Tech: Gadget News and Reviews

Mar 30, 2012 — Washington Post

The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro was online Friday, Jan. 22 at Noon ET to discuss his recent reviews and answer your personal tech questions.

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Rob Pegoraro: Sorry I'm late, folks--was in an interesting (no, really!) meeting with some executives from Sony, who are in town to talk to people about the FCC about why they want to see clear net-neutrality regulations established to protect their hardware business. Why? Because if their customers have a lousy Internet experience on an online-linked TV, Blu-ray player or PS3 due to an Internet provider's interference with a site or service, their customers will call Sony for help first.I think that makes sense, but I haven't see too many other giant electronics companies make the argument so directly. So I lingered a few more minutes to hear those folks out.So anyway, that's where I've been.

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iPod or phone?: My wife's birthday is coming up and I'm considering getting her either an upgraded phone that includes mp3 playing capability or an iPod. We are on Verizon, so iPhone is not an option (nor am I interested in an expensive data plan, we hardly use our phones). My thought is that it makes more sense to get an application specific tool like the iPod rather than a kludged together phone plus music player. Is this the right way to look at it?

pegoraror: It depends on how attached you are to iTunes--the iTunes-to-iPod sync experience should be painless, but achieving the same thing with a Droid or other MP3-capable smartphone requires tinkering with add-on software (or, if you use Windows, letting Windows Media Player sync your MP3s to the phone).

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Windows 7 -- 32 or 64?: Rob, I enjoy your column and follow you on Twitter. What is the latest on the Windows 7 32-bit versus 64-bit issue? When it came out, it seemed the issue was not a lot of hardware drivers supported 64-bit.I wonder if that has settled down, or if it does not make much difference for routine computer activities. I am looking for a new Thinkpad, which offers both, and that issue has me stumped.

pegoraror: I hate the way Microsoft and the PC vendors have managed this entire issue. 64-bit is good in the abstract, but in reality getting an x64 version of Windows often means compatibility problems with older software and hardware.So my standing advice on this is: If you know all your software and hardware will work fine in Windows 7 x64, go ahead and upgrade. If you don't know or don't know how to tell, stick with 32-bit.Unfortunately, a lot of new computers only ship with 64-bit Windows, so the choice may be made for you.

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Channels 7 9: I have an old TV (1984 Mitshubishi), am on my second converter box, and use RCA ANT 1500 flat antenna. I live on the Baltimore side of a high rise condo. When TV went all digital I could no longer get channels 7 or 9 from DC.Then last week channel 7 and 9 just appeared. I was shocked for the channel scan never recognized 7 at all and 9 was too bad to use.My question: Did something change? Go back to UHF? I used to get 7 and 9 just fine then.Thanks, Rob, for your column and your good advice. That's how I got the antenna.

pegoraror: You'll see something about this in Help File soon--WJLA increased its broadcast signal's power a few months ago, and WUSA just did the same.

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Best of the Decade: Rob's top innovations of the 2000s

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Longtime reader, first time writer: I'm thinking about signing up for Cricket broadband. How has that been working in Washington? Any problems? Also (and you've written about this before, but I still don't have a handle on it), they apparently have a usage limit of 5GB per month. They say they don't cut you off, but service might get slow. So how much is 5GB? How many web pages? How many emails? How many minutes of streaming video? If I spend several hours a day using the internet in multiple (but quite ordinary) ways, how fast do I hit 5GB? Also, any news abut XOHM in DC? The whole operation seems to have disappeared.

pegoraror: Here's the review I wrote of Cricket and Virgin Mobile's prepaid data services last year:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/11/AR2009091101299.htmlAt the time, I noted that Cricket's coverage was limited but growing, and that their presentation of it was somewhat weird. But as long as you understand what you're spending and how you'll need to opt out of its automatic billing if you decide you don't like the service, it can work for you.5 GB of data is an immense number of e-mails, a lot of Web pages and not much streaming video (one HD movie will exhaust the bulk of that quota).

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Apple Tablet: How awesome is the apple tablet going to be?!

pegoraror: I am hoping for amazing. Tuesday shall tell.

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record players: any chance for a comeback in 2010?

pegoraror: Stranger things have happened.

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Online tax prep: Happy new year Rob,To soon, spring has sprung and the tax man cometh.How safe and secure are online tax preparation programs Turbo Tax, TaxAct, etc.For the past year, I've always used computer-based tax programs versus online services.Would you use online programs to do your taxes? Thanks.

pegoraror: Yes, and have done so for several years now. The Web-based tax-prep apps have a solid security of security, which is something I can't say for the average home computer. I also prefer not to clutter my computer with successive, yearly versions of a tax-prep app. And so the market has been shifting pretty rapidly to Web-based tax-prep software--the term Intuit's PR folks had for the disk-based business was "flatlining."

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32 or 64?: Rob, I enjoy your column and follow you on Twitter.What is the latest on the Windows 7 32-bit versus 64-bit issue? When it came out, it seemed the issue was not a lot of hardware drivers supported 64-bit. I wonder if that has settled down, or if it does not make much difference for routine computer activities. I am looking for a new Thinkpad, which offers both, and that issue has me stumped

pegoraror: I hate the way Microsoft and the PC vendors have managed this entire issue. 64-bit is good in the abstract, but in reality getting an x64 version of Windows often means compatibility problems with older software and hardware. So my standing advice on this is as follows: If you know that all your software and hardware will work fine in Win 7 x64, go ahead and upgrade. If you don't know or don't know how to tell, stick with 32-bit.Unfortunately, a lot of new computers only ship with 64-bit Windows, so the choice may be made for you.

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IE7: I have an old TV (1984 Mitshubishi), am on my second converter box, and use RCA ANT 1500 flat antenna. I live on the Baltimore side of a high rise condo. When TV went all digital I could no longer get channels 7 or 9 from DC.ad_iconClick Here!Then last week channel 7 and 9 just appeared. I was shocked for the channel scan never recognized 7 at all and 9 was too bad to use.My question: Did something change? Go back to UHF? I used to get 7 and 9 just fine then.Thanks, Rob, for your column and your good advice. That's how I got the antenna.

pegoraror: You'll see something about this in Help File soon--WJLA increased its broadcast signal's power a few months ago, and WUSA just did the same.This is the second time I have answered this.

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FF 3.5: I'm thinking about signing up for Cricket broadband. How has that been working in Washington? Any problems? Also (and you've written about this before, but I still don't have a handle on it), they apparently have a usage limit of 5GB per month. They say they don't cut you off, but service might get slow. So how much is 5GB? How many web pages? How many emails? How many minutes of streaming video? If I spend several hours a day using the internet in multiple (but quite ordinary) ways, how fast do I hit 5GB? Also, any news abut XOHM in DC? The whole operation seems to have disappeared.

pegoraror: Here's the review I wrote of Cricket and Virgin Mobile's prepaid data services last year:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/11/AR2009091101299.htmlAt the time, I noted that Cricket's coverage was limited but growing, and that their presentation of it was somewhat weird. But as long as you understand what you're spending and how you'll need to opt out of its automatic billing if you decide you don't like the service, it can work for you.5 GB of data is an immense number of e-mails, a lot of Web pages and not much streaming video (one HD movie will exhaust the bulk of that quota).This is the second time I answered this.

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Tech Top 10: I was recently looking at your "Tech Top 10" for the past decade and thought of one big development that wasn't mentioned -- the impact of the humble USB port. Not only did it give us the desperately-needed means by which any peripheral could be connected to an computer, but it begat such game-changers as thumb drives (goodbye, disks of all kind!) and even the iPod.

pegoraror: That would have been an excellent fit on a "best technology of the 90s" list--USB ports started showing up on computers in the mid 1990s, though they didn't hit the big time until Apple shipped the iMac with only USB ports for expansion.

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Router Problem: Rob,One common cause of this problem is that the router and the network devices get different ideas as to who has what IP address. This can happen when addresses are administered by DHCP and devices are turned on and off.The best solution is to unplug the power cord for the router and modems (if the modem is a separate box), shut down/unplug if necessary all wireless devices. Then, restart the modem. When it is completely alive, restart the router. When it is alive, bring up all the wireless devices.

pegoraror: Couldn't you just turn each computer's WiFi off and then on in succession? That would still force each of them to obtain a new IP (Internet Protocol) address from the router but would save the time needed to reboot the router itself.

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Dallas, TEXXAS: My beloved 2007 Intel Core 2 duo Macbook has had excessive fan problems on and off. Apple fixed it free about a year ago, but now it's happening again, mostly when I'm watching video. Usually 1-3 minutes into the video the fan starts heating up, often reaching 6500 RPM (according to iStat). And it's noisy. I know how to quit to cool it down, but I'd like to finish some of those videos. Apple won't fix it free this time. Any suggestions? Thanks--Thalia in Dallas

pegoraror: If it's within a year of the repair, you should be covered under the warranty on the repair, right? But you should also try checking for any firmware updates for the MacBook (some, I think, have mentioned fan behavior). Wouldn't hurt to reset the power manager either.

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Bowie, Md.: Rob, what's the best way to transfer videos from VHS tapes to a Mac? I've seen several relatively inexpensive devices at places like Brookstone, but they all say Windows-only (and I don't have Windows on my Mac).

pegoraror: You don't need any special software--iMovie will do--but you do need an adapter to connect your VCR's output to your Mac's USB or FireWire inputs. Elgato, the company behind the eyeTV tuner I wrote about, also makes a video-capture adapter along those lines, though I haven't tried that out yet.

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What is this?: Is this an Apple Rorshach test?

pegoraror: The invite from Apple for the January 28th event.

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The Best Antenna I Ever Had: Take a piece of cheapish speaker wire, about 10 feet long, and split it with just enough togetherness for the connector to be easily plugged in. You can move the wires around any way you need to, and use stickum or push pins to attach it to the walls as necessary.Worked great when I was a bachelor, anyway...

pegoraror: Is that last sentence your way of saying that having long stretches of wire stuck to the wall has a low Spouse Approval Factor?

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Fort Washington, Pa.: Hi, Rob. I just got a notice from Intuit that beginning this April, my copy of Quicken 2007 will lose a great deal of its functionality -- for instance, I won't be able to get account information online anymore. I've heard of companies refusing to support features, but never of a paid software losing functionality after a set amount of time. What are my options for programs -- other than basically paying $20 a year to balance my checkbook?

pegoraror: but then you'll have to fiddle with transferring your Quicken data file. Or you could use an online personal-finance solution--maybe your bank has one, or you could use Intuit's free Mint.com.

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Minneapolis, MinnASODA: What do you know of the 3D TV's that you won't need the special glasses for.

pegoraror: They don't exist, at least in a mass-market sense. The electronics industry adopted a standard for 3D video that requires the special active shutter glasses I wrote about at CES.

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Connecting Laptop to Router: I recently had a problem when I brought my laptop home from work once and could not get it connect to the Internet. The laptop had never had any connectivity problems before, and all other WiFi-enabled devices in the house (iTouch, printer, wife's computer) had no issues.I spent half the day trouble-shooting the problem before noticing that at some point I had accidentally moved the "wireless" switch on my laptop to the "off" position.Flipped the switch, problem solved. Argh.

pegoraror: Yeah, I hate it when that happens.

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Virginia Beach, Va.: Hello RobA quick new question about buying a new computer.I looked around and saw an HP laptop I am interested in. However, I noted it is a 64-bit version. If I purchase this, will my current MS Office 2003 run on it?

pegoraror: Yes. Widely-used, name-brand software shouldn't be an issue in 64-bit Windows (Palm Desktop is probably the one major exception to that rule); it's the obscure apps and hardware drivers you don't realize you use all that often that can cause problems.

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DC: Can you please tell people to stop referring to the iPod Touch as the iTouch? The latter sounds creepy. Or like a DeVinyls remix. Thanks.

pegoraror: I'll join you in that crusade right after I get people to stop writing "Mac" in all caps.

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Yeah, but: What's it supposed to mean?

pegoraror: Apple bliss.

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TV under $1000: Another TV question. I'm a recent grad who wants a nice TV for the Super Bowl (just tv/movie watching, no gaming). My room allows for a 42" flat screen, but I want to spend under $1000. Any particular brands/models/specs you suggest while I bargain hunt? Thanks.

pegoraror: You should have no trouble meeting that price limit. Again, if your living room gets a lot of light, don't get an LCD with a glossy screen (or a plasma, as they all have screen-glare issues). And if you get an LCD, make sure it has "120 HZ" scanning, which should smooth out any blurring effects caused by the slower refresh rate of LCDs.

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re: Music Player: : My wife and I ditched our iPods in favor of our droids. We used Media Monkey to sync the music instead of WMP because the latter didn't transfer playlists.No pain involved in the device sync - it was no more difficult than an iPod with iTunes.

pegoraror: I'll have to add that app to my list of music-sync apps to check out.

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Fairfax City, Va.: This is going to be wide open - cost aside, what is your ultimate gadget you would want to have and why? Would you still want that gadget if you already have other gadgets that do what this new one will/can?

pegoraror: OK, this will be my last question for today. My answer will stretch the definition of "gadget," but since you left this "wide open" I'll say the gadget I most want is the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, because a ride into space--even sub-orbital--would be much neater than any of the hardware or software I write about. (So if anybody in VG PR reads this, you know how to reach me :)

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Test Word Copy/Paste: Here is a bunch of crap from Word.Look, a list:Item 1Item 2BOLDED Item 3Check out my colorful letters!BIG TEXT

pegoraror: pretty

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: That'll do it for today, folks! Sorry about the late start; thanks for all the questions. FYI, next week I plan on doing an extra chat Wednesday afternoon from San Francisco, where I'll be to cover the launch of the Apple tablet... or whatever it is.