Other Gadgets (general gadgets)

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by pony_trekker
OK, now that I can dowload Star Trek, I can see my new macbook pro's 160 GB HD will soon be full.

I was thinking of taking over my son's mac mini, adding an external HD and making it the media center for music and videos and giving him my old powerbook.

He has one of the older power PC processor ones.

Any thoughts?

Will it be too slow if I later want to get an apple TV and stream?

I think it should be fine. Aren't there websites devoted to teh mac mini as media server?

The speed bottleneck is likely to be the network, not the firewire or the internal processor if you're streaming through iTV. Of course, why would you need iTV if you have a mini already doing it?

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Aren't there websites devoted to teh mac mini as media server?

Mac HTPC

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Why? He's already got whatever I've got.

I call b.s. You're too safe for that.

[Adder]

At the risk of going rather low-tech, anyone have a dishwasher recommendation? I am unhappy with the Kenmore that I have, as it tends to leave a residue of crap on the glasses on the top rack (most annoying) and is noisy. If I decide to replace it, I will likely go with something higher end (e.g. Bosch) but wondered if anyone had recent experience.

Given that I have no idea who manufactured this particular Kenmore, that brand is no necessarily out of the running if someone has had a good experience.

[nononono]

Originally posted by Adder
At the risk of going rather low-tech, anyone have a dishwasher recommendation? I am unhappy with the Kenmore that I have, as it tends to leave a residue of crap on the glasses on the top rack (most annoying) and is noisy. If I decide to replace it, I will likely go with something higher end (e.g. Bosch) but wondered if anyone had recent experience.

Given that I have no idea who manufactured this particular Kenmore, that brand is no necessarily out of the running if someone has had a good experience.

I have a Bosch that is about 2 years old. Mid-upper-range of their lines. Very quiet, very good cleaner. Listen to what they tell you about using just a tiny bit of detergent and keeping it filled with the rinse agent, and it's excellent.

[Paisley]

Originally posted by nononono
I have a Bosch that is about 2 years old. Mid-upper-range of their lines. Very quiet, very good cleaner. Listen to what they tell you about using just a tiny bit of detergent and keeping it filled with the rinse agent, and it's excellent.

2 to all of this.

I vacationed recently at a place that had a Fisher Paykel (or however it is spelled) drawer-styled dishwasher. I dug it.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by nononono
I have a Bosch that is about 2 years old. Mid-upper-range of their lines. Very quiet, very good cleaner. Listen to what they tell you about using just a tiny bit of detergent and keeping it filled with the rinse agent, and it's excellent.

I have a Kenmore, and it's fine and quiet (it was at the time high in the consumer reports ratings). The rinse agent helped a lot. And tailoring the amount of detergent to whether your water is hard or soft helps. I forget the relationship, but there is one.

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
I have a Kenmore, and it's fine and quiet (it was at the time high in the consumer reports ratings). The rinse agent helped a lot. And tailoring the amount of detergent to whether your water is hard or soft helps. I forget the relationship, but there is one.

If you forget the relationship then how are you accounting it for in doing the dishes? Or do you just dump that duty on your poor overburdened wife?!? Sexist!!!

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
If you forget the relationship then how are you accounting it for in doing the dishes? Or do you just dump that duty on your poor overburdened wife?!? Sexist!!!

Burger is MARRIED?????!!!!!!?????!!!!!!

And the heavens wept.








OK, I knew that -- I just felt like emoting.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
I call b.s. You're too safe for that.

Good point. Yay me!

[Adder]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
I have a Kenmore, and it's fine and quiet (it was at the time high in the consumer reports ratings). The rinse agent helped a lot. And tailoring the amount of detergent to whether your water is hard or soft helps. I forget the relationship, but there is one.

The trouble with Kenmore is that it could be made by anyone, depending on who won the bidding thay year (although I guess it is mostly Whirlpool). Which is fine as long as you are willing to buy Kenmore, but unhelpful if you want to buy branded product based on a good Kenmore experience.

But thanks for the suggestion. Maybe I will try cutting back on the detergent, although I am skeptical as the crap that ends up inside my glasses was not there before washing.

[nononono]

Originally posted by Adder
The trouble with Kenmore is that it could be made by anyone, depending on who won the bidding thay year (although I guess it is mostly Whirlpool). Which is fine as long as you are willing to buy Kenmore, but unhelpful if you want to buy branded product based on a good Kenmore experience.

But thanks for the suggestion. Maybe I will try cutting back on the detergent, although I am skeptical as the crap that ends up inside my glasses was not there before washing.

If you're not dead-set on buying something new, you might schedule a service call - depending on what the residue is like, it may be the rinse agent, or it could be an issue with enough water getting into the dishwasher - intake valve issue or something. Even so-so dishwashers usually do a decent job for a good long time and don't leave gunk behind.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by nononono
If you're not dead-set on buying something new, you might schedule a service call - depending on what the residue is like, it may be the rinse agent, or it could be an issue with enough water getting into the dishwasher - intake valve issue or something. Even so-so dishwashers usually do a decent job for a good long time and don't leave gunk behind.

and don't forget to run the garbage disposal before starting the dishwasher.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
and don't forget to run the garbage disposal before starting the dishwasher.

If that's getting dirt on the dishes, then your plumbing needs a major fix.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
If that's getting dirt on the dishes, then your plumbing needs a major fix.

I live in an apartment. I'm going with what works. It works. Like a charm. And is significantly less hassle than trying to get them to screw with my plumbing.