what can i say. i was ‘that kid’ growing up that loved to get new toys (but who didn’t, right?) but the next day would then take them apart and most likely never got it back together and working.

well, my warranty on my Playstation3 finally expired on 3/26/08 and in turn i decided to celebrate my one year anniversary by taking my PS3 apart.

as previously blogged/youtubed/bit#$ed about; my playstation3 seemed to have an overheating problem (even though i can’t say it was overheating).  i’ve moved where i’ve been placing my PS3 several times now and its current spot is a wide open area by my wii and tv (not enclosed, free flowing air abounds). however i still had problems after leaving it on for more than 20 hours.  i’ve read a ton of posts by other PS3 owners who have been able to run their PS3 for weeks on end w/o any freezing/overheating issues.  so, i thought i’d see if perhaps i could figure out what was causing mine to act all weird after 20+ hours of being on.

keep reading to hear about the dis-assemble and see the geek-gore pics…

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ps3, fanboy, geek, console, hardware, gaming, general gadgets | 7 Comments »

we’ve all seen the auctions/’deals’ on SDHC cards.  16GB class 6 no-name, generic for $30, etc.  however more and more often we are seeing name brand memory being knocked off on ebay.

most memory formats have a standard and in turn a standard way of identifying the card is what it says it is (with either logos or specs). 

today, i’ll just explain how to spot a fake SDHC card, perhaps not a fake but a non-certified SDHC card (and most likely one that will prob not work as claimed either; speed / capapcity-wise).

 the SD Card Assocation (yes, there is an association for sd cards.. hehe) states that in order for  a card to be certified by them as a true SDHC card, it must have both an SDHC card logo and also the class speed logo ( http://www.sdcard.org/home ).

so there ya go, hope that helps ya spot that knockoff sdhc card or even fake namebrand one.

life, eee, fanboy, culture, mobile, general gadgets | No Comments »

well… its official…  i sold my TC1100 tablet pc today on eBay.  my work did decide to go the route of the Dell Latitude XT tablets (heck yea!) and in turn i’ll be getting one from work so i figured i’d sell my ole sturdy, fun baby; my tc1100.  she’s been a great companion but lately has been sitting on my desk just gathering dust since i have a vaio in the living room and an XT at my desk at work (along w/3 other laptops or parts of them and 2 desktops; gotta love hardware rollouts and testing!)

i still wish other tablet makers would try the TC1100s combination slate/convertible design.  ahh, the  memories i’ve had with my TC1100.. installing of vista and ubuntu; rekindling my love of ubuntu, the failed attempts of OSX, perfection of usb booting and ghosting.. 

(pours some beer on the floor) for my tablet.. 

so, now what do i get w/that money from selling my tablet?  i was thinking of getting my camera since that would be coming out here in the next couple weeks (Sony Cybershot DSC-T300) but realized that i will be doing a TON of traveling for work in the next couple of months and also will be going to the WES 2008 conference too.  so i decided that i needed a good mobile, surfing and basic word processing/writing/blogging computer. 

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fanboy, blogging, geek, life, ubuntu, eee, tablet pc, handheld, mobile, hardware, mac, linux, windows, opinion, vista, general gadgets | 3 Comments »

this week i realized that its about time for me to do a desktop system rebuild.  prior to the last year and a half, i had been on an upgrade rampage in regards to my desktop pc.  i initially built my very first desktop system back in 1998; it was an AMD Athlon (Slot A) 999mhz cpu w/ 512mb pc133 memory, a whooping 20gb harddrive and dvd/cd-rw combo drive and cost about $400 to build. 

through my upgrade bender i went through about 12 different computer cases, 10 motherboards, 6 video cards, and 3 monitors.   so with all of the components i went through, what was the best upgrade? 

my Dell 24″ LCD Monitor hands-down!

i don’t know if you have ever used a 24″ widescreen monitor before but lets just say once you do you’ll never go back.  i have friends who own/use crappy little 15″ crt monitors or a 17″ lcd and it baffles me on why one would not upgrade the one thing he/she uses each day?  if you have to use it or do use it on a daily basis, why not make it more enjoyable and better on the eyes?

i’ve had my dell for about 2 years now and would consider it to be the best pc upgrade ever.  prior to my dell 24″ widescreen, i had a very decent standard 19″ Lcd but it still wasn’t enough desktop space for the stuff i was doing (photoshop, video editing/mixing, gaming, geeking).  my work 20″ widescreen just doesn’t seem the same, however having two of them does help though…

so, whats your best/favorite pc upgrade you’ve done? feel free to share in the comments.

culture, random, geek, opinion, general gadgets, hardware, pc | 4 Comments »

If you don’t mind me asking, how do you use your PSP?  do you game on it mainly or use it for movies or music? or is it your portable emulator?

 I use my PSP for almost everything besides gaming (PSP games that is).  Honestly, I have yet to really be blown away by any game yet.  I really liked Hot Shots and was addicted to it and thought GTA was pretty cool but wouldn’t cause me to buy a PSP for it.   So, what do i use my PSP for? how do i use mine?

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handheld, console, geek, culture, life, fanboy, mobile, opinion, web, hardware, gaming, psp, music, general gadgets | No Comments »

well, sadly after nearly 2 years, my Sony Cybeshot DSC-T9 finally died.  of course, it had to be the first day on my vacation in Mexico and caused by me jumping into the ocean and landing on my camera and the sport/waterproof housing… (note to self, not seamonkey-ass proof though..)  

salt-water and electronics do not go very well, but even though my camera’s lcd did not light up and only turned on by opening the front cover and then powering on; it still took some decent shots and video. 

however i decided that after i got back from my trip, i would put it out its misery and ‘try’ to fix it by a nice disassemble of my Cybershot DSC-T9.. btw, i didn’t fix it… but am now waiting for the Sony Cybershot DSC-T300 (has the BIONZ sensor which is in the SLR versions) to be released in Mar and hopefully go down a bit i apr.  in the meantime, i’m trying to get me a used DSC-L1 to tie me over till apr (just a 4mp but its so nice and tiny and took great pics, i had one a while back).

anywho back to the disassemble, pics and notes below.  enjoy!

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culture, life, cybershot, geek, handheld, hardware, modding, general gadgets | 1 Comment »

Hello everyone. As previously promised, today’s post will be another newer, hardware review. This time we will be taking a look at Sprint’s HTC Touch. The Touch has been out for a few months and at times has been called the ‘corporate iphone’ due to it being a purely touchscreen pda (no hardware keyboard) and running WM6 (in turn, allows outlook/goodlink to be installed).

Here are some basic/quick specs:

• 400mhz qualcomm cpu
• 2.8″ 65K TFT LCD
  • 240×320 resolution
  • landscape and portrait modes.
• 128 RAM, 256MB Flash ROM
  • (avail to user: 73/256mb respectively)
• Cellular: CDMA dual band, EVDO Rev. 0 and 1XRTT data
• Bluetooth 2.0 spec
• 2.0 MP camera / video recorder
• microSD slot (SDHC supported)
• tethering via BT or USB cable to laptop/pc (supports PAN bluetooth profile and bt dialup also)
• Windows Mobile 6 Prof Ed.
  • includes Mobile Office, IE, Outlook, HTC’s Today Screen and launcher software and more)
• See Sprint.com for more/full details

I got about a full day to play and use the HTC Touch. Unfortunately I did my video quick look before really getting my hands on it. So lets take a look at the Touch and my quick look video. Read more and view the vid. (and yes, i do get a bit excited w/new toys.. hehehe).

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life, culture, review, wm6, htc, sprint, geek, handheld, web, hardware, windows, opinion, mobile, general gadgets | 5 Comments »

i love my data and information and would be pretty lost if my system did die on me. however, as a geek that sees and fixes a ton of computers that will die without any warning i always recommend that everyone should do a complete backup each month or so of any data that they believe to be essential. if you use it everyday, that is what i classify as essential (ie calendar, outlook pst files, favorites/links, music, papers/docs, program installation files, serial/registration info).

this weekend i finally decided to go and purchase a nice 500GB external HDD to do my monthly backups and archivals to. prior to this weekend, i was making 5 DVD backups of my personal data (no apps or music) and then storing them at my bank box in my parents town (remote location, another good thing to think about). however i realized that i have a ton of other ‘bulkier’ data that i wanted to archive/save but didn’t want to burn 100 DVDs to do it, thus the external hdd.

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culture, life, review, geek, applications, hardware, windows, opinion, general gadgets | 4 Comments »

this is my throne..  that i geek from!

read more to see my specs.. i promise, i won’t tell..

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blogging, fanboy, life, culture, geek, hardware, mobile, art, general gadgets | 2 Comments »

i remember as a kid loving watches.   the telememo watches by Casio back in the day was the ‘coolest’ gadget this geek could ever play with as a 10 yr old.  as a kid, i had prob about 12 different watches; including the Nintendo Super Maio 3 and Tetris game watches (still have and they work), several Casio telememo watches, a few traditional windup pocket watches, and of course the usual cheap $5 digital watch.

in the late 80s and early 90s, watches were a pretty common accessory that almost every single person had.  however as cellphones started to become mainstream and used by almost everyone, the wrist watch really started its downward spiral into obscurity and in turn being mainly just a ‘fashion’ accessory versus being a functional accessory.

so i ask this, where the hell are the cool watches?? no, i don’t mean the ones that require me to learn a whole new language or time system or ones that have a mp3 player built in or gps ( http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/ ).

nope, all i want is this:

a stylish watch that can:

1. display the time

2.be able to glow when i have an incoming call on my phone

3. show me if there are any wifi networks and the signal strength

4. and have the time display be customizable (diff colors or backgrounds)

Thats all i ask for!!  these are all reasonable and doable tasks since we have pens that show when you have a call, wifi network detectors built into clothing now. 

oh yea, at the watch should not cost more than $100 since well… it is only a watch when it comes down to it.

EDIT: thinkgeek.com did have a wifi watch; http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/9313/

but add a style like this concept and add bluetooth/mobile phones - http://gizmodo.com/344455/watch-concept-gives-hearing+impaired-people-a-fire-alert and keep the price under $100 and i’m sold!

culture, life, geek, handheld, hardware, opinion, general gadgets | 2 Comments »