I have moved...

Well not me per say, but this blog. I have consolidated all my blogs into one.

http://blog.jonesonthenet.com

Thank you!

Archos 5 Internet Tablet

I recently purchased the 32GB Archos 5 Internet Tablet. I upgraded from the 16GB Microsoft Zune HD.

Here are the specs:

Display - 800x480 4.8" TFT LCD

CPU - Main 800Mhz ARM Cortex-A8 32bit

Additional 32bit DSP @ 430Mhz

RAM - 256MB SDRAM

Storage - 32GB Flash + Expandable MicroSD Slot

OS - Android 1.6 Donut

Built-in GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0

To be perfectly honest I was a little dissapointed with the Archos 5 right out of the box. It is sluggish and the touch screen is not as responsive as my HTC Evo. The Android OS installed is a dumbed-down Archos version that doesn't have access to the Android Market by default (there is a hack that allows you to install it however). The built-in GPS isn't the best either, I am not able to get a satellite signal on the Archos while indoors.

After using the Archos for a week and getting it all setup just how I wanted it however I have to say now I really enjoy it. A firmware upgrade took care of the performance issues I was seeing right out of the box and having the Android Market installed opened up a whole world of apps that I didn't have access to before. I installed CoPilot GPS software and using it with the WiFi adapter disabled seems to improve GPS signal.

The audio and video quality are outstanding and I honestly have to say if you are looking for an all in one unit (GPS, MP3, Video) the Archos is a great option. I use it in my truck with a $15 window mount I found on eBay, and it is a very useful tool paired with the WiFi tether from my HTC Evo.

Sprint HTC Evo 4G .. A Review

So.. it's no secret that I am not a fan of Apple or any of it's products. What I tell people when they ask me how I can not like such a "cool" or "innovative" product is this.. I don't like them on principal, I don't agree with the way they do business therefore I am not going to support them by owning their product. That being said I do beleive that Apple's iPhone is an industry leader that has set the bar for other cell phone companies to strive to achieve. I have not seen any of them come close.. until now.

I was given the Sprint HTC Evo 4G by my wife as an early fathers day present. The Evo 4G released June 4th 2010.
First impression : "Look at the size of this screen!!" Followed by "The touch response is amazing!"

After I charged the Evo I spent the next 10 hours browsing the web, installing apps, watching videos, taking pictures, taking videos, syncing various applications etc.. and after that 10 hours was up I had gone through most of the battery, though it wasn't low enough to alert me so I am not completely sure how much more time it would have lasted. I was a little disappointed that I had to stick it on the charger, so when I did I started looking up other peoples reviews of the Evo. Most people had the same problem I did.. battery life! In comparison though, my old HTC Touch Pro would have never lasted 10 hours through the barrage of things I was doing on my Evo so I was not completely dissatisifed. Then I found it!! 4G!! It is not available in my part of town (at least not for another couple of weeks) and the 4G is enabled out of the box on the Evo.. so it had been burning battery looking for that 4G signal.. I switched this off when I removed the phone from the charger after it had charged. I also shut off WiFi and the Automatic Sync of Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter. My 2nd day of use of the Evo found 18 hours of solid use and I had just under a half a battery left! Success!!

HTC Evo 4G Specs:

• 4.3" 800x480 capacitive TFT Touchscreen with multi-touch capability.
• Android 2.1 OS with HTC Sense UI
• 8-Megapixel Camera with LED Flash and 720p HD Video Recording
• 1.3-Megapixel front-facing camera for video conferencing
• 1GB of flash memory
• 512MB RAM
• 1Ghz Snapdragon processor
• 802.11 b/g WiFi
• GPS with free turn by turn navigation
• Bluetooth 2.1
• 4G WiMax
• FM Radio
• HDMI Out port
• 3.5mm headset jack
• microUSB port
• 8GB MicroSD card out of the box (expandable to 32GB)
• Digital compass, G-Sensor, Proximity Sensor, and a Light Sensor
• 1500mAh battery
• Kickstand on its back!

After using the phone for 4 days now I really have zero complaints. I love everything about this phone and I really beleive it is the first phone that compares to (and in some cases exceeds) the iPhone. Please check back soon as I will be posting some pictures taken with the awesome 8mp camera and I hope to do a video side by side comparison with an iPhone that I will be posting as well.

iPad??? Really??

It's no secret to those that know me that I am not a fan of Apple, but Apples latest release has some devout Apple lovers cringing! The iPad (insert witty comment about feminine hygiene product here) has to be the most over priced worthless piece of technology I have ever seen. It has one thing in common with all other Apple products, it's flashy to look at. Let's take a look at the tech specs first:

Size and weight

Height:

9.56 inches (242.8 mm)

Width:

7.47 inches (189.7 mm)

Depth:

0.5 inch (13.4 mm)

Weight:

1.5 pounds (0.68 kg) Wi-Fi model;

1.6 pounds (0.73 kg) Wi-Fi + 3G model

Display

9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology

1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)

Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating

Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Processor

1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip

Available in 16, 32, and 64GB models

Battery Life

Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music

(I pulled the above information directly from Apples website, so I find it interesting that they listed basically EVERYTHING that the iPad is capable of doing right in the battery life specs)

Yes folks, you can expect to pay a base price of $499 for a 16GB up to $699 for the 64GB version, unless you want the ability to throw a SIM card into it and (no you can't make phone calls, just connect to a 3G network) that will add $130 to the cost. All for a device that does LESS than the iPhone. There is no multi-tasking with the iPad (one thing running at a time, no multiple windows / programs at the same time)

Now I'm sure someone will Jailbreak the iPad just like they have done for the iPhone which will add functionality that Apple should have done in the first place, but keep in mind if you do you void your warranty!

It is this bloggers opinion that if you are thinking about getting an iPad because its flashy and the screen is pretty, just get an iPhone! If you want a highly portable device that will allow you to connect to the internet, read an e-book, instant message friends, send e-mails, save yourself 200 bucks and get a NetBook! At least then you will be able to do all these things at the same time!

April Fools Worm.... ugg...

Who here remembers when the worlds computer systems were going to shut down on Jan 1 2000? Raise your hand... OK good. Now I am not going to say that the Conficker Worm is not real, but I am going to say that there is a whole lot of undo panic being raised for a Worm said to be first released in 2008 and set to deploy itself April 1st 2009. Microsoft released security patches months ago in expectation of this and anti-virus companies have already released tools to clean your system of any dormant Conficker strains.

The Conficker worm will embed itself deep and is difficult to track and if not removed it will recieve silent updates on how to mutate and evolve to get around patches and anti-virus programs. One thing it for sure will do is disable Windows Automatic Updates and remove Restore Points saved by Windows. It is also what experts are calling a "new age" threat where as viruses and worms of old used to destroy data and/or render a PC useless, the Confickers purpose is believed to install programs on your PC that will SPAM out to everyone in your contacts, it may also steal your identity.

You should only be worried about the Conficker if you have not recieved any Windows Updates in more than 1 month. If you believe you have been infected you can download a removal tool from Symantec here.

So let us sit back and hope for a day when they catch these basement dwelling bottom feeders who have nothing better to do than concoct these nuisances and stone them in the streets!

Creative ZEN X-Fi Wireless MP3 Player

I recently purchased the Creative Zen X-Fi MP3 player because my Creative Zen Vision W was just too bulky to use as a go anywhere player.

The X-Fi is very sleek at 3.3" wide and 2.2" tall with a thickness of .5". I purchased the 32GB model with built in Wi-Fi capability. I have been very pleased with the X-Fi's sound quality it is unsurpassed by any other player I have listened to. The Creative software that comes with the X-Fi is very easy to use with drag and drop similar to iTunes. I did have problems trying to use Windows Media Player 11 to sync with the X-Fi, if I tried to remove too many files from the player through Media Player it would freeze up the player. This problem was not present when I would use either the Creative software or just browsing the device in windows explorer. The player has a built in FM Tuner and the ability to record FM Radio. It also plays MPG, WMV, and DiVX formatted video files, the software comes with a video converter that will convert any video to be compatible with your player.

I was able to attach to my home wireless network in seconds with the device and it does a search for Creative compatible Media Servers, and it just so happens that my Iomega StorageNAS where I store all my music is compatible and was recognized as a device I could browse and add music to the X-Fi from. You can also install Creatives Media Server software on any PC you want the X-Fi to recognize.

The only con that I can see with the device is that all the buttons do not light up so you have to be able to feel your way around the buttons in a low-light situation.

The X-Fi comes in 3 storage capacities; 8GB,16GB, and 32GB. The 16GB and 32GB are the only ones that the Wi-Fi is available on.

Digeste.dll is not a valid windows image

The inital complaint was that this message popped up when the machine booted into Windows XP, and once they clicked OK on the box the desktop was blank and they could only push the power button to shut off the computer.

When I fired up the PC I booted directly into Safe-Mode first and noticed that explorer.exe kept crashing and restarting, so I knew I was dealing with a virus. I booted to the desktop and saw the message about digeste.dll was actually in a window titled "dwwin.exe Bad Image". Explorer still kept crashing and eventually didn't restart itself. I could manually start it by opening task manger and starting it in a new task. But it would just start the crasing and restarting all over again. I opened a command prompt and did a regsvr32 /u digeste.dll in c:\windows\system32 - I then deleted digeste.dll. Upon reboot I was able to use Webroots SpySweeper that was already installed on the system to run a full system scan and remove all other infections. I then installed AVG anti-virus as the system did not have any anti-virus software installed. A scan of the registry and HiJack came back clean. Problem solved.