I have always been one to use Photoshop any time I had to do anything picture related. Even simple straightening and cropping of photos. Recently I've been scanning in several pictures to put to a video slideshow for a memorial service and was NOT looking forward to taking every image into Photoshop to crop and straighten. In my quest to find a free simple program that would do such things I remembered about Google's free photo program called Picasa. I already had it installed on my computer but never really used it. So I updated to the latest version and opened it up to see what I could do. I love it!!! For simple tasks it is the fastest and easiest ever! SO much easier than Photoshop because there are both 'straighten' and 'crop' tools. You straighten (and adjust) a bunch of photos, then when you're done, you can save your changes. Picasa will save your original unaltered file in a hidden folder and replace your adjusted picture in place of the original. That made it super easy to straighten, crop, and color correct pictures without the hassle of opening them all in Photoshop and doing them manually one by one.
The final slideshow turned out really nice. I did it in Adobe ENcore DVD which has a nice 'automatic' slideshow feature. Although I did have revert back to CS2 to make it work. The program kept crashing when I would try to build the final project and burn a DVD using Encore DVD CS3. I almost had to revert to using Microsoft Photo Story 3 or Wondershare DVD Slideshow Builder. Each are nice and easy, but quality is not nearly as good as Encore DVD.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, May 09, 2008
Windows Vista
A while ago I installed Windows Vista Ultimate on my new fast computer. I installed Vista on a separate internal SATA hard drive separate from my XP drive (IDE). In order to swap between operating systems I do have to go into the system BIOS and tell it to use the SATA (Vista) or IDE (XP) drive to boot from instead of putting both on the same drive and using the startup manager to switch. I don't know what is safer....but so far this seems to be working. I'm a little paranoid about putting both operating systems on the same drive but I suppose eventually that would keep the computer cooler having fewer drives inside.
There are things I really like about Vista and things I really don't like. The graphics are great. My games play very smoothly on the Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz processor in conjunction with the nVidia 8500GT running DirectX 10. I think it looks better than the same hardware on Windows XP using DirectX 9.0c. I've been playing Call of Duty 4, Rainbow Six Vegas, and Microsoft Flight Simulator X. All look really good. Might look better on a better graphics card, but not worth the extra $150 to me for as little as I get to play.
Other things I like about Vista are pretty minor but cool. A search within the start menu is nice. If you're looking to launch a program that isn't in the 'START' menu, instead of doing the old Start:All Programs then hunting around for it, you can actually type in the name of the program you're looking for and it'll show up. Nice! Also when you want to rename a file in the finder, you can click on it and instead of it highlighting the entire name including the file extension, it only highlights the name....not the extension. Makes renaming files a lot faster and easier...and safer!
Vista has a much faster install time than Windows XP, and a much faster repair time as well. In my attempts to resurrect my XP system drive, I corrupted something on my Vista drive and it wouldn't boot. I was able to 'repair' by booting off the Vista install CD and the repair went very quickly unlike a repair in XP which basically reinstalls the OS.
Things that are really annoying are the lame administrator security alerts. "You need administrator rights to do this, click here to continue". So you click there and it does what it was supposed to. The problem is that I only have one user account on the computer....and it's an administrator. So I already HAVE administrator privileges. Annoying. I haven't done much research into this but maybe there is a way to disable these alerts...probably not but it would be nice!
I'm using the Windows Vista Aero 'theme' since my system is beefy enough to handle it. It looks great and all the windows have these zoom.fade effects which look nice when windows open or close. The Alt+Tab interface is cool, instead of having tiny thumbnails of the open windows to switch between, the sample windows are pretty big so you can actually see what you are choosing. Also when you mouse over the open windows down in the task bar, a decent sized thumbnail shows up down there too. Makes it a little easier to see what window you are about to open.
I haven't explored all the features in Vista and probably should go through the "what's new" or even the "welcome to Vista" stuff.....eventually I will. But for now, these are the things I noticed right off the bat.
There are things I really like about Vista and things I really don't like. The graphics are great. My games play very smoothly on the Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz processor in conjunction with the nVidia 8500GT running DirectX 10. I think it looks better than the same hardware on Windows XP using DirectX 9.0c. I've been playing Call of Duty 4, Rainbow Six Vegas, and Microsoft Flight Simulator X. All look really good. Might look better on a better graphics card, but not worth the extra $150 to me for as little as I get to play.
Other things I like about Vista are pretty minor but cool. A search within the start menu is nice. If you're looking to launch a program that isn't in the 'START' menu, instead of doing the old Start:All Programs then hunting around for it, you can actually type in the name of the program you're looking for and it'll show up. Nice! Also when you want to rename a file in the finder, you can click on it and instead of it highlighting the entire name including the file extension, it only highlights the name....not the extension. Makes renaming files a lot faster and easier...and safer!
Vista has a much faster install time than Windows XP, and a much faster repair time as well. In my attempts to resurrect my XP system drive, I corrupted something on my Vista drive and it wouldn't boot. I was able to 'repair' by booting off the Vista install CD and the repair went very quickly unlike a repair in XP which basically reinstalls the OS.
Things that are really annoying are the lame administrator security alerts. "You need administrator rights to do this, click here to continue". So you click there and it does what it was supposed to. The problem is that I only have one user account on the computer....and it's an administrator. So I already HAVE administrator privileges. Annoying. I haven't done much research into this but maybe there is a way to disable these alerts...probably not but it would be nice!
I'm using the Windows Vista Aero 'theme' since my system is beefy enough to handle it. It looks great and all the windows have these zoom.fade effects which look nice when windows open or close. The Alt+Tab interface is cool, instead of having tiny thumbnails of the open windows to switch between, the sample windows are pretty big so you can actually see what you are choosing. Also when you mouse over the open windows down in the task bar, a decent sized thumbnail shows up down there too. Makes it a little easier to see what window you are about to open.
I haven't explored all the features in Vista and probably should go through the "what's new" or even the "welcome to Vista" stuff.....eventually I will. But for now, these are the things I noticed right off the bat.
NEW issues
My system drive for Windows XP on my new computer (old hard drive) died earlier this week. I've been working on it here and there as I get time trying to resurrect the drive so I didn't have to reinstall everything from scratch. I had a feeling it was a partition table issue from past problems with this drive so I bought a program from a company called Easeus that was supposed to repair Master Boot Records, Partition Tables, and Boot Sectors. After several attempts, I could not get it to come back to life. I did a 'surface test' and discovered it did indeed have some bad sectors so I counted it a loss and started over from scratch.
I didn't lose any of my important data since I use a program called GoodSync to backup all my important stuff on other drives. I'm getting pretty good and fast at installing Windows XP and all my programs in the right order...I've done it a lot the past several months. I am now down to the last batch of programs to install and activate (Adobe CS3 Production Studio) then I'll use a utility that came with my motherboard to backup my entire system drive. It's supped to back up the entire drive in a way that will make it easily recoverable in the event of catastrophic system failure....except if your drive physically goes bad.
One of the things I've been looking into is setting up a RAID1 (mirrored volume) for all my data (not programs or operating system). However, I've learned that you can't do that on Windows XP. So I'm again using GoodSync to back up one of my data drives to another identical drive so in the event of one drive failing, I'll have a backup immediately available. It takes a little more work to do it this way, but since I can't do a RAID1, this will have to do.
That's all for now. The computer has been running very well until this recent drive failure and I am very happy with my purchase and computer building success. I've been seeing some increased performance with games when plying using the Windows Vista operating system...I'll talk about that next time.
I didn't lose any of my important data since I use a program called GoodSync to backup all my important stuff on other drives. I'm getting pretty good and fast at installing Windows XP and all my programs in the right order...I've done it a lot the past several months. I am now down to the last batch of programs to install and activate (Adobe CS3 Production Studio) then I'll use a utility that came with my motherboard to backup my entire system drive. It's supped to back up the entire drive in a way that will make it easily recoverable in the event of catastrophic system failure....except if your drive physically goes bad.
One of the things I've been looking into is setting up a RAID1 (mirrored volume) for all my data (not programs or operating system). However, I've learned that you can't do that on Windows XP. So I'm again using GoodSync to back up one of my data drives to another identical drive so in the event of one drive failing, I'll have a backup immediately available. It takes a little more work to do it this way, but since I can't do a RAID1, this will have to do.
That's all for now. The computer has been running very well until this recent drive failure and I am very happy with my purchase and computer building success. I've been seeing some increased performance with games when plying using the Windows Vista operating system...I'll talk about that next time.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Computer building pitfalls to avoid
While I saved about $150 building this computer myself (I saved even more by using my old computer parts like case, DVD drives, hard drives and PCI cards) I have found myself wasting a lot of time troubleshooting things that I probably wouldn't have if someone else built the computer. Looking back though, I would still build it myself just for the experience and fun of putting it all together. One thing I have learned is if you don't know what it's for....you shouldn't enable it!! I ended up turning on something called Boot Manager that came with 7Tools Partition Manager. Don't enable it unless you know what you're doing. It caused me to reinstall my operating system because I didn't know what I was doing.
So here is a list of problems I ran into in this whole process:
1) My motherboard only suppors two IDE devices through the built in IDE controller. My first set of problems came when I tried to install Windows XP to the hard drive connected to the Motherboard through tehDVD-ROM drive connected to my PCI IDE controller. For some reason when the drivers were being loaded form the Windows XP CD, it could no longer read from the drive. So I ended up connecting one DVD-ROM drive and one Hard Drive to the Motherboard IDE controller to install Windows XP....everything was fine. Once installed, I connected the main hard drive and slave hard drvie to the motherboard IDE controller and all other devices to the PCI IDE controller. (by the way this was an XP repair install not a fresh clean install on a new partition)
2) I installed a couple games to the system drive but for some rerason they would not launch. Games that ran off the hard drive (like the Call of Duty 4 Demo) worked fine. The full version of Call of Duty 4 did not work. I knew my system was powerful enough to run the game since the dome worked, so I ended up installing Windows XP fresh over my old system. Same problem. The solution was to connect the DVD drives to the motherboard IDE controller instead of the PCI IDE controller. Problem solved....everything works fine now. I don't know why that makes a difference but it does. Had I known these issues, I may have researched a bit more into a motherboard with TWO IDE controllers built in.
3) 7Tools Partition Manager and Restorer 2000 are great programs worth every penny I paid for each. They have saved me on numerous occasions when I needed ot recover information off a hard drive or had to repartition a drive without blasting over it. However, in 7Tools Partition Manager there is an option for enabling a boot manager. I do not know what this does, but for some reason I enabled it anyway. BIG mistake. It caused my system to go into a never ending reboot loop where I could not get into the operating system. So I had to re-install Windows XP again. In this process I also lost my largest 250GB hard drive and all its contents. I was able to use Restorer 200 to recover most of it, but some files were corrupted and some were just too big, I had no place to put them. I also lost about 120GB of space on my drive. I'm still trying to figure that one out, but lesson learned....if you don't know what it does, don't mess with it!!
All in all it was a very enlightening learning experience to put this fancy little computer together. I don't at all regret buying the pieces from NewEgg and building it myself, I just wish I had known about the whole IDE thing earlier and ESPECIALLY I wish I had not enabled Boot Manager! Lesson learned. At this point all of my games work, my encoding software is lightning fast and both of my LCD screens look great!
So here is a list of problems I ran into in this whole process:
1) My motherboard only suppors two IDE devices through the built in IDE controller. My first set of problems came when I tried to install Windows XP to the hard drive connected to the Motherboard through tehDVD-ROM drive connected to my PCI IDE controller. For some reason when the drivers were being loaded form the Windows XP CD, it could no longer read from the drive. So I ended up connecting one DVD-ROM drive and one Hard Drive to the Motherboard IDE controller to install Windows XP....everything was fine. Once installed, I connected the main hard drive and slave hard drvie to the motherboard IDE controller and all other devices to the PCI IDE controller. (by the way this was an XP repair install not a fresh clean install on a new partition)
2) I installed a couple games to the system drive but for some rerason they would not launch. Games that ran off the hard drive (like the Call of Duty 4 Demo) worked fine. The full version of Call of Duty 4 did not work. I knew my system was powerful enough to run the game since the dome worked, so I ended up installing Windows XP fresh over my old system. Same problem. The solution was to connect the DVD drives to the motherboard IDE controller instead of the PCI IDE controller. Problem solved....everything works fine now. I don't know why that makes a difference but it does. Had I known these issues, I may have researched a bit more into a motherboard with TWO IDE controllers built in.
3) 7Tools Partition Manager and Restorer 2000 are great programs worth every penny I paid for each. They have saved me on numerous occasions when I needed ot recover information off a hard drive or had to repartition a drive without blasting over it. However, in 7Tools Partition Manager there is an option for enabling a boot manager. I do not know what this does, but for some reason I enabled it anyway. BIG mistake. It caused my system to go into a never ending reboot loop where I could not get into the operating system. So I had to re-install Windows XP again. In this process I also lost my largest 250GB hard drive and all its contents. I was able to use Restorer 200 to recover most of it, but some files were corrupted and some were just too big, I had no place to put them. I also lost about 120GB of space on my drive. I'm still trying to figure that one out, but lesson learned....if you don't know what it does, don't mess with it!!
All in all it was a very enlightening learning experience to put this fancy little computer together. I don't at all regret buying the pieces from NewEgg and building it myself, I just wish I had known about the whole IDE thing earlier and ESPECIALLY I wish I had not enabled Boot Manager! Lesson learned. At this point all of my games work, my encoding software is lightning fast and both of my LCD screens look great!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Super Fast Computer!
I just completed a few benchmark testing cycles with the new computer and I am very impressed....even before overclocking! I've been using these programs for testing purposes:
CPUMark 2.1
ViMark Video Encoding Benchmark
Heavyload (for testing the overclock stability)
Nero Recode (for compressing DVD-9 into DVD-5 size)
Handbrake (for converting DVDs to AVI for my PalmTX...gives a frames per second encode speed)
The programs I've been using for monitoring temperature and clock speed:
CPUTrueSpeed
CPU-z
RightMark CPU Clock Utility
RightMark CPU Utility is great for monitoring (CPU Clock speed, temerature, performance monitor, etc). It looks like it does everything. When running, it sits in the little clock bar and just lets you know what's going on....without getting in the way! I love it.....and it's free! I've tried the provided EasyTune5 for overclocking the processor and it seems to to a great job. It's super easy and the best thing about it, is it resets your settings back to default every time you restart your computer (unless you tell it to do otherwise). I like that in case I mess something up, I can reboot and all is well again.
Even though I haven't done a LOT of speed testing due to some unforseen issues which wasted a lot of my time, I'm very impressed with the dual 2.66GHz processor. I'll see if I can post some screen shots of my testing results for comparison, but it's fast!
I've installed some new games and they look awesome! Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas run very smoothly and look great!
CPUMark 2.1
ViMark Video Encoding Benchmark
Heavyload (for testing the overclock stability)
Nero Recode (for compressing DVD-9 into DVD-5 size)
Handbrake (for converting DVDs to AVI for my PalmTX...gives a frames per second encode speed)
The programs I've been using for monitoring temperature and clock speed:
CPUTrueSpeed
CPU-z
RightMark CPU Clock Utility
RightMark CPU Utility is great for monitoring (CPU Clock speed, temerature, performance monitor, etc). It looks like it does everything. When running, it sits in the little clock bar and just lets you know what's going on....without getting in the way! I love it.....and it's free! I've tried the provided EasyTune5 for overclocking the processor and it seems to to a great job. It's super easy and the best thing about it, is it resets your settings back to default every time you restart your computer (unless you tell it to do otherwise). I like that in case I mess something up, I can reboot and all is well again.
Even though I haven't done a LOT of speed testing due to some unforseen issues which wasted a lot of my time, I'm very impressed with the dual 2.66GHz processor. I'll see if I can post some screen shots of my testing results for comparison, but it's fast!
I've installed some new games and they look awesome! Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas run very smoothly and look great!
Monday, November 12, 2007
New Computer Progress
The new computer is now up and running after a few different trouble shooting sessions. After putting all the components together and powering up, the motherboard would POST (Power On Self Test) and I could get into the system BIOS, but it would not boot the operating system off the hard drive. Granted I was using my old hard drive and had my doubts it would actually boot, I was disappointed to find I couldn't even boot off the WindowsXP CD-ROM. I got as far as the "Starting Windows" blue screen after it loaded the drives, then would freeze.
My configuration at the time was the System hard drive and one slave hard drive were attached directly to the only IDE controller on the Motherboard. The two DVD-R drives were connected to a Promise PCI IDE controller card. Turns out that I needed to connect the DVD-R and the system drive to the same IDE controller on the motherboard in order to launch WindowsXP off the CD and repair my Windows XP installation on the system hard drive. Once the repair was complete, I was able to load all the new drivers for the new components and now everything is up and running smoothly. I don't think I lost any data!! I'll need to go in and reconfigure the drive letter back to the original settings but that's no big deal (especially compared to losing all my data)
The bottom line....everything works, so far it seems to be running faster than before and I didn't even have to reinstall the operating system from scratch.
Things to try with this new system:
-Compare video encoding speeds with old benchmarks
-Play old games and see if they run faster
-Try overclocking
-Eventually install Windows Vista
I'm a bit nervous to do overclocking but this Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard came with the software for overclocking. I like this idea better then going into the system BIOS and doing it from there since I don't really understand all the different settings and options.
So far so good, I'm doing a DVD encode right now using Handbrake and it seems to be only using half the processing power, I'll need to figure out how to fix that. I think on the laptop it uses 100% processors...but that runs on Vista. I shouldn't complain though, this is a juge jump in speed than my old Pentium 4 2.4GHz computer. I think it encoded at about 75fps, this is currently at 154fps.
My configuration at the time was the System hard drive and one slave hard drive were attached directly to the only IDE controller on the Motherboard. The two DVD-R drives were connected to a Promise PCI IDE controller card. Turns out that I needed to connect the DVD-R and the system drive to the same IDE controller on the motherboard in order to launch WindowsXP off the CD and repair my Windows XP installation on the system hard drive. Once the repair was complete, I was able to load all the new drivers for the new components and now everything is up and running smoothly. I don't think I lost any data!! I'll need to go in and reconfigure the drive letter back to the original settings but that's no big deal (especially compared to losing all my data)
The bottom line....everything works, so far it seems to be running faster than before and I didn't even have to reinstall the operating system from scratch.
Things to try with this new system:
-Compare video encoding speeds with old benchmarks
-Play old games and see if they run faster
-Try overclocking
-Eventually install Windows Vista
I'm a bit nervous to do overclocking but this Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard came with the software for overclocking. I like this idea better then going into the system BIOS and doing it from there since I don't really understand all the different settings and options.
So far so good, I'm doing a DVD encode right now using Handbrake and it seems to be only using half the processing power, I'll need to figure out how to fix that. I think on the laptop it uses 100% processors...but that runs on Vista. I shouldn't complain though, this is a juge jump in speed than my old Pentium 4 2.4GHz computer. I think it encoded at about 75fps, this is currently at 154fps.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
YouTube videos on your PALM
vconvert.net allows you to enter the URL of a Youtube video and convert it to a WMV, QuickTime or Flash video and download it to your computer. The video is actually converted online using the server, then you just download the converted video, you don't need a super fast computer to get this done. I have not had any success with the WMV option, nor have I tried the Flash option. I've been able to use the QuickTimes and watch them on my computer right away.
To get them onto the PalmTX, I've used a program called PocketDivxEncoder to convert the QuickTime to an AVI file using the Divx codec. That AVI file plays very well on the PalmTX through TCPMP. PocketDivxEncoder is a pretty fast program for encoding files, but it is processor taxing so the faster your processor, the faster it will encode. This program does not work with Windows Vista.
Once you have the AVI file saved on your computer you can put it on your PalmTX SD card using a card reader. Don't try to 'sync' it through the Palm desktop software or the file will get converted again automatically to an ASF files (reducing its size and quality...again).
The videos you get from Youtube through this method aren't high quality by any means...it's Youtube for crying out loud. But if you're looking for a way to get some music videos on your Palm, it's the only way I know how.
To get them onto the PalmTX, I've used a program called PocketDivxEncoder to convert the QuickTime to an AVI file using the Divx codec. That AVI file plays very well on the PalmTX through TCPMP. PocketDivxEncoder is a pretty fast program for encoding files, but it is processor taxing so the faster your processor, the faster it will encode. This program does not work with Windows Vista.
Once you have the AVI file saved on your computer you can put it on your PalmTX SD card using a card reader. Don't try to 'sync' it through the Palm desktop software or the file will get converted again automatically to an ASF files (reducing its size and quality...again).
The videos you get from Youtube through this method aren't high quality by any means...it's Youtube for crying out loud. But if you're looking for a way to get some music videos on your Palm, it's the only way I know how.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
New Computer
I'm putting together a new computer. I'll be using most of my old computer parts and upgrading to a new motherboard, processor, video card, and RAM. Hopefully it all works, but I'm a bit nervous putting it all together since I've never really done that before. I've taken pre-built bare bones systems and added to it, but never started from the motherboard and processor.
Here is my new parts list (all purchased from newegg.com for less than $500):
Motherboard- GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
Processor- Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775
Video Card- ASUS EN8500GT TOP/HTP/256M GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
RAM- G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory
CPU Cooler- ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler (in case I decide to vernture into overclocking)
The only thing I'm not 100% sure about it working is the RAM. I went to Gigabyte's website (manufacturer of the motherboard) and found the 'approved memory' section and G.SKILL was not on the list. I figured DDR2 800 RAM is all the same so I found the best deal and went with it....hopefully it wasn't a mistake. If it doesn't work, I suppose I'll return it to Newegg.com and see if I can get a different kind. I wanted to get one stick of 2GB RAM instead of two sticks of 1GB RAM, it makes for easier upgrades in the future if I ever decide to switch over to Windows Vista which supports over 2GB RAM.
I'll take the parts from my current computer and put them together with the new. Case with 400watt power supply, three internal IDE hard drives (7200rpm), a firewire PCI card, SONY DVD-ROM drive, Pioneer DVD+-RW drive, and a PCI IDE controller. The new motherboard only supports one IDE channel so I'll need to use the IDE controller card to run the DVD Drives and the other two hard drives. Eventually I'll switch over to SATA drives, but not yet. I'm doing only what I can afford at the moment.
All the parts should arrive on Friday. I'll let you know how it all went!
Here is my new parts list (all purchased from newegg.com for less than $500):
Motherboard- GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
Processor- Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775
Video Card- ASUS EN8500GT TOP/HTP/256M GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
RAM- G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory
CPU Cooler- ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler (in case I decide to vernture into overclocking)
The only thing I'm not 100% sure about it working is the RAM. I went to Gigabyte's website (manufacturer of the motherboard) and found the 'approved memory' section and G.SKILL was not on the list. I figured DDR2 800 RAM is all the same so I found the best deal and went with it....hopefully it wasn't a mistake. If it doesn't work, I suppose I'll return it to Newegg.com and see if I can get a different kind. I wanted to get one stick of 2GB RAM instead of two sticks of 1GB RAM, it makes for easier upgrades in the future if I ever decide to switch over to Windows Vista which supports over 2GB RAM.
I'll take the parts from my current computer and put them together with the new. Case with 400watt power supply, three internal IDE hard drives (7200rpm), a firewire PCI card, SONY DVD-ROM drive, Pioneer DVD+-RW drive, and a PCI IDE controller. The new motherboard only supports one IDE channel so I'll need to use the IDE controller card to run the DVD Drives and the other two hard drives. Eventually I'll switch over to SATA drives, but not yet. I'm doing only what I can afford at the moment.
All the parts should arrive on Friday. I'll let you know how it all went!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
GoodSync
GoodSync (www.goodsync.com) is a great free little program that allows you to keep specific folders of computers on your network synchronized. I'd been looking for a program that would keep the 'My Pictures' folder up to date on our two home computers. That way when pictures are added on either computer, the other computer will have the same pictures automatically. I tried a few different programs but this was by far the best one. It is free, but you are pretty limited in the amount of data you synchronize. After only a few weeks of use, I was over the limit and needed to upgrade to the Pro version ($20), but totally worth it. I've also found it a very good way to back up files on your computer in case the hard drive ever dies. I just tell it to back up my 'Documents and Settings' folder anytime the computer is idle for more than 2 hours. Saves everything I need to a separate hard drive. This seems to work better than the NERO Back It Up program I've been using for a long time (version 6). NERO tends to hang for some reason, then you don't have an updated backup.
The nice thing about Goodsync versus NERO is that the files in Goodsync are always available. Basically you are making an identical copy of your folders to another location. With NERO, you need to use NERO to restore the files.
The nice thing about Goodsync versus NERO is that the files in Goodsync are always available. Basically you are making an identical copy of your folders to another location. With NERO, you need to use NERO to restore the files.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Fake TiVO
LRM-519 by LG. the coolest thing since TiVO. The biggest difference is that there are no monthly subscription fees, yet you get the most up to date TV listings for your area. It connects either to your telephone or your computer via Ethernet cable or USB wireless adapter. It goes to Microsoft's TV listing directory and downloads two weeks worth of listings. I've had some frustrations with it not always being able to connect to the internet, yet still be connected and visible to the network, I think that's an issue with my crappy D-Link router though.
It has DVD Burner built into it so you can burn your recorded programs right to DVD. You can also transfer the MPEG2 files to your computer and use a program like Tsunami MPEG Editor to edit out he commercials, then burn from your computer.
Like TiVO, you can tell it to record a specific TV show and it will record it whenever it's on, it doesn't just record a specific channel at a specific time like old style VCRs, although you can do that as well.
Since it is part of your computer network, you can play all your MP3s that live on your computer through your TV/Stereo. Same with JPEGs, but unfortunately no video clips. It works through Windows Media Player so whatever playlists you have set up on WIndows Media Player, the LRM-519 will see it and play your playlists, specific genres, full albums, specific artits, etc.
It records live TV for 90 minutes....even if you change channels. TiVo I think only does 30 minutes, and if you change the channel it erases what it already recorded. With the LRM-519 it keeps 90 minutes of whatever you were watching. So if you're watching channel 5, then switch to channel 7, then back to 5....you can rewind up to 90 minutes and watch it again. You can pause live TV if you get a phone call or interrupted somehow, then just hit play and pick up where you left off. You can then fast forward through the commercials and get caught up.
It's a great little device...more expensive than TiVO up front but you save in the long run on monthly subscription fees. It can record off of satellite, cable, rabbit ears....whatever!!
Things I like:
You can watch something you've recorded while recording something else
Live TV recording continues while watching a recorded program
Computer networking to play music and see JPEGs from your computer
Built in DVD Burner
74 hours of record time at best quality
Unlimited hard drive expandability via external USB hard drives (I haven't tried this yet)
Drawbacks to it:
You can only watch what you are recording, it doesn't have dual tuners to let you watch one thing live and record another
I wish it would play video clips off the computer
Has problems connecting to the internet (but that might be my router)
It has DVD Burner built into it so you can burn your recorded programs right to DVD. You can also transfer the MPEG2 files to your computer and use a program like Tsunami MPEG Editor to edit out he commercials, then burn from your computer.
Like TiVO, you can tell it to record a specific TV show and it will record it whenever it's on, it doesn't just record a specific channel at a specific time like old style VCRs, although you can do that as well.
Since it is part of your computer network, you can play all your MP3s that live on your computer through your TV/Stereo. Same with JPEGs, but unfortunately no video clips. It works through Windows Media Player so whatever playlists you have set up on WIndows Media Player, the LRM-519 will see it and play your playlists, specific genres, full albums, specific artits, etc.
It records live TV for 90 minutes....even if you change channels. TiVo I think only does 30 minutes, and if you change the channel it erases what it already recorded. With the LRM-519 it keeps 90 minutes of whatever you were watching. So if you're watching channel 5, then switch to channel 7, then back to 5....you can rewind up to 90 minutes and watch it again. You can pause live TV if you get a phone call or interrupted somehow, then just hit play and pick up where you left off. You can then fast forward through the commercials and get caught up.
It's a great little device...more expensive than TiVO up front but you save in the long run on monthly subscription fees. It can record off of satellite, cable, rabbit ears....whatever!!
Things I like:
You can watch something you've recorded while recording something else
Live TV recording continues while watching a recorded program
Computer networking to play music and see JPEGs from your computer
Built in DVD Burner
74 hours of record time at best quality
Unlimited hard drive expandability via external USB hard drives (I haven't tried this yet)
Drawbacks to it:
You can only watch what you are recording, it doesn't have dual tuners to let you watch one thing live and record another
I wish it would play video clips off the computer
Has problems connecting to the internet (but that might be my router)
Friday, January 26, 2007
EMTAC GPS Navigator 3.0 Bundle for Palm TX
I've wanted to have GPS for a very long time. I finally found something that uses the super cool Palm TX as the display that connects wirelesly to a GPS receiver via BlueTooth. The EMTAC Navigator 3.0 Bundle comes with the BlueTooth GPS receiver and a pretty powerful piece of software including maps for each state in the United States (except Alaska and Hawaii for some reason).
If you are unfamiliar with GPS, here is what it is. GPS, abreviation for Global Positioning System, allows you to see exactly where you are on any GPS enabled map using three of 20 orbiting Satellites. The accuracy depends on the GPS receiver you have and the accuracy of the maps you are using. The EMTAC is rated accurate to 10 meters. The software allows you to see your current position, choose a destination, then the software will calculate the best or fastest route to that destination. Good software will recaclulate the route on the fly if you miss a turn.
The GPS receiver itself is very small, it fits easly in the palm of your hand....a bit smaller and flatter than a racketball ball. (I got the 'Mini' since the standard was out of stock). It comes with a wall charger and a car charger and takes only about an hour to fully charge. Once it is turned on, it can take a few minutes to get a lock on your position depending where the unit is located. I have had it zipped up in my camera bag on the passenger seat of the car and still get a lock. I find it easier to set it on the dashboard of the car to get a lock, then put it in my bag, in the glove compartment or in the armrest and not lose the signal. It connects via Bluetooth to the Palm so there's no extra cords to mess with.
One great thing about the Bluetooth connection is that you can set the screen where you can easly access it and put the receiver on the dashboard or in the glove box or wherever. Since the screen and receiver are separate you don't need to put the screen in a special place to get the best signal.
Since I have never used any GPS unit or software before, I have nothing to compare it to, but so far I really like EMTAC Navigator 3.0. The software is very customizable but has several quirky tricks that take a while to get used to. As far as customization, you can view your map in a top-down map style view or in a 3-D view which gives you a broader view of what's coming up. The map scales automatically based on your current speed and distance to next turn, which is really nice. The map is manually scalable using the hardware navigation buttons on the bottom of the TX in case you need a different scale that the current display. You can zoom in , out or even tilt when in 3-D mode. A simple press of a giant hand in the upper left corner gets you back to auto zoom mode.
The audible directions are great, although not street name specific. She will tell you when to turn left or right, but won't say the name of the street you are turning onto....for that you have to read the screen. But the voice is loud and crisp. You have control over the volume of the voice from within the software so if you are listening to music through the Palm at the same time, you can adjust the voice accordingly so it can still be heard through the music.
You can create a 'favorites' list which is extremely handy for places you may go frequently. I have Home and work stored so no matter where I am I can quickly find my way home without always typing in my address. It's also a good way to plan ahead for trips. Save your future destination as a favorite, then when you get in the car to go, you already have it saved.
Recently I typed in an address and followed the directions exactly to get there. Once I arrived, I found that it had taken me to the wrong place. From now on, if it's a place I've never been, I will cross reference the map location in EMTAC Navigator with Google Maps or Mapquest to be sure they all get the same results. It's kind of my fault though for not looking at the street signs as I was driving and only trusting the voice commands. Had I seen that the house numbers were getting bigger instead of smaller, I may have realized that I was going the wrong way.
It has the capabilities of looking up addresses from your contacts list, but I have had mixed results with that. Most of the time it just comes up blank when I try to use a contact. I've read that others have the same problem.
Another problem that I have found is when I'm in downtown Seattle in between all the tall buildings. Either the satellites can't see my exact position, or the map is off by 1/2 a block. When stopped at an intersection it will show that I am in between streets then will try to recalculate my route, most of the time indicating that I need to turn onto the street I'm already on. As long as I am moving it doesn't seem to be a big problem but when I stop every block for a stop light, it gets confused. I don't know if that would be the same for every major city, or just Seattle...you can always tell the software not to recalculate your route.
If you are unfamiliar with GPS, here is what it is. GPS, abreviation for Global Positioning System, allows you to see exactly where you are on any GPS enabled map using three of 20 orbiting Satellites. The accuracy depends on the GPS receiver you have and the accuracy of the maps you are using. The EMTAC is rated accurate to 10 meters. The software allows you to see your current position, choose a destination, then the software will calculate the best or fastest route to that destination. Good software will recaclulate the route on the fly if you miss a turn.
The GPS receiver itself is very small, it fits easly in the palm of your hand....a bit smaller and flatter than a racketball ball. (I got the 'Mini' since the standard was out of stock). It comes with a wall charger and a car charger and takes only about an hour to fully charge. Once it is turned on, it can take a few minutes to get a lock on your position depending where the unit is located. I have had it zipped up in my camera bag on the passenger seat of the car and still get a lock. I find it easier to set it on the dashboard of the car to get a lock, then put it in my bag, in the glove compartment or in the armrest and not lose the signal. It connects via Bluetooth to the Palm so there's no extra cords to mess with.
One great thing about the Bluetooth connection is that you can set the screen where you can easly access it and put the receiver on the dashboard or in the glove box or wherever. Since the screen and receiver are separate you don't need to put the screen in a special place to get the best signal.
Since I have never used any GPS unit or software before, I have nothing to compare it to, but so far I really like EMTAC Navigator 3.0. The software is very customizable but has several quirky tricks that take a while to get used to. As far as customization, you can view your map in a top-down map style view or in a 3-D view which gives you a broader view of what's coming up. The map scales automatically based on your current speed and distance to next turn, which is really nice. The map is manually scalable using the hardware navigation buttons on the bottom of the TX in case you need a different scale that the current display. You can zoom in , out or even tilt when in 3-D mode. A simple press of a giant hand in the upper left corner gets you back to auto zoom mode.
The audible directions are great, although not street name specific. She will tell you when to turn left or right, but won't say the name of the street you are turning onto....for that you have to read the screen. But the voice is loud and crisp. You have control over the volume of the voice from within the software so if you are listening to music through the Palm at the same time, you can adjust the voice accordingly so it can still be heard through the music.
You can create a 'favorites' list which is extremely handy for places you may go frequently. I have Home and work stored so no matter where I am I can quickly find my way home without always typing in my address. It's also a good way to plan ahead for trips. Save your future destination as a favorite, then when you get in the car to go, you already have it saved.
Recently I typed in an address and followed the directions exactly to get there. Once I arrived, I found that it had taken me to the wrong place. From now on, if it's a place I've never been, I will cross reference the map location in EMTAC Navigator with Google Maps or Mapquest to be sure they all get the same results. It's kind of my fault though for not looking at the street signs as I was driving and only trusting the voice commands. Had I seen that the house numbers were getting bigger instead of smaller, I may have realized that I was going the wrong way.
It has the capabilities of looking up addresses from your contacts list, but I have had mixed results with that. Most of the time it just comes up blank when I try to use a contact. I've read that others have the same problem.
Another problem that I have found is when I'm in downtown Seattle in between all the tall buildings. Either the satellites can't see my exact position, or the map is off by 1/2 a block. When stopped at an intersection it will show that I am in between streets then will try to recalculate my route, most of the time indicating that I need to turn onto the street I'm already on. As long as I am moving it doesn't seem to be a big problem but when I stop every block for a stop light, it gets confused. I don't know if that would be the same for every major city, or just Seattle...you can always tell the software not to recalculate your route.
The maps come on a DVD and you can load only the ones you need onto the PALM or your expansion card. I like that because you're not wasting memory on a map of a state you'll never travel to. My 2GB card has a few surrounding state maps, favorite music and several videos on it with plenty of room to spare.
Overall I really really like this new toy. I use it far too frequently and especially when I don't need it at all. Like going to and from work....I already know how to get there, but it's kind of fun to see my current position on the map, my speed, average speed altitude, estimated time of arrival etc.
Things I like:
Clear audible directions so you don't have to always look at the display when driving
Big on-screen finger pushable buttons that don't require the use of the stylus
The ability to tell the software whether you want to take small back roads or the freeways
2-D and 3-D views
Favorites list
Bluetooth wireless connection to the GPS unit
Things I don't like:
No in depth user manual to tell you what ALL of the icons mean
Not pinpoint accurate in Downtown Seattle when stopped
Unable to accurately map contacts in the address book
It's a great price for software and GPS unit for the PALM TX. I like it better than the handheld all-in-one because it uses a nice big color display already on the PALM. Also, if you don't like the EMTAC software, you can still use the GPS receiver for any other PALM map software. Earthcomber is free, it won't give you turn by turn directions, but it can show you where you are on a map and show you restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, around you.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Earthcomber
I've had this program on my Palm TX for a very long time. I downloaded it when I was looking for Free Wi-Fi access points but was quickly overwhelmed and confused by it. It seemed as though things were not put in categories that made sense to me so I stopped using it and deleted it last week because the maps were so big. I have now re-installed the program and have been looking at the website a bit more closely now. I found that you can make your own lists and categorize thing exactly the way you want to.
Earthcomber is a Palm and Windows Mobile program that lets you (and anyone else who uses it) mark places on basic but pretty accurate maps. The information is then uploaded to the central server next time you sync the Palm and run the Earthcomber updater. This allows you to mark anything (gas stations, restaurants, Wi-Fi access points, stores, trails etc..) in your area so others can find them. Next time someone who uses Earthcomber is in my area, they can see anywhere there are ATMs, Gas Stations, Shopping centers, hotels, motels, pet food stores...ANYTHING.
The maps are big, so you'll definitely need a device with lots of on board memory available or some sort of add-on memory card. The Seattle map is just under 6MB, the Los Angeles map is 17MB, Chicago is about 10MB, and the New York map is just under 2MB. Earthcomber also supports GPS units so you can get an exact pinpoint of where you are on the map.
One big drawback to this program is if you ask it to give you directions, it requires an Internet connection. It's a bit strange since it already has the map on your handheld. But I suppose you could just look at the map and figure it out yourself if you have no Internet connection.
By the way....did I mention Earthcomber is completely FREE?
Earthcomber is a Palm and Windows Mobile program that lets you (and anyone else who uses it) mark places on basic but pretty accurate maps. The information is then uploaded to the central server next time you sync the Palm and run the Earthcomber updater. This allows you to mark anything (gas stations, restaurants, Wi-Fi access points, stores, trails etc..) in your area so others can find them. Next time someone who uses Earthcomber is in my area, they can see anywhere there are ATMs, Gas Stations, Shopping centers, hotels, motels, pet food stores...ANYTHING.
The maps are big, so you'll definitely need a device with lots of on board memory available or some sort of add-on memory card. The Seattle map is just under 6MB, the Los Angeles map is 17MB, Chicago is about 10MB, and the New York map is just under 2MB. Earthcomber also supports GPS units so you can get an exact pinpoint of where you are on the map.
One big drawback to this program is if you ask it to give you directions, it requires an Internet connection. It's a bit strange since it already has the map on your handheld. But I suppose you could just look at the map and figure it out yourself if you have no Internet connection.
By the way....did I mention Earthcomber is completely FREE?
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
FujiFilm FinePix S5200
The FujiFilm FinePix S5200 is a great camera. We got ours back in March 2006 and love it. There are a few minor complaints that I'll get to later, but overall it is a great camera for anyone wanting a step up from a point and shoot. It has auto focus (and manual focus that I can't quite figure out yet), optical zoom (10x), built in flash, full auto mode all the way through full manual mode. The auto mode lets you use it as a point and shoot...where it determines the shutter aperture settings automatically. You can flip it to shutter priority or aperture priority if you want a bit more control over those items.
The biggest bonus in my book is the fact that it shoots in the Camera Raw format. Each 5 megapixel file is about 10MB, which is HUGE compared to it's 2MB JPEG counterpart. The benefit here is there is absolutely no compression on the file written to your XDPicture card media. This gives you ultimate control over the image in post-processing. You have about 4 f-stops worth of exposure control after the picture is taken. Now for those who simply want to take a picture, and upload it to the computer....this is not a very efficient way to go. If you do like to play around with the images in Photoshop, this is the best way to go. You have to download the latest update for Photoshop for it to read the RAW (file extension is RAF) files, but it works great.
I prefer shooting RAW because I think the S5200 has too many compression artifacts and image smoothing when shooting in JPEG mode. It's a pain to get the files ready for emailing when shooting RAW, but it's worth the hassle in my opinion. The S5200 also seems to shoot everything a little too blue for my eye and I like the fact that I can adjust color temperature to make the pictures more true to life.....without recompressing the file.
The things that bug me about the camera:
1) Color temperature seems too blue in auto
2) Has a hard time focusing sometimes in low light or on moving objects
3) JPEG images have too much image smoothing and artifacts
4) Seems to take a bit too long to to write the image to the media...this means you can't easily take a quick sequence of shots.
5) Images get too grainy/noisy at 800 and 1600 ISO
The things I really like about the camera:
1) Shoots in the RAW format
2) Has great battery life (4x AA batteries)
3) Good video quality at 640x480 30fps
4) Great image quality when shooting RAW
5) Standard 55mm lens thread so you can use filters from other cameras
Read more detailed info here at Photoxels. Another good source of information is here at DPReview. I would highly recommend this camera if you're looking for an upgrade from a point and shoot.
The biggest bonus in my book is the fact that it shoots in the Camera Raw format. Each 5 megapixel file is about 10MB, which is HUGE compared to it's 2MB JPEG counterpart. The benefit here is there is absolutely no compression on the file written to your XDPicture card media. This gives you ultimate control over the image in post-processing. You have about 4 f-stops worth of exposure control after the picture is taken. Now for those who simply want to take a picture, and upload it to the computer....this is not a very efficient way to go. If you do like to play around with the images in Photoshop, this is the best way to go. You have to download the latest update for Photoshop for it to read the RAW (file extension is RAF) files, but it works great.
I prefer shooting RAW because I think the S5200 has too many compression artifacts and image smoothing when shooting in JPEG mode. It's a pain to get the files ready for emailing when shooting RAW, but it's worth the hassle in my opinion. The S5200 also seems to shoot everything a little too blue for my eye and I like the fact that I can adjust color temperature to make the pictures more true to life.....without recompressing the file.
The things that bug me about the camera:
1) Color temperature seems too blue in auto
2) Has a hard time focusing sometimes in low light or on moving objects
3) JPEG images have too much image smoothing and artifacts
4) Seems to take a bit too long to to write the image to the media...this means you can't easily take a quick sequence of shots.
5) Images get too grainy/noisy at 800 and 1600 ISO
The things I really like about the camera:
1) Shoots in the RAW format
2) Has great battery life (4x AA batteries)
3) Good video quality at 640x480 30fps
4) Great image quality when shooting RAW
5) Standard 55mm lens thread so you can use filters from other cameras
Read more detailed info here at Photoxels. Another good source of information is here at DPReview. I would highly recommend this camera if you're looking for an upgrade from a point and shoot.
Friday, December 01, 2006
U3 USB Flash Drives
Several months ago I was looking for a larger capacity USB Flash drive to take files to and from work so I could work on them from home. I found a Kingston 1GB drive for $20 at Buy.com so I started researching it. It had something called 'U3' technology which I didn't know anything about. What it allows you to do is run programs straight off the keychain sized flash memory stick as though it was a CD-ROM. There are several programs for these U3 drives and a lot of the most useful ones are free.
This allows you to load a web browser on your keychain and take it to any Windows XP machine and surf the web anonymously. No cookies or form data is saved to the host computer....it all goes on the keychain. So when you unplug the U3 keychain, it's like you were never there.
Web browsers, email clients, chat programs, office document reader/editors, photo viewers/editors are all available for free. If you need a new Flash drive and you work on Windows XP, definitely get a U3 drive.
The one complaint I have about my Kingston drive is that the little plastic part that connects to my keychain breaks all the time. I have to super glue it once every couple weeks. That is annoying. Other than that, I like it a lot. 1GB for $20 that also lets me take my email, favorite website links and chat programs with me wherever I go is great!!
This allows you to load a web browser on your keychain and take it to any Windows XP machine and surf the web anonymously. No cookies or form data is saved to the host computer....it all goes on the keychain. So when you unplug the U3 keychain, it's like you were never there.
Web browsers, email clients, chat programs, office document reader/editors, photo viewers/editors are all available for free. If you need a new Flash drive and you work on Windows XP, definitely get a U3 drive.
The one complaint I have about my Kingston drive is that the little plastic part that connects to my keychain breaks all the time. I have to super glue it once every couple weeks. That is annoying. Other than that, I like it a lot. 1GB for $20 that also lets me take my email, favorite website links and chat programs with me wherever I go is great!!
Monday, November 27, 2006
6.25 MPH
That is what my evening commute home averaged to be today.....25 miles in 4 hours. It is a rare occasion that the roads in Seattle are so ice packed. There were cars, trucks and busses all over the place. I finally pulled over and chained up just so I would feel a bit more safe knowing at least I wouldn't be the one to crach into someone. I left work at about 7pm and arrived home just in time for the 11pm news. It was extremely stressful, luckily I had just recently made an MP3 disc of all my favorite tunes to listen to in the car. While stopped in traffic, I had a bit of trouble finding unsecure Wi-Fi hotspots to check the traffic up ahead on Google Maps for Mobile Devices....but there were a few areas I could find one. Would have been nice to have bluetooth internet through my cel phone, but I am resolved to the fact that it just won't happen.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
No more Samsung A920
I've decided that it's not worth all the hassle to get internet on my PDA through this Samsung A920 Phone. While we would end up getting the phone for free anyway, I decided to return it for a different model that won't be so overkill for a new Cel Phone. The A920 is very cool....but it's way too much for me. It playes MP3s, takes pictures and video, connects to the internet and a lot more I don't even know about....but I don't need all that. I found a different phone that is much cheaper that looks cool and does everything I need it to do as an upgrade to my current Nokia phone. The Samsung A640 is the one I plan on trading 'down' to. It has a speaker phone, a VGA camera and Bluetooth technology. At this point I don't hink I need anything more than that.
The special deal we are getting through Qwest is that we got a $150 bill credit for renewing a contract on MY Nokia phone. By upgrading my wife's phone to a new one, we still get the special discouted price for the new phone ($99 for the A920 and $39 for the A640) So either way the phone is free PLUS a credit. This just means we get more of a credit by getting the cheaper phone.
In order for me to get the new phone and not break my current phones contract was to get my wife the new phone, activate it, then change the number. It all went very smoothly, but now that I want to trade phones, it's a bit of a hassle because the original contract on that phone was on my wifes number. Confusing I know. Hopefully it gets sorted out and we don't have to pay a $200 cancellation fee. We shouldn't need to since I am cancelling before my 15 day trail period is up.
Anyway, I am disppointed that I won't have all-the-time web access through my Palm TX, but I am excited about a new phone. While the Nokia 3586i worked great, the new phones are smaller and sound better....hopefully they can also pull in a stronger signal.
The special deal we are getting through Qwest is that we got a $150 bill credit for renewing a contract on MY Nokia phone. By upgrading my wife's phone to a new one, we still get the special discouted price for the new phone ($99 for the A920 and $39 for the A640) So either way the phone is free PLUS a credit. This just means we get more of a credit by getting the cheaper phone.
In order for me to get the new phone and not break my current phones contract was to get my wife the new phone, activate it, then change the number. It all went very smoothly, but now that I want to trade phones, it's a bit of a hassle because the original contract on that phone was on my wifes number. Confusing I know. Hopefully it gets sorted out and we don't have to pay a $200 cancellation fee. We shouldn't need to since I am cancelling before my 15 day trail period is up.
Anyway, I am disppointed that I won't have all-the-time web access through my Palm TX, but I am excited about a new phone. While the Nokia 3586i worked great, the new phones are smaller and sound better....hopefully they can also pull in a stronger signal.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Samsung A920 wireless phone and the Palm TX
So I have this new phone that supposedly will allow me to connect my Palm TX to the internet through the phone via Bluetooth. I can get the phone and Palm connected as trusted Bluetooth devices no problem. But I can't get the phone to 'log on' to the network. I can connect to the internet on the phone through the phone's on board web browser so I know I have service.
I connect to the phone via Bluetooth and the Phone reads something like "connected to Palm TX as Data Modem" then a couple seconds later it drops the connection and gives me an error code saying Registration failure, PCS Vision username or password may be incorrect. I never got a password from Qwest.
I went through the Palm network setup and have the connections all set. I think the only thing I am missing is my Power Vision Password. The Palm asks for that in the setup process, but no one at Qwest will give it to me for some reason. One response via email from Qwest was to contact Palm to solve the problem. Earlier today I sat on hold for about 30 minutes waiting for some help. When I asked for the password she said she would do some troubleshooting then would be right back. Unfortunately my call got dropped due to another incoming call on my phone so I lost her.
My next step is to go to a Qwest Wireless store here locally and ask for some help. I think if they see the errors I get on the phone they will help me work through it....I'm doubtful though.
I did read somewhere on the internet that Palm does not support CDMA phone networks and I'm not sure what Qwest is. However I did read here http://forums.palm.com/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=20320033 about how to connect to CDMA networks and it is the same setup I went through normally....so I don't know.
The process is to connect to -phone-via bluetooth- and dial -#777- as the connection number. It also asks for username and password....which I don't have so I think this is the problem. http://forums.palm.com/pe/action/forums/displaysinglethread?rootPostID=20305990&returnExpertiseCode= The guy I talked with originally at Qwest said his buddy connects his laptop to the internet through the Samsung A920 and has no problems, also claims he never had to type in a username or password. Although I'm pretty sure connecting a laptop is different than a Palm.
All I want to do is connect my Palm TX to the internet through my phone so I don't always have to be on the lookout for a Wi-Fi network. I really really want this to work!!
I connect to the phone via Bluetooth and the Phone reads something like "connected to Palm TX as Data Modem" then a couple seconds later it drops the connection and gives me an error code saying Registration failure, PCS Vision username or password may be incorrect. I never got a password from Qwest.
I went through the Palm network setup and have the connections all set. I think the only thing I am missing is my Power Vision Password. The Palm asks for that in the setup process, but no one at Qwest will give it to me for some reason. One response via email from Qwest was to contact Palm to solve the problem. Earlier today I sat on hold for about 30 minutes waiting for some help. When I asked for the password she said she would do some troubleshooting then would be right back. Unfortunately my call got dropped due to another incoming call on my phone so I lost her.
My next step is to go to a Qwest Wireless store here locally and ask for some help. I think if they see the errors I get on the phone they will help me work through it....I'm doubtful though.
I did read somewhere on the internet that Palm does not support CDMA phone networks and I'm not sure what Qwest is. However I did read here http://forums.palm.com/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=20320033 about how to connect to CDMA networks and it is the same setup I went through normally....so I don't know.
The process is to connect to -phone-
All I want to do is connect my Palm TX to the internet through my phone so I don't always have to be on the lookout for a Wi-Fi network. I really really want this to work!!
Friday, November 17, 2006
Palm TX
I just recently purchased the Palm TX from OfficeMax. I ablsoutley love it so far. This was an upgrade from the Palm m130 and I like how much faster it is, the screen is much larger, it has bluetooth and Wi-Fi, displays pictures and video great and can easily sync to Microsoft Outlook which is great for keping contacts and a calendar up to date.
One of the big challenges I wanted to overcome was the fact that if you added video to the Palm through the Palm Desktop software, it would always re-encode it to save space....but I wasn't happy with the quality. So the solution (after a few days of research) was to get an SD Card reader and add MPEG1 files created with Sorenson Squeeze or TMPGEnc directly to the card. While those files will paly back in the default multimedia software that came with the Palm TX, I found it plays back better using TCPMP (The Core Pocket Media Player). So now I have great looking video playing back on the Palm....great for showing off video of my son or our company demo reel.
I have found that copying music to an SD card via a card reader is much faster than syncing Windows Media Player to the card through the TX. I don't know why it is, but the end result is the same....just a big speed difference.
I have had a few odd things happen when connected to Wi-Fi. For some reason it will lock up and I have to use the RESET button on the back, or the TX will just reboot itself. I have never lost any information from those reboots, but it is a bit annoying.
I just got a new Samsung A920 cel phone from Qwest that supposedly will allow me to connect to the PDA via Bluetooth and access the internet without needing to find a Wi-Fi hotspot. I'll let you know how that goes.
One super sweet free download for the Palm TX is Google Maps. You have to be connected to the internet to use it, but it is really really cool! You can actually have real time traffic conditions shown on the map. So far I have only used it to check traffic down the I-5 corridor in Seattle and seems to be pretty accurate. Side streets and non-major highways aren't monitored so it may not be helpful in all areas....but what a cool thing to have! I was thinking about getting a GPS add on for the TX but I think this is a much better solution if you just need to get directions.
If you're in the market for a PDA with great functionality and a large screen, I highly recommend the Palm TX.
One of the big challenges I wanted to overcome was the fact that if you added video to the Palm through the Palm Desktop software, it would always re-encode it to save space....but I wasn't happy with the quality. So the solution (after a few days of research) was to get an SD Card reader and add MPEG1 files created with Sorenson Squeeze or TMPGEnc directly to the card. While those files will paly back in the default multimedia software that came with the Palm TX, I found it plays back better using TCPMP (The Core Pocket Media Player). So now I have great looking video playing back on the Palm....great for showing off video of my son or our company demo reel.
I have found that copying music to an SD card via a card reader is much faster than syncing Windows Media Player to the card through the TX. I don't know why it is, but the end result is the same....just a big speed difference.
I have had a few odd things happen when connected to Wi-Fi. For some reason it will lock up and I have to use the RESET button on the back, or the TX will just reboot itself. I have never lost any information from those reboots, but it is a bit annoying.
I just got a new Samsung A920 cel phone from Qwest that supposedly will allow me to connect to the PDA via Bluetooth and access the internet without needing to find a Wi-Fi hotspot. I'll let you know how that goes.
One super sweet free download for the Palm TX is Google Maps. You have to be connected to the internet to use it, but it is really really cool! You can actually have real time traffic conditions shown on the map. So far I have only used it to check traffic down the I-5 corridor in Seattle and seems to be pretty accurate. Side streets and non-major highways aren't monitored so it may not be helpful in all areas....but what a cool thing to have! I was thinking about getting a GPS add on for the TX but I think this is a much better solution if you just need to get directions.
If you're in the market for a PDA with great functionality and a large screen, I highly recommend the Palm TX.
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