Other Gadgets (general gadgets)

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
wireless network. if you can deal with the hassle of getting it set up properly, it is really quite cool. of course, I'm not the one setting it up properly, so no advice beyond that. (except for the advice that you might want to wait until your kids are out with their friends to set it up if you are a swear-when-stupid-electronic-things-don't-work-right kind of a person. I know one of those.)

If he has Dell, they will help (over the phone) with the wireless setup. I have had problems setting up wireless to work with SBC Yahoo twice, and they have walked me through it with good humor. It takes freaking forever, but it's not an unpleasant experience. And, if I actually have them on the phone seeming pleasant and trustworthy, I let them bear the frustration burden and just patiently wait to do whatever they tell me to do next.

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by Anne Elk
Anyone ever heard of these devices getting fried by radar or X-ray machines? Both of mine are now fried.

The music MP3 player (Rio Sport)

Rio stuff is absolute shite. I went through about 3 RIOS before I got tired of sending them back. That company couldn't sell ass to a prison.

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by neighsayer
Does anyone think there are other, more superior, MP3 players on the market???
Neigh

No. Ipod is worlds ahead of anything else.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
wireless network. if you can deal with the hassle of getting it set up properly, it is really quite cool. of course, I'm not the one setting it up properly, so no advice beyond that. (except for the advice that you might want to wait until your kids are out with their friends to set it up if you are a swear-when-stupid-electronic-things-don't-work-right kind of a person. I know one of those.)

Good advice on kids. It's not the swearing, it's the general Satan-is-on-my-ass demeanor I have when stupd-electronic-things-fail-to-work.

If I go wireless, it really won't slow me down? I hate slow computers. (Boy, I'm sounding like a bundle of joy tonight!)

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
If he has Dell, they will help (over the phone) with the wireless setup. I have had problems setting up wireless to work with SBC Yahoo twice, and they have walked me through it with good humor. It takes freaking forever, but it's not an unpleasant experience. And, if I actually have them on the phone seeming pleasant and trustworthy, I let them bear the frustration burden and just patiently wait to do whatever they tell me to do next.

I despise telephone support. I just can't bear hanging on a telephone for a prolonged period of time doing what I'm told - I'd rather tell them to go to hell and figure it out myself.

It's a personality flaw when dealing with computers, but works pretty well when dealing with opposing counsel.

But if I do this wireless networky thing, do I just coninue to send the broadband through the one terminal now or do I hook up the broadband to all the terminals? I know the folks doing the wiring in the house put hook-ups in almost every room.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
Good advice on kids. It's not the swearing, it's the general Satan-is-on-my-ass demeanor I have when stupd-electronic-things-fail-to-work.

If I go wireless, it really won't slow me down. I hate slow computers.

no noticable difference in speed on our wireless network. they basically make them as fast was whatever speed internet you can get. unless you are paying hundreds per month on some crazy-fast connection (technical jargon, I know).

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
I despise telephone support. I just can't bear hanging on a telephone for a prolonged period of time doing what I'm told - I'd rather tell them to go to hell and figure it out myself.

It's a personality flaw when dealing with computers, but works pretty well when dealing with opposing counsel.

But if I do this wireless networky thing, do I just coninue to send the broadband through the one terminal now or do I hook up the broadband to all the terminals? I know the folks doing the wiring in the house put hook-ups in almost every room.

I rescind my comments. I forgot I was dealing with "make it as difficult as humanly possible" guy. I think you should go with a wired network that has three levels of redundancy to ensure that you never lose connectivity, and that you use a color-coded, custom-built system of differentiating between the different levels of redundancy.

And, it's always a fucking personality flaw. It's just that you don't care when it's only your clients' interests that are compromised.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by pony_trekker
No. Ipod is worlds ahead of anything else.

well, iPod is the only way to go if you are planning to use iTunes. the Creative Labs players we had pre-iPod were quite good and their software was far superior to the iPod software, but for compatibility's sake we switched to iPods. anyone else think that the iPod software bites?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
I rescind my comments. I forgot I was dealing with "make it as difficult as humanly possible" guy. I think you should go with a wired network that has three levels of redundancy to ensure that you never lose connectivity, and that you use a color-coded, custom-built system of differentiating between the different levels of redundancy.

And, it's always a fucking personality flaw. It's just that you don't care when it's only your clients' interests that are compromised.

Ah, Fringie, it is always a pleasure talking to you when I'm in a quasi-black mood. Point Taken.

I'm really not as impatient with legal things, and the opposing counsel bit was a joke, but phone support really does drive me batty. As a matter of fact, anything relating to the telephone while at home drives me batty - I get away from work and just want to not hear a phone ring. So, I'm painfully resistant to the helpful people from Dell.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
no noticable difference in speed on our wireless network. they basically make them as fast was whatever speed internet you can get. unless you are paying hundreds per month on some crazy-fast connection (technical jargon, I know).

No crazy-fast connection. Just normal comcast service.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
Ah, Fringie, it is always a pleasure talking to you when I'm in a quasi-black mood. Point Taken.

I'm really not as impatient with legal things, and the opposing counsel bit was a joke, but phone support really does drive me batty. As a matter of fact, anything relating to the telephone while at home drives me batty - I get away from work and just want to not hear a phone ring. So, I'm painfully resistant to the helpful people from Dell.

The phone won't ring, because you call them, and have a couple drinks first (it's not like you need to be thinking during the call -- they are doing the thinking). Or, have one of your kids call. I don't care how young they are.

ETA note that the above represents a massive effort to grit my teeth and be nice and helpful.

[Flinty_McFlint]

quote:
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Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
Au contraire, I bought the an(nu)al pass.
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Originally posted by ltl/fb
Read the fine print. We reserve the right to refuse admission.

Oh well, the lines were too long anyway.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
quote:
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Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
Au contraire, I bought the an(nu)al pass.
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Oh well, the lines were too long anyway.

It's one of the most popular rides. What do you expect?

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
No crazy-fast connection. Just normal comcast service.

Oh, sporadic service then. You'll notice no difference in speed. If you scroll back you'll see that I personally installed a Linksys wireless with some aggravation, but I notice no difference in speed in either computer. One is upstairs and 1 is downstairs in the kitchen, and even though all rooms are wired.

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by NotFromHere
Oh, sporadic service then. You'll notice no difference in speed. If you scroll back you'll see that I personally installed a Linksys wireless with some aggravation, but I notice no difference in speed in either computer. One is upstairs and 1 is downstairs in the kitchen, and even though all rooms are wired.

Just to back up, G^3, the controlling factor on speed in a network is your router, which controls the network and serves as an interface with your cable modem. Instead of computer->cable modem->world it's

computer->
computer->router->cable modem->world
computer->

Routers can be either wired or wireless, and most wireless will also serve as wired routers as well.

Even a basic wireless router (802.11b, as opposed to g or a) is several times faster than normal home broadband connections (11Mb/sec vs. 2-3 Mb/sec for cable). I'd still get g at this point because the additional cost is very marginal, and you'll get greater capacity down the road and on the road.

If you notice any slowdown, it's on the pipe going out of the house. Two computers would only see a slowdown if they were simultaneously downloading high definition video. Four or five on one cable modem might notice slowness if one or two were streaming music while the others were doing graphics heavy internet browsing.

In other words, it's really not a problem.
Get a home networking for Dummies book and expect to spend an hour setting up the router, 30 minutes for the first computer, and 15 minutes per additional computer. Pay special attention to the security setting recomendations, especially if you go wireless. If your desktops don't have wireless cards (and they need to be in a different room than the router), consider USB wireless devices, which should be painless to install (no cracking open the case).

ETA: I've got one of these and I'm pretty happy with it:

Netgear 802.11g wireless router