Posts by David Gosnell

Suspected this has been happening

Have been aware of "inconsistent" search results for some time, and this would fit with that. So long as the results remain useful, Google keep my vote. I have long campaigned that the only SEO worth having comes down to basic good web practice, coupled with standards-compliance and accessibility. Point proven, will have to update my FAQ to reflect this theory-become-reality.

For casual use

For casual use it's still hard to beat Vodafone's PAYG 3G dongles - 1.5p per megabyte, and that's that, pretty much. No top-up expiry, so long as you log on every few months. Don't think any handset contracts are going to beat that with tethered data.

SSD / HD

Why should it care, and how can it tell? Surely SSDs present themselves as (typically small) hard disks, just with slightly difference performance stats (some better, some usually worse). Unless it's clocking seek-times or something, there should be no difference, and actively blocking conventional hard disks sounds kind of obtuse.

Re: whot?

No, it's all very complicated this sensor size lark. The quoted dimensions are historically based on TV camera tube sizes, and the sensor itself is typically about two-thirds that size - no wonder they continue to use a more flattering measure than reality.

DPReview attempts to explain all at http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Camera_System/sensor_sizes_01.htm

How much longer...

... will we _really_ have to wait for this? It's been all talk for umm, years now? Hopefully long enough to fix that ghastly keyboard layout but not too much more.

DVB-T2

There is apparently no DVB-T2 receiving hardware available, let alone finished products.

Meanwhile, the changes made to existing broadcasts to accommodate this stuff have been causing a fair few problems where it's been rolled out already, so rejoice if you're not top of the list.

Widescreen

So have Toshiba finally abandoned common sense and decided to go full widescreen too? Looks like my wife bought hers at just the right time (1280x800 dual-core Athlon for about the same price, FWIW). Beware, 15.6" widescreens are pretty much completely unusable for anything other than watching video (wrong aspect, and insufficient vertical resolution), and the laptops with them tend to be positively monstrous compared with preconceptions of what 15" laptops always used to be like. Budget for a new desk (or lap), carrying cases etc, and forget about doing any actual work.

Image processor

"And why does the body cost FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY sniffs when it doesn't have a sensor, an image processor or a lens included?!?"

Ah, but the body does include an image processor. Identical, in fact to the one in the lens modules. So you pay for the same thing twice... There is actually some logic in this, in helping ensure forwards compatibility: if new sensor technology generates radically differently formatted data, the communication channel can be kept consistent.

Still not convinced though.

Re: xth Rule of marketing

Indeed. Not sure about the timing, but this will definitely be out within the next year - probably autumn 2010 though, realistically. For all the pathetic comments any Wii related thread on here attracts from stupid people who didn't research their purchase, it's been a phenomenal success that could only really now be bettered by adding long-overdue HD compatibility. Hopefully Nintendo will find a way to do this that will maintain data compatibility with the current model for save games, Wiiware downloads etc. Done well, an HD Wii could be both forward and backward compatible with properly-written games, making purchase a no-brainer for anyone already committed to the platform as well as those holding off for HD.

Windows 7 advantage for happy Vista user

My wife has Vista on her recent laptop, and is pretty happy with it - fast and stable on hardware genuinely designed to cope. Certainly better than she's ever had before. She has an upgrade offer for Windows 7, but is disinclined to use it. Anything in particular that might persuade her? The only thing I can really think of at the moment is that businesses have shunned Vista, and she would do well for various reasons to stick with what's widely commercially adopted - though for now that's surely XP, until Windows 7 gets run through the interminable company QA procedures...

Re: Of Course

Especially as the boundaries get blurred, with even 12" models now considered netbooks by the marketeers keen to capitalise on the concept. When netbooks first arrived, the distinction was clear, but now anyone can claim victory for their market sector: the boundary can be changed depending on who's axe-grinding at the time.

(Me = real netbook user: original Acer Aspire One, SSD, Linux, none of this later is-it-isn't-it nonsense!)

Harry Potter

Why does every article on this mention Harry Potter? If any of the writers had actually read what they referenced, they would know that the newspapers etc in that series are magical, not technological. Surely there are some better examples from science fiction to cite?

Finally, some sanity!

This is excellent news. The G series has always been considered "professionals' companions", and this will endear them no end as their most obvious competition in Panasonic dither around with rumours rather than products. Hopefully it will mark the start of a real change, though I'm not too optimistic. Olympus recognise that even at DSLR sensor sizes there is no benefit in going above 12Mp, and are instead focusing (sic) on making the most of that resolution. 10Mp on a 1/1.7" sensor is still a little dense for my liking (23Mp/cm²), but probably unavoidable on a compact, and definitely a step in the right direction... which doesn't have a hope in hell of filtering down to any more consumer-oriented cameras, alas.

Not just Twitter

Facebook is also widely reported to be even more of a pile of poo than usual this afternoon, with all kinds of Ajax errors popping up if it does bugger all at all.

That's cute

Now, if they put a screen, microphone, speaker and keypad on it, it could be a phone too. But that will never happen, for all the non-technical reasons cited previously.

CC dead in the water, but not for want of trying

Even if LG make it, the networks unfortunately won't touch it with a bargepole. Convergence like this is not in their interests while they can flog us the same technology in different cases several times over, with a 24-month contractual tie in for each.

Vodafone

I've just got a PAYG Vodafone dongle. At £15 a gig, it's more expensive for usage than some, but given that you can top up as much as you like (in multiples of £15), rather perversely for usage exceeding even the most generous contract bundles, it may actually be one of the more cost effective options. For me it's great because my usage will be very sporadic - charging is true PAYG rather than the £1-a-day type offerings from other networks, and there's effectively no expiry on the top-ups.

Download, install, then update

Or in my case: attempt to download, get bored waiting, think the better of it, then install Foxit Reader instead and never look back.

not a panacea...

... and in fact, a false sense of security. I wonder how many net-newbies think the asterisks or blobs are protecting the password transmission too? Sure, it doesn't take much technical knowledge to understand they don't, but the days of the geeks inheriting the networked earth are over.

Browsers could potentially implement a checkbox as part of the password form control (or have a global / site-specific config option), and allow the choice. 99% of use is perfectly safe unmasked, but the "internet cafe" option could be there for the 1% (though the risks of packet interception would be higher than that of shoulder-surfing there anyway)

Summary: you weren't wrong, just speaking uncomfortable truth.

Surprised how big it is

Really did imagine something smaller. It may be the smallest interchangeable lens digital camera, but not by much. The main selling point to me is the large sensor, so if rumours of a fixed lens variant are true, that could be interesting - and it could be tiny. Let's face it, my film Olympus Mju Zoom is full frame and minuscule, so with the quarter frame format of micro-FourThirds they could surely produce something the same physical size and with twice the lens power.

Shame no viewfinder

Shame there's no EVF viewfinder especially given the very average LCD resolution, but perhaps inevitable at the price point. Looking at the ugly Kodak logo on the back of the flash lump, it's almost like they considered having one but dropped it at the last moment.

Cheesy string, or stringy cheese?

Is the emphasis of this really an iPod dock with the bonus of CD player, DAB etc, or an upmarket boombox (a la Bose Wave etc, and done rather better by all accounts) that happens to have an iPod dock? With an iPod dock sadly to be assumed on just about anything that can make sound these days, it's really no longer the major selling point, surely?

"it is completely devoid of ... logos"

Do we take it that the photo immediately above is not of the product reviewed, then?

Re: Uh oh

Good luck finding a non-Huawei replacement!

All very well...

... but back to the bad old days of pre-PVR Freeview, with a swanky digital signal and no way to record. Is there really anyone out there who only watches TV at time of broadcast? Yes, you can get a Freesat recorder, but there's umm, let's count them... one, right, and adding another £300 RRP to the already rather expensive bill.

Demand will rise again ...

... once someone breaks the mould (and/or contract with Microsoft) and produces something radical, rather than conform to the utter blandness now characterising available products. As it is potential customers wonder why they should bother, whilst daydreaming of something better. Unfortunately for the Atom, any mould-breaking is looking likely to involve non Intel chippery, so the prospects in that particular regard remain somewhat bleak, for better or for worse.

Re: errr..

Would the average user likely to fall for such trickery know about such settings? This is preaching to the converted.

If they're going out ...

... it's with a bang, if this is anything to go by:

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/televisions/0,39029474,49302077,00.htm

"LG PS8000: LG gets serious about plasma TVs"

12 Mp interpolated

Or should that be extrapolated? Native resolution appears to be 8.1 Mp (off a teeny tiny 1/2.5" sensor). I thought fake over-hyped resolutions on cameras and scanners went out of fashion a decade ago? Surely no-one's going to be buying this as a stills camera anyway, so why?!

All very nice...

... and with disgruntled Sony engineers behind the company it's probably perfectly decent, but why oh why would almost anyone in their right mind buy a non-recording set-top box? Is the average customer yet to "go digital" really such a masochist that they would spend £40 making life harder (indeed impossible, after analogue switch-off) for themselves in the event that just possibly they wanted to record something?

Value for money

£300,000 for 47 nine-way mains adapters?

Even at Maplin's prices, I'd be hard pushed.

Re: Short supply

Your point being..?

Just use SRWare Iron

A proper polished Chrome without the googly bits.

About twice the price of O2's gizmo ...

... for basically an EeePC 701 with a touch screen instead of a keyboard. Hmmm.

Re: £500? Seriously

No, £499. That pound makes all the difference in these recession-busting times...

What are MSI on?! On a scale of 0 to insane, this is stark raving bonkers.

As a netbook price-point, £200 is where it's at for something to aspire (sic) to.