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The Real Deal 199: Road Test (podcast)

Tom and Rafe report on how gear works int he real world, including Windows Home Server, the iPhone, and the Canon S90.

Tom Merritt Former CNET executive editor
4 min read

Tom and Rafe report on how gear works in the real world, including Windows Home Server, the iPhone, and the Canon S90.

Watch this: Ep. 199: Road Test

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Episode 199

Rafe

Jawbone Icon
http://jawbone.com/img/brandcenter/icon/jawbone_icon_thinker_f_w.jpg
Comfy, small, nice battery monitor in iPhone, but has silly features.

Canon S90 with kung-fu grip
http://www.lensmateonline.com/newsite/S90.html
Fiddly

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

WHS (Windows Home Server), HP EX470 – WHAT? CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE NOISE!

Tom:
Plants vs. Zombies
IPhone
Heil PR40 microphone, boom and SM-2 Shock mount
WireTap Studio

USER ROAD TEST
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Hey Tom & Rafe,

I bought a Western Digital WD6400BEVT hard drive (http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=683) from Newegg back in December, installed it in my MacBook Pro, and it’s running great. I used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone my original and full 250GB HD using Newer Technology’s USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adaptor (http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/U2NV2SPATA/) that allows you to plug in any IDE/SATA/ATAPI hard drive into a USB port, and installed the drive using iFixit.com’s great repair/installation guides (http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-MacBook-Pro-15-Inch-Core-2-Duo-Models-A1226-and-A1260-Hard-Drive-Replacement/670/1).

The process was painless and just thought I’d share a good road test experience with all the listeners.

I know you and Rafe had different experiences with your 7200 500GB drives, so I went with this large capacity laptop drive.

Love the show!

Jeremiah Ragadio
San Diego, CA

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hey Tom and Rafe,
i have had the lg envy touch for about 5 months, and have a lot of issues that i would lot to share with you. its an OK phone for texting, but the keyboard is much bigger than the envy 3, and almost feels too big. the web browser is terrible, and is only good enough for Facebook at school. it does have flash, and loads the adds before any cnet podcast, but can not get the episode because it says that the media type is not supported. the biggest problem, though is that if my phone is on vibrate, it doesn’t actually vibrate!!! same with getting txts. nothing happens!!!! it goes straight to voice mail. Ive been to the Verizon store, and have been through 3 phones, and the big problem is the software. good hardware cannot fix bad software. the only complaint about the hardware is the super large keyboard and the 2.8 in screen, which is too small for a touch screen. I would not suggest getting this phone, and it feels very limited by bad software.
thanks,
Ryan
(rygavs in the chatroom)

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QUESTIONS

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1.
Wondering if you have a recommendation for a good n router. I am having trouble finding one that has a decent review. Most seem to be piles of junk. Also, how do you know when the router is the final version, i.e. not draft n? I have a g now and it keeps dropping the signal. It’s getting kind of old and its time to update. Any suggestions?

Thanks. Chris

Answer: All N-routers should be out of draft. The box won’t say draft anywhere and should carry the 802.11n designation. Not pre-N or draft-n or anything.

My pick would be the Netgear WNDR3700 RangeMax. http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/netgear-wndr3700-rangemax-dual/4505-3319_7-33485574.html

If you don’t care about storage or dual-band then try D-link DIR 165 or the Netgear WNR2000.

Rafe says: DLink DIR-655. Not a single problem. Fast and stable.

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2.
Hi Tom and Rafe, I believe I emailed you before about a screen recorder app. Well now, I have a couple different questions regarding that same topic.
First: Do any of you know a good screen recorder app that can record video(games) on my laptop. I’ve tried half a dozen of them and they all either don’t work(bizarre unsupported formats) or are extremely choppy.
Second: Is the reason some of the apps record video very choppy because my laptop is being pushed to its limits? (amd turionx2 2.0ghz, 4gb ram, 7200rpm hdd, ati 3200 hd graphics chip) Would it be better to run the screen recorder off a second pc and do a remote desktop setup? Or do I just need to adjust the capture frame rate?

I hope you can help, I’m getting desperate,
Love the show,
JoshuCaleb the Author

AND Hey Tom just a quick question, Do you have any recommendations for a piece of software to record both video and audio on your computer screen. You know, like how all those people make those video tutorials on youtube? Oh and I also want to be able to record myself talking on top of that.

Thanks,
Kski

Answer: For the Mac iShow You is great. For the PC I haven’t found one I’m satisfied with. Hence I take most Windows screenshots in VMWare. I’m open to suggestions. One of the reasons for choppiness is what you’re capturing, and your capture software are fighting for resources. Usually RAM or hard-drive speed are the limiting factors.

Rafe: Camtasia on Windows. Project Jing is the free one. Jingproject.com

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Next time: EBooks

realdeal@cnet.com

forums.cnet.com

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