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NX80 NoiseHush EarBud Review

Posted by geeknews at 12:04 AM on December 29, 2011

I received a pair of NX80 NoiseHush EarBuds to review over a month ago. When I was wearing them I was bragging to my kids how nice they sounded. It was not long after I reviewed them, that the earbuds disappeared from the review box I keep in the office. This afternoon after questioning a certain 15 year old on where they went, the NX80 NoiseHush EarBuds are back in my possession temporarily.

Seeing my daughter has had them for about a month, I asked her what she thought of them, as she was using them with her hand me down iPhone. She said they where really nice, as she as pleading to get them back. I asked her why she liked them, and she said because they sounded really good.  I have to admit for the low price range, these earbuds deliver a very nice dynamic rang especially in low frequencies.

The NX80 NoiseHush Earbuds feature an In-line microphone as well, that is acoustically tuned to filter out external noises. I played with this feature quite a bit in trying to determine how effective this filter is. It does a decent job for the earbud price range.  The earbuds also feature a  control button that is about chest level,  that allows you to switch between calls and your music with just a click.

Overall they are great value for the price @ $19.95.  They come with 4 different sized ear inserts and a nice carrying pouch. My wife now want’s a pair as well, and I have given the review set back to the 15 year old.

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Boogie Board Rip Hands On Review

Posted by Andrew at 4:00 AM on November 25, 2011

Boogie Board RipThe Boogie Board Rip from Improv Electronics is an electronic clipboard that will save handwritten notes and drawings to Adobe‘s .pdf format for later transfer to a PC via USB. You draw or write with the included stylus on the pressure-sensitive 9.5″ dark monochrome LCD screen, which results in light coloured lines and writing.  When you want to save your work, you simply press the “Save” button at the top. To start over, the “Erase” button wipes the screen. It’s that easy.

Here’s a few scribblings and the complementary .pdf. I’m no artist. That’s an A4 notebook behind it for scale.

Improv Electronics Boogie Board Rip

Improve Electronics Boogie Board Rip PDF

I’m not sure exactly how the stylus and the screen work together to record the image as any stylus can be used to write on the screen, but only writing from the included stylus will be recorded in the saved .pdf. Sometimes, I found that I wasn’t pressing hard enough for all the lines to be recorded; if you look at the picture of the hedgehog, you’ll see that the drawing is much spikier than the .pdf. This was an early trial picture and you get used to pressing that little bit more firmly.

Boogie Board Rip Hedgehog

Boogie Board Rip Hedgehog PDF

The internal memory is only 8 MB but this is sufficient for around 200 .pdfs. Getting the .pdfs off the device is simple – just connect up via micro USB and the Rip appears as an external drive. I had no problems connecting it up to both Windows and Linux machines. The Rip has an internal rechargeable battery which charges via the USB and lasts ages – the manufacturer suggests a week of normal use and I can see no reason to disagree.

I found the Rip to be a great partner for tools such as Evernote. I could take notes in a meeting and then transfer the notes into Evernote, creating a chronological record of meetings and discussion. Personally, I was looking for a simple paper notebook replacement that was a relatively cheap and robust, and nowhere near as expensive as a full tablet.

In the end, I had mixed feelings about the Rip. It does what it does well, but it’s not the complete package that I need it to be for the Rip to replace my A4 notebook.

First, the 9.5″ screen is too small. Being used to A4 notebooks, I struggled with the narrower page and often used the Rip in landscape mode rather than portrait to get extra width.  If you are a Moleskine person, more used to the A5 format, it will perhaps be less of an issue but I look forward to a larger screen.

Second, the “resolution” of the screen and stylus combination isn’t detailed or fine enough. When I write with my normal handwriting, it’s difficult to read the writing on the screen because the lines are quite broad. As a result, I have to write larger which compounds the small screen issue. To be fair, the saved .pdf does record the handwriting accurately so perhaps I just need to get over the display and rely on the .pdf.

Boogie Board Rip Handwriting

Boogie Board Rip Handwriting PDF

I admit that I have specific needs so I would also emphasise the Rip’s good points.

First it’s very easy to use. There are two buttons, “Erase” and “Save / Wake” and when you do press the buttons, the device responds almost instantly. There’s no PIN or password to enter.

Second, it’s lightweight with little difference between it and a paper notebook.

Third, the saving of drawing and notes straight to a .pdf is the brilliant bit. No need for scanning or special paper. I can instantly upload the .pdf to Evernote (or Microsoft’s OneNote) for a historical record of meetings and other activities.
Finally, it’s fun and you’ll never run out of paper.

In summary, Improv Electronics’ Boogie Boards are styled as paper replacements and they’re not far wrong but for me it’s just not there. At the moment, the Rip is best suited to drawings and sketches but falls short for handwriting, so I’ll be keep my A4 notebook for now. However, I genuinely look forward to the Rip 2, which will I’m sure will have a larger screen and a more detailed stylus.

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Posted in Gadgets, review, Toys

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ATEM Television Studio Review

Posted by geeknews at 12:04 AM on October 8, 2011

Let me start out by saying that I had very high expectations for the ATEM Television Studio by BlackMagicDesign that I saw demonstrated at NAB. I was sucked in hook line and sinker about what this new Video switcher was supposed to be able to do, sadly they did not deliver critical features that were advertised at NAB.

Let me start with the basics the ATEM Television Studio is a low priced, high powered 6 channel switcher were you have a combination of  HDMI & SDI for a max of 4 inputs of a single type..  It has  2 Program SDI outs, 1 Multiview SDI out, 1 HDMI Multiview out, and 1 HDMI Program out. Note: The HDMI inputs allow you to start with inexpensive consumer grade cameras versus more expensive cameras with SDI Outputs. Review the entire spec sheet over at BlackMagicDesign.

You control the switcher via the ATEM Software control panel software (Mac/PC) that communicates to the switcher via Ethernet. The unit has a USB 3.0 connection that can be used to set the IP of the device or provide program video out to a secondary laptop, (more on that in a moment) Audio is injected through a BNC AES/EBU connection.

Let me add a disclaimer here that I am a Tricaster TCXD 850 owner, and am used to spending big money on broadcast quality gear. The ATEM Television Studio is priced just at $995.00 which is 25x less than my Tricaster. So dollar for dollar the ATEM Television Studio does amazing things for the price!

At NAB I got excited about this product for really two additional features that were promised as part of the shipped set. I was very specific in my questioning of the company rep, as I had a specific need and this was the first device that was going to meet those needs.

1. The ability to record H.264 high quality video/audio from within the ATEM Control Panel without the need for secondary software.
2. The ability to view the camera inputs and switch the from the ATEM Control Panel from the computer with the need for a external monitor.

Considering companies like Wirecast/Vidblaster are already doing some impressive things with video software only solutions, I assumed this would be a no brainer for BlackMagicDesign because they were offloading the heavy lifting of video switching /processing to this external device.

Unlike most folks who would mount this in a rack, my plan was to incorporate the ATEM Television Studio into my travel system. My shows Video quality recording has always suffered when I travel With this new gear, I would have had a lot more flexibility in my video production while on travel. Sadly they did not deliver the 2 key features that would have made this an exceptional value.

1. Instead of having integrated recording within the ATEM Control Panel Software, you have to off board the video via the USB 3.0 port and use BlackMagic Express to do the h.264 recording. But even this has issues as the BlackMagic Express seems to attenuate the audio a considerable amount and getting good audio recordings is not pain free!

Plus the BlackMagic Express H.264 recorder software records a pure .mp4 which is good if you are uploading to YouTube for processing but you cannot use this file if you plan on making it available for watching on a website as the file has to completely download before it will play on a HTML5 browser or flash based player that is designed to progressively play back the video. You will have to load the file In Adobe Premier for editing and re-encoding. The files I have recorded so far are not compatible with Final Cut.

2. The ATEM Television Studio as delivered requires a monitor if you plan on using this as a professional switch to be able to see what you have queued for live. Unlike what they promised at NAB, you cannot view the actual multiview screen on the controlling computer. This is another feature that they did not deliver on what was promised at NAB.

I am hoping that they will deliver the missing features as promised in a future update, they could sweeten the pot and add a streaming component as well so we would not need Wirecast / Vidblaster. If Wirecast and Vidblaster can do it they can. This would make this a true mobile television studio.

While the ATEM Television Studio has other great features I am very disappointed in not getting the features that I really wanted. Having waited 4 months for delivery makes it suck even more. That being said it still is a remarkable piece of gear for the price.

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Apple TV 2 Review

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 4:37 PM on September 24, 2011

http://images.apple.com/appletv/images/whatis_gallery_slide120100901.jpgToday I picked up an Apple TV. The setup was simple just plug in the power cord and then connect an HDMI cable from the Apple TV to a HD monitor. You do have to buy the HDMI cable separately. At that point you either have to connect an Ethernet cable to hard wire it, or connect it to your wireless network. If you have a network password like mine this can be tedious using the remote that comes with the Apple TV, thank goodness you only have to do it once. The next thing I did was turn on home sharing, so I can watch movies that are on my network thru my Apple TV. This reminded me that I do have some videos that need to be convert to the correct format. I will probably use Handbrake to do that. I also need to go back and enter better metadata, I am getting unknown video a lot.

One of the reasons I picked up an Apple Tv was to use AirPlay with it and my iPad (version 1) and iPhone 4. It worked perfectly with the iPad, I love having the ability to send videos from my iPad and then watch them on a big screen. However, I work on my iPad a lot, so I wanted to make sure the iPhone also worked with AirPlay. At first I tried using AirPlay with Showyou a video application I had on my iPhone and it didn’t work. I thought maybe it didn’t work thru Showyou, so I tried it thru the YouTube and it still wasn’t working. In fact I wasn’t even seeing the AirPlay icon at all. I double checked and they were both on the same network, which I knew could be a problem. I finally found the answer on the Apple Forum, I power the iPhone down completely and then restarted it and then AirPlay worked.

So far after using the Apple TV for only a couple of hours I really like it and am glad I purchased it. I did have the original Apple TV and I jail broke it and now I am deciding if I want to jailbreak this one. If you have a jail broken Apple TV 2, I would like to know why you did it, did you run into any problems doing it and do you like the results.

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Posted in Apple, Gear, Information

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My Initial Review of Lion

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 11:36 AM on July 20, 2011

LionThis is not full review of Lion, but just my initial look. I downloaded Lion as soon as it became available in the Mac App Store. I know that some of you are saying you should have waited, but when it comes to OS I like to live dangerously and try the newest thing when it becomes available. It took about 55 minutes to download, there was one glitch when it stopped downloading and said please try again, I hit resume and both the download and my heart restarted. Once it finishes downloading it then starts the install process. At this point you have to agree to the EULA and fill in your user id and password. The installation itself takes about 35 minutes, once it is done the computer restarts. Clearly this not something you want to do if you are in a hurry.

At this point click on the Assistant Icon in the Dock, you can read about gestures, at the bottom of the text it will say continue to Lion, click on that. At that point the OS will tell you if you have any applications that are not Lion compatible and move them to a special folder. I had one, TotalFinder which fortunately I don’t use. At this point Lion starts up. The first thing I did was go into Magic Trackpad in System Preferences and check what gestures were available, you can uncheck the ones you don’t want. If you use a mouse, then go to the mouse icon under system preferences. While doing this I determined that Lion makes the MagicPref app I had installed to use with [Snow Leopard](http://www.apple.com/macosx/snow leopard) unnecessary. Opening up. Apple Mail also lead to another discovery, many third-party add ons may not be ready for Lion. I have both Mailtags and Mail Act-On installed, neither of them show up in Apple Mail under Lion. Mail Act-on does have a prerelease version you can download. If you have a favorite add-on you may want to check to see if it is ready for Lion, before installing Lion. Another thing I noticed right away was in the upper right hand corner in the menu, was my user name. Now you can easily switch users, this is great if you have multiple users using the same computer. The finder window also allows you to view your files, folder and application how you want including by category. This can be quite helpful if you have a lot of applications or files and folders.

Do you need to download Lion right away, no there is no reason to be in a hurry. Is there any major reason to wait (other than application and add-on incompatibility) I say no. The final decision is up to you, do the research and make the best decision based on your circumstances. As for me I am happy I installed Lion. How about you have you installed it, what do you think. If you haven’t installed it and you are on a Mac why not?

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Posted in Apple, Information, osx

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HP TouchPad Mini Review

Posted by Andrew at 5:00 AM on July 13, 2011

My HP TouchPad arrived on my doorstep last Tuesday and it’s been an interesting week since I opened the box. Here are a few thoughts on the first WebOS tablet.

First impressions do count and the box itself started well. It has an almost airtight sliding drawer construction that makes it impossible to open quickly. This slowly reveals the TouchPad as it pulls gently out. Once you eventually have the ‘Pad in your hand, it’s obvious that this is a well-constructed device. The front is glass, presumably of the Gorilla variety, and the black is a hard shiny plastic with the HP logo in the centre. It is heavier than I was expecting but not uncomfortably so.

As a Pre 2 owner, I was right at home with WebOS from the start. Some of the gestures are missing, such as the back swipe, but the main upwards swipe from the bottom of the screen persists. Along with the multitasking this is the heart of WebOS. And it works very well. I’m probably biased but I definitely think that WebOS is the best tablet OS by far.

This would be for naught if there weren’t the apps to run on the OS. And it would be wrong to say that there are loads, becuase there aren’t. But they’re coming and each day new apps are released specifically for the TouchPad. Most of the phone-based apps also work in a kind of emulator but you don’t get the benefit of the big screen. The TouchPad apps are pretty good and there’s some nice free stuff that HP has presumably helped with. The Epicurious app is chock full of great recipes and there are Sky News and USA Today apps as well. Of course, Angry Birds makes its obligatory appearance.

Other commentators have mentioned that the TouchPad is a bit laggy. Laggy is the wrong word – it pauses sometimes. When you are actually doing stuff, it’s pretty quick – I have no complaints there. For example, doing a bit of web surfing is as quick as you’d get at your laptop, but if I switch to the email app and I change to a different email account, the app sometimes seems to pause as if it’s checking for new email. These are generally minor irritations - looking at my TouchPad now, I’m listening to music with a weather app, email and three web browsing sessions open. Flicking between the apps is smooth and they respond instantly once they pop to the foreground.

What else is good? The Beats Audio is very impressive – I think it’s possibly the best MP3 player I’ve listened to.
The Skype client is integrated into the Messaging App and seems to work well. I Skype-d my father with video from the UK to Shanghai and there was a bit of lag at the beginning of the call but the call got better as it went on. (Of course there are a number of factors involved in Skype calls).
Ms Office document editing isn’t ready yet but the viewer has handled all the Office docs and Adobe .pdfs that I’ve thrown at it.
Video plays well but the hi-res screen shows up the limitations of the source. What looked really crisp on my phone now looks a bit pixellated in places. Perhaps I should have bought the 32 GB version after all.
Flash works as well as Flash ever does. The BBC’s iPlayer works ok but I had a bit of trouble with Channel 4′s on demand programming.
Bizarrely, there’s no calculator app. C’mon guys – how long would it have taken to take the basic calculator from the Pre and re-skin it?

There’s a nice three pane app interface that I hadn’t seen before. It’s used to good advantage in the email app, with the left column showing accounts, the middle showing the email headers and the right showing the email body. By tapping on a little III icon, you can get the pane to expand over the panes to the left. It’s very slick and very handy.

One personal peeve is that certain apps insist on running in a particular orientation, which as far as I’m concerned is upside down when I’m holding the TouchPad in my hand. I can understand that some apps want to run in landscape rather than portrait but wanting to run a particular way up is nonsense.

Overall, I’m pleased with my purchase - for the purposes of disclosure this was a personal purchase and not a review unit. There are some rough edges and there is a lack of apps, but there’s nothing a few software updates won’t fix.

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Posted in HP, Palm, review, skype, tablet

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G Data InternetSecurity 2012 Review

Posted by Andrew at 1:00 AM on June 9, 2011

G Data’s 2012 range of security products cover basic antivirus through to specialised protection for laptops and notebooks. Depending on the version purchased, the features build-up from antivirus and safe surfing, through firewalls and spam protection, to backup and data recovery, with additional features in the notebook versions.

On test here is InternetSecurity 2012 which sits between AntiVirus and TotalCare and the main features are antivirus, firewall, safe surfing and spam protection. Parental controls and file shredder are included too. The graphic here shows the main differences between each version.

The software can be purchased and downloaded directly from G Data but in this instance, it was the boxed retail product. Not unexpectedly, the main contents of the box are a CD and a user manual, which generally explains the software quite clearly and simply. A bonus for people who aren’t familiar with security software and as the licence key is stuck on the back cover, it’s easier to keep safe.

A further benefit of the boxed copy is that the install disk also doubles as an emergency disk which can be booted from. This is great for those really nasty viruses which block AV software and being able to boot outside of Windows to get at them is great. If you downloaded the software rather than buying the boxed copy, there’s an option in the SecurityCenter application to create a boot disk but it’s an extra step you’ll probably forget to do.

Installation is straightforward and it’s by the numbers with clear prompts. During the install, G Data clearly explains its privacy policy when it requests permission to send data back for analysis: nothing is hidden away in the EULA. As usual, you have to register with G Data, but the software offers a quick registration of just name and email address. There’s still the option to enter fuller details if you want. As you’d expect, the installation finishes with a reboot.

On rebooting, the G Data icon is now sitting pretty in the system tray and initially InternetSecurity contacts its servers and starts downloading fresh AV signatures. This takes a few minutes but once done, you can go into the main SecurityCenter overview to see the status of the main features.

As you might imagine, each section in the SecurityCenter has further actions and settings. For example, in Virus Protection you can request scans for specific folders or drives. Or you can go into the Settings and change which of the two scanning engines are in use. Without going into every section and being thoroughly boring, all I can say is that the options are comprehensive and give the opportunity for tweaking to your particular circumstances. All of the G Data security products are available as trial downloads so you can check whether they fit your needs before buying.

Performance-wise, InternetSecurity did not seem to have a significant impact on the computer. One touch that I did like was that virus signature updates are scheduled for a particular time rather than automatically updating as soon as you log into Windows. On older computers, this allows you to get using your computer faster than you might with other competing AV products.

Not having a set of viruses handy, I wasn’t able to actually test the AV features of the product but when I did a scan of my local disk, it did pick up a trojan that I wasn’t aware of in some downloaded files. With two antivirus engines built into the product, you’d expect it to catch most of the nasty stuff as each engine takes a different approach to detecting viruses

Overall, G Data InternetSecurity is a comprehensive and competent product with lots of features and a couple of value-adds, such as parental controls. I’d be perfectly happy to entrust my on-line security to this tool.

Prices are £30 for AntiVirus, £35 for the version tested here InternetSecurity and £40 for TotalCare. There are also specialised versions for notebooks and if you have an Android phone, you get AV protection for free with any of these products. All the details are on G Data’s website.

 

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Posted in application, review, Security, Virus

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HTC Gratia Hands-On Review

Posted by Andrew at 5:20 PM on May 31, 2011

As a mid-tier offering, the HTC Gratia doesn’t appear to get the same notice as the Sensations, Desires and Incredibles, which is a shame because it’s a good phone and will suit those who want a small Android phone but don’t have the cash for a top-end device. If you haven’t heard of the Gratia before and you live in the US, that’s because over there it’s known as the Aria. It’s largely the same device.

To get the specs out of the way, it’s an Android 2.2 device with a 3.2″ 320 x 480 touchscreen. Weights in at 115 g and measures 58 mm wide, 104 mm tall and 12 mm thick. All the expected radios and gadgets – 3G, wifi (b/g), bluetooth, GPS, compass, 5 MP camera, microSD expansion slot – the full specs are on HTC’s site (though it lists the Android version as 2.1).

As you’ll see from the pictures below, the review model had a white plastic back that had a slightly matt finish to it. The phone felt comfortable in the hand and the detail of the extra screws on the back gave the Gratia an “industrial” edge, which I liked. I didn’t try to find out if the screws actually held anything together or were only for effect.

Taking the back off reveals the SIM slot, the microSD slot and the battery. At the bottom left, the two contacts are for aerials that were embedded into the back cover. The micro USB connector is in the middle. The back covers the sides, top and bottom as well.

Side on, there’s a sense of the shape and how it feels in the hand. It’s not a thin phone, but it’s not a fat one either.  It’s comfortable. As with most devices, there’s a little bit of bevelling to make it feel thinner than it really is.

Enough on the physical, what’s it like to use as a phone? Unsurprisingly, it’s much like every other HTC Android 2.2 phone. It comes with the HTC Sense enhancements and there did seem to be a few little extra launcher customisations that I hadn’t seen before. Unfortunately, I didn’t have another phone handy to compare and they may simply be incremental updates that went along with 2.2.

Generally, the phone was responsive using both the touchscreen and the trackpad. Animations were smooth and scrolling up and down lists was good. The usual slew of apps was present and the Gratia has access to the Android Market if you need more. Audio and video playback was fine with no glitches or jerkiness on the files I tried. Some other reviews said the Gratia was “underpowered” but I can’t really say that performance was an issue, though I’m not a big game player which seems to be the focus of the issue. And of course, if you do have lots of apps open, it will begin to slow down.

Setting up apps with accounts to access email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. was all by the numbers, as it were. I was up and running with the Gratia within minutes of turning the phone on.

Battery life was ok – I got a day’s worth of work out of it with some to spare and that’s with a bit of email, bit of surfing, bit of music listening. A typical day as far as I was concerned, but the Gratia will need recharged overnight for the next day.

Pricewise, off-contract the Gratia is generally available around £275 with the best prices being close to £250. I was unable to find any UK mobile telco carrying the Gratia at present so I can’t comment on contract prices.

Overall, this a fine mid-range smartphone at a fair price. There’s plenty to recommend and not too much to complain about. For someone looking for an Android 2.2 phone that’s not going to break the bank off-contract, this is a good choice.

Thanks to HTC for the loan of the Gratia.

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Posted in Android, HTC, review, smartphone

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Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock & Bed Shaker Review

Posted by geeknews at 11:56 PM on April 30, 2011

When the folks at Sonic Alert reached out about a month ago and asked me if I would like to review the Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock and Bed Shaker I did so under one condition. That condition was that if it could get my  14 yr old out of bed in the morning, then I would declare it the best alarm clock ever made.

I am here to report that the Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock & Bed Shaker is the best Alarm Clock ever made! My 14 yr old daughter is a night owl like me, and she could sleep through anything to include being an absolute bear to get moving in the morning. I have half a box full of so-called alarm clocks that even if taped to her eardrum would not wake her up. Here is what Sonic Bomb does different. The Alarm while loud 113 db comes with the “bed shaker module” thus the alarm clock is the two piece combination. On the first night I strategically placed the shaker in the middle of her double sized bed, one part touching the mattress the other touching the wood base that supports the mattress. I placed the Sonic Bomb out of reaching distance for maximum effect.

The first time it rang she took about 10 seconds to get up cussing the thing out confusion factor on here part on how to shut it off made it the comedy event of the week. The true test was three weeks in, if it could still wake her up then we would have a winner.  She has developed some strategies to try to defeat it but overall she is still getting up on her own. The folks at Sonic Bomb could improve the design just a little. Make the cable that plugs into the alarm from the shaker one that attaches via a locking knurled knob versus a plug . It is way to easy to unplug the shaker. Make the shaker cable about 5 ft longer would help as well, getting the alarm clock out of slap distance is important with a 14 yr old.

But overall this thing is better than any Big Ben any day of the week. The $42.00 price tag may scare some, but I have an annoying Seiko alarm clock that cost $50.00 that I was given as a gift in Japan 30 years ago that still is annoying enough to get me to roll out of bed.

We are getting double duty out of the Sonic Bomb because my boy’s room is next door to their sisters, and it usually motivates them to get moving as well. One thing for sure a lot less yelling to wake up is going on here in the morning. Believe me I have done everything in the arsenal and then some in the past to get the kids to roll out on their own. Someday I will talk about the bucket of water I used on my podcast sometime.

So if you have a person in your home that sleeps through anything, and hates to get up in the morning check out the Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock & Bed Shaker. If nothing else you will get some good vibrations from the 113 db alarm and the pulsing of the bed shaker to start your day off with..

Disclaimer: Sonic Alert provided a free review unit to test and tested it we did over the course of 30 days!

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A Second Look at the Roku XD|S

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 10:52 AM on April 17, 2011

Roku IconI’ve decided that I am going to start reviewing products after I have had them for awhile. I’ve noticed that most reviews are done when the person has just brought the product or they have gotten it for a review. After you have had a product for awhile, problems may come up that weren’t there in the beginning. Also updates occur that can improve products. The first review of this type is on the Roku XD|S.

I’ve had the Roku XD|S about three months now and at this point I’m not sure I did the right thing when I brought it. I do like the Roku’s ability to get online content, which is the main reason I got it in the first place. However one its biggest weakness is  beginning to bother me and that’s its inability to stream media that’s on your home network . They did add the ability to attaching a USB hard drive to the Roku directly since I purchased it. This works great if you you only have one TV. If you have multiple TVs then you are out of luck, because  that hard drive is invisible to the network. I am not sure why the Roku was designed this way, my best guess is it was a way too appease the content providers so they could get the rights to online content, or maybe it was just an attempt to keep the cost down. What ever the reason, it has made a product that could have been great just good. I know what you are thinking but you knew it didn’t have this capability before you brought it. You would be right, however at the time I brought it I was more concerned with getting media from the Internet. I did take a look at the Boxee Box and the Google TV but both were significantly more expense and were still getting the kinks out. At this point in time I am looking at the Apple TV to fill in the missing ability. I also have to admit AirPlay has made the Apple TV more interesting to me.

I wish that someone would combine the capabilities of the Roku and the Apple TV, with the Apple TV UI. Am I sorry I brought the Roku, a little, it does on line media great, but it’s inability to stream media on my internal network is annoying. If you already have something that streams the media on your internal network, then the Roku is a great addition, but alone it maybe lacking.

 

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Posted in Gear, Media

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