The Real Deal 189: Road Test (podcast)

Tom and Rafe talk about the gadgets they've been using, like Windows Home Server, a Canon printer, and the PS3 as a Blu-ray player.

Watch this: Ep. 189: Road test

36:10

Podcast

Subscribe with iTunes (audio)
Subscribe with iTunes (video)
Subscribe with RSS (audio)
Subscribe with RSS (video)

Episode 189

Rafe-
Kindle without Kindle
Momentus drive – finally works!
Old WHS continues to degrade – how do I get HP to replace it with a new model?
Clicker & Redux

Tom -
Star Trek Blu-ray
Switching to iCal
Canon Pixma MP560

E-MAIL QUESTIONS

**********************

Hi Tom & Rafe,

I love RealDeal show. I have been listening around 1 year now and it is great. Information you guys provide is useful and I have used lots of tips from Essential software episode.

I have a questions: My trusted Linksys WRT54G with DDWRT firmware router gave up on me. I am looking for good Wireless N router. What do you guys recommend?

Thanks,

Priyank

Answer: When my WRT54GL died, I got a D-link DIR-655. So far, rock-solid and fast, and more configurable than the WRT ever was (although I didn't install aftermarket firmware).

http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/d-link-dir-655/4505-3319_7-32145084.html

**********
Dear Messrs. Merritt & Needleman,

I am amateur photo-videographer who is looking to move up. Is there any benefit in this field of Mac over PCs? What? And if not, why do most pros use Macs?

Thanks,
David

Answer: Macs have Final Cut, but you can get Adobe Premiere for PCs. Macs have iPhoto, but Picasa is available for PCs. So is there a difference? Rafe and Tom discuss.

**********
Hello realdealers,

This is Nate in Southern California. My question today is can I encrypt a file on a thumb drive that is already saved? If I can how hard is it to do, will it erase the things in that file, and will it be recognized on widows and mac?

Thanks very much
Nate

Answer: With TrueCrypt you can’t encrypt an existing file, but in empty space on the USB drive you can create an encrypted volume and then move the file into that volume.

And there is a Mac ver

For personal use, I think Truecrypt is great. For sending protected files to friends, you can encrypt a zip file with built-in utilities. (Rafe)

*****************

COMMENTS

In The Real Deal 188, an e-mailer was looking for a tablet pc similar to the one Dr. Mckay used on Stargate Atlantis. I remembered reading that they often use real gadgets as props on Stargate. I searched online to see if I could find out which tablet Mckay used.

The tablet Mckay uses is a Motion Computing M1400 in a “bump case”. It’s an older model but can still be found on ebay. The newer tablets from motion computing look similar to the M1400, but they are more powerful and run windows 7.

http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/showthread.php?t=1117

http://reviews.cnet.com/Motion_M1400_Tablet_PC/4507-3126_7-30826594.html?tag=sub

Nathan
Grand Rapids, MI

**********
Tom, I am happy to report that I followed your tip about forwarding my yahoo email to gmail and it works fine. All I did was go to settings, account and import, and instead of the pop3 option I chose the import mail and contacts option at the top of the list. Not only can you import from yahoo, but also from all other email accounts including hotmail and aol. So Tom you are not a liar, or for now you’re not.

Keep up the good work and have a great holiday season!

-Danielle from Cleveland, OH

************

Reporters Roundtable 9am Friday
Guests Evan Konwiser, Flightcaster, Patrick Smith, Salon’s Ask the Pilot columnist

NEW TIME in December at 7 PM Eastern / 4 PM Pacific on http://live.cnet.com/ Call live! 888-900-2638 (CNET)

Next time: All-questions

realdeal@cnet.com

forums.cnet.com