At least at my office, pecking away at a keyboard during a meeting is a bit rude.
I sit in meetings and quietly take notes. I have 2 years worth of notes that I can search in seconds. That's my handwriting that I'm searching through too. If I want, I can convert it to text but I've never really found a need to do that. I can also record the audio of the meeting and my notes are highlighted at the appropriate time during playback.
My mini wasn't that bad with 256 megs of RAM. I have since upgraded to 512 megs, but I think an average user (Safari, mail, etc.) could get by with 256 megs. There was obviously an impact if a lot of apps were open at once and iPhoto wasn't exactly peppy, but it was tolerable.
Maybe I just had low expectations after reading OS X w/ 256 megs horror stories so I was expecting it to be worse than it was.
Sometimes there can be a third show recording, but it's a quirk involving the buffer, not actually 'live' TV (not that anything with TiVo is truly 'live'). Maybe this is what the original poster was referring to.
"The new HD DirecTiVo actually has four tuners -- two HD DirecTV and two OTA HD. It can even record two shows while watching a third show live."
I think you meant to say that it can record two shows while watching a third pre-recorded show (from the Now Playing list). You can't watch a third show live while two others are recording.
That's all my HD DirecTiVo is capable of at least.;)
I knew it only worked with Windows and I assumed it had something to do with someone not getting paid, but I didn't know the details. I wish I could mod this up. Thanks for the info.
I've had mine for 2 weeks now and I absolutely love it. This is my first Mac but it doesn't take long to fall in love with OS X. I did upgrade to 512 megs of RAM but it really wasn't bad with 256 for basic stuff. It's plenty fast enough for general use (email, web surfing, iTunes, etc). iPhoto can cause brief delays, but it's not enough to be annoying.
I bought a KVM switch but I'm not switching over to XP much anymore. Once I finish Half-Life 2 I'm not sure if I'll have any reason to go back to XP.
I didn't care for Quicken 2005 for the Mac. It doesn't do direct downloads from Bank of America. I've been using Moneydance for a few days now though (http://www.moneydance.com/) and it works great with BoA.
This is the perfect computer for parents, grandparents, etc. too. It's very easy to use as everything just makes sense. On the other hand, it's also a lot of fun to tinker with. I installed Oracle 10g this weekend along with the Perl DBI. Best of both worlds IMO.
Very quiet. I still only have 256 megs in mine, so there's a lot of swapping going on. I can't remember exactly what I was doing, but somehow I got the fan to REALLY crank up once (so far). When it's going full force, it is pretty loud. That lasted for less than 30 seconds and then it throttled back down to near silence. I haven't heard it get that fast and loud since and my 512 meg upgrade is on it's way.
I've had problems with the DirecTiVo boxes, but not the stand-alone boxes.
TiVos that I've owned since '99:
2 stand-alones, no problems.
4 DirecTiVos: 1 HD, 2 older boxes, 1 new R10. The 2 older boxes had hard drive issues, the R10 is 1 week old (give it time) and the HD TiVo died this past weekend.
Hardly a large sample size, but I've owned more TiVos than most people.:)
Yeah, I know the advantages of a CRT display over plasma, but the layout of my family room made it awkward to place a big, heavy TV in a place that it would look "right". So I got a 42" Panasonic plasma and mounted it over the fireplace. It frees up floor space (although I guess I can't hang a picture over the fireplace now, darn) and it looks *incredible* (HD TiVo). Trust me, it's not like people walk in and say "well that looks OK, but I bet it would look even BETTER if you had bought a CRT display".
I guess I made an emotional purchase, but 6 months later, I have no regrets.
My mom and dad just moved into a new house which has fibre to a box on the side of the house. They get their phone service, long distance, TV and DSL in a bundle. The picture isn't that great but it's almost as good as DirecTV/Dish and they plan to move to mpeg4 in the future (I talked to one of the techs). The set top box (Amino) is tiny and offers composite and component outputs. No s-video for some reason although the tech told me that had something to do with the manufacturer being a UK company (???). Ethernet from the wall plugs into the back of the box and a pigtail cable from there provides the video and audio connections. Some of the features are kind of neat, including on screen caller ID, a basic web browser (useless without the keyboard and the resolution sucks, but it's good for checking the weather). My parents don't bother, but you can also read and compose your email from the couch. The service also offers on demand PPV with basic DVR functionality. You get the movie for 24 hours and during that time you can play, rewind, pause, etc. What surprises me is this is a locally owned phone company in a very small town.
I agree. My Panasonic plasma has about 3,000 hours. No brightness issues at all.
Contrast is a big issue. AFAIK, there isn't an LCD screen that can match the black levels that I get with my plasma (there wasn't in July at least). Yeah, maybe my plasma won't be alive and kicking in 10 years. But I'll enjoy 10 years of dark scenes that are actually black instead of grey.
My 42" HD Panasonic plasma is 6 months old. I guess time will tell, but so far I have NO burn-in, ghosting or brightness issues. I watch a lot of TV and I play a lot of video games on it.
Plasma may not be the best display option of the future, but 6 months ago when I needed a 42"+ screen that I could hang on the wall, it was about the only option. Not that I feel like I settled for inferior technology. The picture is jaw-droppingly good. Money well spent IMO.
Um, why? Because it's a Microsoft OS? Have you used one?
My TabletPC has been very useful since I bought it in January of 2003. Have I been brainwashed, not realizing that I've actually been taking notes for almost 2 years on an Etch-A-Sketch? Powerful FUD indeed!
Same here. I really like it. I think it was around $50 at CompUSA or Best Buy. I carry a laptop and a TabletPC (don't ask, my company refuses to allow my Tablet on the network) and both fit comfortably in separate sections.
Current versions of PeopleSoft don't require a client install of any kind. All you need is a web browser. It's completely web-based. I've logged in and navigated PeopleSoft Financials with my Sharp Zaurus running Opera.
Bad implementations result in black eyes for PeopleSoft. I guess I'm in a good shop. We have Financials, HCM, EPM, etc and everyone is happy for the most part. The technology is far ahead of Oracle and SAP (AFAIK, I admit that I'm not as familiar with their products).
When Oracle first started this drive for Peoplesoft, Larry Ellison stated that his intent was to buy and kill the product line. I think his lawyers must have told him that doesn't look too good from an anti-trust perspective as he soon changed his story.
I'm looking forward to Craig Conway's (PeopleSoft President & CEO) keynote speech at PeopleSoft's customer conference this year. Last year's conference was right after Oracle's initial bid for PeopleSoft. Ellison had made the following statement after Conway stated that Oracle's takeover bid was "like me asking if I could buy your dog so I can go out back and shoot it"...
"At one point Craigy [Conway] thought I was going to shoot his dog," Ellison said. "I love animals. If Craigy and [his dog] were standing next to each other and I had one bullet, trust me, it wouldn't be for the dog.'"
At last year's PeopleSoft Connect conference, Conway came onstage wearing a bulletproof vest. He was accompanied by his dog who was also wearing a bulletproof vest.
My wife records 4 hours of soap operas every day via TiVo. While I'm gaming, she's watching soaps.
There's no hope of getting her involved in gaming. She doubles over laughing every time she sees me wearing my PS2 or Xbox Live headset. It's hard to concentrate on a game when your wife is always calling you "Linda, the Time-Life Operator" every time she passes through the room.
I have a Motion M1200 that's a little over a year old (hardly the latest model).
There's no fan. It's silent other than the occasional clicking of the hard drive. Battery life has never been a problem for me either. I just put my tablet in it's dock this morning. The battery is at 100% and the battery life remaining is 3.5 hours. My battery may be losing some of it's capacity. I remember that number being 3:45 at some point.
I've done some e-book reading on my tablet, especially when Microsoft gave away several books per week last summer. For the most part, it was fine. No worry about bookmarks, you can take notes directly on the text, easy searching capabilities, etc.
The negatives:
Sitting in bed at night is great, but if you want to read outdoors it might kind of tough. You also have to look directly at the screen to avoid glare (not an issue in a dark room). Motion's latest model has a 'view from any angle' screen that is supposed to be very nice.
I have no problem carrying my tablet to meetings at work. It's not that heavy at all. But I do find that it can suddenly seem to get heavier when you're trying to balance it on you chest to read while laying down. It's not that bad, but obviously a paperback book (or even a hardcover) can be easier to hold for long periods of time.
That's about it though as far as negatives involved with reading e-texts on a TabletPC. I've never been able to read a long book on a PDA. The tablet's screen size, quality display and Microsoft Reader make it a very pleasant experience IMO.
I agree with some of your desired features (folders, freee space and caller id).
For the most part though, this is exactly what I was looking for: an HD version of the DirecTiVo box. For the first generation, I think they did a great job. Nothing too amibtious, just make a high def version of the DirecTiVo.
I received my HD TiVo on Friday and got everything connected Friday night. My only concern is the huge list of shows on my 120 gig SD DirecTiVo box. I can't fill up the HD box with new stuff until I get through the shows on the old box. How much are 250 gig drives? I think I'll need to upgrade this soon. 200+ plus hours of SD content is incredible until you realize that it's only 25 hours of HD content.
But other than worrying about filling up the hard drive, I really like my HD TiVo so far. The menus seem to be a bit more sluggish, but it's not that bad. I do wish it offered more stretch modes (in fact, I'd prefer that over folders, a free space indicator and caller ID).
I don't have a 'play all' shuffle on my iPod that includes every song, but my 2 favorite playlists are 'Favorites' and 'Oldies'. 'Favorites' are all songs with 4 stars or greater, shuffled of course. 'Oldies' has the same criteria, plus an additional one to only include songs that I haven't heard in the last 30 days.
I bought an iPod for my wife. She loves it but she never listens to complete albums. She has 600+ songs in her favorites list. When she get to the end, she shuffles again and starts over.
Forgot to mention: I hope to have my HD DirecTiVo by the end of March. The first week of April is more likely, but that's still not too long of a wait.
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At least at my office, pecking away at a keyboard during a meeting is a bit rude.
I sit in meetings and quietly take notes. I have 2 years worth of notes that I can search in seconds. That's my handwriting that I'm searching through too. If I want, I can convert it to text but I've never really found a need to do that. I can also record the audio of the meeting and my notes are highlighted at the appropriate time during playback.
My mini wasn't that bad with 256 megs of RAM. I have since upgraded to 512 megs, but I think an average user (Safari, mail, etc.) could get by with 256 megs. There was obviously an impact if a lot of apps were open at once and iPhoto wasn't exactly peppy, but it was tolerable.
Maybe I just had low expectations after reading OS X w/ 256 megs horror stories so I was expecting it to be worse than it was.
Sometimes there can be a third show recording, but it's a quirk involving the buffer, not actually 'live' TV (not that anything with TiVo is truly 'live'). Maybe this is what the original poster was referring to.
h p?t=229685/
There's a recent thread at TC that describes it:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.p
"The new HD DirecTiVo actually has four tuners -- two HD DirecTV and two OTA HD. It can even record two shows while watching a third show live."
;)
I think you meant to say that it can record two shows while watching a third pre-recorded show (from the Now Playing list). You can't watch a third show live while two others are recording.
That's all my HD DirecTiVo is capable of at least.
Actually there is a software update scheduled for DirecTiVos.
. ph p?t=222206r _upgrade.htm l
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread
http://www.directv.com/see/landing/dv
Unfortunately it doesn't look like series 1 boxes will get it, which means 2 of my DirecTiVos will be stuck with the same old software.
I knew it only worked with Windows and I assumed it had something to do with someone not getting paid, but I didn't know the details. I wish I could mod this up. Thanks for the info.
I installed Oracle 10g on my mini this weekend, just to tinker around with it (learning experience).
m l
I had some help from a couple of DBA co-workers, but the steps on this page worked perfectly on the mini:
http://www.orablogs.com/sergio/archives/000781.ht
I've had mine for 2 weeks now and I absolutely love it. This is my first Mac but it doesn't take long to fall in love with OS X. I did upgrade to 512 megs of RAM but it really wasn't bad with 256 for basic stuff. It's plenty fast enough for general use (email, web surfing, iTunes, etc). iPhoto can cause brief delays, but it's not enough to be annoying.
I bought a KVM switch but I'm not switching over to XP much anymore. Once I finish Half-Life 2 I'm not sure if I'll have any reason to go back to XP.
I didn't care for Quicken 2005 for the Mac. It doesn't do direct downloads from Bank of America. I've been using Moneydance for a few days now though (http://www.moneydance.com/) and it works great with BoA.
This is the perfect computer for parents, grandparents, etc. too. It's very easy to use as everything just makes sense. On the other hand, it's also a lot of fun to tinker with. I installed Oracle 10g this weekend along with the Perl DBI. Best of both worlds IMO.
Very quiet. I still only have 256 megs in mine, so there's a lot of swapping going on. I can't remember exactly what I was doing, but somehow I got the fan to REALLY crank up once (so far). When it's going full force, it is pretty loud. That lasted for less than 30 seconds and then it throttled back down to near silence. I haven't heard it get that fast and loud since and my 512 meg upgrade is on it's way.
I've had problems with the DirecTiVo boxes, but not the stand-alone boxes.
:)
TiVos that I've owned since '99:
2 stand-alones, no problems.
4 DirecTiVos: 1 HD, 2 older boxes, 1 new R10. The 2 older boxes had hard drive issues, the R10 is 1 week old (give it time) and the HD TiVo died this past weekend.
Hardly a large sample size, but I've owned more TiVos than most people.
Yeah, I know the advantages of a CRT display over plasma, but the layout of my family room made it awkward to place a big, heavy TV in a place that it would look "right". So I got a 42" Panasonic plasma and mounted it over the fireplace. It frees up floor space (although I guess I can't hang a picture over the fireplace now, darn) and it looks *incredible* (HD TiVo). Trust me, it's not like people walk in and say "well that looks OK, but I bet it would look even BETTER if you had bought a CRT display".
I guess I made an emotional purchase, but 6 months later, I have no regrets.
My mom and dad just moved into a new house which has fibre to a box on the side of the house. They get their phone service, long distance, TV and DSL in a bundle. The picture isn't that great but it's almost as good as DirecTV/Dish and they plan to move to mpeg4 in the future (I talked to one of the techs). The set top box (Amino) is tiny and offers composite and component outputs. No s-video for some reason although the tech told me that had something to do with the manufacturer being a UK company (???). Ethernet from the wall plugs into the back of the box and a pigtail cable from there provides the video and audio connections. Some of the features are kind of neat, including on screen caller ID, a basic web browser (useless without the keyboard and the resolution sucks, but it's good for checking the weather). My parents don't bother, but you can also read and compose your email from the couch. The service also offers on demand PPV with basic DVR functionality. You get the movie for 24 hours and during that time you can play, rewind, pause, etc. What surprises me is this is a locally owned phone company in a very small town.
I agree. My Panasonic plasma has about 3,000 hours. No brightness issues at all.
Contrast is a big issue. AFAIK, there isn't an LCD screen that can match the black levels that I get with my plasma (there wasn't in July at least). Yeah, maybe my plasma won't be alive and kicking in 10 years. But I'll enjoy 10 years of dark scenes that are actually black instead of grey.
My 42" HD Panasonic plasma is 6 months old. I guess time will tell, but so far I have NO burn-in, ghosting or brightness issues. I watch a lot of TV and I play a lot of video games on it.
Plasma may not be the best display option of the future, but 6 months ago when I needed a 42"+ screen that I could hang on the wall, it was about the only option. Not that I feel like I settled for inferior technology. The picture is jaw-droppingly good. Money well spent IMO.
At first glance, I thought the headline was "Will our *Cats* Become Our Chauffuers?".
YMMV but there are reports that the gamer's gift cards (with the $5 coupons) are being pulled from the shelves.
"retardation"?
Um, why? Because it's a Microsoft OS? Have you used one?
My TabletPC has been very useful since I bought it in January of 2003. Have I been brainwashed, not realizing that I've actually been taking notes for almost 2 years on an Etch-A-Sketch? Powerful FUD indeed!
Same here. I really like it. I think it was around $50 at CompUSA or Best Buy. I carry a laptop and a TabletPC (don't ask, my company refuses to allow my Tablet on the network) and both fit comfortably in separate sections.
Current versions of PeopleSoft don't require a client install of any kind. All you need is a web browser. It's completely web-based. I've logged in and navigated PeopleSoft Financials with my Sharp Zaurus running Opera.
Bad implementations result in black eyes for PeopleSoft. I guess I'm in a good shop. We have Financials, HCM, EPM, etc and everyone is happy for the most part. The technology is far ahead of Oracle and SAP (AFAIK, I admit that I'm not as familiar with their products).
When Oracle first started this drive for Peoplesoft, Larry Ellison stated that his intent was to buy and kill the product line. I think his lawyers must have told him that doesn't look too good from an anti-trust perspective as he soon changed his story.
I'm looking forward to Craig Conway's (PeopleSoft President & CEO) keynote speech at PeopleSoft's customer conference this year. Last year's conference was right after Oracle's initial bid for PeopleSoft. Ellison had made the following statement after Conway stated that Oracle's takeover bid was "like me asking if I could buy your dog so I can go out back and shoot it"...
"At one point Craigy [Conway] thought I was going to shoot his dog," Ellison said. "I love animals. If Craigy and [his dog] were standing next to each other and I had one bullet, trust me, it wouldn't be for the dog.'"
At last year's PeopleSoft Connect conference, Conway came onstage wearing a bulletproof vest. He was accompanied by his dog who was also wearing a bulletproof vest.
My wife records 4 hours of soap operas every day via TiVo. While I'm gaming, she's watching soaps.
There's no hope of getting her involved in gaming. She doubles over laughing every time she sees me wearing my PS2 or Xbox Live headset. It's hard to concentrate on a game when your wife is always calling you "Linda, the Time-Life Operator" every time she passes through the room.
I have a Motion M1200 that's a little over a year old (hardly the latest model).
There's no fan. It's silent other than the occasional clicking of the hard drive. Battery life has never been a problem for me either. I just put my tablet in it's dock this morning. The battery is at 100% and the battery life remaining is 3.5 hours. My battery may be losing some of it's capacity. I remember that number being 3:45 at some point.
I've done some e-book reading on my tablet, especially when Microsoft gave away several books per week last summer. For the most part, it was fine. No worry about bookmarks, you can take notes directly on the text, easy searching capabilities, etc.
The negatives:
Sitting in bed at night is great, but if you want to read outdoors it might kind of tough. You also have to look directly at the screen to avoid glare (not an issue in a dark room). Motion's latest model has a 'view from any angle' screen that is supposed to be very nice.
I have no problem carrying my tablet to meetings at work. It's not that heavy at all. But I do find that it can suddenly seem to get heavier when you're trying to balance it on you chest to read while laying down. It's not that bad, but obviously a paperback book (or even a hardcover) can be easier to hold for long periods of time.
That's about it though as far as negatives involved with reading e-texts on a TabletPC. I've never been able to read a long book on a PDA. The tablet's screen size, quality display and Microsoft Reader make it a very pleasant experience IMO.
I agree with some of your desired features (folders, freee space and caller id).
For the most part though, this is exactly what I was looking for: an HD version of the DirecTiVo box. For the first generation, I think they did a great job. Nothing too amibtious, just make a high def version of the DirecTiVo.
I received my HD TiVo on Friday and got everything connected Friday night. My only concern is the huge list of shows on my 120 gig SD DirecTiVo box. I can't fill up the HD box with new stuff until I get through the shows on the old box. How much are 250 gig drives? I think I'll need to upgrade this soon. 200+ plus hours of SD content is incredible until you realize that it's only 25 hours of HD content.
But other than worrying about filling up the hard drive, I really like my HD TiVo so far. The menus seem to be a bit more sluggish, but it's not that bad. I do wish it offered more stretch modes (in fact, I'd prefer that over folders, a free space indicator and caller ID).
I don't have a 'play all' shuffle on my iPod that includes every song, but my 2 favorite playlists are 'Favorites' and 'Oldies'. 'Favorites' are all songs with 4 stars or greater, shuffled of course. 'Oldies' has the same criteria, plus an additional one to only include songs that I haven't heard in the last 30 days.
I bought an iPod for my wife. She loves it but she never listens to complete albums. She has 600+ songs in her favorites list. When she get to the end, she shuffles again and starts over.
That setup will work fine. You'll probably have to use the IR blaster so the TiVo can change channels on the DirecTV receiver, but that's no big deal.
Forgot to mention: I hope to have my HD DirecTiVo by the end of March. The first week of April is more likely, but that's still not too long of a wait.