Tech DC » Electronics

Canon S100 versus S95

Rick — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:23:32 +0000

King of Pocket Cameras

Canon’s venerable Powershot S camera line, starting with the S90 two years ago, just got a step better with the new S100.

While not visually much different than last year’s S95, the S100 is probably a bigger jump than the S90 to S95 was.

What’s improved?

More grippy body – grips on the front and back, grippier finish
1080P video instead of 720P (h264 mov files)
better noise reduction with DIGIC 5 image processor
better dynamic range and low light sensitivity
12 megapixel camera
bigger wideangle/zoom range – now 24-120mm equivalent instead of 28-105mm
geotagging – Yay! So I can see where all the photos were taken.

Like the last upgrade, don’t feel compelled to upgrade from an S90 or S95. The picture quality has improved, but only noticeably in low light.

UPDATE: I was surprised to see that Gizmodo couldn’t recommend the camera due to battery issues. They’re either doing something wrong or have a bad camera. While the battery life on the Canon S series has never been great, the S100 isn’t any worse for me than the previous models. It can stay in standby for weeks (I’ve only had it a few weeks) and it can take around 200 shots. I keep the GPS photo tagging on and the GPS logger off.

iKlear Cleaning Kit

Rick — Sun, 29 May 2011 21:38:02 +0000

When clients give me computers that have lots of dirt and smudge on the screen, I grab iKlear to clean it. I saw a few years ago that it’s what Apple uses to clean laptops, especially the white MacBook prone to discoloration.

Now I also use iKlear to clean phones, tablets, and TVs. Do not to use Windex or other cleansers not specifically designed for monitors. They can permanently damage the screen. If you don’t want to spend the money, at least get a microfiber cloth and just use a small amount of plain water.

iPad Games for Cats

Rick — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 21:18:53 +0000

From DC’s ABC7 News:

Probably best for your iPad if you have a declawed cat or a screen protector.

Virgin Mobile MiFi 2200 Review

Robert — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 03:03:57 +0000

There are several MiFi devices out there these days but none as cheap as the one by Virgin Mobile. A MiFi allows you to get on a cellular network via your devices WiFi. Your laptop or iPad has WiFi but probably not built-in cellular network support. This bridges that gap. You can also use up to 5 devices thru the MiFi at one time so its more useful than a built-in connection like the high-end iPad. This MiFi 2200 can be had from walmart.com for just $139.99 with no contract. In comparison, the Verizon MiFi is $269.99. The Verizon data plan is $60/month with a 5GB data cap while Virgin Mobile offers unlimited data for just $40/month.

Activation

The first thing you have to do is activate the MiFi. This is actually different from paying for service. Activation involves creating an account, getting some special IDs from Virgin Mobile, and entering them into the MiFi. This is a simple guided process that you do by connecting to the MiFi via wireless and going to virginmobile.mifi in any browser. One odd thing is that the MiFi will not connect to 3G (EVDO) until it is activated. This means you have to go through the activation website via the older 1xRTT Sprint network which is only slightly faster than dial-up. While annoying, you should only have to activate your MiFi once. Once activated, you will then see it connect to 3G.

You can provide your billing info without actually starting your data plan. You’ve got an option to have your plan auto-renew which is nice if you plan to use it always. If you plan to use it only on occasional trips, there is also the option to only pay manually so when you sign up for a month of service, it will simply end at the end of the month.

Data Plans

In addition to the $40/month plan that most will probably get, there is also a $10/month plan with 100MB cap. That’s a great cheaper option if you just need to use the MiFi for a short period. There’s one other secret extra special plan only available to people who buy their MiFi from walmart. For $20/month, you get a 1GB cap. That’s a nice additional plan option since that would likely cover most people for a week long trip. This is plenty reason enough to purchase your Virgin Mobile MiFi from walmart.

Performance

Virgin Mobile is owned by Sprint so it uses Sprint’s cellular network. When you are connected to Sprint 3G, you can expect typical downloads speeds of 300Kbps to 1000Kbps. While testing, I typically had 2-4 bars of 3G and averaged about 450Kbps. This is no where near as fast as most DSL or cable speeds but for the price and mobility, I think its terrific performance. If you are not in a 3G area, the MiFi will fall back to the older 1xRTT network where the best speed you’ll likely see is 100Kbps and more typical is probably half that. I recommend you check out sprint’s 3G coverage map before purchasing to be sure 3G is available in the areas you plan to use it. The 1x speeds are fine if you’re desperate for any connection but it will be painful to use. As long as you’ve got 3G, you’ll be happy with the performance, especially at just $40/month. If my home internet ever went out, I’d be happy to use this as an alternate internet connection. And since you can start your data plan through the device, you can do just that whenever you have to.

Battery Life

You can expect to get about 4 hours of continuous use from the MiFi. It can be setup to automatically power down after X minutes of no usage. This can be handy to save battery life but it is also easy to simply press the power button until the light goes out to save battery.

If you are looking for a little more battery life like me, I recommend an external usb battery like the Satechi Battery Extender Pack. The built-in MiFi has a 1150 mAh battery. This Satechi has a 4800 mAh battery. That means it has enough extra juice to fully charge the MiFi over 4 times. It can also be used to charge almost anything else powered by USB such as iPhones, iPads or most other cell phones.

Admin Options

This MiFi offers terrific admin controls. You can change the wireless SSID, the wireless password or admin password. You can even setup port filtering, port forwarding, and mac filters. Once you’ve setup your config, you can even back it up to a computer in case you ever have to reset your MiFi and restore your setup.

Conclusion

The Virgin Mobile MiFi doesn’t offer the fastest speeds. It doesn’t offer terrific battery life. But it is an amazing price with terrific data plan options. If you’re a price conscious shopper that wants connectivity for any of their many WiFi gadgets, this is the device for you. I think road warriors or occasional travelers would be happy with this device.

Canon S95 versus S90

Rick — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:52:25 +0000

King of Pocket Cameras, Improved

Canon just replaced their PowerShot S90 with the S95, so I did the same. The Canon S90 was my favorite camera ever so I wanted to see what Canon could do to improve it.

The S95 retains everything that made the S90 great.

a relatively large 1/1.7″ CCD sensor capturing 10 megapixels (same sensor as Canon G10 and G11)
excellent built quality
lots of manual controls that can be assigned to ring on front of camera

What’s improved?

body finish is more grippy
wheel on back has stop clicks (many people didn’t like the freely spinning wheel on the S90)
added 720p movie mode (only 24 fps though) with stereo recording
High Dynamic Range scene option
better image stabilization
can be used with a neck strap (holes at both sides of the camera)
just a little bit thinner (see photo). Some will complain about the camera being too small and losing the little thumb grip, but I prefer a camera to be as pocketable as possible.

Conclusion

There are loads of pocket cameras to chose from that will take good shots in brightly lit situations. It’s in the poorly lit situations that the larger sensor of the S90/S95 really helps. It’s not about the number of megapixels, but about how good the image sensor is at collecting light. The image sensor on the S90/S95 combined with image stabilization makes the camera worth the money for me. By adding a plethora of manual controls, Canon has made a camera that many professional photographers will be comfortable using when they don’t want to carry their big DSLR.

Currently costing $399 at Amazon, the S95 is not a cheap camera. It isn’t a necessary purchase if you already own the S90. But the Canon S95 is the current best camera that can fit in a pocket and it’s a worthy successor to the S90.

AT&T 3G MicroCell Review and Recommendations

Robert — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:34:16 +0000

The MicroCell is an interesting product. Some believe it is a product filling holes in a carrier’s network that shouldn’t exist. No carrier has blanket coverage and often even when there is coverage, it is worse indoors so it is nice that products like this do exist. For $150, you can pick up an AT&T MicroCell from any AT&T store. This is a cheaper option than some alternatives and worth consideration if you have little coverage at home or work.

Setup

Account setup is rather simple and done through a website. You provide your address and phone numbers and that’s it. You are limited to 10 phone numbers that can work through a MicroCell. The good news is that it is locked down by phone numbers so your neighbor can’t use it. Your address info is verified by GPS in the MicroCell during startup. Unfortunately, this means the device needs to be near a window so it can get a GPS signal. This is the oddest thing about it but apparently a requirement by the FCC. If the GPS light does not come on, you need to move it closer to a window. In some cases, you may need to try various windows at your house until you finally are able to get GPS.

Once you get GPS and are connected to your Internet, you can move the device as long as it doesn’t lose power. This might be easy if are just relocating it in the same room. If you are moving to an area with no windows, you’ll need a battery backup solution. A cheap good option is the Tripp Lite Compact UPS. Once you get GPS by a window, you can unhook the ethernet and move the MicroCell and UPS (uninterrupted power supply) wherever you like. Of course, if you ever lose power for longer than your UPS can last, you’ll have to go through that whole process again to set it up. This battery backup approach can make sense though because placement is very important.

Performance

AT&T claims a 40 ft range. This is pretty decent and works out to an area of about 5,000 square feet, even more if you have 2 floors. You’ll drop about 1 bar of coverage per major obstacle (like a wall) so to cover a whole house, you’ll want to put the MicroCell in the most central location. Unfortunately, central often means no windows, hence the need for the UPS approach.

Even if you’ve got 5 bars and are sitting right next to the MicroCell, your call quality might be awful if your Internet isn’t good. This is often the cause of any VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) issues and everyone’s assumption that their Internet is good. To test the VoIP quality of your Internet, visit this VoIP test site. If you don’t do well on those tests, you shouldn’t consider any VoIP products.

Assuming you’ve got good Internet and good bars, the MicroCell performance is very good. You’ll know you’re connected because your phone will say something like AT&T M-Cell instead of just AT&T. If you’re far from the MicroCell or have many walls between it and you, your performance may suffer so be sure to place it near where you expect to make most calls. If you’re heavily using your Internet, streaming a video for example, your call quality may suffer if you don’t have your router setup properly.

Router Optimization

The MicroCell can go between your router and DSL/Cable modem but additional routers is rarely a good thing. We recommend you hook the MicroCell up to your router so it can plug in anywhere on your network. We don’t recommend the use of a wireless bridge as wireless can be too sporadic for VoIP. To optimize MicroCell performance, it should be given high priority in your router’s QoS (Quality of Service). The MicroCell MAC address is on the bottom of the device.

Alternative

Before the MicroCell, the best alternative was the zBoost YX-510 Cell Phone Booster. This is around $300 and requires that you have some signal near a window or in an attic. Coaxial cable is run from an antenna to the zBoost repeating antenna.

Conclusion

If you’ve got poor Internet but some outside signal, the cell phone booster is your best bet. If you’ve got good enough Internet, the MicroCell is a cheaper and superior option. You may not like having to pay for such a device but it is a one time fee that should simply make your AT&T phones work at home.

10 Fixes for Overheating Laptops

Rick — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:57:25 +0000

Many PC laptops are poorly designed, causing them to overheat and turn off automatically to keep from becoming damaged. Here are a few possible fixes:

1. Remove Dust

Dust often forms around fans and air vents, reducing airflow and cooling. Start with a vacuum cleaner to pull out loose dust. Then blow out the remaining dust with a can of compressed air.

2. Keep Vents Open

Be sure to never cover the fans and air vents. The small holes under the laptop are needed for the components to properly cool. Placing a laptop on a pillow or bed will smother the vents and stop airflow. If you do use the laptop on a bed, carpet, etc, at least place it on a board or other smooth surface so that the laptop can use the designed airflow.

3. Raise the Laptop

Raise the laptop to allow more air to flow underneath. Don’t do this in a way that covers the air vents. For example, four rubber furniture raisers bought a hardware store will cheaply raise a laptop. For more cheap options, see the Lifehacker Top 10 DIY Laptop Stands.

4. Add Active Cooling

For more money, you can buy a notebook cooling pad such as the Targus Lap Chill Mat or Cooler Master Notepal U2. These raise the laptop and have fans which move air under the laptop.

With one customer, I needed to get the data off of a quickly overheating laptop so I placed it onto trays of ice. I placed a sheet of plastic over the ice to reduce humidity seeping up to the laptop. It wasn’t a long-term solution but was able to keep the laptop running for a few hours.

5. Download BIOS and Software Updates

Typically available from the laptop manufacturer, BIOS and OS driver updates can fix CPU and fan control problems.

6. Configure the BIOS

Check to see what BIOS options exist for the CPU and GPU. You typically get into the BIOS by clicking F1, F2 or ESC when you first turn the computer on. Sometimes there are options to underclock the CPU or step down the processors.

Fan speeds and temperature alarms can sometimes also be set in the BIOS.

7. Configure Windows Power Options

Within Power Options (Control Panel – Power Options), you can set the laptop to run using less power for both the CPU and graphics card. This will slow down the computer but also lower its heat.

8. Install Monitoring Software

Speedfan is free Windows software allowing you to see the temperature of components. Knowing the CPU temperature can be helpful when trying to improve cooling. Depending on the system, Speedfan might be able to control and modify the fan speed.

9. Fix the Thermal Compound

The thermal compound between the CPU and heat sink is often poorly applied during manufacture. If you want to fix an overheating CPU and are adventurous, you can open the laptop, remove the CPU, clean it and the heat sink, apply new thermal paste, and put everything back together. This is not a simple process, even for people who do it regularly. But it can permanently fix some overheating computers.

10. Internet Search For Your Laptop Model

Particular laptop models are typically susceptible to the same problems. A recent customer has a Gateway M1625, commonly afflicted with overheating on the left side due to poor CPU thermal paste. Many Sony models were recently identified as having an overheating problem that Sony is fixing through software. A fix for your laptop might be found with a quick Internet search.

The iPad Arrives

Rick — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:17:12 +0000

Rumored for years, the Apple iPad is finally here. Starting at $499, it is a major new product that will compete with notebooks and eBooks. See the full video from Apple’s presentation today.

3D Video and Nausia

Rick — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:05:48 +0000

The Consumer Electronics Shows (CES) just wrapped up in Las Vegas and one of the main themes was 3D video coming to home televisions. Along with this, the big movie Avatar is being shown in many locations in 3D.

While 3D adoption will grow, there are some problems such as having to wear silly glasses and the “depth of field”.

Depth of Field Problem

About 20% of the people I know who saw Avatar in 3D said that they felt nauseous or got a headache. This is primary due to a “depth of field” problem.

When you look at a close up object in the real world, you focus on it and things in the background are out of focus. You then look at something far away and then can focus on that clearly.

In 2D movies, the camera focuses on what is important and other items are out of focus, especially when there is a wide depth of field.

In 3D movies, our eyes expect to be able to look at an out-of-focus area and have it come into focus, just like in real life. But if it was shot out of focus, this is impossible. Further, the shallower the depth of field (meaning the more that the foreground and background are both in focus) the more cartoonish a video can look. This is a reason that cartoons, because they have no depth of field, work great with 3D.

An article at Shadow Locked explains How to avoid getting a 3D headache while watching Avatar. You have to look at what is in focus. See picture:

3D Does Work in Many Cases

For cartoons and sports, we do not expect to see a depth of field. And typically James Cameron shot Avatar with little depth of field. But, to the extent that depth of field is an important tool for movies, it will limit adoption of 3D movies for many people.

Harmony Remote Favorite Channel Icon Image

Robert — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:17:52 +0000

If you’ve got a recent harmony remote such as the Harmony One and have hard to remember 3 or 4 digit TV channels, setting up favorites can be very useful. Then you just have to select the channel on the remote and the right numbers are sent. To make things even prettier, you can define icons for each channel.

A great place to download icons is iconharmony.com. The interface is a little strange but you can search for each channel icon image you want and select it. Once you have selected each image you want, you can download them all in one zip file. You use the logitech harmony remote software to define your favorite channels and browse files to assign the icons.