Category Archives: Technology

XBOX Kinect

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It’s going to be an even longer wait on Junkroom: Part 2 – I got an XBOX Kinect this weekend!

Woooooo! Kinect!

I’d been thinking about getting one and happened to learn that a former classmate was looking to get rid of the one he’d just bought a week ago and used for one night. How awesome did that work out? Thanks, B-dawg (ok, probably no one calls him that)! Like new without the new price and sales tax, and he even delivered it to me.

I even used a Best Buy gift card from last Christmas on the first game I bought for it, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. The primary reason I wanted a Kinect was to play this game to get in shape – I’d rather lose interest in a discount Kinect and gift card purchased fitness game than a $500 gym membership. Right? Right.

I set the Kinect up in a few minutes yesterday and played the Adventures! game that came with it and a demo for Dance Central. Surprisingly, I really liked Dance Central. I also tried out the fitness game I bought and I was really impressed. I can report today that I’m sore and all I did was the fitness test and half a workout routine. Have you got a Kinect? Do you like it?

Otterbox Defender Review (and how to get rid of the air bubbles/oil slick)

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Otterbox Defender for iPhone 3Gs

Otterbox Defender for iPhone 3Gs

If you own a phone, especially an iPhone, and have ever entertained the thought of getting a case for it, you’ve probably heard of the Otterbox Defender.  Here are my thoughts on the case after using it for about a day. As I mentioned in a previous post, I ordered the Otterbox Defender cases for my iPhone 3Gs and Black Bear’s Blackberry Storm.

I think the iPhone case is slightly better made than the BB Storm case, the Storm case’s plastic front screen cover isn’t attached to the bezel on the sides, to allow a little slack for the buttons that are under the screen cover. I am pretty sure that it will allow dirt to creep under the plastic. The iPhone case screen cover is fully attached since the button is not under the plastic screen cover. The iPhone case’s outer rubber cover also attaches more smoothly to the hard inner case.

Overall I am happy with my iPhone case, it was easy to install (there is even a video on the Otterbox site) and the screen sensitivity was not decreased much (and I even have a protective film cover on the iPhone glass). It is a little hard to hit the keys on the edges of the keyboard because of the bezel around the recessed plastic screen cover.

The one thing really didn’t like was the “oil slick” and air bubbles that appeared between the iphone screen and the plastic screen cover. I quickly googled the problem and found a video by Otterbox on how to remedy it with baby powder. Here are the solutions for the problem as stated on otterbox.com:

  1. One solution that has been tested by our Engineering team is to apply a very light dusting of baby powder to the inside of the built-in screen protector. View this video for easy to follow instructions on this solution.
  2. A second solution, which is easier but requires an additional purchase, is to get an anti-glare screen protector and apply it to your phone. Make sure the screen protector you purchase is anti-glare and has a matte-finish.

Tips for getting the powder trick to work:

I used the first option, and as you can see in the video, you barely use any baby powder. It took me a few tries to get the right amount. Here are my tips:

  • wipe any excess powder off of the lid
  • give the powder bottle a good shake
  • turn the bottle top to open and wipe the excess powder off again
  • holding the bottle horizontal, give the bottle a very gentle test squeeze to make sure a very fine dust of powder comes out
  • hold the front of the case about 2 feet away from bottle, gently squeeze

This should cover the inside in a fine dusting that you can’t see, if you can see any spots, wipe the inside of the case off and start again. When you think you have it right, insert the phone into the front part of the case and press on the back to simulate the pressure of the back of the case and test out your screen, you shouldn’t see any powder, and you shouldn’t get any air bubbles. My case has a very very faint oil spill look when the light hits it a certain way when the screen is black, but it’s not noticeable in any other conditions. I was happy with the result, as I was tired of the repeating the powder process. I am sure you can get it perfect if you wish. Good Luck!

Acer H233H Monitor Review

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Earlier this week I ordered two 23″ Acer monitors from walmart.com to replace the 19″ Dell LCD monitor that came with my computer in 2006 and the mis-matched off brand monitor that I sometimes used as a secondary monitor. I ordered the Acer H233H. Here are a few features of the monitor as listed in the item description on walmart.com:

The Acer 23″ full HD widescreen LCD Display (H233H) is made to amplify high-def multimedia enjoyment. The panoramic, 23″ full HD LCD has a 16:9 aspect ratio and 1920 x 1080 resolution, making it perfect for advanced 1080p full HD gaming and multimedia applications. Using a very high contrast ratio of 40000:1, it delivers the best picture quality for a superior viewing experience. Advanced digital HDMI connectivity delivers exceptional high-def viewing and gives the highest-quality video and audio. A DVI input maximizes the connection quality between LCD monitors and other digital sources, including PC graphics cards. High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) support ensures enjoyment of full-quality DRM-protected entertainment.

Acer H233H

I received my monitors yesterday afternoon and had them unboxed and set up yesterday evening.  The monitors were very nicely packaged with easy to carry handles built in. Included in the box were an instruction booklet, a CD with quick start guide, etc. a speaker cable (it has built in speakers), power cable, HDMI cable, DVI cable, VGA cable, monitor base, and monitor. As you can see in the photo, the monitor bezel and base are a glossy black, the base is actually metallic black. Unpacking and sitting the monitor on the base were very easy. I hooked the first monitor up through DVI in my aftermarket video card (NVIDIA 7300 LE) , and it said “no signal”. I then decided to glance at the instructions – I missed a very important note. I was supposed to turn the computer off, then hook up the monitor, then turn the monitor on, then the PC. After I used this method it worked the first try.

I then hooked the second monitor into the second input in my video card, which was a VGA input. The monitor started working on start up of my PC, I then noticed that my highest resolution was 1660×1050, and that the monitor was stretching it to fill the screen. I went to the NVIDIA site and downloaded the most current driver for my video card, installed it, and rebooted. After reboot 1920×1080 was available was my as my highest resolution, and I was a happy camper.

Now that I’ve used the monitors for a  few hours here are some of the pros and cons I’ve noticed:

Pros

  • Easy to unpack/assemble
  • Comes with a cable for every input
  • very sleek looking and has touch buttons
  • VERY bright
  • Good contrast

Cons

  • Stands are a bit short (there are mounts on the back for mounting to wall or different stand though)
  • blacklight bleeding, on dark/black backgrounds, white bleeding around the edges can be seen

All in all I am pretty happy with the monitors, they were on sale for $190 with free shipping and I had been in need of new monitors for a while, but didn’t want to unload a lot of money. These fit the bill very well. If you are interested in these monitors, I recommend reading their review on cnet.com and also making sure that your video card can handle the native resolution of the monitors.

What kind of monitors do you have? If you have any questions about the Acer H233H, feel free to ask in the comments.

LCD Cleaning Wipes

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LCD Cleaning Wipes

I picked up these LCD wipes hanging next to the LCD TVs at the local Wal-Mart for $1.98. Being a little leery of using them on my TV without knowing what they would do, I tested them out first. I used a wipe on my LCD computer monitor, and while it removed most of the stray spots and smudges with little effort, it left behind a lot of streaks.

The streaks aren’t noticeable when the monitor is illuminated, but in it’s off state the streaking doesn’t look too great. I also tried them out on an LCD laptop screen, and the streaking was even worse.  The wipes did work fine on the keyboard and outside surfaces of the laptop (it was a hard plastic).

I read up online about LCD screen cleaning and apparently it’s pretty common for wipes to leave streaks no matter the price and the way to go is special LCD cleaning spray for no streaking. I have also heard that if you take a polishing cloth (for glasses/sunglasses) and wipe the moisture off from the wipes it will not leave streaks. I haven’t been brave enough to try this on the TV yet.

How do you clean your LCD TV screen?

Otterbox Defender for Blackberry Storm and iPhone 3Gs

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Otterbox Defender for Blackberry Storm 9530

Black Bear is now on his third (yes, third) Blackberry Storm in less than a year, so I ordered him an Otterbox Defender case for it tonight. They are supposed to be pretty awesome cases. I went ahead and ordered one for my iPhone 3Gs as well, but I’m hoping I don’t think the screen is too unresponsive with the full plastic screen protector that is built into the case.

I have been pretty satisfied with the Otterbox Impact case that I got after sinking my first iPhone 3Gs in an eternal spring, aka toilet. The Impact case has enough grip on the outside so that it will stay in a back pocket. I am pretty sure the Otterbox Defender won’t fit in any of my pockets, but it should be safe being tossed in my purse.

I ordered both cases off of amazon.com and got pretty good discounts. Both phone cases retail for $49.95  - the Blackberry case was $32.88 and the iPhone case was $27.99. Both should be arriving this week, so I should have a review up soon.

Do you have an Otterbox case? Let me know what you think of it in the comments.