TVR - Guys With Kids - NBC

This review is based on the pilot. Don't watch. It's that bad.

TVR - Television Content Reviews

Since I use the PlayBook To watch television, I figured I'd write reviews of shows and tv movies and series. Post title will start with TVR, then the name and followed by the Broadcaster (NBC, A&E, MTV, etc.). Not going for writing prose, just putting it out there as to what I watch or not and why. Everybody is a critic. I do live in the United States, so that limits what show I can watch and review. Also will include a screenshot of the website I was able to view it on. Don't sue, please.

Comments

Someone posted a comment and I don't know what I did. I believe I deleted it. Don't know what it said. So, I must apologize. If it was spam, then who cares. Comment if you like, I will publish comments that are not spam and semi on topic.

I Want My SMS

My PlayBook sort of replaces my iPod Touch. I still use my Touch, a 1st generation, to listen to music and audio podcasts. I like the Touch for audio because it is easier to put in my pocket when walking. But for most everything else I use the PlayBook. Things like web surfing, paying bill, watching TV and buying things online. I read most of the news from the PlayBook too. I sometimes listen to Pandora thru the browser, playing thru the PlayBook's two speaker. It makes for a convenient radio.

But what it couldn't do was SMS or texting. On the iPod Touch, I have various apps that can do sms and mms (sending pictures). My favorite is Pinger/TextFree. But I'm mostly on the PlayBook and not on the Touch. Then I remembered Google Voice, what was once called Grand Central. I'm not sure if it is available only in the USA. Maybe Canada. But from my browser, I can now text. Which I now need, as my cell phone's screen is unreadable.

My phone contract ends in 2 months, so I will wait for a new phone. But, I may port my current cell number to Google Voice and get a new number for my cell phone. Google Voice gives you a 10 digit number, but they have no numbers with my area code. This will give me a Google Voice number with my area code, though there is a $20 fee to port the number. My current Google Voice number is my old home number with a different area code, very easy for me to remember.

Anyone can sign up for a Google Voice account and number using their gmail account, if they are from the United States, maybe Canada. Not sure about everybody else, sorry.

Hopes and Dreams

Been having a little trouble with my BlackBerry Playbook rapid charger. A couple of times, I have attached the connecter to the PlayBook and seen the charging symbol displayed. I then come back an hour later and it had not charged. In fact, the amount charged went down. I hope this rapid charger is not defective. Not sure what is happening, maybe that is why I got is for $15.

Nexus 7 Now and Then

Well, my best friend has not gotten the Nexus 7 yet. But maybe it's a good thing. Besides the new Kindle Fires (7, 7HD, 8.9HD, 8.9HD LTE), Barnes and Noble announced their new Nooks (7 Nook HD and 8.9 Nook HD+). Now, a new rumor has emerged that Google will bring out 2 need Nexus 7, selling at $99 and $199. I smell blood all around. Wait, the mythical iPad Mini is still out there.

Prices should be dropping for Christmas. Don't wait too long and don't buy too early.

Micro USB Port

My greatest fear for my PlayBook is damaging the micro USB port. A couple of times, I have tried to insert the connection backwards. In CrackBerry.com, you see people discuss how their ports are now damaged. I believe many of the charging problems people have with the PlayBook is due to damage to the port. It may by due to the quality of the component, but that would be I guess on my part.

Apple's new Lightning Connector, is a way for them to conform to an edict from the European Union, that all cell phones use a micro USB input for charging. People are complaining about the Lightning Connector and why Apple didn't use a micro USB instead. But there is a lot to like about the connector being reversible. Too bad RIM doesn't use it.

Kingston Wi-Drive Update 1.5

To transfer files on to the Wi-Dive is pretty fast from my PC. But you can download the file from the Wi-Drive to your PlayBook.  And it is fast. Well, faster then the wifi transfer from my PC to my PlayBook. In fact, to transfer from my PC to the Wi-Drive, then the Wi-Drive to my PlayBook is faster then directly from my PC to my PlayBook. Much faster. But then, my wireless router is about 5 years old.

Maps

Apple has their new maps out and there is a lot of problems. And airport in the middle of a city. Gives wrong direction for north. It has no Transit. And the most talk of missing feature- Street View.

I'm sorry, but I have always found Street View to be just creepy. I have always thought of it to be a master tool for all stalkers. I have never used it for anything useful. And when I have, I feel like a pervert.

Got to buy antibacterial lotion.

A Nexus 7 ? No iPad Mini?

I have posted about how dim, or maybe call it washed out, the Nexus 7 screen is. So how could I recommend one for my best friend? Because the Nexus 7 would be for him, not me. He would also be viewing the screen in a vaccuum, with no other reference. It would look good to him, that's all that matters.

If the Kindle Fire HD 7.0 has anything going for it over the Nexus 7, is the screen looks a lot better then the Nexus 7. Again, a review from Casey Johnston, from Ars Technical, of the Kindle Fire HD 7.0. I like her reviews.

Kindle Fire HD 7.0 review

Now why not an iPad Mini? Just because of price. The less he has to spend the better. With the new iPod Touch starting at $299, I don't think the the iPad Mini would sell for $199. Still hoping for maybe $299. The new iPod Touch looks good, with GPS, 5MP camera and LED flash. Want one. Would like an iPhone 5, but don't really want a smartphone. I just want a phone that is a phone.

Note to Self

I may monetize this blog. If I do, I don't think I will make any money off of it. But what ever I make, I will tell you.

Photo Editing

Got a free app from App World to do photo editing, PicShop Lite. The paid version, PicShop, is $4.99. Free version are nice to try to see if you like it. I think the lite version is fine. But I really don't think I need a photo editing app for much then rotating the picture.

What I was hoping to do was post a picture and write the post on the side of the picture. I tried to do that in the previous post, but could not figure out how to do this. Will need to work on that.

Me and My Sony MDR-EX10LP

The Sony MDR-EX10LP has been okay. The higher frequencies seems to have a tinny sound. It may mellow over time, but not sure. The wire is a type that I think may harden on me and it tangles real easy. Fitting in the ear is fine, but that depends on each person, so can't say much on that. It does come with 3 different sizes, so it should fit a variety of ears.

I Chose For You

Decided to recommend the Nexus 7 8GB to my best friend to buy. I know, I have said 8GB is too small, especially for HD content, but we will get there. Hope not take too long.

He is vocation challenged (unemployed). He doesn't own a computer. He doesn't have an internet connection in his home. He doesn't have a decent smartphone. His apartment complex has a wifi hotspot near the recreational facilities.  His mobile phone plan has unlimited data. He maybe computer illiterate.

Kindle Fire 7.0 HD. First thing going against it is the first Kindle Fire. I have played with different one and they were not good. Basically an ebook reader. This new one is almost a Nexus 7, lacking GPS. Has stereo speakers. A mini HDMI port. But you are stuck with Amazon.  If he was an Amazon guy, maybe. It is a little heavy Reading on it is said to be better then the Nexus. .

The PlayBook.  Well, it is heavy. It came out in April 2011. It lacks apps. Micro HDMI port. No expandable storage, at this time. The specs for the LCD is not as good as the Nexus or Fire HD, but there is more to screen then pixel count. It has a rear facing 5MP camera with no LED flash. But still, if the price should drop to $120 for the 32GB model, maybe.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 really has nothing on the Nexus 7. It does have a SD expansion slot and a micro HDMI port. But everything else pales next to the Nexus. It does have a rear camera, but only 3MP and no LED flash.

So it's the Nexus 7. Jelly Bean. 1200x800. Quad core. Not sure if quad core is that important, but for gamers, which he is, it seems important. The bad is no SD slot and no HDMI out. It is the lightest and has the best battery life. So I guess it would do. It has GPS, which he could use.

But the kicker is an app in Google Play. Nexus Media Importer by HomeySoft for $2.99. You don't have to root your device to add external flash storage. You do need a USB OTG cable, but that is as low as $1. So, now the Nexus 7 looks like the best for him and he doesn't need to get the 16GB model.

Wi-Drive Update 1.0

Have been playing with the Kingston Wi-Drive. While the Kindle Fire, devices with iOS 4.2 or above and Android devices have an app, the PlayBook does not. To connect with Wi-Drive, you point your browser to- http://192.168.200.254/ - always to that address. 

I have not put a password for the wifi connection yet, there is an option. I have been able to play files for an iphone/iPod Touch and an iPad. Anything that you can play with the native player will play. Files play in the browser. Will play with it more and report back to here. 

So I Had the Rapid Charger for a Week

I do like the rapid charger. It seems to charge the PlayBook faster. It saves wear and tear on the micro USB port, which seems a little loose now. I hope one day to use the micro USB port to connect a USB flash drive to my PlayBook. I dream.

Couple of problems. First off, a couple of times, it seemed to be connected, but I needed to wiggle the connection. Not a big deal. But the other gave me concern. The PlayBook got really hot, but that was only once. To that, I will add that while charging, I was transferring content off the PlayBook, either watching a video or browsing the Web and downloading something from the Internet at the same time.

Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G LTE Wireless

Reading on the new Kindle Fires and the 4G model, because of the 4G model. $50 for 250MB of data a.month, for 12 months sounds interesting.  The PlayBook has only wifi, but once in awhile, you need to look things up and you have no wifi, so the limited data plan could come in handy. But the step up indices is too steep, for me.

But I found funny is that as of today, there is no FCC approval for the 4G model. It seems almost assured to pass the FCC, but Amazon has to make note about it not being approved. In the bottom left corner they start off by saying "This device...".

But what if the FCC doesn't approve the device in time? What happens? It would be funny, I guess.

The real problem with the Kindle Fires are that the don't have the ecosystem outside of the US. So, they can never do as well as Apple. No matter what anyone says, only Apple has a worldwide ecosystem for tablets, everybody else will need years to catch up.

RIM and the PlayBook has failed, but so has every other tablet. Amazon has never released numbers for the Fire. And Google has not bragged on how many Nexus 7s they have sold. RIM and the PlayBook could make a come from behind victory.  Could. It would be nice. I really like my PlayBook.

Rueters India  link to article about the FCC

Micro Mini or Mini Micro

Just realized I have been using mini USB, when it should be micro USB. I need to edit all my post. The BlackBerry PlayBook has a micro USB port and micro HDMI out port.

If I do edit my post, it is for using the wrong words, mostly because the PlayBook has autocorrect function.

Some Shopping

USPS delivered my Kingston Wi-Drive 32GB from Amazon today. Not bad, as I ordered it 8-29-12, a Wednesday. Arrive 9-04-12, a Tuesday. Free delivery. And a holiday on Monday, Labor Day. My expected arrival was 9-11-12 to 9-17-12. Must admit Amazon does a great job at shipping, faster then most anyone else. But I believe they are the more evil then WalMart.

Also got a travel rapid charger for the PlayBook today. Was at the mall and went to Radioshack and they had one left. It was a clearence, $14.97 + tax. The seal had been broken, but everything was intact. The rapid charger uses 3 magnetic pins to charge the PlayBook. And it supposed to charge faster. What most people who have bought it like is that it doesn't use the mini USB port. The mini USB port can become damaged, so less wear and tear.

In the picture, you can see the rapid charger connected to the PlayBook. Next to it is the mini USB port and next to that is the mini HDMI.

Blog Blog Blog

Came across an article from CNET, but before I give you the link I wanted to say this - I can't confirm if this story is true. I know they have the one source, can't say if the have another.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57505050-93/samsung-to-bloggers-promote-our-products-at-ifa-or-walk-home/

I won't say I believe this story to be true. And this is Samsung India, which I can't confirm is a subsidiary of Samsung Group. The gist of the article is that Samsung India paid for some bloggers from India to fly to Germany to attend IFA 2012, a trade show. Read the article for more details.

When you read reviews of products, you must realize that it is of models, picked out by the manufactures to not have any flaws. A good review would buy one at retail like any consumer. Would I accept a free flight and hotel to attend a trade show? Yes. But I hope that I would tell you I accepted a free trip. As long as the reader knows, let the readers make up their minds if it is correct behavior. And if Amazon wished to send me a Kindle Fire 2 to review, yes please. Apple, I want to attend the iPad Mini launch.

After reading the CNET article again, I found they have the link for the original story, I think. I will post it below. One more thing. I think companies give bloggers free things all the time, not just Samsung India. Readers have the right to know.

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/09/02/heres-samsung-flew-bloggers-halfway-around-world-threatened-leave/

WatchMore from App World

WatchMore is a paid app from App World. I had bought it a few months ago. It is supposed to be able to convert an ac3 audio file into a playable file for your PlayBook. No, I'm sorry, it will convert a video file, with a ac3 audio track into a mp4 video file with a playable audio file. Not real sure what the audio file file is.

Never got it to convert a file that could not play, into a file that plays. Until today.

Found a avi video file with an ac3 audio track. The video plays in the native player, but no sounds comes out. I used WatchMore and it converted an 550MB avi file into an 470MB mp4 file that will play with audio and video with the PlayBook's native videoplayer. WatchMore says it takes 1/7 of the the total runtime of the video to do the conversion. Didn't time the conversion, so I can not verify that.

But it does work.

Posting Pictures on Blog

In the previous post, I was hoping to rotate the picture. I just could not figure how to do it. I don't mean before I uploaded it, but after I chose the picture to put in the blog. I'll figure that out later. It is a learning curve.

Sony MDR-EX10LP

Never did order any headphones from Monoprice.com. But I needed to get new earphones. Went to the Ross (Dress For Less) store near me and they these Sony earbuds. $9.99 ($10.41 w/tax). Good price for these. Amazon has them at about $12. Other retail stores near me sell them for $21.99 regular price, or $15.99 sale.

The left driver on my current headphone died.