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Sunday, March 28, 2004

Show 26

Talking tech since 1991.

Megan is in studio - and our recording secretary today. Sorry about all the technical difficulties - I think we’ve worked them out and they shouldn’t happen again.

I was a little distracted when answering the caller who asked about using a USB cable with his cell phone and Macintosh for dial-up networking. Of course you can do it! Dan and Laura in our chat room pointed out that Macsprintusers has instructions that work with Sprint phones. They’d be applicable to other carriers as well with some modifications.

Dean in Corona Del Mar uses an Mbox and wants to upgrade his computer. He wants to know if the Toshiba satellite is a good choice.

Absolutely. Dean is using the Digidesign MBox to make music and the Toshiba P25 he’s looking at has more than enough power to get the job done. Frankly, it’s faster than most desktops out there!

It does come with Windows XP Media Center Edition, which is overkill unless you plan to use the laptop like a Tivo.

Mike in New Jersey is confused by the wide range of choices for HDTV displays. Everyone likes plasma because they’re so thin. They’re also heavy, hot, and use a lot of power. We also don’t know how long they’re going to last - most experts believe they’ll darken appreciably within 10 years.

I think you can get an equally good picture in the rear-projection TVs. DLPs offer better bang for your buck. I particularly like the Samsung DLP HDTV. If you can wait a few months, Texas Instruments’ new DLP2 chip is even slicker. I expect TVs with that chip to start shipping in time for Christmas.

Sandy in La Mesa wants a laptop for her granddaughter who is going off to college. First, call the school. Here’s a list of questions you can ask them.

• Is there is a campus-wide network? If there is, she should get a network card. She may also be able to save on a printer since the network will probably offer shared printers she can use.
• Is there a wireless network? If there is, she should get a wireless card.
• Ask about the theft rate. If it’s high, get a laptop lock.
• Ask if there is a student discount program. If there is, then you may want to buy the laptop through the school.
• Find out if Windows or Mac is most commonly used on the campus.

If Windows is the most popular, you probably want a Centrino laptop, which means it contains Intel’s new wireless technology. Most of Centrino laptops will be around $1500 and weigh 3–4lbs. Some good brands are Toshiba, Sony, Dell, and Gateway.

Dave from Hollywood started off with a Mac and switched to Windows. He wants to transfer all his files and pictures and wants to donate the old computer. How can he do that without putting the information on his hard drive at risk?

You can connect the two computers with a USB cable or FireWire. My favorite program is Aloha Bob’s PC Relocator.

You’re right not to donate or recycle your computer without first erasing all the data. To erase it, try Eraser. For recommendations for other programs read Patrick’s article for more erasing tools.

Bruce from Pasadena wants to know if he can reinstall XP over itself like you could in 98.

In theory you can, but I haven’t had much luck with it. I’ve bluescreened both times I’ve tried it. I’d reserve resinstalling XP on top of an existing install for a last resort.

Anne from the chatroom wants to know if she needs an Airport Extreme base station to use a computer with an Airport Extreme card. Only if you want Airport Extreme speeds. Any 802.11g card (that’s what Extreme is) will work with either an 802.11b or g base station. You won’t get the speed of g with a b basestation, but if you’re just using the Internet that’s not important anyway.

One thing to beware of: if there are any 802.11b devices on an 802.11g network the entire network will slow down to the 11 megabits/sec speed to maintain compatibility. To get the full speed benefit of Airport Extreme you’ll have to use all 802.11g devices.

Jan in Wisconsin wants to know which is better, an iBook or a Powerbook? Powerbooks are faster and they have more RAM. iBooks are slower, they have less cache memory. iBooks are less expensive and personally I think their cases are nicer and more durable.

The iBook is a good choice. If I had to do it all over again, I would buy an iBook again, instead of the Powerbook.

Mark from Orange has an option on his cell phone to turn off GPS tracking. His phone says that 911 will still see him, but other services may not work. Does he need those other services? No, most of those services do not exist. You can turn it off without worrying about being monitored.

Weblog spam
MT-Blacklist

Mike wants to know how to speed up his computer. He’s trying to use a flight simulator program with a Pentium 2. If you’re running low on RAM, close programs. If you’re using Windows 98, 95, or Me, try to reboot. You want the cleanest possible system. Strip down your login and make sure you don’t have anything that runs in startup. Use msconfig. Click Start, Run, and type msconfig.

Brian in Anaheim is planning to etch a lucite window in his PC case. Yoshi recommends using a dremel tool for the etching, but practice on a spare piece first. Try Yoshi’s forums or the Pheaton Forums for more information.

Peter in Long Beach has a 5-year old Dell with Windows 98. In the last six months it’s been very slow and crashed a lot. He’s defragged, emptying programs and checked the registry. It sounds like you need to reinstall Windows.

First, backup all your data and make sure you have all the disks you need. After you backup, run the restore disk. It should be just as fast as the day it came back from the factory. You should reinstall often. I do it at least yearly.

You might also want to get a new drive. Try Maxtor or Western Digital. The drives will come with a tool that will help you transfer your data over.

Peter is also looking for a program to check his PC online. Try PCPitstop.

Don in Marina Del Ray doesn’t like to keep his programs and his data on the same drive. He has two physical drives. His problem is that he can’t rename the second partition and when he can rename them, he can’t rename them what he wants. The rename command is grayed out.

A puzzler!

Don is using FAT32. He might want to convert it to NTFS. Go to Start, Run, and type

 convert D: /FS:NTFS

For more detailed instructions and troubleshooting, check this Microsoft Knowlege Base article.

Robert in Santa Clarita wants to know if Apple will ship a G5 Powerbook this summer. I’ve heard the rumors, too, but it seems unlikely. Motorola has announced a new fast mobile part and it’s possible Apple will consider that. The problem with the G5 is that it’s a bit of a power hog. That means it runs hot and sucks battery life. Apple will have to solve those problems before shipping a G5 notebook. I’d say wait until next year.

A good place for Mac rumors is MacRumors.com.