You Don’t Know What You’ve Got

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Tom Long
Go to Newegg

“Till it’s gone”

After literally years of work, I pretty much had my HTPC configured the way I wanted it. I could watch live TV on Windows 7 Media Center (via a Hauppauge 2250 tuner card) and everything else on XBMC (via Sickbeard/Sabanzbd). So, of course, it was time for something to go wrong.

Not surprisingly, what went wrong was the power supply that came in my hec 7K09 computer case. The power supply was often criticized in reviews and is an odd form factor. That means that I would have to buy another one just like it in order to replace it. They no longer sell the case, but the power supply is still available – for the same price as the case.

And so I have embarked in an entirely new direction with an entirely new case and a new power supply. I’ll stick with my old Asus motherboard and AMD triple core processor. The case I’ve ordered is the Silverstone Grandia GD06B. The fans that come with the case are reputed to be effective and quiet. I like the idea of moving the storage drives I now have in a ProBox into the main computer case. So I’m willing to go a little bigger.  My hec case only allowed up to two drives but it wasn’t practical cable-wise to fit the second one in there.  The place for the optical drive was so low over the mobo that I couldn’t put a normal one in that case either.  Having four drives in the Grandia should be a treat.

As a bonus, I’ve ordered a Samsung Blu Ray drive. I’ll let you know whether I can integrate this in with XBMC.  I hope so, because I’d really like to put my PS3 back downstairs with the Sony Google TV.  (They play so well together.)  I’m hoping this case actually does have room for such a drive.

Now, you’re going to think I cheaped out on the new power supply. I ordered the Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W. A lot of you will say that I should have purchased the Silverstone Strider Plus. The case is limited to a 150 mm PS and either of these would fit. The Strider Plus is modular (you can unplug cables you don’t use from the PS). That would have made cable management easier. The Strider Plus would probably last longer as well. In a computer that is on 24/7, that is a big deal. But what sold me on the Rosewill was all of the reviews claiming how quiet it was. In an HTPC, I have to give that precedence over longevity or convenience.

So, after two and a half years, my HTPC stands ready to be refreshed.  In the meantime, I’m using TWC’s PVR and I feel like have been asked to gather berries and hunt with a club.  I’ve been spoiled by Amazon Prime, but could only get the power supply from Newegg.  It takes them about as long to process an order as it takes Amazon to get things here.  So, I guess I’ll be tapping my foot anxiously for a few days and leaning on the cable box for entertainment.

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New iPad with Old iPad Content-Settings

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Tom Long

Are you passing on your old iPad or iPad 2 and getting the new iPad (aka iPad 3, 3rd generation iPad, etc)? You can save all your content into iTunes, erase the old iPad and pass it on completely wiped, and then put your old content and settings onto a new iPad. The person who gets your old iPad 2 can restore it to the backup from their iPad. I found great instructions from this MacWorld article. I put together the above video to show how it’s done. After all, we don’t want anything to interfere with how much we enjoy our new iPads now do we?

In our family, I’m getting the new iPad, my wife is swapping her iPad 1 for my iPad 2 (she didn’t want a new one). She is giving away her iPad 1 but she could have received Amazon credit for $162.50 had she chosen to do so.

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Time Warner Cable, My iPad and Google TV

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Tom Long

I was pretty late to the Sony Google TV party. Price was definitely a barrier. But last fall when the prices dropped I picked one up as a “spare” TV. About the same time, Time Warner Cable offered me a bundle of a home phone, internet, and digital cable for only a little more than I was paying for broadband internet access. I had been living without cable TV, but this put me over the edge and I picked up their “bundle”.

I had been sorely disappointed with Hulu Plus as an iPad app because many of the programs I like to watch were blocked for viewing on mobile devices. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the TWC iPad streams my cable channels to the iPad beautifully (as long as I’m on my home network). In addition, I can change channels on my Google TV from the app without changing over to the Google TV remote app I have on the iPad. I can also schedule shows directly from the app. The interface is far superior to the interface on their Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HDC set-top box.

Like Tivo, TWC also lets me remotely access my set-top box via their web app. I can schedule shows from any computer on which I’m logged into my TWC account. Not nearly as elegant as their iPad app, but I can schedule a recording from a friend’s computer not on my home network.

I am using the IR blaster provided with the Sony Google TV to control the set-top box. It works very well. In the video, I share a quick tip for how to avoid needing to use the yellow and red buttons which don’t work with this common set-top box. Hitting the tab button allows me to flip back and forth between two channels. I have a low tolerance for watching commercials, but you might use this feature to watch two simultaneous games for example.

I’m guessing that when the trial period is over, I will once again cut the cord, but for now my “spare TV” setup is almost as fun to use as the HTPC in my home theater.


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iTunes Match

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Tom Long
Go to Apple site

iTunes Match, does it match my needs? I use iTunes to manage my music. Go ahead and mock me. I’ve grown accustomed to it and haven’t found a better alternative. But I’m still not sure that iTunes Match is a product for which I have a need. I might follow, the lead of Clayton Morris and use it to replace low quality rips from my past I suppose. At “256-Kbps AAC DRM-free quality”, it would indeed beat the quality of my old CD rips. I still rip CDs at only 192. So, I might consider the $24.99 per year subscription to do a one time upgrade. But do I want to be limited to devices that play AAC? Not so much. Not only can MP3 play on my iOS and Android devices they can even play on that old feature phone I take out and dust off every once in a while. If I have to convert all those files, is iTunes Match still worth $24.99? I love Apple and even iTunes, but like MobileMe of yore, iTunes Match just doesn’t make sense to me.


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Sony SLT a55 Unboxing

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Tom Long

The battery is still charging so I haven’t had a chance to really play with our new camera. But I wanted to share the video of the unboxing. The Sony Alpha a55 resolution isn’t the greatest at 16.2MP. But the Translucent Mirror Technology™ makes it possible to fire off pictures really quickly. It also makes quick auto focus possible in movie mode. I love the GPS tagging on my HX5V and I’m happy to have it on my new camera. The Canon T2i was my second choice but it lacked the Sony’s sweep panorama, in-camera HDR, GPS tagging, and continuous focus during video. When I found the camera on sale at 42nd Photo, that was the tipping point. My local Wolf Camera matched their price. Since Danny had answered so many of my questions and let me play with several different cameras, I wanted to buy the camera from him.

I had also considered the Canon T2i, Sony NEX 5N, and Sony NEX 7. In the end, I didn’t feel like my level of expertise warranted one of the more expensive NEX cameras. I know what lenses I intend to buy and when I compared the price of body and lenses the choice really came down to the T2i or the a55. So, I’ll give the a55 a trial and, if it works out, I’ll keep it. If not, I’ll move on to the T2i.

First a55 Pic

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