OT: Technology and Geek Stuff Thread

[Topweasel]

The Nice thing about Windows is the availability of other options. Generally speaking if their is a beef with the included software, on a Windows PC out of the box the alternatives are much higher and usually go farther in depth.

Sure the iLife can be pretty good for people, specially to ones already accustomed to it. But where do you go for alternatives. They might be better then whats in the Windows package, but then again with Windows you know that you have access the the largest array of third party applications.

Its a lot like my phone. I got a Blackberry Storm. I can run as many apps as I want at a time. Sure my phone can slow down. Sometimes I need to reboot it (once a week or so). On the other hand the Iphone is so locked down that if it isn't an apple software program I can only run 1 at a time. Sure keeps things stable and snappy but then I can't occomplish half the things I can with my BB.

[LightninBoy]

Couldn't decide to post this here or in the "things that make your day" thread ...

Got an email from Oppo giving me the opportunity to buy their new blu-ray player before general release to the public.

http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83/

So I just placed the order. Believe me, its extremely out of character for me to buy an early production run of anything, but I'm desperate. My current DVD/CD/SACD/DVD-A player bit the dust about 3 weeks ago.

I hope I don't regret this.

Update on this. Had the Oppo Blu-ray player now for a couple weeks but only have a few hours with it. The quick hits:

• Blu-ray picture quality is what it is - awesome. But every blu-ray player can do this. This is not why you would pay $500 for this player. However, this player decodes the latest surround sound formats and outputs them through 7.1 channel analog outputs. This useful if you have an older receiver (like me) that doesn't have HDMI inputs or doesn't decode the newest audio formats.
• Standard DVD picture quality is also awesome. Totally smokes my old player (which was top-of-the-line back in 2002) and beats everything else I've seen. This is one key reason why I payed a couple hundred more than the average blu-ray player.
• SACD/DVD-A sound quality (via analog outputs) is excellent. No other blu-ray player under $3000 does SACD/DVD-A.
• CD sound quality (via analog outputs) is good. My old player was actually a little better here.
• User interface, general usability is phenominal. This player is FAST. And its not just fast for a blu-ray player (which are notoriously slow outside of the PS-3). Its even fast for a DVD/CD player. Hit "open" and the tray opens immediately. Pop in a CD/SACD/DVD and it plays almost instantaneously. Its actually a bit unnerving - I've become so accostomed to several seconds of delay. Setup menus are top notch. And the manual is extremely well written - no broken English to be found.

So - I don't regret taking the plunge. Only dissappointment really is the CD sound quality, which was a small step back from my old player. Everything else is either a push or a huge leap forward.

[Coop]

Top - I'd be curious to see what the BB can do that the iphone can't. Note I am NOT an apple fan, however the ipod, ipoT, and iphone are the best portable devices I have used.

With the iphone particularly - once you unlock/jailbreak it there is alot you can do with it...

[mason reese]

Top - I'd be curious to see what the BB can do that the iphone can't. Note I am NOT an apple fan, however the ipod, ipoT, and iphone are the best portable devices I have used.

With the iphone particularly - once you unlock/jailbreak it there is alot you can do with it...

Why do you say that like there's something wrong with being an apple fan?

[Coop]

There's nothing wrong with being an Apple fan, I simply am not.

[Newbomb Turk]

I hear apple fans can marry in most states..........

[Topweasel]

Top - I'd be curious to see what the BB can do that the iphone can't. Note I am NOT an apple fan, however the ipod, ipoT, and iphone are the best portable devices I have used.

With the iphone particularly - once you unlock/jailbreak it there is alot you can do with it...

Multitasking. Plain and simple multitasking. That and the flexibility of loading software not on an app center (without jail breaking). The Email system is also a bit more robust, but that I am not going to nitpick on.

The Multitasking is a bit off a style choice. You run to many apps in the background and it can cause the phone to seem slow. Apple prevents that from happening. Whereas for technical people that understand the limitations of a phone could be mindful of that and still run multiple apps in the background but understand to improve performance if needed run less.

[Coop]

I agree with your take on unlocked/non-jailbroken phones, however with Cydia and a few other installers, once you unlock the sky is the limit...

you can multitask with the iphone as well, to an extent, however it as well suffers from lag...

[Topweasel]

I agree with your take on unlocked/non-jailbroken phones, however with Cydia and a few other installers, once you unlock the sky is the limit...

you can multitask with the iphone as well, to an extent, however it as well suffers from lag...

I always got the feeling that you could only run predetermined Apple programs in the background?

[SeattleLionsFan]

With a locked iPhone you cannot run apps in the background. Only the apple apps (like iTunes). it may be different with an unlocked iPhone.

[Topweasel]

With a locked iPhone you cannot run apps in the background. Only the apple apps (like iTunes). it may be different with an unlocked iPhone.

See that would be (and was) a deal breaker for me.

[mason reese]

How much multi-tasking are you guys doing on your phone? You should just get one of those mini-laptops and a magic jack...

[Topweasel]

How much multi-tasking are you guys doing on your phone? You should just get one of those mini-laptops and a magic jack...

Enough. Even just the chat programs, my remote Desktop client, the gmail client. The big thing is being able to keep Gtalk and Gmail up.

[Topweasel]

Oh and I forgot my RSS news aggregator.

[Coop]

Sirius/XM finally released their iPhone/ipoT app today! Bout damn time!