The Real Deal 200: eReaders (podcast)
Tom and Rafe talk about eReaders and help you decide which one you should get.
Tom and Rafe talk about eReaders and help you decide which one you should get.
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Episode 200
EReaders
Come a long way from RocketBook
Models
-Sony Reader
-Amazon Kindle
-Barnes and Noble Nook
–Various up and comers like Que, eDGe, Samsung E6 and E10
Alternate Devices
-Phone (Kindle, Stanza, etc…)
-Laptop (Kindle app, Word, browser….)
Ebook formats (millions)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats
.mobi (.azw is Amazon’s proprietary version) also .prc
.epub
.pdf
.html
.txt
Transferring data?
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EBOOK EMAIL
Hey Tom,
Last week the ibisreader.com launched for the iPhone. It is an html5-
based service so it emulates an app on webkit based phones. That is
cool enough but the killer feature is it allows you to upload your own
ePub formatted books (sans DRM) and read/sync them from the cloud.
This service is outstanding and the cloud feature let’s me own and
control my own books. Now we just need publishers to sell more books
drm-free.
Best regards,
Mark from Toronto
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Quick Road test – Sonos?
S5
http://www.sonos.com/assets/0/88/220/230/236/238/16faafff-1723-4465-9659-21d5b01064a7.jpg
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QUESTIONS
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1.
Hey Tom and Rafe,
I tried to connect my iPhone to my Windows 7 laptop via A2DP Bluetooth so that I could use the (moderately) better laptop speakers. I have been very happy with Windows 7 so far and did not expect any issues. Turns out Windows 7 lacks an A2DP driver of any kind. Is there an easy way to enable this feature? Any help will be greatly appreciated as my office has just blocked all Pandora and other streaming services. Help me Real Deal. You’re my only hope.
Thanks,
Kail the Behavior Analyst in Houston
A: Yes: Get a new job. Why would an employer block PANDORA? That’s just lame. Another solution: If you have external speakers, plug them into your iphone for better sound anyway.
To get iPHone->Laptop via BT A2DP, it’ll be a hack. I found instructions in a few places but it didn’t look pretty. You may have to use an external BT adaptor. See http://www.a2dp.info/Articles/A2DP-Support-on-Desktop-and-Mobile-Platforms.html and http://windows7forums.com/windows-7-hardware/8235-how-add-a2dp-support-windows-7-a.html
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2.
Hi Tom and Rafe:
Is there any particular inexpensive (under $20) product that will let me
connect an IDE hard drive to a SATA computer?
Love the show.
–Noah
Answer: Yes. You can buy adapters to put on your mother board. You will most likely need a power supply adapter as well.
R: What’s a SATA computer? Anyway: http://www.cooldrives.com/saidecomisat.html – says is a bidirectional SATA-IDE adaptor.
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3.
Tom / Rafe,
I’m a LTLFTE (Long Time Listener, First Time Emailer). 
I haven’t missed many episodes, but there is always a chance, so if you’ve covered this before, feel free to skip.
I have a home wireless network that I’ve secured with a passcode. Since I have lots of devices in the house that use it (Tivos, iPhones, iPod Touch, Nintendo DS, Wii, Laptops, Desktops, etc.), I don’t like changing the passcode very often.
However, more and more people visiting ask for the code so they can use the network. Some are adults, but a lot are my kids friends who want to play iPod Touch games over the WiFi against each other or download free games, etc. I just don’t like the thought of people coming by and being able to get on our network anytime they wanted since I don’t necessarily enforce real tough passwords for accessing machines and thus shared drives within the house.
I’ve thought of getting a 2nd wireless router and setting it up for guests, but thought I’d ask if you knew a better way. I have Comcast and have a cable modem and separate Belkin DIR-628 Wireless Router at the moment.
Thanks,
Greg in Lincolnshire, IL. (suburb of Chicago).
A: A 2nd router will do it, or you could replace your router with one with guest mode. Unfortauntely the DIR-628 (DLink, not Belkin) doesn’t have this feature. Routers like the Belkin N+ Wireless Router (F5D8235-4) or DLINK DIR-655 (the one I have) let you set up open zones while walling of a password-protected segment. You can also use MAC filtering instead of passwords. Guest access is easier.
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4.
Hey Tom and Rafe,
My prayers were answered last week when I heard Tom speak highly of Wiretap studio as a bit of software that would help me record skype conversations. I have been working on starting a podcast with some other folks who can’t readily get to my house to record, and I was dismayed to find out that audacity struggles with recording multiple sources of audio.
So I went over to the Wiretap Studio web site only to find out it’s a Mac program, not PC.
I have a Samson C01u USB Mike, audacity, skype and a PC-and i’m hoping you could give me a software alternative (or some hardware suggestions) that will help me to record more than one audio source. I’m a fairly interesting guy, but even I can’t carry a podcast all by myself.
Much appreciated, and keep up the great work!
Answer: This is what I used to use on Windows
But I've also heard good things about Freecorder
http://www.appliantechnologies.com/freecorder/index_skype.php
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COMMENTS
I found an old listing in the CNET forums regarding the Samsung USB TV dongle issue called in by a viewer, some of the responses were apparently made by a Samsung representative:
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-13973_102-0.html?threadID=340635
I don't know if it will help, but at least is could clear up the issue even more. I also tweeted Tom & Rafe the link.
Best Wishes,
Steven Lauren
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Rafe,
Thanks for the recommendation on the D-Link DIR-655. I bought it a few weeks ago to replace my old Netgear WPN824 that was giving trouble. It works great! My wired download speed went from about 8.5Mbs to 25Mbs. Still no where near the advertised theoretical max of 100Mbs, but now I feel better about my fiber provider. Wireless speed went up significantly as well.
One question, I finally switched to WPA2 for my security at the same time, but found my daughter’s old laptop doesn’t support it (nor are there any updates to get it to). Since she only uses it for web access, I set up a guest zone with WEP to get her up and running. Is it safe to leave it that way or should I just get her a new adapter? (I’m not sure how much I’m worried about it, I only have 2 neighbors that might be in range).
Thanks,
Scott
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Hey guys,
On the Feb 12, 2010 show, you guys got a question from Jacob of
Bakersfield about making his ripped DVD’s into a single file so that
he can open them easily from his WDTV.
You guys suggested converting the VOBs in Handbreak, which will work,
but it will take a while to convert and there would be picture loss.
The easiest way is to simply pack the VOBs into a single ISO file.
This way he will keep his disc structure and keep his DVD lossless at
the same time.
I believe the best program for this is DVDshrink (free). I bet there
are other programs out there out there but I think DVDshrink works
perfectly for this.
Love the show guys.
Aleem
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Next time: All-questions
forums.cnet.com
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