Archive for the 'Hardware' Category

Valve recently posted the results to their hardware survey. There are many interesting things that can be gleaned from the data:

• At least 54% of users have broadband connections
• 39% have 2GB or more of memory
• 55% have Intel processors versus 45% with AMD
• nVidia graphics cards are much more popular that ATI cards
• 1280 x 960 is the most common primary display resolution
• Embedded audio chips are more popular that stand-alone cards (I found this particularly interesting)
• 84% of users are still using Windows XP

Lots more interesting data is available, so be sure to check it out if you’re into that kind of thing. The results of another survey were also recently released. Statistics for Half-Life 2: Episode 2 are available for viewing. I particularly enjoyed the overhead maps that show where players die most often. I’ve got to believe that the developers at Valve think this kind of data is pure gold.

I bought a Linksys WRT54GL today, to replace our aging DLink DI-624 (it had been acting pretty flaky as of late). The Linksys router supports open-source firmware, and our first course of action was to flash the highly recommended DD-WRT distribution. I have to say that I am very impressed with this firmware. There are lots of options available and it reports lots of interesting information.

Setting up the router wasn’t difficult, but my dad and I ran into problems getting our IBM laptops connected wirelessly. All of our other machines were able to connect without any problems, so it was clearly a problem with either the ThinkVantage Access Connections application or the IBM wireless adapter. We spent quite a while trying to get things working, and finally found the issue. We had originally set the Wireless Network Mode option in the router basic setup to “G-Only” mode since we intended to use 802.11g only around our house. But for whatever reason, the IBM laptops didn’t like that. Switching the option back to “Mixed Mode” cleared up the problem immediately, much to our delight. Hopefully this little tidbit will help out someone else facing the same problem.

Gizmodo has an interesting article on why they think Apple is offering the $100 coupon for early adopters of the iPhone. I happen to agree with the article 100%. Pretty clever marketing on Apple’s behalf.

For what seems like an eternity now, I’ve been trying to decide whether to purchase an Apple iPod to replace my Creative Zen Micro (I’ve outgrown the 5 GB of storage). And wouldn’t you know it? Just as I seriously start to move towards purchasing one, my favorite retailer quietly stops stocking them.

A UBS Investment Research analyst recently speculated that Apple might refresh their iPod lineup in the next month or so:

In his note to clients, the UBS analyst also said he expects Apple to refresh its iPod video and iPod nano lines sometime next month. Among the expected introductions are higher capacity iPod nanos at aggressive price points, as well as a flash based widescreen video iPod likely using multi-touch technology for less than $300.

Will all the large iPods go to flash based technology? That would be a surprise to me. The largest flash drives I’ve seen on the market are 16 GB, far short of the 30 GB size of today’s iPods. And what about this price increase? Quoting a price point of less than $300 indicates to me that the new device will cost somewhere between $250 (the current price) and $300 (I’m going to predict $299). It just so happens that $250 is about as much as I’m willing to pay, especially since I still have to buy a separate wall charger (which I still contend is highway robbery). I just wish Amazon would stock the 30 GB players again at $225 ($25 off). If they did, I’d be sold.

I recently stumbled upon an excellent article explaining why the “black bars” still show up for some movies, even on high-definition televisions. Not being the owner of a high-def TV, I had always wondered what really happened in these cases. Now I finally understand what’s going on, and that one shouldn’t panic when the bars continue to show up.

My Creative Zen Micro only has 5GB of storage and, having filled that up, I’m looking for a new (and larger) MP3 player. All of the major players (the iPod, the Zune, and the Creative Zen Vision M) have their own frustrating drawbacks, like non-replaceable batteries.

As such, I’ve been trying to figure out which way to go, mostly by reading reviews around the web. The more I read, the less impressed I am with each player. What MP3 player(s) do you use and/or own? Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

A few weeks ago, I purchased a pair of Audio Technica ATH-ANC7 Noise-Cancelling Headphones. Over the July 4th holiday, my family and I went to visit my grandmother in Georgia, so I got a great chance to try them out. As the title of this post suggests, I really like them.

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