Netflix just released a new $100 box by Roku that will allow you to watch Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” movies on your TV. I wish Apple would allow this on their Apple TVs, so I don’t have to buy another peripheral. Maybe iTunes Music Store should offer a subscription based service for videos. As a side note, “Watch Instantly” does not work on any OS X browser.
As far as some tech specs go, its got HDMI, component, and optical outputs. No HD quality yet, but can be updated. There is no hard drive, everything is streamed. And you can connect wirelessly or wired to your router.
I set up my Super T-Amp this weekend. It was attached to my PowerMac via a really old Onkyo USB DAC. The speakers of choice for this setup were the $40 a pair Polk Audio R15s. I marveled at the sound and my cheapness. By the way, I plugged my Super T-Amp into my Kill-A-Watt. It measured 2 watts while playing music…loud. In off position, it measured 1 watt.
I’ve been wanting a replacement Class-D amp like the Pop-Pulse T40i for a while now. In my research I discovered a company I’ve never heard of, Nuforce. They make high end hi-fi gear. We’re talking about $5,000 for a pair of mono-amps. They also make this $250 desktop amp I now want, the Nuforce Icon, bringing high-end sound to the masses.
It is so great for so many reasons.
- Only $250. Or $200 for the special introductory offer.
- Built-in USB DAC.
- Built-in headphone amp.
- A true integrated amplifier. You can switch between 3 different sources: USB, RCA, and 1/8″ mini.
- Can be used as a preamplifier.
- Can be used to biamp if you have two.
- Looks cool. Reminds me of the Naim NAIT 3 I always wanted.
- Some great reviews already. Check this one out at 6moons in particular.
- It uses Cat-5 cables as speaker cable. Weird.
- SPDIF would have been nice.
I was having a few problems getting the Extreme to recognize my Epson 7600 printer on the network. It worked at first, but disappeared when I tried printing from it again. Mind you, I am not connecting the printer to the USB connection of the Extreme. The printer has an ethernet print server card installed in it, and that is connected to one of the ethernet ports on the Extreme. Anyways the key is to give the printer a static IP address. I was able to do it on my Netgear, but I didn’t know if the Extreme had the ability. It does.
- Open Airport Utility
- Click Internet
- Click DHCP
- Go to the bottom section labeled DHCP Reservations. Click the + symbol.
- Think of a description and fill in the description field.
- Choose the Reserve by MAC address radio button.
- Click Continue.
- Find the MAC address off the ethernet print server card, fill in the MAC address field.
- Choose an IP address you’d like to reserve.
- Click Done.
This solution seemed to work for me.
My new want is the MacBook Pro. I currently own a MacBook which is a great computer, but as you all know if you really want to be cool, you need the Pro version. Whenever I see people with the MacBook Amateurs, I honestly think, “Wow, that guy is not very serious. He only has a MacBook.” I don’t think I’m alone on this, I hope I’m not at least. I wonder if that’s what people think of me. Hmm. I suppose other times when I see people with MacBook Pros I think, “Wow, what’s that guy trying to prove?” But that’s something else. Anyways. Let’s look at the main differences.
- MBP has a dedicated video card for the gaming I’ll never do.
- MB has an integrated video card sharing memory with the main memory.
- MBP has an optional matte display.
- MB has a glossy display.
- MBP has a lighted keyboard which I would find very useful.
- MBP has a larger screen. 100px more height, 160px more width.
- MBP is aluminum.
- MBP has an express card slot.
- MBP has FW800.
- MB is a newer design.
- MB has the magnetic clasp.
- MBP has the little button with hooking thing clasp.
- MBP has the multitouch trackpad.
- MB has a user replaceable hard drive.
- MBP has slightly better battery life.
- MBP is cooler than the MB. (I think Apple should restart doing the “What’s on your PowerBook” ads.)
The MBP is probably due for a more major redesign. It has essentially stayed the same since the Titanium PowerBook. It makes sense that Apple has stuck with this proven design. What other improvements can be made? My main thing right now is a user replaceable hard drive. I’ve heard rumors that new MBs and MBPs are introducing at WWDC. Maybe I’ll want the new MB by then. No, wait. I have to be cool and get the Pro.
A few more things I’ve noticed:
- Time Machine over Airport Extreme with a MacBook Core Duo (only wireless g) is very slow. I unloaded a bunch of pictures a few days ago. It’s been trying to backup the files since, but keeps failing because of the amount of time it needs. I guess that’s the nature of notebook computer sometimes. Look up something really quick, then close it. Write something quick, then close it. Mind you I gave the MB a couple hours last night to backup about 12gb. That wasn’t enough time. I’ll have to hook it up directly again.
- I really like using Airport Utility versus the browser based configuration. On the Netgear, I’d only configure the router when hooked up directly through the ethernet. It’s apparently the only secure way. I noticed that I can us Airport Utility over wireless on my MB. Should I be worried about security?
- You can allow the Airport to notify you when it has a firmware update. With Netgear, I’d have to visit the netgear website whenever it occurred to me that there might be an update.
Last night I picked up an Airport Extreme! I’m pretty excited. Set up was relatively easy. Below are some random observations so far because I love unordered lists.
- No more web based configuring like with my old Netgear, instead you use Airport Utility.
- In Airport Utility, “SSID” is listed as “Network Name.” And is it just me or does it seem confusing that there is something called “MAC Address” and it has nothing to do with Macs?
- Airport Utility shows who is connected and how much bandwidth they’re using in a neat little line graph.
- The Extreme’s access list setup also lets you choose what times devices can connect to the router.
- If you have an iPhone or any pre-N device like my Core-Duo MacBook, you can’t use the 5ghz frequency. You’re stuck with 2.4ghz like everyone else.
- Airport Disk is cool though I swear it was called “Airdisk”. I can’t wait to figure out how to access it from anywhere on the internet. Also, I don’t think you can change the name of the disk while connected to the Extreme.
- Time Machine through the Airport Disk seems to be working. I used the gigabit ethernet for my initial MacBook backup. I’ll let you know about the wireless-G backup experience after I work on some large files.
- I have an Ethernet card in my Epson 7600. My old version of EpsonNet 1.9a couldn’t find the printer through the Extreme, 2.2a could! I thought Epson was going to leave me behind again, but they didn’t.
- I have not used the built in print server.
So far it seems like a pretty solid router at a good price considering what you get: gigabit ethernet, wireless print server, NAS, Time Capsule-like Time Machine, wireless-N, and Apple support.
I just got back from Hawaii, and it has inspired me to want a new set of stuff.
- A waterproof camera like the Olympus 1030 SW. Well not just waterproof, it is shockproof, pressure proof, and freeze proof. It also has 28mm (35mm equivalent) lens.
- A portable computer like the eee pc 701 4g or 900, so I can move the images off the camera to a hard drive and upload to a blog or flickr.
- A camera/notebook backpack like the Crumpler Sinking Barge to put all my goodies into. I have a $5 Million Home Crumpler bag that is really solid.
My trusty old white Netgear wireless-G has served me well for a few years now. It hasn’t caused me too many problems, well nothing a simple unplug/replug couldn’t fix. But I think it is time it should be replaced with the new old Airport Extreme.
A couple of days ago Apple offered a software update for their Airport Extreme that now allows time machine backups. This means you can back up your files wirelessly. This was the only reason to buy the expensive Time Capsule and now you don’t have to. Unless there is some other reason to get the Time Capsule I’m just not aware of.
I also own an Airport Express. I once used it for Airtunes only. Currently it just sits on a shelf. My Apple TV has replaced that role. But now if I get an Airport Extreme, I can bridge it with the Express to extend my wireless range!
Oh yeah, this is going to work so great with my new Blac X! FTW!
Installation
Very easy. Just plug all the cables in. Drop the drive in. It just works, on a Mac that is. I didn’t really look at the instructions.
Observations
- 3.5″ drives slide in easily. It doesn’t feel like it’s going to go off track and not hook up right.
- Ejecting 3.5″ drives require a little more than just pressing the eject button. You should probably pull on the drive too. (I wonder if that was in the instructions.)
- Ejecting 2.5″ drives seem to get stuck a little. It just might be the drive I was using.
- The flap which covers the drive slot seems a little flimsy.
- The drive light on the top of the Blac X consists of two lights: a blue power light, and a red drive activity light.
- I’m having an issue when unmounting a 2.5″ drive then remounting it. Blac X doesn’t seem to recognize the drive. I have to turn the Blac X off then back on for it to work.
- It allows deep sleep like so many USB devices do!
- Does not prevent automatic sleep like so many USB devices do!
I’ve been looking for the perfect solution to back up my life, basically all the files on my computer. I wanted something that was inexpensive, easy to use, and reliable. I was backing stuff up on CD, that got old fast. I tried DVDs, but I heard the dyes are unstable. Then I heard a suggestion of just saving it on hard drives. Ok, why not?
I bought one of these. The Seritek seemed like a good solution at the time. I was taking advantage of the speed and technology of SATA drives. Whenever I bought a new hard drive for my PowerMac, I could stick the old drive in a tray and use it in this enclosure. External SATA is nice, but it just doesn’t work like a Firewire drive. It didn’t take long before I got super annoyed by these stupid trays. I learned later that there were enclosures out there that don’t require trays. Cooldrives has a few, but I was told the fans would not turn off when the computer is put to sleep. Ditto for the Seritek. That was very annoying to me also. Drobo was another drive enclosure I considered and still am. But it does so much more which comes at a cost, a cost of half a G! This leads me to the Blac X (finally, huh?)
A couple of weeks ago, I was perusing my local Fry’s looking for some kind of hard drive solution. Something caught my eye: a tiny little black box with a picture of bare hard drive plugged into some kind of enclosure like a video game cartridge. Ooh, what’s this? It takes SATA drives, 2.5″ and 3.5″. Nice. USB? Rip off! How much was this badboy? $39.95. Ooh, maybe not a rip off. Is it any good? I pulled out my iPhone and quickly searched the web for reviews just like in the commercials. Ahh, here’s one.. skipped to the conclusion section. Thumbs up. It’s mine!
Part 2 here.
