MojoLists

I have purchased several computers since Windows Vista first came out, I just made sure they had XP on them or I installed it when the computer arrived. Last week I got a new (Refurbished) Dell Studio desktop with Vista 64 bit. The thought of 6 Gigs of RAM got me all geeky and the fact that I could bump it to 8 Gigs just made it better.

The Quad core processor and the 64 bit Dell meant, even if I didn't like it, the computer isn't backward compatible with XP because much of the hardware has no XP driver available. Being a geek I bought into the Vista hating crowd even though I had never taken a serious look at it. I have set up several Vista computers for friends and relatives and I was always surprised by the lack of follow up support they needed. The computer challenged seemed to get along great with Vista.

After getting it out of the box and starting it up it took about 30 seconds to figure out the navigation. It took another 20 minutes for me to understand why my technophobic friends didn't have a problem with Vista. It doesn't let them get into things that will screw up the system. That was not a good thing for me however, I am driven to crack the registry, disarm every little bit of power sapping programming, and must bend a computer to my will. I am lord and master of my system and I hate vista... wait, I don't hate it at all, in fact I am quickly learning to love it.

Once I did a little research and figured out how to unlock the OS, I quickly set out to modify as much as possible and in doing so came to the realization that I really didn't need to change that much. Vista works pretty well right out of the box and removing bloat ware was my only real concern.

I was a little disappointed with the speed of the system, it wasn't able to break down the genetic code of my dogs very quickly or even design a new robot assistant. What it can do, and it does it so well, is run multiple programs that use a lot of resources individually. To fully test the system I ripped a DVD, while streaming HD video from my DVR, loaded my 100gigs of MP3 music into iTunes along with my 80 gigs of movies, all while surfing the web and watching cats eat spaghetti on YouTube.

Now I feel the power at my fingertips and I am happy, ecstatic even. Vista works, it works with all of my programs, it works with all of my hardware, it plays nice with all of my XP machines, and it does it quickly.

I am sure I will find something I hate about it, I always do, but so far I am only seeing good. If you have been sitting on the fence about Windows Vista, it is time to dive in and give it a chance, you won't be sorry.

Linksys needs to fix the DNS problem on their WRT160Nv2 router and they need to do it now. I haven't used this blog to gripe much,  the fact is I have been very lucky and my equipment functions with little or no problem. Now I have a big problem and a major gripe with Linksys, a company whose products I have used for years without a hitch.

I decided to step up to a wireless N router about 6 months ago even though all of my wireless apps are b and g. The router was an amazing upgrade to the system. It extended the range and speed on all of my laptops and other devises. I could even stream HD effortlessly from the DirecTV DVR on the other side of the house. I was one happy camper. Then I got the news that there was a DNS security risk associated with the routers firmware. I was running 2.0.0.2, build 8. Being the security nut that I am I immediately updated my firmware to 2.0.0.2, build 11. This turned out to be a huge mistake.

Web pages started throwing 404 errors, I had to refresh pages over and over before they would come up. I hated it, it was a serious time suck for me as I spend most of my time working on the internet and God help me if I wanted to order something online or pay a bill. the 404 errors made it almost impossible to make it through a multi-page process.

I quickly jumped online and researched the problem to find this is a well documented issue in the Linksys forum. One of the threads I found had 17 pages of complaints and thankfully a fix. Unfortunately when I attempted to downgrade my firmware to the version I had previously, it failed and the router did nothing but flash at me, nearly lifeless and unable to reset itself to the factory defaults.

After 90 minutes of attempting to revive the WRT160Nv2, I gave in and contacted tech support. Of course they ignored the fact that I had attempted everything and made me do it all again before starting the RMA process. The router was dead and Linksys is replacing it. After receiving all the information and filling out the forms, mailing it back to them, at my expense I now await my replacement which will undoubtedly have the new firmware version and most likely the same problem that everyone else is having with this build.

The issue with the Linksys WRT160Nv2 firmware has been around since October and Linksys has failed to acknowledge the problem and worse, fix it. Linksys, I have spent tens of thousands of dollars with you between my home and my business. If this is not fixed, you can kiss my future business goodbye. I understand that shit happens and errors take place, I accept and am happy to work with any vendor while they correct the problem. You won't even admit there is a problem even though there are hundreds of documented cases on your own website. This is an issue and you need to fix it.

If you have the WRT160Nv2 router and are experiencing the DNS problem, here is a fix. I bricked my router attempting it but many have downgraded their firmware successfully. I intend to try again if my new unit has the problem. Good luck!

*** UPDATE! ***  Linksys does not have a fix yet but they did take care of me by replacing the router I killed with a new one. Read more here.

The HDMI confusion is exasperating for everyone. How did something designed to make things easier become a simmering caldron of confusion? Lets try to sort out the facts from the myths.

As I look behind my component stand, I slowly lower my head in shame. The rat’s nest of cables is beyond comprehension and the worst thing is that I did my 6 month rewire just a week ago. I dream of the day I finally step up to a complete HDMI system that uses a single cable between every component, a magic cable that send both the video and audio. I could go from what looks like hundreds of cables down to less than 10. That my friends, would be a miracle.

Every time I step into an electronics store, I am confronted with $60, $70, even $150 HDMI cables, and that is for a 2-meter one. How is it that the HDMI cables I use and cherish are less than half that and the fact is you can get them much, much cheaper… Like for under $15 and it will work just as well as the marketing marvel from Monster Cable that sells for well over $100.

Part of the problem comes from the early versions of HDMI, version 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 are all capable of transmitting 1080p video at the same time as the lossless DTS and Dolby formats. This is more than enough for 95% of the people, in fact is well beyond their systems capability.  That brings us to version 1.3.

HDMI version 1.3 comes in 3 flavors, 1.3a, 1.3b, and the top of the line 1.3c. They all do the same great job of handling HDCP, 1080p and lossless audio, not a bit better than the previous versions however. Where you do want to consider the 1.3c cables is if you wish to pass a DVD-A, SACD or uncompressed audio signal to your receiver. Keep in mind that both the source and the receiver must meet 1.3c requirements, if anything in the system is less than 1.3c, you lose all benefits of having that cable version.

In addition to the audio formats I mentioned, 1.3c is also capable of passing the new extended color formats, Deep Color and x.v.YCC. Currently neither of these is built into the Blu-Ray spec. and although a number of players claim to have the capability, it is wasted since the discs don’t carry the additional color signals. Several HD camcorders do record in this format however so the capability may be useful if you have one of these and a TV that is capable.

 The bottom line is that getting a higher version cable won’t hurt you, it just won’t help you except in a very small number of circumstances, if you have the equipment that matches from source to Receiver and TV, or you just want to pay more for a cable.

Don’t fall for the Monster marketing system that grades each cable based on bandwidth. Every one of their cables does a great job of passing every possible format, their grading system is an all out lie and one you will pay for if you purchase the more expensive cables. An HDMI cable can’t change the quality of the image like a processor in a receiver or TV, it just passes along a digital signal. Do your wallet a favor and find the less expensive cables and spend the rest on a few new movies.