  Other app that is CPU intensive?

I'm just curious if you would benefit from faster IOPS rather than a new CPU; but if you are CPU bound and not IO bound, then the CPU would be your best bet for an upgrade.

too bad it doesn't work, but you still can compare your cpu ratings at this site.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php)

you have to take a cpu with very similar power consumption or make sure your power supply is powerful enough to go higher

Who doesn't appreciate a Jezza meme?

Anyway, its for building android. That stuff is extremely CPU intensive.


According to the mobo specs that I found, I'm limited to a 25 w chip.

Sold my surface pro and bought a nexus 7 2013. Hopefully this will not disappoint me like the surface rt, Dell Venue 8, nexus 7 2012, iPad mini, etc. Yes I am a tech whore

Looking at buying some skullcandy headphones, this is tech question right?? Anyways but they're a Canadian model (cheap), dumb question, are there any differences you think? Where my Canadians at??!

they are decent. I have a set and they didn't cost me an arm or a leg.

But will the Canadian version work OK?

Only if you like hearing all your music sung in a Canadian accent. 

Hmmmmm eh?

It will work just fine. 

I was using my Canadian voice you like it eh?

Headphones are headphones. Not sure why a Canadian version would work any differently or be a different price. The headphones my company make are the same product world wide.

Skull candy are Decent headphones. Mine haven't died yet and I abuse them.

On a side note I picked up a Dell 4k monitor for cheap, but it can't do 4k @ 60hz... so I am stuck with 2560 x 1440 @ 60hz. Contemplating on returning the monitor and getting a cheaper korean 2560 x 1440 IPS panel, or keeping this.

I've been looking at 4k TVs and they play the same game

They do the same with cheap go pro knock offs, they say 720p but you find out it's only at 30fps, which for a sport camcorder is just completely stupid.

well looks like I am going to be returning the monitor Thursday. Had to scramble some cash to pay off my weekend emergency room trip. F U stomach flu!!