Electronics Review: Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS Running Watch

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Keeps excellent track of distances and time

Cons: Very slow to load and on the bulky side

The Bottom Line: 

Get the real miles

For your distance exercise

With this helpful watch

How Did I Run Without This Watch?

Three years ago, I signed up for my first two mud runs, and quickly determined that they wouldn’t be my last.  Along the way, I discovered that mud runs are great motivation to get out and run.  In 2011, I not only training for a 10 mile Tough Mudder, but also my first half marathon.  Helping me train for both is the Garmin Forerunner 205.

Last year, I tried to do some longer runs, but I’d have to map out a route beforehand and then hope I remembered the right landmarks.  And the mapping programs I found weren’t the best since I was often using a path that wouldn’t show up.  I began wanting to do some runs in a park near me as well.

I was beginning to think about getting a GPS watch when a friend offered me his.  He’d recently upgraded, and didn’t feel he needed two.  I jumped at the chance, and I’m glad I did.  Not only have I found my normal 3 mile run is really 3.3 miles, but several runs I did last year were much longer than I thought they were.  Honestly, that made me feel much better about how I felt after some of those runs.  I even used the watch to pace myself to my first ever under half hour 5K finish.  (I didn’t claim to be a fast runner, right?) And while I haven't gone on any of the trail runs I was thinking of doing yet, I have enjoyed exploring some bike paths while knowing I can still cover the distance I need to cover.

While this is a GPS watch, it is designed for a runner or cyclist.  It works best when it is keeping track of how far you have gone.  While there is a tiny map feature, it’s not really designed to help you find your way from one point to another.

Another thing this one doesn’t have is a heart rate monitor.  Frankly, I’m glad because I didn’t want that.  Those also tend to make watches more expensive

The watch itself is rather bulky, especially for someone who has stopped wearing watching period.  The face is bigger than any watch I’ve worn for years.  I know the new models are smaller since the technology to get the GPS information has gotten better since this one originally came out.  The strap is plastic, but it doesn’t feel that uncomfortable, even when I am sweating from my run.  And there are enough notches on it that I don’t have a problem finding a slot where it fits well.

When you first turn it on, it has to find the satellites so it can keep track of where you are.  That seems to take a while to load.  In fact, the bar that fills will get almost full and then pop back to the half-way point a few times before it fully loads.  That really bugs me.

But once it does load, you are on a screen set to record your run (or ride if you are on a bike).  The main screen will tell you how far you’ve run to the one hundreth of a mile, the time since you started, and your average pace.  You can scroll through other screens that tell you how many calories you’ve burned, your best pace and average pace, and compare your lap splits.

The start/stop button and the lap button are very prominent on the face of the watch, which is wonderful if you are trying to hit those buttons without really breaking your stride.  The display is also big enough that it is easy to see while still running.

Of course, some of the calculations seem to be rather suspect.  For example, the calorie count is based on age, height, and weight, all of which can be input into the watch.  But it doesn’t take hills into account at all, and it seems to be questionable when it comes to pace.  The current pace readout also seems slow to change.  I’ll lay on a burst of speed and it takes a good 15 seconds for the pace to reflect my new speed.

A button over on the left side is labeled Mode, and you need this button to see what the actual time is and how much battery is left.  They’re rather small when displayed.  I thought at first this info wasn’t on the watch anywhere.  It would be nice if it were in a more prominent place, but once I found it, I wasn’t that bothered by flipping over there to see how much battery I have left.

Speaking of the battery, I have found that I need to charge it about once a month when I take it out on my long runs.  That means I’m getting about six hours out of one charge.  The watch fits into a nice holder that connects to a computer USB port, and the display lets you know when the battery is done charging.

When you connect to a computer, you can also use the software that comes with the watch.  You can store all your runs and see how you are doing from one run to the next side by side.  You can also great a desired pace and then transfer that back to your watch and then challenge yourself next time you are out on that course.  Personally, I haven’t done much with the software.  I find it most helpful for figuring out my average pace and the distances of my long runs.  But if I decide to do more, I like the fact that the ability is there.

I also don’t take this watch out for every run.  When I do my normal course, I know how far it is and I pretty much know what my pace will be.  I just enjoy the freedom of getting out and running.

As I keep increasing my long runs, I honestly can’t believe I was training last year without a GPS watch.  I am sold on my Garmin Forerunner 205 and plan to use it as a regular part of my training.

Electronics Review: Toshiba CF27H50 CRT TV

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Good picture and sound; easy to control

Cons: Weight balance makes moving it difficult

The Bottom Line:
A faithful TV

Enjoyed picture, sound for years

And still going strong

Still Proving to be a Great Choice for a TV

When I first moved out, I took an old family TV as my first TV.  How old, you ask?  It had a turn dial to select the channel and you had to adjust the sound at the set.  Yeah, the price was right, and I was very grateful for it.  But after a couple of years, I was ready to upgrade, and I settled on the Toshiba CF27H50 TV.  That was in the late 90's, and this TV has now gone from my main TV to the secondary TV in my bedroom.  But it still works great, and I love it.

The 27 in the model number means this is a 27 inch screen.  Okay, in the world of giant screen TV's we see now, that's small, but for my apartments and now my condo, that's always been a great size.  The picture has always been sharp whether I was watching cable, my VCR, or my DVD player.

You can easily hook up several options to the TV.  For years, I had a VCR and a DVD player hooked up simultaneously.  Now, I have a DVR, my old Atari 2600, Super Nintendo, and a DVD player all hooked up to it.  All the hook ups are in the back, so you don't want to be switching around what you have hooked up very often, but the component video inputs are well labled and fairly easy to get to.  There's also sound and video out options, and I used to use the sound out to hook this up to my sound system.  I only ever got stereo out of it, but that was better than the mono TV it replaced.

Speaking of sound, there are two speakers on the front of the TV.  An option for sound is "surround sound."  Um, right.  Every time I've switched that on, I haven't noticed a difference.  But the sound was also clear, so I can follow what I am watching no problem.

The TV comes with picture in picture.  The catch with this is you have to have a different input available for it to work.  For example, when I had my cable and VCR going into this TV, I could turn on the VCR and use that feed for the second picture.  However, now that I just have one TV source coming in, I can't use the picture in picture feature.  Considering how little I surf the TV any more, that's no great loss.

Another feature is the mute button, which automatically turns on closed captioning.  I'd find this distracting if I muted the TV to answer the phone, but it was nice if my roommate was the one on the phone.

Most of the options for picture adjustment are accessed through the remote and pop up on the screen.  It's a bit clumsy, but once you get the picture set, there's no real reason to go messing around with it.

Speaking of the remote, let's talk about it.  It's gotten a lot of use in the last 10+ years, and most of the numbers and symbols have rubbed off the buttons.  That's not really an issue since the buttons are fairly logical or are still labeled on the remote itself, which hasn't warn off.  While not a universal remote, you could set it up to work with a cable box and a VCR, which was convenient.  The switch on the side dictated what the remote was actually controlling.  It got plenty of use in both TV and VCR mode.  The VCR controls were fairly basic: play, stop, record, etc.  When I wanted to program the VCR, I needed that remote, but for watching it was great.

The only thing I have never liked about this TV is how front heavy it is.  It's big and bulky, so it's a pain to move (and I've moved it plenty), but the weight in the front will throw you off balance if you aren't expecting it.  I've almost dropped it a time or two.

I realize in the word of HD TV's, most people aren't looking for a standard definition TV like this one.  I know I wouldn't be looking for it if I didn't already have one.  But this Toshiba 27 inch TV has been a faithful unit, and I don't think I'll be replacing it any time soon.

Electronics Review: Sanyo Katana LX Cell Phone

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Easy to use phone that works great

Cons: Won't like it if you are searching for more than a phone

The Bottom Line: 

A simple cell phone

No real bells and whistles

But talking is great

Sanyo's Katana LX Proves to be a Great First Cell Phone

I got my first cell phone just over 3 years ago.  Yeah, I know - welcome to the 20th century.  Even my parents had them before I did.  As exciting as all the flashy cell phones are, I was going with a simple minutes only phone plan, so I just wanted a simple phone.  While Sanyo's Katana LX looks flashy on the outside, it is a pretty basic phone and has met my needs.

As I recall, the phone came in three colors, pink, blue, and silver.  I got mine at a Sprint booth at a festival, so silver was the only one they had.  They also had a special promo going that day, so I got mine for free when signing a two year contract that day.  The phone normally would have been $280 or so, so I got a great deal.

It's a flip phone.  When closed it's maybe half an inch thick and three inches long.  I keep it in my pants pocket all day and never even notice it.  The front display on mine is a mirrorized silver.  Here's the really cool feature.  There's a small display in the front that lights up when you get a phone call that tells you who is calling.  Or, if you press the buttons on the side, it displays the time for you.  On one side is the opening for an external headphone jack.  The other side includes the opening for the power cord and the volume and camera buttons.  Both openings for cords are closed with rotating rubber toppers which keep the sides pretty smooth.

Flip the phone open and the top half features a display screen while the bottom half has the keyboard.  It's a traditional phone keyboard, so those who want to text a lot will quickly grow tired of the repetition.  I don't text, so this is fine for me, although I did find entering lots of new contacts via that keyboard to get repetitive.

Making and receiving calls has been great with this phone.  When a call comes in, it answers as soon as I flip the phone open and hangs up when I close it.  And since I keep it closed in my pocket, I don't make any random calls to people.  The reception has been good with this phone.  The instruction book that came with the phone talked about special ways to hold it so that your hand doesn't get in the way of the internal antenna.  I never had a problem holding the phone however I wanted.  My condo has spotty reception, and many of my roommates can only talk in the living room.  I've been able to use the phone wherever I wanted, even in the garage.

As far as making calls goes, it is easy to search contacts by first or last name.  You can set up to 100 speed dials, but I never bothered with that.  If you are entering a number by hand, the keypad is big enough that you don't have trouble hitting the number you want.

In addition to the phone, I got a battery, the instruction book, and a wall power cord.  I thought about getting a card charger, but never actually did that.  I am still on my first battery as well, but I don't talk on my phone all that time.  I used to be able to go around 5 days between charges, that's how little I used my phone.  Now it seems like I need to charge it two or three times a week, mainly because I have spotty reception at work, which draws more power from the battery.  (For the record, I work in a canyon and all my coworkers have spotty reception no matter who their provider is.  This isn't a phone issue but a location issue.)  I definitely notice it runs down much faster during the week than on weekends, and I tend to use it more on weekends, so I think the location of my office is effecting things.  Still, I'm not complaining since I am rapidly approaching three and a half years with the same battery.  When I do charge my phone, it charges in around 3 hours, and I can still use the phone to talk if I need to during that time.

The phone does come with few basic ring tones.  I splurged and bought ring tones of a couple of songs I liked at the time.  Both those clips sound great coming out of my phone.  This phone doesn't have a built in mp3 player, so I wasn't expecting much and have been pleasantly surprised.

In addition to the traditional holding the phone to your ear option, there's also a speakerphone and a blue tooth option.  I've used both various times over the years, and I've thought both worked well.  The volume on the side of the phone works the volume for both of these as well, and I can always find a comfortable volume for talking no matter what is going on around me.  Both of these options work with the phone opened or closed.

Earlier, I mentioned the camera button on the outside of the phone.  I must confess I have used the camera twice, both times to back pictures to set as my background.  I have never tried to download the pictures or view them anywhere else.  The screen is small, so they look fine on that, but I don't know what is involved in transferring them to a computer or how they would look.  My guess is they wouldn't be the best quality, especially since there is no flash for the phone.

There is also the option of web surfing.  I used it once or twice three years ago but quickly determined it wasn't worth attempting to use, especially since I would be charged extra for it.  The screen is so small, you can't seen much anyway.  If you want web surfing, I highly recommend getting another phone.

A few games were on the phone, but only demos.  After a brief round or two, they were disabled until you bought subscribed to them for a monthly charge.  Needless to say, I didn't purchase them.

There are 300 contact slots in this phone, which has been more than enough for me.  I finally broke 100 contacts a few months back and could probably go through and trim out people I don't talk to any more like former roommates I was never that close to.

The phone does have the usual assortment of features like stop watch, calculator, timer, and alarm clock.  I use the alarm clock part when traveling, and I find it to be easy to use and very helpful.  I've used the other features a few times over the years as well, and they were great, too.

For a three and a half year old phone, it still looks great.  I've got a small ding or two in the outside, but that is all.  The numbers on the phone are still legible with no visible wear.  The inside screen comes in contact with my face when I'm talking, so I have to wipe it off every so often, but that's about the only issue I really have with it.

I keep thinking it's about time to break down and get a new phone, but I'm reluctant because this one has worked so well for me.  I think I am going to see how long my Katana LX will last before I get a new one.  And I would certainly give Sanyo another try when I do.

Electronics Review: Sony 2GB Walkman MP3 Player

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Minimalist design perfect for working out

Cons: Attaching it to the computer seems to be harder than necessary.

The Bottom Line: 

Best music player

For any level athlete

Hooked after one use

Sony's 2GB Walkman - A Great MP3 Player for Working Out

Over the last couple of years, I've really started to exercise more, and as I've done that, I've gotten a lot of use out of my iPod Shuffle.  But the one thing that always bothered me about it was the cord connecting the player to the headphones.  That's why I jumped on the Sony 2GB Walkman the instant I heard about it.  While it has a few flaws, I really like it.

What Is It?

Actually, I was surprised that find that Sony was still using the Walkman name.  I can remember having the original Walkman back in the day - a tape player that hooked to your belt and used earphones.  They were the iPod of their day, and everyone had one and called all the clones Walkman whether they were made by Sony or not.  Obviously, Sony decided there was no need to change the name of a good thing, so their line of MP3 players still bears the Walkman name.

Most of their Walkmans look similar to iPods (although I haven't done any true research.)  What makes this particular model stand out from the rest is the design.  It is made up entirely of two ear pieces connected by a plastic cord holding wires.  That's it.  The player is completely held within those two pieces.  When I have the ear pieces in my ear, it looks like I have a Bluetooth devise in each ear.  The cord goes around the back of your neck right at the base of your skull.

The entire player is designed to fit into your ears and use them to support it.  As a result, the ear pieces go a little further into your ears than the traditional ear buds.  The device comes with three sizes of ear pieces, and I've found the middle size the best fit for me.  When I start to run, it takes a tenth of a mile or so for them to work themselves into the best position, but once they are there, they stay in place.  In fact, when I am in the gym and do back extensions (basically keeping my lower body still and swinging my upper body like a pendulum), they don't move at all.  I don't find I have a harder time hearing people around me, so I feel safe running with them and still hearing cars.  However, I sound like I am talking through a tunnel when I speak, so I am probably shouting without realizing it.

Initial Set Up

I almost gave up on this before I even used it once.  I got it out of the package and used the included cord to plug it into the USB port on my computer.  The little light came on to indicate that it was charging.  But nothing else happened.  There's supposed to be a program that you can install that lets you copy music to the MP3 player, but no prompts came up.  Finally, after over an hour of finagling with it, my roommate figured out that it wasn't plugged in all the way.  That took care of it for me, and installing the software was easy from there.

However, on a subsequent charge, the light that is supposed to flash to let me know it was charging never did start flashing that I saw, but it charged just fine.

That light also is what tells you how much charge you have left on the battery, but it only comes on when you are playing a song.  By then, I have the unit on my ears and can't see it, although I usually look when I am taking it off after working out and see the battery level then.  I wish the battery update was when you first turned the player on, however.

You can get a 90 minute charge in 3 minutes (or so they say) or a full 11 hour charge in about 2 hours.  Considering I was working out four to five times a week for a month on one charge, I'd say that 11 hours is probably about right.

This MP3 player is designed to work with Windows Media Player, and if you use that, you can even have it randomly select songs to add to your player.  I have all my music in iTunes, however.  The player does accept that format, although you have to manually select the songs you put into the player.  I wish it had the option to randomly select songs in any format, but that's a minor issue.  It supports four formats: MP3, AAC, WMA, and WMT files.

The 2 GB size is very misleading.  Between the software to run the player and the software that needs to be installed on your computer, you actually get 1.68 GB of music space.  Still, I have gotten better than the advertised 500 songs on both times I've filled it with music.

Using It

So, I'm charged and fully loaded.  Now what?  The controls on the player are minimal, but you don't need any more than that.  To turn it on, simply separate the two sides of the player.  When you want to turn it off, put them back together.  A rather strong magnet holds them together, although it is a bit tricky to get it just right and to turn it off.  They do provide a plastic cover that helps you get it in place and keep it there when you throw it in your gym bag so the battery doesn't drain away.

The right piece has the majority of the controls.  In the back is a toggle switch.  Press it in and you start a song playing.  Press it again and you pause the song.  You can also use this switch to skip the current song by pressing it forward; backward goes to the beginning of the song.

Also on the right hand side are the two volume buttons.  In front is the volume up button and between that and the play switch is the volume down button.  The volume up button is a bit longer, but honestly, I can never tell which is which without finding both of them.  Both buttons respond quickly to being pressed, so it is easy to increase or decrease the volume to the desired level.  The volume between songs seems to change a little bit, but nothing so drastic that I worry about my hearing.

The left piece has the playback button.  You can shuffle, play in order, or play by playlist.  Since there is no screen, you really don't have any control over what you hear.  I just put mine on shuffle and let it go; I haven't even tried to load a play list on it.  I have found that it seems to reset the shuffle every time I turn it on or off.  I know in the month I kept the same songs on the player that I heard some of them two or three times.  Often, it would start up with a new song when I turned it on, even after only one day.  Sometimes it wouldn't however, and I can't figure out what makes the difference.

If you feel the need to find one particular song, you can us the ZAPPIN feature on the player.  It will go through the music playing a snippet of each song until you find the one you want to use and stop it.  Again, I haven't used this feature.  I find it too distracting to working out to try to find a particular song.  I just let the player surprised me.

All of these controls are very logical to use, which is important since all of them are out of sight when you are wearing the Walkman.  Because I was always changing where I was clipping my iPod Shuffle, I still didn't have those controls down, and I'd have to stop or slow down my run if I wanted to change the volume.  Not so here.  After the first time wearing it, the controls came naturally to me.

The sound itself is fine.  I'm always using it with some background noise, but the sounds always sound like they would if I had the real CD going.

Wearing it While Working Out

When I first put it on, the plastic cord connecting the two sides was a little stiff, and the player pulled at my ears any time I turned my head.  But by the end of my first run, it had stretched out enough that it was quite comfortable.  I still find it pulls a little if I tip my head way back, but for normal use, it's fine.  I did experiment with the ear pieces sizes a little, and getting the correct ear piece on there also makes a world of difference.

I absolutely love it for using it at the gym.  I used to move my iPod Shuffle around to two or three places on my shirt depending on what I was doing so it wouldn't interfere.  No longer an issue in the slightest.  The ear pieces and the cord are never in the way no matter what exercise I am doing.  I'm looking forward to my summer runs since I can now run without a shirt and not have an earphone cord stretching down to my shorts.

Water Resistance

This is Sony's second generation of this particular design, and it has an increased water resistance.  Really, they should call it sweat resistance.  The opening to plug the USB cord into the player seals very tightly; in fact, it's a little hard to get open.  But they claim you can't ruin it no matter how much you sweat or if you are caught in a slight rain.  I personally wouldn't use it in any more rain than that, however.

Conclusion

Despite a few design flaws I hope they work out on future models, I'm quite happy with this Sony 2GB Walkman.  This is going to be my go to MP3 player when I am working out for some time to come.

Electronics Review: Nike Hatphones for iPod Nano

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Keeps your head warm while still giving you music

Cons: Designed only for the iPod Nano

The Bottom Line:

Wish the design was

More inclusive.  But I think

The Hatphone's great

 Perfect Cold Weather Gear

You know those brilliant ideas that you can't believe you didn't think of?  I've got another one for you.  From Nike comes the Hatphones.  With all the running I do to train for my mud runs, a friend gave this to me for Christmas, and I really like it.

This is pretty much what it sounds like.  It's a knit cap with head phones built into the lining.  Yep, it really is that simple.

The hat part is one size fits all.  I know the joke is that means it fits no one, but in my case, it does fit.  You'll want to position it so the speakers are over your ears, but since you can feel them, it's fairly easy to do that.

The speakers/headphones are sown into the extra-large lining.  These aren't the ear buds we have gotten so used to but the larger kind that used to come with your Sony Walkman.  Those who have a hard time finding ear buds that fit nicely in their ears will appreciate that.

Out the back of the hat is a cord to connect to your MP3 player.  It comes with a short cord that will connect to a player in the hat and a separate connection that will extend the reach of your cord to wherever you want to put your MP3 player.  I'm serious.  It would easily reach into the pocket of your pants.

The final feature is a pocket on the back of the hat the perfect size for an iPod Nano.  If you have one, it will slip right in and stay there while you run.  They've even got an opening so you can still control it, although you have to have things memorized since you can't see the screen at all.  While I have two iPods, I have the Touch and the Shuffle.  I find that I can attach the Shuffle to the band and forget about it.  In fact, I love not having a long cord brushing against me with every step.

Sound quality is just fine.  It sounds the same to me as the sound I would get out of my ear buds.  And the sound levels are about the same as they normally are.

While Nike obviously built this for runners, I can see it being used by people shoveling snow or just walking to a bus stop during the winter.

The care instructions say you can hand wash it in warm water and then air dry it.  With the electronics in the hat, that does worry me a little.  I hope it still works after I have to wash it.

While I have found a work around, it would be nice if it were designed to be used with more than the iPod Nano.  That's my only complaint with the Nike Hatphones, however.  Heck, I'm actually enjoying running in cold weather and wish I could use it year round.

Electronics Review: iLuv Micro USB Power Charger with Sync Cable for iPhone and iPod

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Charges my iPod anywhere I go

Cons: Doesn't need the glowing blue light

The Bottom Line: 

Charging on the go

Is so much easier with

This 3-in-1 kit

Charge Your iPod Anywhere in the States with the iLuv 3-in-1 Charger Kit

NOTE: This review was originally written in 2011.  With the release of the iPhone 5, the cable in this set will no longer work with the iPhone (and I'm assuming new iPods as well, but I don't know for sure).  Still a good set if you have older models.

I have gotten very addicted to my iPod Touch.  It's the first thing I turn on in the morning, the last thing I check at night, and used just about everywhere in between.  I wanted the ability to recharge it on the go, so I asked for some chargers for Christmas.  I got the iLuv 3-in-1 Charger Kit, and it's great!

The kit comes with three pieces, a charger that fits into your car's electrical outlet, a wall AC charger, and a cable that will sync your iPod with your iTunes account as well as connect to the chargers to actually charge your iPod.

The car charger is very small.  When I stuck it in the outlet in my car, just enough was left out that I could pull it out again if I wanted to.  If I planned to take it in and out of the outlet on a regular basis, I'd find that annoying.  Since I had already planned to leave it in the outlet, I like it.  It's not that easy to spot by just glancing in the car.  Plus it won't get in the way of anything else in the car.

The wall outlet actually has three USB ports.  This would be a great feature if I actually had multiple things I want to charge at once which rarely happens since the only other UBS charging item is my iPod Shuffle.  The plug part does fold into the charger to make for easier transportation.  There is a little blue light that glows when it is plugged into the wall.  I'm not thrilled with that, but I can certainly live with it.

Finally, there's the sync cable.  Like the other items in the kit, it is black.  While I plan to leave it in my car for charging there, I did use it to sync with iTunes once, and it worked perfectly.  The box says the cable is 39 inches long.  It's long enough to reach where I keep my iPod in my car, so it works great for me.

I actually had a car adaptor already, but I hated to use it because it made my iPod extremely hot to the touch.  Using the items that are part of this kit, the iPod gets a little warm, about the same as when I use the cable I got from Apple.  I haven't timed how long it takes for a good charge, but it feels about the same as when I charge with Apple's cable and my computer.

The box proudly claims the items in the kit were made for iPod but can also be used for you iPhone, a camera, or any MP3 player that needs an USB port to charge.

Yes, I've still had my iPod die on me inconveniently, but in the month I've had this kit, it's been so much easier to recharge it.  I'm very happy with it and plan to use it for a long time to come.

Electronics Review: Philips Cassette Adapter

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great quality way to listen to your MP3 player through a cassette deck

Cons: None once I figured out the volume issue

The Bottom Line:

Initial concerns

Were just a volume issue

Adapter is great

I Almost Gave Up on This Cassette Adapter Too Soon

The first year I had my iPod Touch, I had a ton of fun using it for anything but music.  I recently realized how nice it would be to have all those songs at my disposal in my car.  But since my car doesn't have a built in way to connect to a MP3 player of any kind, that would mean buying some kind of adapter.  Being cheap, I decided to give the Philips Cassette Adapter a chance.  I wasn't impressed when I first got it, but now I love it.

This is your basic cassette adapter.  It looks like a cassette tape with a cord running out of it.  When mine arrived in its bubble casing, the cord was coming out the side.  Since I have a side loading tape player, that worked for me.  If I had a front loading player, I could have unscrewed the tape and moved the cord to a setting in the back.  The cord is a couple of feet long and features a stereo plug at the end to plug into the headphone jack on your MP3 player.  When the cassette is in the player and the MP3 player is turned on, the music from your iPod comes out of the speakers in your car.  I don't even pretend to know how it works, but it does.

I ordered mine on-line, knowing that with something priced at $8, you often get what you pay for.  When it came, I stuck it in my tape player, set the volume on my iPod in the middle, and adjusted the volume in my car to where I could hear it.  I was almost immediately convinced I had gotten what I paid for in quality.  I had to turn the volume on my car's stereo up to half way or higher to be able to hear it.  That meant I got lots of tape hiss coming out of my speakers.  The volume of the various songs was often quite different, and adjusting the volume was quite annoying.  And on several songs, I got this weird pulsing in the bass that was distracting.  It wasn't there on every song, but when it was there, it really bothered me.

I was all set to return it when I took a look at the directions.  That's when I noticed nothing about where to set the volume on your iPod.  I decided to crank up the volume on my iPod, plug it into my car stereo again and see what happened.  The difference was amazing.  I only needed to set the volume in my car to the same levels I've always used for my CDs.  The tape hiss was completely gone, and I haven't had the weird pulsing happen once.  Yes, the volume level between songs can still be there, but I have always guessed that this is probably a matter of changing a setting on iTunes or my iPod, and I just haven't managed to figure out what that setting is yet.  And the volume level differences are much less now than they were before.  I hadn't wanted to set the volume up so high because I'd heard that caused distortion.  That hasn't been the case at all.  I'm hearing CD quality music from this set up.

I'm also happy with the length of the cord.  There is plenty of length to sit it in my center consul without issues at all.  If I want to pass it to the back seat of my CR-V, the cord is stretched to the limit, but a passenger back there could pick a song.  I'm sure in a smaller car getting the iPod back to the back seat would be no issue at all.

It's been a couple of weeks since I discovered the problems I was having with the Philips Cassette Adapter were operator error.  Now, I'm thrilled with it.  I expect to be using it for a long time to come.

Electronics Review: Cambridge Soundworks GCS300 Speakers

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Decent sound for the size

Cons: Hard to adjust volume, some minor speaker issues

The Bottom Line:

They're simple speakers

If that's all you really need

You will not go wrong

Nothing Outstanding, but These Speakers Work Well at Work

I am a product of my generation - I must have background noise going most of the time.  I have most of my music library on my computer at work, and I have music playing in the background most of the day.  Somewhere along the way, I was given the Cambridge Soundworks GCS300 by my IT department at work to use.  They aren't outstanding speakers, but they certainly work for my needs.

These speakers are rather compact.  They are about six inches tall, four inches wide, and four inches deep.  I appreciate that since they don't take up much room on my desk.  In fact, they fit rather comfortably next to my monitor.  The pair I have are an off white color; I don't know if they come in any other colors.

These are the definition of easy to operate.  They come with three plugs.  One plugs them into a power source.  This wire is black.  The other two are the same color as the speakers themselves.  One of these connects the right speaker to the computer, and one connects the left speaker to the right speaker.  These have traveled with me for many years and over many moves, and I usually wind up rehooking them up myself.  I've always done it in about 5 seconds.

The right speaker has all the controls.  It's got a power button, so you can turn the speakers off completely.  There's also a volume knob to turn.  And around the side is a plug for your headphones, which I've never used. 

You'll notice what is missing from the description.  You can't control the balance between speakers or the balance of treble or bass at all.  However your computer is set is exactly how the sound will come out.

Now I will be the first to say I'm not an audiophile at all.  Heck, I use the speakers on my personal laptop at home and the stereo system that came with my car.  But having said that, I think these speakers sound fine.  I'm not a big bass person, and these don't have a heavy bass presence, which may be one reason I like them.  However, when a song with a heavy bass sound does come on, I can certainly hear it.  I never have any problem understanding the lyrics I am listening to.  And I can usually pick out the instruments I am hearing even with the volume down low enough so none of my co-workers hear my music.

Since they are my work speakers, I've never used them for games.  However, I will occasionally watch some videos on them (after work hours, really!)  The sound is fine for them as well.  If the source is bad, I often find myself having to turn it up a bit more, but again I can hear all the dialogue I am supposed to be hearing.

As nice as they are, I do have a couple of complaints.  The volume knob seems to be very sensitive.  When I do need to adjust the volume, it seems like just a small turn really increases or decreases how loud it is.  I find I have to fiddle with it some to adjust things so they are perfect again.

Additionally, the left speaker seems to cut out at times.  Since most of the music I have on my computer doesn't make big use of stereo effects, I usually don't notice.  But every so often I will notice the left speaker pop back in, usually when I start to adjust the volume.  It would be nice if both speakers worked all the time, but I don't seem to notice when they don't.

Both of the flaws are annoying, but neither is fatal.  I've actually passed on some chances to upgrade my speakers because the Cambridge Soundworks GCS300 work well for me, giving me good sound without annoying my co-workers.

Electronics Review: Dell Optical Mouse

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Not affected by dirt, easy if any adjustment from old mouse

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

New technology

Works just like what you're used to

Let this light your way

Say Goodbye to the Track Ball Forever with the Dell Optical Mouse

As part of a computer upgrade at work last summer, I got a new mouse.  Honestly, I would have been fine keeping my old one, or so I thought.  Now that I've been using this mouse, there's no way I'd go back.

As far as using it goes, this is your standard two button mouse.  It's black in color, so it does seem to hide dirt better than my old white one did.  It's slightly indented on the left hand side, which makes it ergonomic.  The two buttons work perfectly.  They are spaced slightly apart, but I haven't had any problems clicking where I think a button should be only to find it wasn't there.  In the middle is the scroll bar, and it works perfectly.  The chord is about three feet long, which is more than enough to reach from my computer on the floor up to my mouse pad on my desk.

In every way you would normally use a mouse, it's just like any other mouse, which alone would make it a fine switch.  But here's what I love about it.  This is an optical mouse, meaning it uses a little light on the bottom of the mouse to read movement instead of the more traditional track ball.  Now I don't know about you, but my track ball was always collecting gunk.  It might have helped if I used a better mouse pad, but I love my 10 year old Dilbert one.  But because it is so old, my mouse would go through cycles where it would work fine then slowly get finicky until I would clean off the rollers.  And they'd get pretty dirty, too.

Because this uses the optical light, I haven't had to clean the bottom of my mouse once.  The light is located in the direct center of the mouse.  The housing for it is located just slightly back from the bottom of the mouse.  There are three pads on the bottom of the mouse that further raise the mouse from the mouse pad.  All this seems to keep the housing and the light very clean.  Even looking at it now, none of the bottom looks the least bit dirty.

Honestly, there was no adjustment time for me.  I went from using my old mouse to using this new one with perfect ease.  But the fact that it seems to be no maintenance makes it worth the upgrade to me.

No, I wasn't looking for that upgrade when I got it.  But I am loving my Dell Optical Mouse now that I have it.

Electronics Review: Dell SK-8115 Keyboard

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Simple keyboard that works well

Cons: Maybe a little too light weight

The Bottom Line:

A simple keyboard

That does its job perfectly

No bells and whistles

Just Your Basic Keyboard

About a year ago, I got a new computer at work, and with it came a new keyboard, specifically the Dell SK-8115.

Since this is a work computer, I'm not surprised that it is a very basic keyboard.  It's got the QWERTY keyboard taking up most of the space.  Above it are the standard 12 function keys.  It does have a number keyboard off to the side, which is a huge help.  I'm an accountant, so I use the number keyboard on a daily basis.  (Any time I have to use the numbers above the letters, it messes me up.)  The F and J keys have a tiny ridge.  It's not enough to annoy you when you are typing, but it is enough to find the home keys when you are first putting your fingers on the keys.

The keyboard is fairly lightweight, so it doesn't take a lot of effort to move the keys.  They tend to make the normal noise when you are typing on them.  It's not super quiet, but it's not at all distracting, either.

The keyboard is only big enough for the keys in question.  In fact, the edges go right along the outer keys.  That means there is no wrist rest or anything like that, but it also doesn't take up any extra room on the desk.  If you don't have extra room, that could be a nice bonus.

I mentioned that this has all the basic keys, but that's all it has.  There are no controls for any features like a music player.  Frankly, I hardly ever use the keys like that on my lap top at home, so I don't miss them.

There is a standard length chord that attaches the keyboard to the computer.  They actually brought me this keyboard a week or so after my computer.  All they had to do was plug it in and I was ready to go.

Unlike my last keyboard, this one is black.  I love that since it means it hides dirt a lot easier than my last keyboard did.  Yes, you can still see the tan areas that are dirty, but they look nicer than the dark brown blobs a white keyboard gets from normal use.

My only real complaint with the keyboard is that is just feels cheep.  I haven't had a problem yet with anything breaking, but it feels like something could quite easily.  I'm not sure why I feel this way since everything, including the feet to prop it up a little, feels solid when I pock at them.

All told, I am quite happy with this Dell keyboard.  It's simple, but it serves my needs at work.

Electronics Review: Sprint Cell Phone Service

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Good coverage; great prices

Cons: Unpredictable service in one spot

The Bottom Line:

Mostly good service

Great deal with the cheapter plans

I'll most likely stay

Sprint is My First Cell Phone Company, and I'm Still Quite Happy with Them

I was the last person on earth to get a cell phone.  Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I did just get my first cell phone two years ago.  After much searching on-line and in stores, I went with Sprint because they seemed to have the best service for my money.  I am still quite happy with them.

Phones

Since this was my first cell phone, I went with a basic phone.  Yes, it can text (although I don't have texting, so please don't text me) and get on the web to an extremely limited deal.  But I use it as a phone, and it's worked well for that.

However, they offer so many other phones that you don't really need to stick to a simple one like I have.

The big one they seem to be plugging now is the Samsung Instinct, designed to be their answer to the iPhone (which is still an AT&T exclusive).  They also offer phones by LG, Sanyo, Palm, and Blackberry.  There are flip phones, touch phones, and even a couple with slide out keyboards for texting.  My guess is if you want a feature, you can find a phone that has it.

Coverage

This was the biggest issue for me.  I live in a town with lots of hills and canyons.  When I got my phone, I canceled my land line, and reception has been spotty for my roommates over the years.  That certainly wasn't an issue for me ever.  I have never once had an issue with reception at home.  If I want to make a call, I can do it from the front or back of the condo.  Some of my roommates can only make or receive calls from the front room, but I've never had that problem.

The only area where I have poor service is at work.  I work in a canyon, and most everyone has problems here.  I'm sure working in a stone building doesn't help, either.  Anyway, I actually find watching the coverage come and go very funny.  Sometimes I will have six bars of service, other times I will have zero.  Or I will switch to roaming and have four bars of roaming service.  At times, this has switched back and forth in a matter of minutes.  Work is the only place I've had a problem with dropped calls or getting a new voice mail message without the phone ringing at all.  My friends and family know to call my work line if they need me, and if I need to use my cell for a call, I do get good enough reception in the parking lot to make a call.

While I tend to stay in town, I do venture into the greater Los Angeles area occasionally.  I've never had a problem with reception wherever I've gone.  This includes places as varied as the beach in Santa Monica, Disneyland, and Thousand Oaks.  In fact, one time I was talking on the phone for an hour straight while driving home from Santa Monica (I was using my blue tooth) and stayed connected the entire time.  Once we had a spot where the other person had a hard time hearing me, but it didn't last long.

Plans and Prices

This is the area where Sprint got my business.  Most of the plans seem to be pretty similar.  I went with the $40 plan, which gives me 450 minutes, no texting, and free nights and weekends starting at 7PM.  Everyone else would have made me pay extra for that or didn't offer it as an option.  Because half of the day is free, and all weekend is free, I have never come close to using half my minutes.  I don't have texting turned off, so I can use it if I want.  It costs me 20 cents a text to send or receive (which really irritates me when a friend texts me and it gets split into two messages because they went over the limit for one).

Of course, if you travel or use your phone more than I do, they do have other plans available, including more minutes.  I must admit, I am quite tempted by the plan they are currently pushing on TV.  The Simply Everything plan include unlimited minutes, texting, and data for $100 a month.  I am considering going with the Everything Data, which has unlimited texting and data but limits your minutes (except for nights and weekends) for $70.  I'm just trying to figure out if I can justify the added money in my monthly budget.

All of their plans currently include free long distance and free roaming in the US.  The first month I had my phone, I went to Hawaii, and I had good service there and didn't have to pay any extra for it.

Customer Service

This was almost the deal breaker for me.  I had heard horror stories about how poor the customer service was with Sprint.  However, I can't comment on it.  I've never had reason to call them and see how it is.  Of course, if I never have to call customer service, that makes me happiest.  I do have one friend who has called them recently and was happy with how things were handled, so maybe they've improved.

Will I Stay with Sprint?

My two year contract will be up this spring, and I am debating whether I will stay with them or not.  I have been very happy with the service.  And the value I get for my money is quite good.  The only reason I would switch is that I know so many people on AT&T, and it would be nice to get free calls to them any time I want.  But it really isn't an issue since I don't use all my minutes every month anyway.  I plan to do some comparison shopping again, but unless I find an outstanding deal, I will be sticking with Sprint.

Conclusion

Two years ago, I couldn't find a better company than Sprint for my cell phone needs.  And their service has been great for the last two years.  Unless something really big changes, I plan to stay with them for the foreseeable future.

Electronics Review: Cavalry 1TB External Hard Drive

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Quiet, efficient, and cool with lots of storage space

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

Lots of storage space

Plus quiet and efficient

This hard drive is great

Nerves Gone Now That I Have this 1TB External Hard Drive

With as much time as I spend doing stuff on computers, you'd probably be shocked to learn I just bought my first external hard drive.  I figure I've been living on borrowed time by not backing up my computer.  After the monitor on my lap top starting fading, I decided it was time, and I bought the Cavalry 1 TB External Hard Drive.  I'm very happy with my choice.

My unit is black (although it does come in white).  It's seven and a half inches long, four and a half inches tall, and one and a half inches thick and weighs a few pounds.  It's portable enough, but not something you'd want to lug around on a daily basis.  There is a cool blue light that comes on when the unit is turned on.  It comes with a stand, so you can set it up on its side.

The drive comes with an external power adaptor, USB cable, and eSATA cable and bracket.  I had never even heard of eSATA before I got this hard drive, but apparently it's a faster way to transfer data.  Not knowing what it was, I hooked it up via the USB cable.

The hard drive is designed to work with Windows XP, Vista, or 7 and can be reformatted to work with early versions of Windows or the Mac operating system.  Since I have Vista, that wasn't a problem.  I plugged it in, and in a minute or two, it was all ready to go.

At that point, I went in and told my computer to create a backup on the external hard drive, and it went to work.  Not that I would have known.  It was quiet.  If I grab it, I can feel a little buzz, but I would never know it was running if I were in the same room.

When the drive is off, it is cool to the touch.  When it is running, it does warm up some, but it isn't too bad.  If it is more than a degree or two beyond room temperature, I'd be surprised.

To be honest, I haven't spent much time on my computer while it was backing up.  I was around for the first back up, but I spent most of the time in another room doing something else.  When I was on my computer, it didn't feel like anything was slower than normal.  I now have it set to do weekly back ups, but at a time when I'm not home.  It does its thing, and I have a nice pop up on my computer when I come back telling me that it's done.

When I was looking at hard drives, I debated about what size to get.  I finally settled on the 1TB.  It wasn't enough more expensive than the smaller sized hard drives to be cost prohibitive, and I figured I would be able to use it for a very long time.  After all, one terabyte (TB) is the equivalent of 1,000 gigabytes (GB).  The hard drive on my computer only has 100 GB on it.  It does look like there is software on the external hard drive, because my computer is actually showing that I have 931 GB of usable space on the drive.  That's still plenty of room for me for the foreseeable future.

Especially since my computer seems to be creating the back ups as zip files.  I'm using 15GB of the external hard drive right now backing up my pictures and files and music.  I'm not going to need more room any time soon even if I figure out how to do back ups with the full files and not zip files.

The external hard drive does come with a one year warranty.  Also included in the box is a quick start guide.  It's pretty much laughable.  It's the same one Cavalry uses for all their hard drives, so it is very generic.  Frankly, I figured out how to use it without the guide, so that's no big gain or loss.

While I would still be upset if my computer crashed tomorrow, it wouldn't be nearly as bad since my pictures and files are backed up on the Cavalry 1 TB External Hard Drive.  I think this drive and I will be friends for a long time to come.

Electronics Review: iPod Touch 8GB 3rd Generation

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Easy and fun to use

Cons: Minor things such as no case or instruction book

The Bottom Line:

Your music plus apps

Internet through wireless

A useful device

No Touchy My iPod Touch!

I try very hard not to keep up to date on new electronic gadgets.  Why?  Because when I discover something new that is cool, I want it.  And since I can't afford all the toys I want, I find ignorance is the best approach.  Of course, when I won an iPod Touch, there was no way I was going to turn it down.  The result?  I am hooked on this little device.

Now if that paragraph makes you think I am some techie, let me set the record straight.  I love electronics when they do what they are advertised to do.  If something goes wrong, I have no clue what I am doing.  I've had a cell phone for less than two years.  And I never once had a blackberry.

Basically, the iPod Touch is the phone free version of the iPhone.  The only difference is the lack of ability to make phone calls and send text messages.  Just about everything else you can do there, you can do here.

Of course, that leaves out one detail.  You need a wireless internet connection to get on the internet.  The good news is that connecting is usually straightforward.  The device automatically detects available wireless servers and asks which one you want to connect to.  If a password is required, you are prompted for it.  If you are trying to use a public network that requires an agreement, Safari, Apple's web browser, will automatically come up so you can click the appropriate spot to accept the terms.  Once you are connected, away you go.

The iPod Touch is really a combination small game system, blackberry, and music player.  While the device doesn't come with any games, it is very easy to download them from the iTunes store.  Most of the ones I've downloaded have been fun, too.  It's a convenient way to carry around some personal entertainment.

But you can use it for all kinds of serious work, too.  For example, it comes loaded with different programs (called apps) that allow you to do lots of things.  There's a virtual note pad and a calendar.  You can check weather forecasts or stock prices (delayed by 20 minutes).  There's a calculator that can be simple or powerful depending on what you want it to do.

One of the included apps that I checked out right away is the e-mail app.  I actually set up three accounts with it.  (I had to go into settings to do this.)  Gmail and Yahoo are wonderful with this device.  I can read an e-mail message here or on the computer, and both mark it as read.  My Hotmail account doesn't work as seamlessly, however.  All messages I get show up as new and unread when I check my mail on the iPod touch, even if I read and deleted it from my computer days ago.  Likewise, the e-mails I read on the iPod are still there when I log into Hotmail again next time.

The Maps feature is pretty nice as well.  It will use available wireless signals to pinpoint your current location.  I live in a condo complex, and it is usually off by a street.  That's pretty impressive if you ask me.  As long as you are connected to the internet, you can use it to get directions between two locations or use your current location as a place to start.  The cool part is it stores the latest set of directions in its memory, so you can use it while driving down the road to get you from point A to point B.  Of course, sometimes the directions aren't quite accurate and they'll send you to someplace close, so you'll want to make sure it will get you to the right place before you take off with it.  (I learned this lesson the hard way last week when it got me to the neighborhood where my friend lives and not his actual home.)

As I mentioned, the iPod Touch includes Safari, a web browsing platform.  It works just like any normal web browser and even lets you open multiple windows.  It's not quite as quick and convenient at a full computer, but it will do nicely on the fly.  I used it while out of town for a business meeting to check in on several sites that I normally visit.  The entire iPod is sensitive to the orientation of the device, so you can turn it sideways to get a bigger view of the screen.  And if that isn't enough, you can zoom in on a part of the screen.

I have found that not all websites are truly iPod Touch friendly, however.  Somehow, some of them are able to tell what you are using to browse the site and will tease you with partial information followed by "To see complete details, view our site."  Um, I thought I was!  At least that's what I was trying to do.  Not a strike against the iPod Touch itself.  Just a complaint.

What truly amazes me is how this thing works.  As the Touch part of the name signifies, you just touch the screen to get it to do what you want it to do.  The entire screen has to be sensitive since various apps use various parts of the screen.  I have never had a problem with it working properly.

Furthermore, I can't believe how small this thing is.  It is thinner than my cell phone!  It's got to be less than an inch thick.  It's about two inches by four inches big.  How they get all those electronics in there to work properly is beyond me.

As you might have guessed, there's quite a bit I do with this thing that involves typing.  When you need to do that, a standard typewriter appears.  It took a little while to get used to the spacing of the keys since they are rather close together.  However, I find the longer I have it the faster I go.  Furthermore, the program is smart enough to automatically correct common typos, especially if you hit the letter next to the one you mean.  I have always found these corrections to be right on the money and very helpful.

I was excited when I got this and saw the photo app.  Doing a little more research, I discovered that this is only for photos already taken on other devices.  You can store photos here, but only those imported from your computer.

Oh yeah, and the thing plays music and movies.  True, I haven't tried any movie, although I have watched some videos on the included YouTube app.  Those certainly looked nice.  I have listened to some music on it.  Being an Apple product, it is tied to iTunes.  You must have it on your computer to upload songs to the device.  However, I have found that to be a painless process.  Once on your iPod Touch, you can sort them into playlists, shuffle them, or pick one particular artist or CD to hear in its entirety.  There are speakers on the iPod Touch.  They aren't the best, but you can use them if you want to.  A pair of earbud headphones comes with it, and those sound pretty good for such a small device.

8 gigabytes is the smallest size iPod Touch offered.  8 sounds rather small, but it does hold quite a bit.  It is advertised as holding 1,750 songs, 10 hours of video, or some combination thereof.  Of course, the more apps you download, the less room you have, and a small fraction of the storage space is taken up by software needed to run the thing.  Being a music lover, I can't put everything I have on it, but I can get quite a good selection on at any one time if I so desire.

Before you can use it for the first time, you have to register and set it up via iTunes on your computer.  Apple at work again.  Fortunately, the process was fairly painless.  I think it took me about 20 minutes.  The included USB cable is also the only way to charge the device, so you need your computer handy when you are on the road.  I'm not a fan of this as a whole, but when I am home it works fine.

The battery is advertised as having somewhere between a 30 hour (music) and 6 hour (movies) life between recharges.  I've never timed mine, but I turn it on and off several times turning the day and it usually lasts me several days unless I spend all night playing games on it.

I do have several complaints about the iPod Touch.  Or should I say minor irritants.  The first is that no instruction manual came with it.  There is one bookmarked in Safari and you get enough information to get you that far.  But it would be nice to have more things written out in case you really get stuck.  Also, I find I can still thumb through a book and find what I need faster than I can on-line.  However, I have only needed the manual once.  Everything really is straight forward and logical.  You can figure out what you need it to do by trial and error most of the time.

The iPod Touch doesn't come with a case.  Frankly, I find this rather funny with how sensitive the screen must be and the fact that it comes in one color, a cool silver.  Mine is covered in fingerprints on all sides after just a couple of months.  Yes, you can buy a cover, and I need to look into this, but it would be nice if they included something simple like that.

Besides keeping it clean, it would be nice if there was a way to carry it around easier.  As it is now, you have to hold it or slip it in a pocket.  Again, a case with some kind of clip or belt holder would be ideal.

The advantages far outweigh these few complains, however.  Yes, more storage space would be nice, but I'm just being greedy (especially considering I got it for free).  The iPod Touch is a great all in one if you want a small, portable device for light web surfing, a blackberry, a music player, or some combination of all three.

Electronics Review: AT&T U-Verse

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Good internet, multiple show DVR recording and playback options

Cons: Occasionally unreliable; other minor issues; price rising

The Bottom Line:

The service is good

But the price keeps going up

Needs to stay steady

Price Might be the Only Reason to Leave AT&T's U-Verse

NOTE: I first wrote this review back in 2009.  What I said then is still mostly true.  However, the price goes up like clockwork, $10 every year.  I really need to shop around and see if I can get comparable service for a better price.  I do still love the service, but the price is getting out of hand.

And now, the review from 2009....

When I bought my HD-TV, I decided it was finally time to break down and get digital cable service.  I had been resisting for many reasons, but I wanted to get HD service to go with my new TV.  Originally, I was just going to go with my cable company's packages, but a friend of mine had AT&T U-Verse, so I decided to look into it.  And it was worth looking into because it's been a good service.

What It Is

AT&T U-Verse is their attempt to break into the digital communication medium in a big way.  You can bundle television, internet, and telephone services onto one bill.  By combining them, you can also theoretically save money.  Since everyone offers similar prices, it isn't much, but in my case I did save a few bucks a month, enough that I was willing to give them a try.

My neighborhood must have been one of the first places in the country to get U-Verse because I had been getting door to door salesmen stopping by for at least a year before I signed up offering me a great new deal on my phone service.  Only when I said it sounded great did I find out I was agreeing to change my TV service, too.  That left a very bad taste in my mouth, but I decided to swallow it and try out the service.

I was told that installation could take up to 5 hours.  But the guy who did the install was in and out in under two hours.  Of course, since I live in a condo, I have a feeling that the major work had already been done to get the wires into my building.

Telephone

Let's get the easy one out of the way first.  The service is Voice Over Internet Protocol, a fancy way of saying your phone goes through your modem and not through your phone lines any more.  It's supposed to be clearer.  I didn't sign up for the phone service (in fact, I canceled my home phone completely about this time), so I can't talk about it.  Really, this is the only optional part of the U-Verse service.  If you sign up, you have to get the other two.

Internet

I had been using AT&T's internet for a few years before this, just with my old phone line.  As before, I am getting wireless internet, just with a new modem.

There are currently five speeds you can choose from.  Being on a budget, I went with Express, the cheapest of the lot.  On that one, I can download at 1.5 mbps and upload a 1 mbps.  I was told it was actually an upgrade on the service I had before.  If so, I haven't noticed a huge difference.  Not to say that the service is bad.  My roommates and I have all been on at the same time and pages load no problem.  For my purposes, this service is all I need.

Television

Now comes the big deal, at least for me.  How is the television service?  With the exception of a couple minor glitches, I have been very happy with it.  And since I am something of a TV addict, that is saying something.

There are four levels of television offered, each at a slightly higher price.  The basic package comes with around 100 channels, including your local stations.  I went with the U200 package which includes around 200 channels.  This is everything you'd want if you were a cable subscriber before.  One reason I went with U-Verse over my cable company is because I would have needed about four packages to get all these channels.  And it was nice to see these channels again since my cable company had started taking them away from me over the last couple of years.  If you want more channels, there are the U300 and U400 packages.  The main things you get with these levels are Showtime, Starz, and Encore (U300) or tons of sports channels and HBO (U400).

To get HD channels, you have to pay an additional $10 a month.  I was able to get the fee waved for the first year as a sign up bonus.  While I started out with only about 15 HD channels, they have been quietly adding to the line up all year.  Unfortunately, they don't tell me when I get a new channel; I have to find it accidentally.  That's one of my big beefs with the service, actually.  But I am now getting everything I normally watch in HD, and I wasn't before.  Since this is my first HD service, I can't compare, but the pictures look sharp and the sound comes through in full surround.  I'm very happy with it.

All packages at the U200 level or higher come with DVR service.  This was another big selling point for me.  The main TV (defined as the one that hooks up to the modem that controls your entire U-Verse network) is your DVR.  You can use it to set what you want to record and erase what you have watched.  I am able to record up to four programs at the same time, two of them in HD.  Of course, the quality isn't quite as good if you have everything going, but you can at least watch them.  Also, if you are watching live TV on any TV, that counts as one of your four programs, so if you have multiple TV's, you do loose a little of that freedom.  The main box also keeps a couple hours of the current TV channel in memory, allowing you to pause, rewind, or fast forward live TV.  The instant you change the channel, you loose what you just had.  But it is nice if you are watching something and the phone rings, for example.  You can record up to 133 hours of standard TV or 37 hours of HD TV.

But what really excites me is the change they made in the fall.  I am now able to watch recorded programs on any TV in the house.  Every TV needs to have one of their boxes to get the U-Verse signal, but that also means it is connected to the network.  You can not pause live TV on your other TV's or set or delete recordings.  Still, it is nice to be able to watch something I recorded in my bedroom while my roommates are enjoying the main TV.

Since your internet and TV are connected, you can log into your account from any computer and set or delete your recordings over the internet.  I love this feature since I can program something that is on during the day from work if I forgot to do it the night before.

And, of course, you've got Pay-per-view, Video on Demand, and music channels.  Honestly, I haven't used these features, but they are there if they matter to you.

Observations on the Service

Since I have several friends with the service, I am going to combine some of their experiences with my own as I talk about how the service works.

I have found that the DVR occasionally doesn't record something.  I know it has happened to me three times in the last year with the second recording per week of Dancing with the Stars.  It has been very annoying, especially since I blog the show for a friend's site.  In these cases, the episode was schedule to record, but it didn't at the last second for some unknown reason.

I have also had problems with recording shows from the USA Network.  If I tell the DVR to record "All New Episodes," it will only record about half of them if I don't double check.  As a result, I have to tell it to record all episodes, new and repeats, that air around a certain time.  Even then, it seems to think that 7AM is close to 7PM, so at times it schedules every time that show is on.  It's easy enough to go in and tell it not to record certain episodes, but it is annoying.  Since it only happens with this one channel, I am wondering if it is some miscommunication between that network and the feeds for the service, but I don't know for sure.

When you schedule something to record, the DVR automatically starts recording one minute before the scheduled time and records three minutes after.  This is nice most of the time in case the show starts or ends a little off the hour.  However, if you are recording two HD shows at one hour and a third HD show the next hour, those four minutes of overlap create a conflict, so the shows won't record.

My brother in Texas has this service as well.  While he is happy with it now and it seems to be working, the first few months he had it, it would go out at least once a week.  AT&T finally had to install new cables into his neighborhood before it would work right.  In the mean time, it was an on-going saga for at least two months trying to get it to work right.

My brother can record two HD shows at the same time, as can I.  My friends across town, however, are still only able to record one HD show at a time.  My service was upgraded this last summer to include the two shows at once feature, so I'm guessing that his neighborhood needs better cables to handle the added content.

Is AT&T's U-Verse perfect?  No, there are some drawbacks.  But the service and price certainly rival my local cable company who I wasn't completely happy with before the switch.  Until someone comes along with a significantly better product, I see no reason to leave this company.