CyberNet News » Hardware

XBMC: Build Your Own HTPC

Ryan — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 06:03:54 +0000

I recently decided to make the jump from using Windows Media Center to XBMC as the primary way we watch media on our TVs. The nice thing with Windows Media Center is that you can use the Xbox 360 as an extender making it a no-brainer to access the content anywhere you have an Xbox in your house, but the lack of customizability was really starting to get to me. I started to look at some of the smaller home theater PCs (HTPCs) that are made by various manufacturers, but for what you get they are drastically overpriced (albeit they are normally crammed into nice compact cases). So I decided to build my own HTPC that could handle the exact needs of XBMC including 1080p playback.

Here is a breakdown of the different components I ordered to make my HTPC (no referral links are used in the list):

Motherboard/CPU: ASRock E350M1 AMD Motherboard/CPU Combo [Newegg - $94]
For $5 more there is also a model of the same motherboard that replaces 2 of the rear USB 2.0 ports with USB 3.0 ports.
Storage: Crucial CT064M4SSD2 64GB SATA III SSD [Newegg - $87]
Memory: G.SKILL 4GB 240-Pin DDR3-1333 SDRAM [Newegg - $20]
The motherboard only supports DDR3-1066, but due to backwards compatibility you might as well just grab some DDR3-1333. The motherboard can also handle up to 16GB of memory split across the 2 slots. I chose to grab just one 4GB stick, which means that I can upgrade to 8GB rather simply should I decide I ever need it.
Case Fan: Scythe SY1225SL12L 120mm Slipstream 800 RPM Case Fan [Newegg - $13]
Noise level is rated at 10.70 dBA, which is extremely quiet for a computer fan.
Case: MI-008 Case with 250W Power Supply [Amazon - $40] [Newegg - $40]
I provided the Amazon link for this as well because it includes free shipping, whereas Newegg charged $10 to have the case shipped. The case is 11.80″ x 8.70″ x 5.1″, which is significantly larger than something like the Apple TV but also has more power and versatility.
IR Receiver: HP OVU400102/71 USB Infrared Receiver [eBay - ~$15]
You can use any RC6-compatible IR receiver, but the HP models have been found to be some of the most compatible. I’ll jump into this a bit later since there are also various models of the HP IR receiver.

If you go with all the parts that I described above your total should come to around $270, which isn’t bad for a system like this that can fully support 1080p video. I should mention, however, that 3D video support was not a requirement of mine so my particular setup does not support it. Here is a better look at some of the individual parts…

Case Fan:

The motherboard includes a fan on the CPU, but if you’re concerned with overheating (and you probably should be) I’d recommend grabbing a 120mm case fan. Since there is a good chance that the machine will be sitting out in the open make sure you look at the noise level (dBA) of the fan to ensure it’s designed to be as quiet as possible. This particular Scythe model is 800 RPM and from a noise perspective is just 10.70 dBA.

The fan, pictured below, takes a little force to get it to pop in the side of the case, but that also means you won’t need any screws to hold it in. After you put in the fan, you need to make sure that you’re able to freely spin it without any of the blades touching the frame of the fan. The first time I put it in the case it was in place where there was a little too much pressure being exerted on the fan causing the blades to touch the frame when they would spin. I simply took it out, moved it down another inch, and had absolutely no issues after that.

You’ll also want to make note of the direction you face the fan. Some people say you want to pull air into the case while others say to push it out. The way I have it placed in the photo makes it pull the air in, then it flows across the motherboard, and will exit the case on the other side.

SSD Storage:

I decided to spring for an SSD given the huge performance gains you get over the typical hard drive. I lose a lot of storage capacity going this route, but this device isn’t the one storing all of my media. Instead I have that streamed from another machine, or you could easily add more drives through USB or internally using the 4 internal SATA III ports.

I was a little torn about where I wanted to put the drive in the case, but ultimately decided to put it on the opposite side of where I had put the case fan. Given how light the drive is I was able to hold it in place using a single screw:

The motherboard does come with a 6.0Gb/s SATA III cable so you won’t have to worry about picking one of those up.

When determining the size of the SSD make sure you consider the operating system you’ll be placing on the drive. With Windows 7 you’ll need at least 16GB for the 32-bit version and 20GB for the 64-bit version. Comparing the price of the 32GB and 64GB drives I saw a very small difference, which is why I decided to go with the 64GB.

Back Panel:

When it comes to ports this system is plentiful given the somewhat compact size. The back panel includes 6 USB 2.0 ports, VGA/DVI, PS/2 keyboard or mouse port, HDMI, 6.0Gb/s eSATA, S/PDIF optical audio out, and 5 audio ports. The motherboard also comes with a backplate to help make everything flush with the back of the case:

And here is another snapshot showing off the back panel as well as the case fan:

Front of the HTPC:

The case also has a couple of ports on the front that you can use. It includes 2 USB 2.0 ports, a microphone port, and a headphone port. I love having the USB ports on the front because I don’t keep a keyboard or mouse plugged into this, and if I need to go into the BIOS to make some changes it’s nice and easy to pop down the front cover and plug the devices in.

Closing the Case:

When everything is done you can throw the cover on the case and enjoy your hard work. Here you can see that the front of the case has a glossy appearance serving as a magnet for fingerprints, while the rest of the case is a matte-like finish.

This particular case gives you room to grow as well. There are definitely some more compact cases available, but with this you could easily add a DVD drive in case you wanted to watch a movie from your physical collection. If you want to go with a more compact case you’ll want to think about the ventilation because some of the reviews I read on them had users frequently mentioning how their devices would overheat when streaming media. That’s another reason installing a generous 120mm case fan is a good idea.

HP IR Remote Receiver:

I already have plenty of remote controls that I knew would work with this IR receiver before I purchased it. Both my Xbox 360 Universal Media Remotes as well as my Logitech Harmony Remote had no troubles working with this receiver on Windows 7, and the drivers for the device were automatically installed. It does take some tweaks getting it to work depending on the remote you have, but we will cover that in a future article.

In general any RC6 IR receiver should work fine if you’re running Windows, but the ones made by HP seem to have earned the trust of the XBMC community the most. The one thing I want to point out about this IR receiver is that there are several different models of the HP IR Receiver, which may be important if you’re looking to use this on a Linux-based system. Here’s a rundown on some of the different models I’ve seen mentioned:

OVU400103/00 (HP Part #: 5188-1667)
This is the most highly recommended model, but the trick is finding someone that is actually selling it. If you can find this model I’d recommend getting it as it’s been known to work well on both the Windows and Linux side.
OVU400102/71 (HP Part #: 5187-4593)
This is the model I purchased and had no troubles getting it to work on Windows 7. This seems to be one of the more common models and should be relatively easy to find on eBay.
OVU422000/06 (HP Part #: 5070-2584)
I don’t know much about this one, but I suspect it would also work well on the Windows side.

You just need to be careful when buying these on eBay because there are a lot of knockoffs out there. Not only that but sellers of these devices will often label them as being the OVU400103/00 model whereas what you actually receive may be another model. I’m guessing this is because many of them just have boxes of mixed models sitting in their warehouse not realizing they are actually different since they look the same.

Wrapping Up:

Over the coming weeks we will have a bunch more XBMC articles and guides coming your way. So stay tuned if you want even more info on getting this unit set up perfectly.

CyberNet’s XBMC Guides:

XBMC: Introduction to Our Upcoming Guides
Our introduction provides some of the deciding factors for switching from Windows Media Center to XBMC.
XBMC: Build Your Own HTPC
Our extensive guide on the hardware we chose for our home theater PCs (HTPCs), the cost, and some tips on choosing the hardware for your own HTPC.
XBMC: Prepare and Optimize Windows 7
A helpful list of tips to optimize the performance of Windows 7 so that the system is able to offer as many resources to XBMC as it can.
XBMC: IR Receiver and Remote (Harmony, Xbox 360, and More)
If you want your HTPC to operate like a set-top box you’ll definitely want to get a remote control configured, and for me this was a critical step so that I wouldn’t have to be concerned about less tech-savvy users trying to use my TV.
XBMC: Share and Sync Media/Settings Between Multiple XBMC Installs
Configuring XBMC to share settings between multiple instances means you’ll be able to stop a show in one room, and seamlessly pick up where you left off in another room.
XBMC: Fit the Picture to Your TV with Overscan
If XBMC doesn’t fit your TV screen perfectly there are a couple of steps you can take to get it just right.
XBMC: Installing Skins
How to tweak the appearance of XBMC so that it looks the way you want it to.
XBMC: Custom Home Screen Menu Backgrounds
Make the backgrounds of your chosen skin/theme a little more interesting by having it flip through artwork from your favorite TV shows and movies.
XBMC: Dynamic Weather Backgrounds
If you’re using the Aeon MQ 3 theme you can have it use dynamic wallpapers that change based on the time of day and current weather conditions.
XBMC: SMB on Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion)
I use a Mac to serve up files to my XBMC instances running on Windows, and so my preferred protocol for sharing files is SMB. This guide explains how you can get a XBMC-compatible version of SMB running on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.
XBMC: Adding Media Sources
Learn how to add your media to XBMC and turn on the appropriate content scrapers.
XBMC: Troubleshoot Buffering Issues
Trying to troubleshoot buffer issues in XBMC can be quite a pain, and so I lay out some of the most common culprits.
XBMC: Test Your HTPC with High Bitrate Sample Videos
Want to see how well your HTPC performs? Throw some of these high bitrate 1080p sample videos at it.
XBMC: More Advanced Settings
Configure some of the settings that you won’t find anywhere in the GUI.
XBMC: Stream Hulu, Food Network, and More
Thanks to add-ons you can stream videos from some of your favorite sources including Hulu, Food Network, HGTV, TWiT, and more.
XBMC: AirPlay on Windows
Send videos from your iOS device to any XBMC instance with very little configuration.
XBMC: Web Interface and Chrome Extension
As long as you are on the same network as your XBMC box you can control it from any browser using the built-in web interface, or you can install a Chrome extension to make it even easier.
XBMC: iPhone and iPad Remote
If you own an iPhone or iPad you can enjoy one of the best XBMC remote control experiences I’ve seen, and it will only cost you a few bucks.
XBMC: A List of Our Guides, Plus Helpful Wiki and Forum Posts
A recap of all the guides we’ve written as well as useful wiki and forum post from the official XBMC.org site.

Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ Review

Ryan — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:04:48 +0000

A few months ago I started shopping around for a NAS that I knew would be reliable, but at the same time I wanted it to be affordable since it was just going to be used at home. The reason I wanted it was because I needed a central unit in my house that all my computers could use to back up to and for general file storage.

I eventually settled on the Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ because it seemed to have an excellent community surrounding it, and overall the product received pretty good reviews. I was able to pick the unit up for under $300 at my local Fry’s Electronics store, but keep in mind that doesn’t include any hard drives. They have some other high-end ReadyNAS models, but this particular one seemed to have everything I needed based on the specs.

The ReadyNAS uses, by default, a RAID configuration they call X-RAID. The way it works is similar to RAID 5, and so that’s what I decided to go with. Since this has four bays I also snagged four 1TB hard drives that I could use with it. In the X-RAID configuration that means about 3TB out of the 4TB is available for storage, and the remaining 1TB is used for redundancy. If one drive fails I can throw in a replacement and it will rebuild itself. If two drives fail at the same time I am, well, screwed.

I have both Mac and Windows machines on my network, and so I really needed a NAS that would work well with both operating systems. This ReadyNAS supports CIFS (Common Internet File System), NFS (Network File System), AFP (Apple Filing Protocol), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), HTTP/S (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), and Rsync. Having all of these options available pretty much guarantees that you’ll have a way to access your files no matter what kind of machine you’re using. The unit also has built-in support for Apple’s Time Machine, but it’s important to note that only 2TB of your NAS can be used for Time Machine.

The other thing that was nothing short of impressive was that Apple caught a lot of NAS manufacturers off guard by requiring a newer version of AFP be used with Mac OS X Lion, and most of them were never updated to support the newer AFP. You could always start using CIFS for your connections, but TimeMachine only works with AFP. The good news is that Netgear rolled out a fix the same day that Lion was released while some other people I know are still waiting to hear whether their manufacturer will be releasing a fix.

The web-based configuration tool for the ReadyNAS NV+ makes it easy to configure the unit, but it can be a little sluggish (after all it only has 256MB of memory). From here you can do things like configure the built-in BitTorrent client, set up an iTunes server, manage backups that get initiated by the NAS, manage users, set an on/off power schedule, and more. Oh, and did I mention that there are add-ons available to add more functionality to the unit? My favorite is the one that enables SSH access to the NAS, which all geeks will love.

In all I was pretty surprised at what a great product this turned out to be. I haven’t owned something by Netgear in years after the terrible luck I had with their routers, but this device seems to be pretty rock solid. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Infrant, who started the ReadyNAS line, were just acquired back in 2007 by Netgear?

Jump on over to the ReadyNAS forum if you’re on the edge about whether you need a NAS or whether the ReadyNAS is right for you. It was there that I found the answers to a lot of my pre-purchase questions.

My Apple Support Experience

Ryan — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:16:26 +0000

It’s not often that I write about my personal experiences with customer service, but this is one that I thought was worth sharing. I’ve owned a MacBook Pro for about a year and a half now (it was my first Mac), and the computer has held up amazingly well. Of course for that price you expect the thing to be flawless, but no matter how good the computer is things are bound to fail at one point or another. That’s where customer service comes in.

In the past I’ve dealt with support services from several other computer manufacturers (Dell, HP, Averatec, and a few others). For the most part I never considered my experiences with them to be so bad that I wouldn’t buy another machine from them, but more often than not getting the PC fixed required a lengthy call to a technical support person. And they always seemed to connect you with someone that didn’t care what sort of technical knowledge you possessed, and they’d ask you to try rebooting your computer even if you had told them 20 times that you already rebooted it. They must think that they have magical powers that will traverse through the phone lines and wind up at my computer, but only during the reboot cycle? I’m the kind of person that researches problems I have to see if other people have come across the same issues, but the support person doesn’t really care that 500 other people in a forum have all had the same problem. They are determined to fix your computer with a simple reboot, and if that doesn’t work there’s always the wonderful “format your computer” option.

How does Apple compare to the others? I bought Apple’s extended warranty (AppleCare) with my Mac when I first got it. For me things always seem to fail after warranty period expires almost as if they are on a timer. I’ve had several gadgets fail on me literally days after the 1-year warranty period had elapsed.

A few months ago I started experiencing issues with the trackpad on my MacBook Pro where the tap-to-click would all of a sudden stop working. To resolve the issue I’d have to go into the settings, disable tap-to-click, and then enable it again. This would sometimes happen several times a day, and I always attributed it to a software issue. I didn’t bother researching it, however, until just a few weeks ago after finding an error message in the Console (the Mac equivalent of the event viewer) that appeared to be related to the trackpad. I started trying things like resetting the PRAM, repairing permissions, and eventually went as far as wiping the computer entirely. After further research, however, other people who were experiencing similar issues said that it was actually a hardware issue. Some people said that replacing the “top case” (essentially the top framework that includes the trackpad assembly) would fix it, and others said that replacing the logic board resolved the issue.

Armed with this information I called AppleCare. I didn’t know what hoops I was going to jump through, but I was pretty much prepared for anything. I was almost instantly connected with a technical support person who did one thing very well, and that was listen. I explained to her the problem I was having, the steps I took to try and resolve it, and the information I found on the Internet that said what parts may need to be replaced. She created a case number for me, and said that I’d have to take my machine to an Apple Store so that an on-site technician could take a look at it. I was on the phone with her for only about 10-minutes.

I ended up taking it into the Michigan Avenue store in Chicago, and since I had an appointment it only took a few minutes before I was helped. I showed them the error messages I was receiving in the Console, but naturally the problem is impossible to reproduce on demand. So there was no way I could actually show them what was happening. They pulled up my case from the phone call though, and saw the references I had found with people who had similar issues. He said that the fastest turnaround would be for them to send out the computer to a repair facility, which was an idea I wasn’t too fond of. It was a Monday evening, and he reassured me that I should have it back back before the weekend. He said they would overnight it to the facility, and then have it overnighted back to my house. At that time I hugged my computer and said my goodbyes. I spent about 20-minutes in the Apple store (including my wait time).

The thing I was the most afraid of wasn’t the period of time that I would be without a computer… because I have others that I can use. Instead it was not knowing whether it would come back unfixed if they weren’t able to reproduce the issue. Well, it didn’t take long for me to find out. The computer was sent out the next day (Tuesday), and Apple lets you monitor the status of the repair on their site. The facility received it on Wednesday, possibly fixed it (details weren’t given on the site), and shipped it out the same day. I received the computer at my house on Thursday. Needless to say the turnaround time was pretty remarkable, but the real question is whether they actually did something or just sent it back in the same condition it was in.

I opened the package, and in the box was a sheet of paper stating what items they had replaced. To my surprise they replaced both the top case and the logic board, which according to some sources one of those two items were normally the culprit. I’ve had the repaired machine for about two-weeks and I have yet to see the problem show up again.

What am I getting at here? I told them up front that I’ve done a lot of different tests to try and resolve the issue myself, and that I was confident it was a hardware issue. Not once did they make me feel like they didn’t care what sort of troubleshooting I had done, and as a matter of fact they thanked me for saving them so much time by doing that before even asking for support. And then to top it all off they didn’t try to take any shortcuts by just replacing one of the possibly troubled components… they just replaced them both. In my book that is good customer service.

Many people may argue this, but to me Apple’s support is worth the premium price you have to pay for their hardware. I’ve also had two other encounters with Apple support that make them look even better in my eyes:

About 9-months after buying my iPhone 3G the back case cracked by the port connector. I’m guessing this is because of the constant docking and undocking of the phone, but it wasn’t my fault and shouldn’t have happened. So they swapped it out with a refurbished one on-the-spot. Yeah, it may not have been a new one, but I didn’t have to wait for it to get fixed. Not only that, but the case on the refurb was so pristine that it was hard to distinguish it from a new iPhone 3G. I’m sure Apple replaces the casing on all the phones before reselling them though.
At the same time I was getting my iPhone replaced I also asked the “genius” about the battery on my MacBook Pro. I told them that Apple’s site says you should still have 80% capacity after 300 cycles, but I was at 80% capacity after 140 cycles. I figured it couldn’t hurt to bring this up sense I was already there. The girl explained how batteries are something they don’t replace because the wear and tear varies depending on how you use the device, and since I had owned my computer for over a year that this result was pretty typical. I thought I had gotten shot down, but she then went on to say that she’d replace it anyway. She grabbed a brand new $129 battery off the shelf and popped it into my computer.

I believe there are various reasons that people purchase products from Apple, but the deciding factor for me now comes down to support. Honestly, if the their support was on par to what Dell and the others offer I could guarantee that my next computer would not be an Apple. Right now I don’t think I’d buy anything other than an Apple.

[Michigan Avenue Apple Store photo via burgermac on Flickr]

iPhone 3GS Camera Review

Ryan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:16:15 +0000

It was a tough decision, but I decided to upgrade my iPhone 3G to the iPhone 3GS. I wasn’t sure if the new features would be enough to justify the purchase, but I figured I should be able to sell my iPhone 3G on eBay and recoup a good chunk of the cost. So I pre-ordered the phone, and got it delivered to me last Friday morning.

I’m not going to do a full-fledged review because I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of those already. Gizmodo has a really good in-depth review, and so does Engadget if that’s what you’re looking for. Instead I really wanted to focus on the camera, and then briefly throw in my thoughts on some of the other features.

–The Camera–

They bumped up the resolution of the camera to 3.2MP, but the thing I love the most would have to be the auto/manual focus capabilities. I’ve never seen a camera that would let you choose which spot you want to focus on simply by touching it on the screen, but I’m sure that will be the next big thing on point-and-shoot cameras. Combining this with some camera-specific apps I found (more details in a later post) will make this a valuable device to be carrying in my pocket.

I have quite a few friends who ended up grabbing the iPhone 3GS, and one of the first things there’s always comments on is the quality of the images. Some are surprised at how good they turn out, while others say it could be a lot better. I think for a phone the camera is pretty darn good… except in low-light situations where a flash is a must-have.

I took some time to walk around Millennium Park in Chicago since it’s right down the street from where I work, and along the way I took some pictures. I didn’t just take them with the iPhone 3GS though, I also took the exact same photos with my Canon XSi Digital SLR for comparison sake. The iPhone doesn’t really let you adjust any settings when taking photos, and so I decided to set my DSLR to fully automatic mode in the spirit of keeping things fair. I did my best to split each of the photos so that you can really see the differences when they are side-by-side.

(more…)

WWDC 2009 – iPhone Price Drops, New iPhone 3GS, New MacBooks, & More…

Ashley — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:51:41 +0000

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicked off yesterday and missing from the event, of course, was Steve Jobs. In his place was Phil Schiller to give the keynote filled with some major announcements. While Schiller did a decent job, he is certainly no Steve Jobs.

We’re skipping the fluff and getting right down to what you want to know. Here’s a list of the major announcements:

NEW iPhone 3GS introduced – the S stands for “speed”
iPhone 3G 8GB for $99 – the 2009 iPhone price drops are among us! Apple took the older model phone, and chopped the price in half. With the new price drop you can get the iPhone 3G (not the 3GS), for just $99!
MacBook Pro Updated – and with the update came a drop in price
Snow Leopard unveiled – and set to launch in September for just $29 bucks
Safari 4 released – many of you were probably testing out the beta, but the final version is now available

iPhone 3GS/3.0 Software

Those of you who have been following us for a while know that we are big fans of the iPhone. We bought the original iPhone several months after it launched, and then stood in line last July to be one of the first to get our hands on the iPhone 3G. As you might suspect, we’re planning on upgrading to the iPhone 3GS loaded with the latest 3.0 Software which is set to launch next Friday, June 19th.

Speaking of the 3.0 Software, Apple got smart this year and decided to launch the software update BEFORE the launch of the new phone. Last year the software update coincided with the launch of the iPhone 3G which caused major activation problems. The software upgrade forced everybody to reactivate, so with the combination of those upgrading software, and those upgrading hardware which needs activating, their system became overloaded. The 3.0 Software launches next Wednesday, June 17th, and will once again, probably require everyone to reactivate their phone.

iPhone 3GS Features:

Speed- it’s a faster phone
Video camera – built right in, with editing capabilities
Voice control – now you’ll be able to control the device by telling it what to do
Compass – in case you can’t figure out which way is North

Pricing: $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB

Regular iPhone 3G in a 8GB model will still be available at a reduced price of $99. The price drop for the iPhone 3G is available directly from Apple or your phone carrier.

iPhone 3.0 Software Features:

Cut, copy and paste – finally!
Landscape Keyboard
MMS
Spotlight Search
Voice Memos
Updated Calendar
Capability to download content from the iTunes store like movies, TV shows and Audiobooks, on your phone
and more…

MacBook Pro Updated

Several changes were made to the MacBook Pro line. One of the changes is that the 13-inch MacBook recently introduced with the aluminum body, was changed a bit and is now part of the MacBook Pro line. The MacBook Pro line includes 13-inch (starts at $1,199), 15-inch (starts at $1,699), and 17-inch (starts at $2499) models which all received significant price-cuts.

The good: obviously the fact that they are now more affordable, and battery life is improved

The bad: non-removable batteries

More here…

Snow Leopard Unveiled

There’s a reason that Apple is only charging $29 for Snow Leopard come September when it launches – there aren’t that many new changes. There’s enough though, that many will be willing to pay the reasonable upgrade fee.

More here…

Safari 4 Released

Finally, the last big announcement at WWDC 09′ is that Safari 4 is now officially released. Its best feature is simply that it’s a fast browser. We can say that from first-hand experience. Other well-liked features include “top sites” and coverflow history viewer.

Available for Mac and PC, download here.

–

That’s about all folks! It was one of the longer WWDC keynotes that we’ve seen, about two hours, and they covered a lot. When we get our hands on the iPhone 3GS next week (hopefully), we’ll be sure to fill you in.

One Year After “The Switch…”

Ashley — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:27:08 +0000

“Switching operating systems is just like moving to a new city. If you’ve moved, you know there’s some fun and excitement to exploring new places but there’s some discomfort because it is unfamiliar and it might take you longer to get to where you need to go or you might get lost on occasion. We’re excited and having fun exploring Mac OS X, but we can say we’ve gotten “lost” every now and then trying to figure out how to do something.”

That’s the way we described what it was like for us to make the switch from Windows to Mac OS X, almost exactly one year ago. There’s good news and bad news to report. The good news is that we’ve gotten used to the “new city” and things are going well. In fact, this is the first year in many that we will not be purchasing new computers because we don’t feel as though there are any reasons to upgrade. The bad news… has a full year really gone by? Where does the time go?

Here’s what we’ve determined after owning Apple computers for the past year. First, Apple computers really are durable. Usually after I’ve owned a laptop for about a year, there are some definite signs of wear and tear which you’d expect, but both of our MacBook Pro computers hardly look like they’ve been used. It’s not that they haven’t been used much, they certainly have, it’s just that the aluminum holds up pretty darn well.

You know that saying, you can’t teach an old dog a new trick? At first we felt like the old seasoned Windows user, so familiar with Windows shortcuts and the Windows way of doing things that it seemed like learning a new “trick” would be, well, tricky. It took some time, that’s for sure, but us “old dogs” learned all kinds of new tricks and with time, became comfortable with the Apple way of doing things. The saying should probably be, “you can teach an old dog a new trick, just be patient.”

After one year, we have absolutely no regrets about making the switch, even with Windows 7 on the verge of launching. We both still get our fill of Windows daily because of our work computers, but it’s definitely nice to come home to the MacBook Pros.

Have any of you made an operating system switch this year whether it be from Mac to Windows, Windows to Mac, Windows to Linux, etc.?

MyFive: Most Popular Cameras on Flickr 2009

Ashley — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:38:54 +0000

Back in October of 2007, we took a look at the Most Popular Cameras on Flickr. It’s been well over a year, and a lot happens in a year’s time, so we thought we’d take a look at the current most popular cameras on Flickr. This list gives some interesting insight as to which cameras are popular, at least among the Flickr crowd of photographers.

This time around, there are a couple of cameras that remained on the list (but moved positions), and a few new ones as well. Below you’ll find a list of the top five current most popular cameras on Flickr, how much they cost (prices from Amazon), and the type (digital SLR, point and shoot, camera phone).

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Retail price: $699.99
Type: Digital SLR
Nikon D80
Retail price:$799.99
Type: Digital SLR
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Retail price: $799.99
Type: Digital SLR
Canon EOS 40D
Retail price:$1099.00
Type: Digital SLR
Apple iPhone
Retail price: $199 (8GB), $299 (16GB)
Type: Camera phone

As we found last time, this list shows that Digital SLR cameras are definitely more popular among the Flickr crowd than point and shoot cameras. It also shows us that Flickr users favor Canon cameras over others. Another interesting fact is that the iPhone is now one of the most popular cameras, even though it’s not the best camera out there. Apple should feel pretty good about that.

If you’re curious, here are the most popular Point and Shoot cameras followed by the most popular Camera phones:

Point and Shoot Cameras:

Canon PowerShot SD1000
Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Canon PowerShot SD750
Canon PowerShot G9
Canon PowerShot S5

Cameraphones:

Apple iPhone
Nokia N95
BlackBerry Storm 9530
Nokia N73
Sony Ericsson W580i

30GB Zunes Freeze on Startup

Ashley — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:00:40 +0000

It sounds almost surreal to actually happen, but many Zune owners are waking up this morning to find that their 30 GB Zunes aren’t working. Upon first reading the headline over at Gizmodo, we were thinking that it was just a few isolated cases, but after further investigation, it’s happening to many, many people.

If you visit a Zune forum, you’ll see topics like “Z30 Frozen” or “Zune won’t do anything” or “Unresponsive Software.” Microsoft has yet to make any comment on the issue, likely because it is so early in the morning and they haven’t had the chance to determine what the issue is.

While it may be New Years Eve, it looks like Zune team members who thought they were going to get the next day or two off, will be working frantically to come up with a way to solve the problem. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how Microsoft releases a fix. Since the devices are freezing up, users are going to have to take it apart to reset it, or let the battery die completely because an update won’t work on a frozen Zune.

So far, one person has found a fix, at least a temporary fix. It requires taking apart the Zune to reset it. A member of the Zune Scene forums named “hans” says,”

To do this [taking the Zune apart], use a small screwdriver to pop off the plastic shielding where the zune cable plugs into and remove the two screws on either side of the plug. Next pop the cover off and locate the battery plug at the top left corner of the zune, using your screw driver, pop the cable connection half way off, and do this to the other plug on the right side. Wait 3 seconds, then push down the right connector and then the left battery connecter. Your zune should start up immediately. Press the backing of the zune down (make sure headphone jack is aligned) and put the screws and cover back in place.

Definitely a big problem here for Microsoft to fix on New Years Eve, but hopefully it will be a fairly easy fix. Before it looked as though this was a wide-spread problem, people were commenting that they were out of warranty and bummed that their device was unresponsive. I don’t think anybody has anything to worry about, in-warranty or not, simply because it’s happened to so many people. As people wake-up this morning and go to use their devices, the number of Zune issues will only continue to rise.

Any 30GB Zune owners out there? Fill us in, are you having the same issue?

Update: On Microsoft’s Zune website, they say: Status: “Customers with 30gb Zune devices may experience issues when booting their Zune hardware. We’re aware of the problem and are working to correct it. The Zune Social might be slow or inaccessible. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience!”

Update 2: Microsoft has posted their solution…

You will need to reboot your device after noon GMT (that’s 7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time) on Jan 1, 2009.
Please unplug your Zune (no AC or USB cables).
Because your Zune is frozen your device battery will begin draining, this is good.
The battery will eventually be fully depleted and the screen will go black.
After noon GMT on January 1 connect your AC power or USB cable such that the battery can begin charging again.
Once the Zune has enough battery to boot it should do so normally and you can go back to enjoying your Zune!

Giveaway: USB Docking Station with VGA Support

Ryan — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:09:07 +0000

Important Note: This giveaway is only available for residents of the United States.

This is the one and only hardware item that we have up for grabs in our birthday giveaway, and we’ve been able to play around with it for about a month now. It’s a USB Docking Station by StarTech that also happens to support a VGA input. How does it work? You can basically plug in several USB devices, a VGA monitor, ethernet cable, and more into this slim little dock. The dock then plugs into your Windows computer via a single USB cable.

Now I bet you’re wondering the same thing that I was in regards to the monitor support. With this dock you can essentially plug in an external monitor into your machine without needing an extra VGA port on your graphics card. How well can the single USB cable manage the monitor and other devices/cables plugged into it?

Not surprisingly it has some troubles playing videos or games that require a constantly refreshing screen. The USB cable just can’t provide the same bandwidth that a VGA cable can, plus it is also sharing the bandwidth with any other devices plugged into the dock. If you are able to set the color depth down to 16-bit instead of 32-bit you’ll notice a significant improvement, but you probably still won’t want to watch any videos or anything. If you’re just doing some word processing, web surfing, and other casual work this should suit your needs perfectly.

Here are some of the specs for the USB Docking Station by StarTech:

Works with Windows 2000, XP, and Vista
Supports resolutions up to 1600×1200 @ 32-bits & 1920×1200 @ 16-bits
(4) USB 2.0 ports
(1) VGA port
(1) 10/100 Mbps RJ45 LAN port
(1) 3.5mm speaker output
(1) 3.5mm Mic input
Dimensions: 7.99″ x 2.75″ x 0.75″
Weight: 7.6oz

StarTech USB Docking Station Homepage

–The Giveaway–

We have (1) USB Docking Station (valued at $129.99) to giveaway today! All you have to do is drop a comment below providing both your name and email address in the appropriate fields. We obviously need your email address for contacting you in the event that you should win. Believe it or not we’ve actually had winners in previous giveaways get randomly selected, but since they didn’t provide an email address we had to pick someone else.

Just as with all of our giveaways we will be using a random number generator to determine the winners. For this round here is how we’re going to give out the licenses:

1 winner will be picked from comment numbers 1 through however many comments there are.

The winner of the USB Docking Station must be a resident of the United States.

Entries for the giveaway will be accepted up until December 11th at 7:00PM Central Time.

New Poll: Tell Us About Your Monitor(s)

Ashley — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:24:05 +0000

If you find yourself sitting in front of the computer for hours on end during a days time, a nice LCD monitor can really make a difference. Compared to conventional CRT monitors, flat screens are sharper, and thus a little easier on the eyes. Over the last several years, the prices have come down as well which means it doesn’t take long to save up for one.

A few weeks ago at work I was asked to order several LCD monitors to replace old CRT monitors. It was when I went to remove the old monitors that I was reminded of yet another benefit of the LCD monitors — size! CRT’s are simply heavy, and take up valuable space on a desk. I had several people tell me how nice it was to have so much more desk space available to them.

Because LCD’s take up less space, more people and businesses are inclined to set-up multiple monitors for one computer. When Ryan and I worked from home, we both had a multiple monitor set-up, just because it was nice to have the extra screen space.

New Poll: Tell Us About Your Monitor(s)

Today we want you to tell us about your monitor(s), and we’ll be polling you about three different things. They are:

Is your monitor an LCD or an old CRT?
What size is your monitor?
How many monitors do you have per computer?

Please choose all answers that apply. You may vote below if you have Flash enabled, or vote in the side-bar to your right.

Previous Poll Wrap-Up

It looks like Google has some work ahead of them if they want people to use Google Chrome as their primary browser. In our last poll we asked what you thought of Google Chrome. According to our poll, 45% of you like Google’s first attempt at a browser, but haven’t made Google Chrome your primary browser. Another good chunk, 20% of you, haven’t even tried it!