Rick’s Rants and Raves

I’m proud to be a late adopter when it comes to technology. I like waiting until technology has gone through a couple of generations before I adopt.

Unfortunately, the same thing happens for me with fashion. Sideburns? Only after a decade of popularity. Plaid Shirts? 4 or 5 years…

For me and fashion, I usually adopt the latest fashion just as it is going out of fashion.

So, for all of you goatee wearing bad-asses, this is your notice–it has been around for so long that I’m even giving it a try. Like most of my phases (sideburns, mohawk, beard), it probably won’t last long. I currently have 3 days of growth so it isn’t obvious from down the hall, but I got a few comments at work today. Fortunately Anne likes it so far. Otherwise it would be very short lived.

We finally have a DVR. Ours came free with our cable package, and so far we’ve really enjoyed it. The usability is pretty good, and it only has a few quirks. My favorite feature: I can add an external drive with no hacking required. We are now a family nearly addicted to Myth Busters.

Tonight I watched my first football game that had been pre-recorded. We were at Beaver Creek State Park when OSU pummeled Purdue, so I didn’t get a chance to watch or listen to the game. Since I already knew the outcome of the game it was easy to skip from play to play. I didn’t need to hear any of the analysis or banter of the commentators. I was able to watch a 3.5 hour game in about 75 minutes. Anne was even slightly amused that I was still cheering at the great plays and touch downs.

All in all, the DVR has come of age, and its way easier than the VCR ever used to be.

I really don’t mind being a late adopter. I like letting technology mature before I take the dive. I’m intrigued by the possibilities, and I am typically aware of the trends. However, I generally don’t spend my hard earned cash until an equilibrium has been reached between price and features.

For example, I recently acquired a DVR from my cable company as part of a package deal. When I compared that package against packages from competitors, I was essentially getting the DVR for free. That’s what I call equilibrium. I’m comfortable that my mother has had a DVR for over a year now, while I have not. My family simply doesn’t watch that much TV, so it hasn’t been a priority.

But last night, I realized just how late my adoption of an MP3 player had come: not only did my wife and daughter have one before me, my mother nearly beat me to it. She asked me to come help her learn how to use it. Fortunately, I already have one…

A month or so ago, I bought a refurbished Sansa e250 from Woot.com for only $50. I’ve been very pleased with the purchase, especially considering I did it with very little research (which is what Woot’s business model counts on). Here are some of the pluses of this particular player:

• 2GB internal storage that doubles as a flash drive. That’s 400 songs, which is a fair bit of the stuff I care about.
• Micro SD card slot. Since I can get a 2GB Micro SD for only $25 (at the time of writing), that means I could have a $75 4GB player. The equivalent iPod Nano is still $200, and doesn’t play video.
• The e250 is capable of playing video if you don’t mind converting it to its supported format. On my PC, it takes about 45 seconds to convert each minute of video. The only annoyance is that the smaller resolution quicktime file ends up taking more disk space than the original.
• There’s a pretty decent Free Open Source firmware for it called RockBox. The user interface leaves a little bit to be desired, especially when manipulating play lists, but it has a much deeper feature set than the stuff that came on the e250. And it has GAMES! It will even play Gameboy (Advance and color) games if you have the .gbc file. And of course, the ultimate in geek, It Plays Doom.
• The battery life has been fabulous.

One final complaint: FM transmitters seem to nearly universally suck. And why don’t any of them actually list their transmit power? A week transmit power would probably lead to a poorer signal strength. A strong transmit power would indicate a better likelihood of downing out the noise prevalent in most cities.

While I was on vacation this summer some fellow vacationers noticed my digital camera and started asking questions. They were folks who had not yet taken the digital plunge, and they wanted to know if they should, and how to choose an appropriate model. Here are the criteria I would recommend to a digital camera buyer just now getting into the market.

Computer Litterate?

The first criteria is “Are you computer litterate?” By that I mean, most specifically, do you understand the concept of files and folders? If you write a document in a word processor, and save the document, can you find it a week later? Are you able to sort your saved files into more than one folder? If you aren’t familiar with these concepts, don’t even consider a digital camera. Stick with your 35mm camera for now. Digital cameras will spew a new file for each snap you take, and if you don’t attempt to organize the some way through folders or some other method, you’ll be lost in a sea of picture files. Also, if you don’t have a computer at home, I would not recommend a digital camera. You can get one and get prints, but the convenience factor is gone if you don’t already have a computer (any computer will do. DO NOT upgrade your computer just for a digital camera).

How much to spend?

Be prepared to spend at least $130 for the two things you absolutely need: a camera and an additional memory card. But before you walk into a store, determine your absolute maximum. Digital cameras and their memory cards start very cheap, and go up incrementally into the $1000+ range–and that’s not even for a “Pro” camera. Count on a minimum of $100 for the camera and $30 for the memory card.

Memory

The camera will probably come with a very small amount of memory in the box (8-32 MB). In nearly all cases this will not be enough. Get more memory in the flavor the camera uses. There are lots of different flavors, but the details don’t really matter for this review. Just get one that is compatible with the camera. The box will tell you which to get. If you aren’t sure, as a sales rep.
How much should you get? That depends on how long you’ll be away from your computer and how much of a shutterbug you are. If you’ll be taking a two week vacation with no access to your computer, buy more. If you only snap a few pictures during the week and on weekend jaunts, buy less. How much more or less? That will depend heavily on you. I would recommend buying a smaller (128 MB) memory card to get started, and see how quickly you fill up.

Choosing a Camera

As I mentioned before, be prepared to spend at least $100 on a camera. Anything less will get you a “toy” camera that would be suitable for a child to play with, but will not be good enough for an adult. If you are able to spend more like $500 for a camera, this article is not for you. You really should review the features and capabilities of higher end consumer cameras at a site like this: DPReview.com.
If you are still with me, here are the three criteria in order of decreasing importance that you should consider when buying an inexpensive digital camera:

• Ease of use: Spend some time at a big-box retailer and actually try out the cameras in your price range. Nothing else matters about the camera if you don’t understand how to use it. Make sure you can press the buttons and read their labels. Ask for help. Be sure you like the feel of the camera in your hands. Play with the menus and make sure they make sense to you. I cannot stress this enough: if you get home and don’t understand how to use the camera, you’ll have a very expensive paperweight.
• Optical Zoom: Optical zoom is the amount of zoom in the camera lens itself. It will determine how close you can get to your subject without having to move your body. Do not confuse this with digital zoom. Digital zoom is essentially worthless in a digital camera because you can always do the same thing with the photo on a computer afterwards. In this price range of camera, 3x optical zoom is typical. More zoom is better, but remember that ease of use is more important.
• Auto-focus: Some cameras in this price range have a “fixed” focus lens, which means everything greater than 4ish feet away will be in focus. This is fine for a camera for a kid, but you’ll want the improved results from a camera with auto-focus.

Conclusion

There, thats it. Three criteria after you set your budget. Don’t worry about all the thousands of other potential features. Worry about those on your second digital camera if you find yourself really intrigued. Also, don’t worry about the much touted “mega-pixels” of the camera. Seriously. The sales rep may tell you differently, but in this price range it really doesn’t matter. OK, it matters if you want prints sized 8×10 or larger, but how often did you do that with your 35mm? You, like 98% of your brethern, just get 4×6 prints, with an occasional 5×7. These cameras are fine for both.

Next time, how to get prints from your new digital camera…