Another New Toy : HP iPaq HW6315

HW6315 = Thumbs Up!

As rumors have popped up all over the internet, my initial opinion of this device has flip/flopped. As the rumors got more concrete I started worrying that I would not like the device. The 6315 did not lay a great track record for HP’s convergence devices. All of these factors had the HW6515 up against the wall before I had a chance to give it a chance.With much to prove to me, the HW6515 stepped up and impressed me. I have a preproduction

HW6515 unit to review and test. Unfortunately my camera LCD is busted and I haven’t gotten around to snapping all the photos I am known for, but they are coming. I have been busy checking out all the features I could and seeing what this thing could do.Although there are some things I DO NOT like about this device, my overall impression of this devices is …. WOW.

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My Cable Company

This is a little rant. WELL, A BIG RANT.

Timeline:
Friday June 24, 2005 : After a few days of my cable connection coming and going, the connection finally bit the dust. NO INTERNET.

Saturday : NO INTERNET

Sunday : Decided to call in and see what was going on. Tech and I determined that the signal coming into my house was not good. Dispatching out a technician. Later in the evening I was able to get online a little.

Monday : On/Off connection… 8-11PM No Internet.

Tuesday : Appointment with Cable Company from 1-5PM…… 4:57PM the phone rings, my wife could not make it to the phone, Cable company cancels appointment w/o dispatch. I call in irate and demand Cable Modem turned off on July 5, 2005. The service rep that was handling this was vengeful and decided to disregard my request and shut off my service at that time.

Called back, they turned it back on, but it never worked again. Called Tech Support again. They told me that the signal was not good enough for me to get a connection and that a tech had to be dispatched. Rescheduled appointment for 1-5PM Tuesday…. Another night, no Internet. ( although I checked email via dial up )

Wednesday - Cable Company come out, replaced drop from terminal to house and my incoming level went from -18db to -4db… Yeah!!! oops, cable modem still doesn’t work! One more call, "Yes sir, we have to rebuild your modem info in database". Now, I am finally working!

I think its time to let this Cable Company go and get another service… what do you think?

           

CrystalFontz 635 LCD with drive bay kit and add-on SCAB card

Developer/Vendor: CrystalFontz www.CrystalFontz.com
Price: $85.00 for 635 with drive bay kit, SCAB card is special order
Rating (out of 5):

This has to be one of my most fun items to review so far. After being contacted by CrystalFontz, I was extremely excited to get my hands on a sample to try out. (Remember to click on pictures to enlarge them).

As from their website, "Crystalfontz designs, manufactures, and sells high-quality LCD modules. Our technical expertise, innovative designs, and direct distribution allow us to offer the highest quality LCDs at the lowest cost. " Unlike other companies, CrystalFontz actually manufactures their own LCDs and even writes their own software for them right here in the USA.  They are an OEM type company, yet are extremely helpful over the phone and in their online forums. Finding help is just a few clicks away at any time. It is also nice that if you are a company wanting to implement their products into your products and/or business, bulk discounts are very well outlined.

The LCDs made by CrystalFontz are made to show different information via their software (CrystalControl 2 (still in beta)) or via other LCD software such as LCD Smartie. These software programs can show everything from simple text to small graphics. In the text they can show and update vital information such as New Email Messages, CPU Usage, Temperatures, Weather, News, Free Memory, Currently Playing Audio Track, and much much more. What you can display is really endless as it all depends on the software. These LCD units will display anything that is sent to them.

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AMD Turion 64 mobile technology and HP!

I am very impressed with the performance of Dell Laptops with the Pentium M processors, but I would love to take a looksy at one of these with at least a GB of Ram and a good vid card!

HP today announced it has teamed with AMD to address the fast-growing small and mid-size business (SMB) mobile market with the affordable HP Compaq nx6125 Notebook PC, which incorporates AMD Turion? 64 mobile technology(1) - the company’s latest 64-bit processor optimized for mobility - and advanced security features.

Read Press Release :: More info on Processor

           

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Our Feeds : Better thanks to Ted Whitely

Posted by Chris Leckness on 06/22/05 in Site Items

If you subscribe to our RSS Feed here or on Aximsite/iPaqHQ, thanks!

Now you can thank Ted Whitely, Co-admin of iPaqHQ.com and moderator/review coordinator at Aximsite.com, for a cleaner more effecient RSS Feed on my other sites.

"If you regularly use the RSS feed on this site for news then you will notice a marked improvement. In the past you were able to get news but it did not really reflect the news items that you would see on the frontpage in terms of formatting. After some tweaking the RSS feeds will now closely resemble the news items on the frontpage.If your newsreader supports it you will now see images, bold, italics, font colors, different font sizes and other various things that you can see on the frontpage.

The URL for the RSS newsfeed for iPaqHQ is http://www.ipaqhq.com/forums/external.php.
The URL for the RSS newsfeed for Aximsite is http://www.aximsite.com/boards/external.php." - Ted

           

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Not too mobile, but cheap! A laser printer for $99

Posted by Chris Leckness on 06/22/05 in Off topic

Saw this over at Engadget….

Dell LP 1100 = $99

If you need high volume, laser quality printing… this is for you.
If you need to print the kids pics, wait… they’ll probally have you covered there too soon.

Who is they? Dell, that’s who. Nope, its not pump Dell night, its just that they offer a cheap laser the same day I get the new d810.

"It may also force other printer companies to rethink their pricing. ?Dell is going to screw everybody,? Charles Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Co., told CNet. Everybody except consumers, that is. You don?t sell the razor, you sell the blades, right?"

           

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New Toy for Chris : Dell Latitude D810

Posted by Chris Leckness on 06/22/05 in Laptops

I came home today to quite a surprise…

A nice Dell Box with a big old laptop… This thing is bigger than my previous laptops, but come’on now it out performs my other and the screen is, uh HUGE! Wide Screen 15.4" LCD display powered by a sweet video card, the ATI Mobility RADEON X600. Can you say multimedia powerhouse?

Here is this bad boy in front of my 23" Dell LCD !(my old favorite toy) I will take a side by side with my Dell Latitude D600 later.

Throw the Bluetooth Dongle away…. this one has Bluetooth and WiFi built in!

Stay tuned, It’s new now, but I have a feeling my initial "WOW" opinion will not change over the next few days getting to know my new toy! (err I mean business tool).

Off to check out a movie on it!!!!

           

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Busy, Busy, Busy

Posted by Chris Leckness on 06/22/05 in Off topic

SUNDAY : A great Father’s Day at the Ballpark with my dad and my son. (and the rest of the pack, my wife, mom, and daughter too)

The Birmingham Barons, a AA Affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, gave us a loss, but it was a well played game anyhow!

After the game, the infield was opened for kids to run the bases and Brett had a ball! Here he is rounding second.

MONDAY : I got home from school real late and did nothing!!!

Tuesday : The rest of the time, I have been extremely busy working on my high school reunion, getting ready for our 15 year this weekend!

           

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Happy Father’s Day!

Posted by Chris Leckness on 06/19/05 in Off topic

Happy Father’s Day!

A plate of my favorite breakfast food, gifts, both of my kids smiling, and my wife with the "morning Mountain Dew" in hand. This is how I like to be awaken!What a day! If you need me, call! I’m going to Birmingham, AL to watch a Birmingham Barons game with my Father. (and rest of family)

How was your Father’s Day?

           

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Intel expands its Wi-Fi chip technology

Posted by Chris Leckness on 06/17/05 in Wifi / Bluetooth

"Intel on Friday unveiled chip technology designed to support all current and projected Wi-Fi standards, moving the chip giant closer to its vision of one chip for all radios.

The chip technology prototype will support Wi-Fi standards ranging from the current 802.11a to standards requirements expected for 802.11n. The all-CMOS direct conversion dual-band radio transceiver moves Intel closer toward its goal of offering one chip that can handle multiple radios in a single device.

"The variable bandwidth of this solution extends capabilities beyond today’s 20MHz to 100MHz and is expected to support data rates higher than 100 megabits per second that should allow people to enjoy multiple high-quality video streams concurrently," Krishnamurthy Soumyanath, Intel communications circuits research lab director, said in a statement. ….." Read More

This sounds very promising.

           

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Samsung SGH-i750 Mobile Office Communicator

Posted by Chris Leckness on 06/16/05 in PocketPC, Smart Phones

Phonemag.com has some great pics and coverage of CommunicAsia…

"The SGH-i750 is one sweet device! It sports Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, dual speaker with SRS WOW, 192MB RAM and 64 MB ROM with the option to expand via TransFlash. " - Phonemag

I am in the market for a new phone to replace my MPx220 right now, so I am keeping my eyes on all these phones hitting the market and/or being debuted at shows in Asia. This Samsung phone looks nice.

Specifications:
-GSM GPRS/EDGE (900/1800/1900MHz)
-Display: 65,536 Color TFT (240×320)
-Windows Media Player / MPEG4
-Streaming WMA, WMA, MP3, ASF, 3GP
-SMS / IM / E-mail
-Bluetooth / WLAN / HTML Browser / IrDA
-Voice Recognition / T9 Predictive Text Input
-Multi Document Viewer / TV Out Presentation
-Landscape Switch-view

           

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Aximsite/iPaqHQ Big Contest

Posted by Chris Leckness on 06/15/05 in Site Items

What’s the occasion? There is none. I was going to do a virtual yard sale to raise funds to feed my gadget addiction and buy a new PocketPC Phone, but decided it would be better to give the items away.

Please be aware, these prizes are mostly purchased by me and are now "Used". Some items have minor missing parts(none hinder the normal operation). These items all work fine, they are just underutilized in my home.

Up for grabs are the following:

• Xbox, Wireless Controller, and 6 games
• FujiFilm S5000 Digital Camera
• XM Sattelite Receiver w/ car kit and Boom Box
• Suunto SPOT Watch w/ 1 year free MSN Subscription
• 3 PSP Games
• Jabra 250 Bluetooth Headset

To Enter, Choose a site:

• Aximsite
• iPaqHQ

           

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Wal Mart kills the VCR for a minute or two

Posted by Chris Leckness on 06/15/05 in General

Yesterday, Engadget reports that Wal Mart is killing the VCR, which they have the power to do:

"All you people who bought Beta back in the day can feel better now ? VHS is dead now, too. Ok, well maybe it?s not quite dead yet, but Wal-Mart, the most powerful retailer the world has ever known, says that they?re going to completely stop selling VCRs and VHS tapes by early next year… "

The report was not without merit, this ARTICLE said so : LINK.
I guess the report was wrong and Wal Mart quickly made it clear that the story linked above was wrong. LINK

So breath easy, it not dead, yet!
In my home, I have 3 DVD/VCR combo players. One in the bedroom for my wife to watch and record her shows. (she didn’t want to learn the Digital Recorder or Tivo thing) The one in the living room and the one in daughter’s room is for the 200 thousand Disney movies my daughter has collected.

and for comment leaver #20 on engadget, here is a story:
The 2nd season of "the 4400" started a couple weeks ago, so my wife recorded the 1st 2 hour episode. A co-worker of mine, in Alabama with me, missed it and was irate about forgetting it. I offered my VHS recording to make him happy. He declined stating that he didn’t even own a VCR. He left the VCR back when us in small hick towns got our stoplights.

           

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My ID and My Son : Proud and Proud

Posted by Chris Leckness on 06/15/05 in Off topic

Reading a few blogs after waking up from a 4 hour nap (Fell asleep putting son to bed), I ran across a picture that reminded me of my son. Over at GadgetFamily.org , Emma’s Chocolate Painting was too much like my Brett! Brett Christopher(We call him Brett, don’t worry) turns 3 July 4th.

Brett Then


Brett Now

On a technology note, if you follow the link to Emma’s Chocolate Painting, you will see a sippie cup on the high chair. If you are an expecting parent, take note, this is the BEST SIPPIE CUP money can buy. We went through several cups until we found these for Brett!

MY ID AT LAST!
I feel like an MVP now! I have the fancy dancy ID card that gets me into the Playboy Mansion, The W, Club 51, and many other premier places across the US now. Well I still can’t get into Heff’s house, but I feel warm and fuzzy now.

           

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The Hive, From Microsoft - Discriminates against Alabama!

Posted by Chris Leckness on 06/14/05 in Rants

Yeah, it’s only in Beta, but we ARE one of the 50 states.

Where is Alabama on this list?

Taken from DigitalMediaThoughts, a sponsor of this new site:
"On June 13th, Microsoft, together with key community leaders, announced the beta launch of ?The Hive,? an online site dedicated to helping online group leaders, bloggers and other community website owners who focus on consumer information regarding Windows, Windows applications, and technical issues. To shed more light on the new site and what it means for Windows users, Josh Levine, Group Product Manager for the Windows Client Community Group, lets us know what the buzz is about."

Microsoft has launched The Hive today, although this is more a resource for community leaders than it is for Joe End User. Digital Media Thoughts also happens to be a site sponsor, though I’m still not entirely clear on what that means. Activewin has published an interview with Josh Levine, the Group Product Manager for the Windows Client Community Group. Now there’s a mouthful of a title! - Jason Dunn, DigitalMedia Thoughts

           

Filed Under Rants · Comments  

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