tech ronin

5G iPod Early Days 1

You wouldn't want to see my 5G iPod right now. It would ruin the fantasy. It's still got the clear screen protector that is stuck onto it when you take it out of the box. That's not so bad except that the two bottom corners have curled up about 1/4 inch each. Not nice. But I'm not ready to remove what little protection this screen represents right now.

I've got the little pouch that Apple provides. But in order to do anything with the iPod, I have to take it out of the pouch and that's when trouble might occur. I remember how incredibly sensitive my nano was to scratches. It seemed like if you just breathed on it, it would scratch. So I'm not taking any chances. I'm tempted to just keep it around in the case for now and use the nano except for special occasions.

I'm worried it will slip out of my hands and fall to the ground while I'm out walking or something. I had it with me today walking downtown and back. It was in the case except for when I needed to adjust the volume. I was wishing for a tiny little scroll wheel on the top right then so I could keep it in the case.

My nano has a couple scratches and I want this one to stay pristine in its beauty. Kind of like the people who keep their cars covered and in the garage and barely use them. This really is a museum piece. Too bad it had to be delicate.

Now that there's a nano lawsuit about the scratches, maybe this will be the most beautiful iPod ever. Next time, they'll make it more rugged and perhaps a little less gorgeous. Or not. It is Steve Jobs after all. I'm convinced he counts public opinion at about 25% and his personal opinion at about 75%.

But I have been using my iPod since I got it Friday night. I've listened to music and podcasts. I've watched a TV episode. I was surprised just how good the TV show looked on the little screen. I think this iPod will be great for short programs including 43 minute TV episodes.

I would only want to watch a full-length movie under duress. I'll put a couple emergency movies on my 5G so that in case I really need that kind of distraction and have no other options, I will have them there. But this screen is too small for a 1.5 - 2 hour movie. I would get eyestrain.

I tried using PodWorks 2.8.5 to copy TV episodes from my iPod to iTunes on my G5. That worked in case you wondered. Copying episodes is fast, downloading them takes a few minutes on my DSL connection.

I tried watching DigitalLife TV episode 10 from iTunes on my iPod and it was audio only. Disappointing then. But now that I've downloaded the Video iPod version from their site, it's fine - all 168 megs of it. I like this. I could stick this in my pocket and listen and then take a look from time to time.

I'm hoping to find a good blogger who makes it his or her business to learn this stuff find the best video material. There are full-blown TV commercials on here though. Too bad but I guess inevitable for free content. iLounge has a really thorough review but not enough real world user info for my taste.

Saturday I spent a couple hours going through my iPhoto collection and cropped a lot of photos and put them in an album for the video iPod. That was kind of fun. I like doing a best of rather than putting every photo I've ever taken on there.

I was expecting a bigger form factor on the video iPod. And will look forward to such a device in the future, but the pocket-sized device has a lot going for it. On-the-go, the pocket-sized device rules. The iPod is definitely an always-have-it-with-you sort of thing. Once you go beyond pocket-sized, you've got problems in that regard.

Given the state of the art, I'm thinking Apple did about as well as they could. I get to have a single device that can play video when called for. If this video stuff gets really big, I'm guessing they'll do the 3“ plus device Steve talked about a year ago.

New purchases. Some Music Videos. No Doubt with Gwen Stefani - Don't Speak and Sunday Morning and Coldplay Fix You and Yellow for a start. I can see collecting a few choice music videos for my video iPod. I don't watch MTV so I've never seen these videos. But I do like to see my favorite artists performing and now I can do that easily and efficiently. There are lots of and lots of music videos that are not on iTunes, though. I wouldn't mind going back in time and finding some gems here and there.

By the way, I've definitely run into more iTunes download problems since the video iPod came out. Someone is downloading a lot of videos is all I can figure. Apple is probably struggling to keep up with the bandwidth requirements.

Technorati Tags: iPod, iPod5G, music, podcasts, TV, videoiPod

Got the 30 gig black video iPod

Rock and roll! I took a little drive over to San Francisco tonight to make my purchase. I love that big store. It was full of people checking out the new iPods. They had a bunch on this one big table. And in the middle was about 10 black boxes just so you knew it was in stock.

They didn't have the black 60 gig but I was again able to carefully compare between 30 and 60 and I decided to 30 will do. This isn't a lifetime relationship after all. I like the slimmer look a lot. I like the black. I spoke with several shoppers and employees about which to get the differences and what not. One of my biggest conversations was with a fellow shopper who was clear she wanted the 60.

I was in the store for about an hour. I also made it out of there with the new universal dock and the remote control that controls the universal dock mounted iPod. I like that. Could be a great way to deploy my 60 gig 4G in the living room from across the room. Maybe I'll get some use out of my $2500+ stereo. It's worth a try. I also bought the 2-year coverage for $59 that provides battery replacement and support. I hesitated but the price seemed worth it.

I love the little case that comes with the new iPod. very slick. It was probably very inexpensive and an afterthought after the experience Apple had with the nano's scratchability. It's a thin sort of artificial suede leather in white.

So here I am on my black couch. I'll be watching numbers tonight with a bit of a distraction. My iPod is plugged into my powerbook right now. I'll copy over the 5 season 1 episodes of Lost that I've bought so far -- one of which I haven't seen yet. By the way, I know I could buy the whole season cheaper but this way I get to decide whether and when I want to buy an episode. I don't have to commit to the whole season which I've never seen.

OK, back to my new black baby! Woohoo! I highly recommend hanging out at the SF store. It beats the Corte Madera store by a mile.

Just copied my TV episodes over. And watched about 5 minutes. I'm very impressed. Very cool!

Technorati Tags: iPod, video iPod, videoipod

Hands on with the video iPod at the Apple Store

Update: The Apple Corte Madera store is all sold out of their video iPods as of 6 pm Friday night.

I dropped by the local Apple store yesterday and they had all of the video iPods in stock except for the one I wanted - the 60 gig black. I stopped by again today and also called the San Francisco store and no luck.

I was thinking, well maybe I'll buy one online but the main advantage there is that you can engrave them. But engraving is going to hurt the resale value probably, so I think I'll pass on that one. Who knows when the *real* video iPod will come out. After all, I was surprised to see the video iPod out so quickly after the refresh in late July.

The black probably shows fingerprints and even scratches worse than the white. But, it comes with a simple case that will protect it until I find the ideal case. And I think the black looks cooler. I like black much better than white. I own a black car and wear black a lot. Judging by what I wear, it's my favorite color. So, I'll just wait it out.

They did have both the 30 gig white and the 60 gig white so I could compare how they feel, thickness and weight. There's a fairly big difference. The weight is about 15% more for the 60 gig. The 60gig is about an 1/8th of an inch thicker or 27% thicker than the 30 gig. video.

I was told in the store though, that the 60 gig drive is a dual-layer drive and would let you copy stuff to the drive faster than the 30 gig. And we already know that the 60 gig has about 50% more battery life than the 30.

Given these considerations, I'm going to think a little more whether I really need 60 gigs. I'm only using about 25 right now on my 60 gig 4G iPod.

Other impressions. The video iPod looks a lot wider than my 4G color. It's not except that the 4G is rounded so the actual top is not as wide as the widest point. That wider look isn't as appealing. Also, the flatness and square edges make the iPod a little less comfortable in my hand.

Photos on this thing look fantastic, though. That almost sold me without anything else. Darn, I wanted to see how text looks on these. I'm hoping it isn't as unreadable as my 4G. I'll have to check that and get back to you.

Technorati Tags: iPod, video iPod

Video iPod and TV shows

I'm at the Corte Madera Apple Store surfing from here. The new video iPod has a 2.5" screen instead of the current 2" and that will yield 320x240 px. Excellent, that's what the majority of PocketPCs offer now. Yay! The devices sell for $299 and $399 for 30 gig and 60 gig. The first video-capable iPod. It's 30% thinner! And available in black or white.

Secondly, new iMacs available starting today. They have an iSight capability built-in and are thinner. With a speed bump. And a remote control.

iTunes 6 is available for free download. They'll be selling music videos for $1.99. TV shows too. YES!

Too bad I just bought my 60 gig 4G in August... I don't think I will be able to resist this new machine. But maybe I'll wait a little while until I find a good way to trade or sell my current great iPod. I'm hoping my incredible leather case won't become unusable. Hmmm... Maybe a shim will work.

Nano in ezSkin

Not the most beautiful nano anymore but incredibly functional. This is the *white* ezSkin for the nano. It cost me $23.99 at my local Marin Mac Shop in San Rafael. This is all they have in, but there is a black version which is displayed on ezGear's website. It came with a belt clip and wrist and neck lanyards. This is temporary but comfortable. You see a bigger version here.

The translucent skin has a hard plastic screen protector that is replaceable. It also has a little bump on the back to allow for attachment of the clip in case you feel the need to show your baby off. I'm sure I'll find something I like better, but for practical protection of the nano in a case that doesn't bulk it up much, this is perfect.

Technorati Tags: nano

Blue Angels Over Alcatraz

I decided to miss a little of the 49ers game today in order to see the Blue Angels fly around right from the Golden Gate Bridge. That was fun! It's exciting to be on the bridge anyway. The day was gorgeous.

There were a ton of sail boats all over the bay. Here's a very wide screen shot. Right in the middle is a big ship. To the left is Alcatraz and the right is Treasure Island. And the Bay Bridge. And an awful lot of people on the water with amazing views. This one photo seems to say it all. If you click the photo, you'll be taken to the medium-sized Flickr version. From there you can see it larger if you like.

There are lots more photos of the Blue Angels on Flickr if you have your appetite whetted. I like this close-up taken by Dave Golden today with his Nikon D70. Until I saw his photo, I didn't know the planes were numbered 1-6.

Technorati Tags: Blue Angels, San Francisco, San Francisco Bay

Powerbook Down, PC Notebook Up

No. I'm not switching to PCs. But my Powerbook's hard drive crashed out last week and I had just ordered a cheap Compaq Presario Build-to-order notebook for testing purposes so I can make sure my Studio Manager product runs flawlessly on a PC. Since it arrived and I'm still sorting things with the Powerbook, I'm spending my time getting this PC to work for me temporarily.

I've already been assured that Applecare will replace the drive but I'm exploring possible ways of recovering data first - just in case I can. The problem is that my one good backup was on an external drive which somehow managed to also fail 4 days after my Powerbook drive failed, so now I don't have a full backup worth much. Next time I'll make 2 backups to 2 different drives. I'm learning my lesson. That's what happens when you haven't had a crash in years. Complacency sets in. Ouch!

Wake up call. So, right after my second backup crashed, my new Compaq Presario v2000z thin and light notebook arrived. It's got a 14" wide screen with 1280 x 768. By the way, one reason I got the notebook is because using my old desktop PC set in a corner on the floor with the monitor on a bookshelf nearby is such a pain. I want it out of the way because I only use it occasionally, but then it isn't convenient when I do need it. A notebook PC will be very easy to use whenever I want and still not take up valuable desk real estate when not in use.

The Presario's screen is bright and sharp like I expect the new Apple Powerbooks to be (hoping for next week). By the way, the rumor is that a higher resolution Powerbook will be part of Steve Job's *one more thing* press event on October 12th.

The type is often decent. Some fonts look bad but others look quite good. This is the first time I've ever thought that looking at a PC screen. Aesthetics are very important to me, so this is going to make my next few days without my Powerbook more bearable.

The Presario has an AMD Turion 64 that's supposedly running at 1.6 gigahertz but, anymore, I have no idea how that compares with Intel or Mac. Things have gotten complicated in the megahertz wars and I didn't take the time to sort that one out because I can easily get carried away on research in a situation like this. I just went with the hunch that I could still get more bang for my buck using an AMD rather than a Pentium.

There was a deal at my local Office Depot for a PC Notebook for $399 (after $300 in rebates). And you could custom order to add or change it quite a bit. I liked buying local, getting XP Pro on a cheap machine and getting Office Basic for $100, so I went for it. Here's what I did based on my recollection since I lost my spreadsheet in the hard drive crash:
Changed 256 mb to a single-slot 512 mb RAM - $75
Changed 40 gigs at 4200 rpm to 60 gigs at 5400 rpm - $75
Added a slot for an SD card - $25
Added Bluetooth for - $20 - at that price I couldn't resist
Got Office Basic with Excel, Word and Outlook - $100
Got XP Professional instead of Home - $79
Got a 2 year warranty - $175
Shipping added another $45

It was around $900 plus tax and warranty. The thing weighs about 5-1/2 pounds I think. And it feels kinds of tinny and flimsy - not nearly as solid as my Powerbook. But the keyboard is nice. And it looks 70% as good as the Powerbook -- maybe. But, I bought a pretty cheap machine here. I'm getting more specs but less quality. But I think, for the most part, the quality is pretty good -- adequate.  I figured I would enjoy the machine more and not neglect PC testing if it was fairly full-featured but I couldn't justify spending $1800 - $2500 to get something really cool. I need that extra money for my next Mac.

Even though I've had about 6 PCs as occasional use machines over the years, I still don't really know a lot about PCs. I can get around but I get frustrated trying to find how to do things. How to get things that I need to work. And I was worried about spyware and such.

Luckily, I have a friend and colleague, Keith Parker, who is a major PC expert/consultant and he did a makeover on my PC's default settings and got me all set-up. Now, Keith can bail me out from a distance if I get into trouble by remotely accessing my machine. And he got me connected to my Airport basestation so I have wi-fi working. Apple's Windows version of Airport software worked fine.

I went over to Keith's home office for all this where he has two Windows Servers and a lot of PC firepower including a T1 line. I was dazzled with the things he could do with his PCs communicating back and forth. Keith said he thought the depth of Microsoft's Server tools were much better than what Apple has. And, I have no doubt that is currently true. Afterall, Microsoft has a ton of people compared to Apple and they are very well-established in the Corporate market where server software is a major feature.

Under Keith's wing, I expect to have a pretty decent experience using this Presario for the next couple of weeks. Of course, most of my data is on my G5 and all my cool software is there, so I'll be spending about 1/2 my time on the G5 and 1/2 on the Presario. I'll let you know if I have further comments.