Tech Tools and Toys

Community Comments

Tools

Vista Overlook
Given the reach of Microsoft, the effect on the world of computing when it launches a new suite of products is hard to ignore. But according to many market analysts, the public will initially ignore Vista because it requires a lot of memory to take advantage of many of its vaunted features — try at least 2 gigabytes to run the new Aero look-and-feel.
    Today’s best-selling platforms — notebook computers that outsold desktops more than two to one in the recent holiday period — will need substantial upgrades to run the operating system. Most notebooks today come with 256K or 512K of system memory. But there’s more to it than just memory. Most users will have to upgrade their graphics subsystems, as well. And while that is somewhat straightforward on a desktop machine, it is anything but — and often impossible –on a laptop.
    There are some technologies that will soon appear to help users upgrade to Vista. These include external memory drives — USB-port devices with up to 2 Gigabytes of DDR memory — that extend application memory and hybrid hard disk drives that marry conventional hard disks with flash memory, enabling faster access and load times.
    Microsoft has a few other tricks up its sleeve with Vista. For instance, the operating system comes with a much-enhanced, pen-based computing module, making handwriting recognition much more reliable. It includes a better, more advanced voice recognition system. Microsoft has also borrowed widgets from Apple and renamed it Gadgets — these are mini-applications that do simple things, such as a calculator, a clock, etc. One of the most popular of these is a WiFi hotspot locator.
    Is Your PC Ready? Given all the system requirements for Vista and myriad compatibility issues that have arisen with programs and peripheral devices, the real question is whether your system can run it.
    To test your PC for Vista compatibility, Microsoft offers a Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. Third-party sites, including CNET and AMD, also provide Vista-readiness tools that in some ways are more accurate. I would recommend trying at least one of the alternate tests in addition to the Microsoft site — in fact, if it comes down to it, ignore the official test and use the others.
    Download and run Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor RC. It took me about five minutes, including software installation.
    When the scan is complete, Vista Upgrade Advisor has three sections you can view: System Requirements, Devices, and Programs. In my case, Upgrade Advisor notified me of these potential problems:
    System Requirements: My video card won’t support the Aero user experience; my Intel Pentium 4 at 2.8 GHz with 1.5GB of RAM and DVD met the minimum hardware requirements.
    Devices: The Advisor identified a couple of devices that may not work correctly — my built-in sound card and a networked high-end Canon color printer it didn’t have information about.
    Programs: The Advisor also called out five programs (two from Microsoft) that may have compatibility problems.
    Can You Really Run It? You might doubt that Microsoft is giving you a completely unbiased test. In that case the answer is to go to a third-party test. These tests were commissioned by various vendors, although all were built by a company that has a long history of providing hardware analysis for users: System Requirements Lab. These tests appear to be much more detailed and accurate.
    CNET offers a Vista readiness advisor built by Systems Requirements Lab. At the CNET site, select Can you run it?, then Install. It took me less than 30 seconds, and the results were displayed right on the web page.
The details of this test were descriptive and helpful. This test has a higher bar than Microsoft’s and recommended several upgrades before being classed as a “mainstream” Vista user (presumably the Business Edition). I tend to trust this third-party test more than Microsoft’s. However, clicking on the We Recommend buttons just took me to product pitch pages.
    AMD Vista provides the same test. Seven metrics produced five identical results and two slightly different, so CNET and AMD have tweaked the measurements of the readiness test. Predictably, the AMD test showed that my CPU wasn’t up to the Vista challenge.
    Bottom Line: I suggest running tests from several firms (including NVIDIA and ATI, both graphics systems vendors that have recently released new chipsets tailored for Vista systems.) Read the results carefully, and compare those results. You’ll get a great feel not only for what your hardware can and can’t do, you’ll develop a much clearer picture of what you really need to run Vista in your world.

Toys

Are you fed up with the iPod and all its wannabe workalikes and knockoffs and hype and hoopla? Think the Microsoft Zune is too dorky for words, and want that whole world to go away — even though you consider yourself a card-carrying member of the digerati?
    Well, you’re not alone. Here at Prosper we’ve searched high and low to bring you three new toys that will make it clear that you don’t follow the herd. Of course, the fact that they’re all very weird-looking is part of the appeal.

ety8 Earphones
Are you fed up with your friends smugly showing off their white iPod ear bud earphones? Do they dance just like the people in those Apple ads to prove how hip they are?
    These high fidelity Bluetooth-enabled, noise-canceling earphones from Etymotic Research are not only far better acoustically than anything your hipper-than-thou friends are sporting, they are also much, much uglier, and they work with any Bluetooth phone. The frequency response, accuracy and noise isolation claimed by the company is better than anything else available. A small wire connects the two postage- stamp-sized earphones, and all the controls needed to run an iPod are included in a series of small buttons on the righthand ear piece.
    Other than the ugly appearance of the ety8s, the other potential drawback is the way they fit inside your ear canal. This takes some getting used to, but if you’ve ever used big noise-canceling wired earphones (such as the ones that Bose sells, which are the best of the lot), these are far less intrusive.
$299 with iPod adapter, $199 without.
etymotic.com

mobiBLU Cube 2
Whip out this 1-inch cube of electronic coolness and you’ll instantly be the toast of the coffee shop. Called “The World’s Smallest Digital Multimedia Player” by the company (although we think the BenQ Joybee actually has that distinction), this cube is mighty small.
    It includes a tiny, full-color screen, an FM radio and tuner, comes in 1 gigabyte and 2 gigabyte versions (500 and 1,000 songs according to the manufacturer), plays video clips and MP3s and even records voice or radio.
Download playlists and songs from a PC or Mac, from a CD-ROM drive attached via the USB port or over the internet. Play podcasts, adjust the audio using the built-in equalizer software and listen to the high-fidelity sounds with the included ear-bud earphones. The cube runs on rechargeable lithium polymer batteries that provide up to 10 hours play time for audio (five hours for video), and you can even buy an accessory armband so you can wear the thing.
    If that isn’t enough, try this. Get out your glue gun and bedazzle the thing in cubic zirconium. Then you’ll really make a fashion statement.
2 GB version: $119, 1 GB version: $99
www.mobibluamerica.com/cube2.html

iLog
Someone had to take the iPod to the next level: the woodland version.  Created out of “select pieces of found and surgically removed timber and finished in teak oil,” these units come with their own operating systems — Squirrel and Badger — and are made from oak, yew and laburnum. Replicating all the functions of an iPod in a block of wood can’t have been an easy task, but it was no doubt helped by the company’s previous project: The Sound Lathe. This musical instrument combined a wood lathe with microphones.
    While the units are in short supply, videos on the company’s website show them in operation. Unfortunately, it seems that there are a few drawbacks to the design. Chief among these is the tendency for the units to catch fire after 30 minutes of play. The builders — a British team calling themselves the Owl Project — claim they are working on this and should have a fix anytime soon.
iLog 1k: priceless
owlproject.com

• Share
  • Digg This
  • del.icio.us
  • Newsvine
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Furl It
  • !Y My Web
  • Google
• Email
• Print

Recommend This

Community Comments