Fix missing audio in cable boxes

So, you were watching TV using your cable box adapter and all of a sudden lost the audio completely. You checked connections, your TV is not muted, you unplugged the cable box and plugged it back in 5 minutes. Nothing helps. At the same time other devices work fine on the same HDMI input of your television. Seems that you are out of options and must call Comcast support. Well, not really!

I have seen this problem twice on two completely different setups and was able to fix it both times. The first time I figured it out was actually forty minutes before the scheduled appointment with a Comcast technician. I contacted their tech support the previous day and they seemed to think that the only option was to send a guy and probably replace the device. Here is what I did instead.

It occurred to me that maximum sound is the sound to which no signal modifications has been applied. Wouldn't it make sense to bring the volume ALL THE WAY UP to reset sound decoding on a cable box? Whether or not this theory is valid, it works. I really wish Comcast told me about this trick. On my DC60x I simply raised the volume using the cable box remote to 60 (the maximum value). I suppose you could even mute your TV while doing it, so it's not too loud. Like I said, this worked on two different setups. My next door neighbors had the same exact thing happen to their cable box and I was able to tell them what to do over the phone (I did not bother going outside). This tells me that this is a common problem and that my solution will work for many people with the same issue. Of course, your experience may vary. Maybe you will need to have your cable box replaced. I did not, so far.

eBook readers for Pandigital Novel

After I successfully installed the Android version of the Pandigital Novel firmware, I have been really enjoying this device. I just don't particularly like the pre-installed Barnes & Noble app. It does not have a way to open files on the SD card without first going through a lengthy import process. Plus, the fonts don't look all that great.

Now, as you may or may not know, Pandigital Novel uses Android 1.5 which is rarely supported by Android developers. After a long search I was able to find an app called Laputa which had better fonts, but the interface seemed rather strange to me. Today I decided to see if anything has changed in the recent month. Turns out, the highly-rated FBReader app is now available in an Android 1.5 version. You have to go to developer's site to get it (http://www.fbreader.org/FBReaderJ/). Nicer fonts and other controls, but most importantly a build-in file manager. Now I can open FBReader, navigate to whatever file I need on the SD card and start reading it right away! There are some features that are only useful for Russian speakers, but that is often the case with mobile devices apps.
I have to add that it is nice to have all three apps on my Pandigital Novel - this way I can read three books independently, without having to reopen them all the time. That's just the kind of reader I am...

Pandigital Novel firmware update problem solved

When I first got the Pandigital Novel (2gb black model) it came with a notice in the package advising the user to upgrade the firmware. I went to the website and downloaded the required updated program, followed the steps and discovered that no matter what I do the firmware version remains the same. It almost looked as if something was wrong with the device. When Pandigital came out with a new version of the firmware that promised to turn it into a fully functional Android tablet I decided to try my luck again. Same results. Finally, someone suggested that instead of the default version of the firmware that the official updated comes up with I choose the "Polaris" update from the drop-down menu. To my amazement this worked. More importantly, when the system was installing the update the version listed was actually the same exact one that the updater tried to install before. So, now I have a nice little Android tablet. This is no iPad, of course, but still very cool and useful.

Toshiba 40FT1U review and manual

Just got a new Toshiba 40FT1U at Costco. An excellent 40'' 1080p set! I liked the picture quality the most out of a number of comparable TVs. There is only one feature that this TV does not have, but I must admit that it's more a legacy device issue than anything else. There is no coaxial audio out, only optical. Probably fine for most modern home theaters, but not for mine. This means that I will not be able to feed surround sound broadcast audio into my home theater. My BluRay player has coaxial out, so I will feed it directly into the home theater system.

As usual, Costco tries to hide the actual model number of this television, for fear that consumers will find the same products for less at other stores. I only buy my TVs from Costco, because their no-hassle 2-year warranty is simply outstanding. But if you want to research 40FT1U some more you only need to know that this is pretty much the same model as Toshiba 40E200U.

Toshiba 40E200U pdf manual

Pandigital Novel black and white -- review and manuals

First of all, the black and white models of Pandigital Novel are not the same device. When given a choice, go for the white one. It has better hardware and a newer Android version.

I happen to have a black version. My first impression was not so great. Since I wanted an ebook reader primarily to read public domain versions of old books in PDF format, this was my first test. I loaded a file and quickly discovered that it was very difficult to flip pages. Eventually I realized that Pandigital creates an off-screen version of the next page every time a page loads. While this is happening, you cannot flip pages. Rendering PDF pages (essentially images!) can take a long time. Hence the problem. If you are simply reading the text, however, you will not be noticing much. So, that's the good news.

Of course, general responsiveness of the device is not ideal. I have seen this with many similar Android platforms. Basically, if you need something like an iPad, you will have to pay the iPad price. Also, at the moment Pandigital lacks font management. The fonts don't look all that great and I think that simply using different typefaces could improve things a lot. Again, I have seen similar issues with other Android devices.

The US version of Pandigital Novel is locked down. You cannot install any additional apps. So, it is not a fully-fledged Android.

The bottom line is that Pandigital Novel can be idea if you need exactly what it purports to be: a simple ebook reader. I wanted to be able to read more books in more locations. Having a device that can do too much would be counterproductive. I would end up doing something other than reading in most cases.

Download Pandigital Novel (white) Manual (pdf)
Download Pandigital Novel (black) Manual (pdf)

iPod Classic white screen

A few weeks ago I turned on my iPod Classic 160gb and all I saw was a white screen. This is a common problem, I believe. The usual solutions are resetting the device and restoring it to factory settings. Neither one worked. Curiously, the iPod still played music. Someone suggested that running down the battery could fix the problem. Well, that's not so easy. Even after the device no longer had the juice to play anything, it remained responsive. Finally, I made appointment at the Genius Bar. After looking at my iPod and determining that there was no water damage, they told me that they will replace it. In a couple of days they called and said that the replacement has arrived. The key thing here was making sure that you have registered your iPod with the correct purchase date. This indicated when the warranty started. Interesting, nobody ever checked if I had a receit from Costco where the device was purchased.

Philips DCM109/37 Cube Micro Music System Dock for iPod/iPhone

Just bought a Philips Cube DCM109/37, primarily to use with iPods and iPhones. I am no audiophile, but to my taste the sound coming out of these speakers is very satisfactory. Bass, high frequencies, clarity, volume - I am actually quite impressed. The iPod dock is a little bit strange. Instead of a bunch of inserts to match every model of iPods and iPhones ever made, this model has a little plastic piece that pushes on the iPod from behind as it sits on the cradle, keeping it in place. I'd say that it probably pushes too hard, so some unites may get scratched. I think I will end up using the auxiliary input most of the time, and only put my devices on the cradle when they are being used for a long time. In general, it seems like the iPod capability was very much an afterthought - the iPod component is slapped onto the back of the main unit. Not the best visual design in the world, but I will live with it. Philips Cube has a clock display, but the size of the digits is very small, so it is hardly useful as an clock (a very popular application of many iPod docking systems). The round LED display remains softly lit even when the unit is not on, so it may not be the best solution for the bedroom.

How can I make sure that UPS delivers my packages to the right address?

What's the fun of online shopping if your packages never arrive?

I have had many instances when UPS incorrectly delivered my packages. The reason is the driver's lack of attention. Even though my street is well marked they miss a turn and end up on a street that has exactly the same name, except it's a Road, not a Street. I assume they have GPS, they simply don't use it. Here is what I did. Amazon offers a service called Prime. Generally, you have to pay for it, but you can also use it free as a trial. Amazon makes sure that you don't feel bad about using something that you will cancel. In fact, they make it extra easy to cancel, but for a month you can be ordering numerous items that are worth just a couple of dollars and have them delivered by UPS or FedEx in just two days or less. You better believe that the drivers will know your address well from now on! Actually, I feel like I am doing something nice for everybody in the neighborhood, too.

iPhone text editors

It is apparent that serious software developers do not consider worth their effort to create full-featured applications for iPhone or iPod Touch. Otherwise it is impossible to explain the absence of some very basic programs such as a well designed word processor for iPhone. Everything that I was able to find is very rudimentary. After some searching I zeroed in on three apps that I like. One became my text editor of choice.

1. Documents (free). This app allows syncying with Google Docs, which is very convenient. Unfortunately, it is impossible to change font size and the text ends up being rather tiny.

2. WritePad (free). A decent program. I think it is not very well described in the snippet on AppStore. Here is why. This app supports handwriting recognition. Somehow, the impression that one receives is that it does just that. However, you can use normal iPhone on-screen keyboard. Font size is changeable. I really like this program, but in its present version it does not allow to change the color of the background. This happens to be a crucial feature for me.

3. WriteRoom ($4.95). This program has its roots in a word processor for Mac OS, so the author probably knows what he's doing. You can change the color of the background and the font size. You can easily go from document to document using arrows at the bottom of the screen. Also, this app is the best in terms of saving work as you type. You will not loose work after accidentally hitting the home button on your iPhone. There is also a full-screen mode.

So my suggestion is that you try WritePad first. If you are not satisfied consider purchasing WriteRoom.

Under-cabinet radio with iPod dock: Hamilton Beach

Hamilton Beach UTC (HU384SA) is a good example of how unexpected a relatively simple device can turn out to be in terms of its features. I am used to the iPod dock that came with my Philips home theater, so I thought that something that is actually built with a dedicated iPod dock would have similar functions. Not so fast. Turns out, you cannot navigate the iPod from this under-cabinet device. No way, no how. You probably have guessed that is does not have a remote. Wrong. It does! But this remote bizarrely focuses on a rather obscure feature of the device: the kitchen timers. More intriguingly, because HU384SA has two such timers, they both have stop and start buttons on the remote. There are also volume buttons. And that's it. You cannot even skip tracks using this remote!

What this should teach everybody is that you should always make sure that the product you are buying supports the features you want even if the features seem entirely indispensable.

However, if these shorcomings are not scaring you, at $50-60 this is not a bad buy. Contrary to some other under-cabinet radios on the market this system actually charges the iPod, not just uses an audio connector to play music while draining a battery (especially a big problem for iPhones). You may also want to look at SDI iHome IH36W Clock Radio.

By the way, Pandora worked exceptionally well when I tested my iPhone 3Gs with this unit. Over EDGE!

iPhone battery problem (and solution)

When my iPhone's battary totally died (partially because I wanted to run it down, as often recommend) I charged it to 100%. To my great surprise, only a few hours later, without much use, the battary was down to 65%! I charged it again, but it started to leak juice again. I keep all battary-intensive tasks at a minimum, but I checked and rechecked the setting several times. Nothing!

Here is how I solved the problem. I enabled airplane mode for just a few seconds. I charged the iPhone again. The problem dissspeared. The phone is holding the charge much better. Not being an Apple engender, I cannot explain all this. Maybe there is some process that was lingering in the memory. Anyway, from now in I just might switch to airplane mode every once in a while.

iPad picture (the real deal), price and specs

Well, here it is. iPad.

Can't say that I am disappointed, because I did not expect much. It is too big to carry around. A stay-at-home device for me, because my commute is too rough. It beats Amazon Kindle, but I don't like Kindle for all the same reasons. It is really strange to see that they are showing us all those subway maps on the iPad. Maybe Steve Jobs travels first class on the subway?

OK, iPad's specs:

.5 inches thick
compass, speaker, microphone, N-Standard Wi-Fi
16GB or 64GB
3G, WiFi.
No SD!


I am guessing no Flash support and no Windows Media support.



iPad AKA a huge iPod touch!

The iBooks app is an obvious thing. But I really must guess that iBooks will be available on iPhone.

PRICE: $499 for a 16gb model!

People who just bought Kindle DX should probably start crying now.

To summarize: Man, am I glad to have a regular old iPhone 3gs! I will probably get iPad third generation, as well.

Best case for iPod -- what to consider

When I was exclusively using an old iPod Photo I liked a leather flip case. One майор inconvenience was that when the case's flap was difficult to open because the audio cable went right through it. And of course, it was impossible to put the iPod on the dock without taking it out of the case first. So, when I started looking for a case for iPod Classic, I decided to get a leather case, but the one that does not have a flap. The Belkin case pictured here works well. I especially like how the earphone cord can be wrapped around it to stay in place when not in use. However, new iPods can be used to watch movies and videos. This creates a different approach to what's important when choosing an iPod case. You see, the plastic that is used to protect the screen in flapless cases can get dirty so easily. It would be easy to go to a design with a flap, which does not have a screen protector. But then I am back to the old problem of not being able to open the flap all the way and having to keep it from shutting while watching a video. So, I am thinking about getting a sold plastic case, because even though the screen will be covered with plastic, this kind of plastic can be easily wiped before viewing videos on the iPod. I just wish I could have a case with a soft leather back.

To sum it up: remember that the video capability really changes what you might be expecting from you iPod case.

See also:

Best place to shop for an iPhone case.

Toshiba 40RV525R Manual

Toshiba 40RV525R is the most recent incarnation of an LCD TV whose manufacturers believe it to be of utmost importance to make sure that viewers not even for a second forget the brand of their television. As a result, the front panel of 40RV525R features an LED "Toshiba" logo. In a sharp departure from Vizio, however, this light can be turned off in the menu, as described on page 30 of the manual.

Toshiba 40RV525R PDF Manual

Chinon AVi - iPod Docking System with LCD (review + manual)

Chinon AVi packs a lot at a very attractive price of $199. It's an iPod dock, an alarm, an FM radio and a 7 inch Digital TV. In my opinion, a perfect thing for the kitchen. Or is it?

Now, keep in mind that recently Apple made it impossible to use third-party cables to connect iPods to television sets. You would have to pay $40 just for a set of composite or component cables at an Apple store. Apple-made cables have a special chip that's required by the newest Apple devices. My biggest concern is that this docks not able to overcome this hurdle. A fast scrolling animation of supported iPods on the manufacturer's site includes a 2009 120gb model, but not the 7g 160gb iPod. The iPod Support table does not make a distinction between various kinds of iPod Classic, but adds this: "please note that some iPod models may only support viewing of photos or slideshows on the iPod display and do not support the TV-out function". I must clarify that the 2009 160gb iPod (7th generation) does have a TV-out feature, but you may have to use an Apple cable, as I mentioned above. What this boils down to is that you may end up getting those $40 cables at the Apple store after all! Luckily, this device has video in, but at this rate you can be getting any LCD TV you like, not just the Chinon dock.

The manufacturer does not make it clear if the dock supports iPhones, but this is probably due to some intricate details of Apple licensing of the "Made for iPod" logo.

Another big issue is that the digital tuner in this dock only supports ATSC, not QAM. You will not be able to plug it directly into the cable outlet. Only off-the-air signals can be received. Unless, of course, you have a cable box, but then again, why not use a regular TV?

The bottom line is that you are probably better of with a regular decent audio system that has an iPod dock. The audio out feature works very well for all kinds of iPod devices. And get a small TV if you need one for the kitchen or wherever. You can always connect your supported iPod to it using cables, even you have to buy them directly from Apple. This Chinon AVi dock is more of a novelty item, only useful for brief outdoor use.


Chinon AVi Manual

See also:

Under-cabinet radio with iPod dock: Hamilton Beach

Fuji S1500FD manual

The Fuji S1500 continues the "tradition" of Fuji 1000. This may very well be my next camera. As usual, one thing I can get for free is the manual, even though it eventually comes in the box.
Fuji S1500 manual

Comcast's new DTA box and standard QAM channels

When during the time of last year's government mandated switch to digital broadcasting Comcast assured its customers that there is nothing to worry about as long as you have cable -- well, that was not entirely truthful. Just a few months later Comcast customers were forced to aquire inconvenient digital to analog boxes. As of now, in most locations you can no longer watch "high channels" without such a box or some other kind of Comcast receiver. The absolute worst thing is that most of these DTA boxes have a single coaxial output. This means that high-def channels transmitted without encryption can no longer be watched, unless you do something creative. It has been very unfortunate for Comcast not to be able to scramble those channels to begin with, because legally they cannot do it. These channels are available off-the-air and as a result they must be available to Comcast customers with basic cable service at no charge. The channels are still available, but Comcast found a way to make watching them as inconvenient as possible. The hope is, of course, that people will want to subscribe to Comcast's high-def service. If you don't want to do that there are several things you can do.

First of all, you probably will have to split the cable signal. Then you can send one line directly into the QAM-enabled TV and the other line will go into the DTA box. (Instead of a splitter you can use an A-B switch. There are even some that come with a remote, but you will have to spend over $40 on that.) From the DTA box you can send the converted signal to some tuner device. An old VCR would work just fine, if it has a tuner. Then use RCA cables (yellow, white and blue) to connect the VCR to the television. Set the VCR to channel 3 (or 4 in needed). Now you will have QAM channels trough the TV's digital tuner and all the high analog channels can be easily accessed on the AV input (controlled by the DTA remote).

Update

Turns out (unsurprisingly) that Comcast uses standard QAM channels to transmit digital signals. It means that all the "higher" channels are still available on any TV that can receive QAM. They are assigned to various channels in the 70-90 range. All the DTA does is simply modulating the signal into analog form and assigning the same channel numbers as before. The only problem that I seem to notice is that the audio is not in sync on some channels. The DTA must be doing something to rectify this, but many channels look just fine and the sync problem is negligible. In fact, syncing problems are commonplace with QAM, in my experience. So, just run a channel scan on your digital TV and see if you are satisfied with the results. If you only have an analog tuner then the box is actually a good thing, because you will be getting better quality picture.

eBooks on iPhone: my ultimate (for now) solution

It took me several days to figure out just the right combination of ebook reading software on my iPhone. It seems that at the moment no app of this kind can perform all functions that I find absolutely necessary. Namely, I want to be able to read fb2 books and they must be very well organized on the device with multiple nesting folders. GoodReader (presently $1 at the app store) works very well with folders and handles PDFs using reflow technology. However, this reader does not support fb2 format. I also don't like the fact that when GoodReader opens zip files the resulting files are not stored in a temp folder, but instead show up in the same folder as the archive. UBooks is a free app that reads fb2, but it does not support nesting folders. But a very nice feature of this reader is the fact that it stores files in a folder seen by iPhone Explorer, which makes uploading files very easy. So, my combined solution right now is to load my digital library in zipped txt format into GoodReader using WiFi (works quite well, although a bit slow) and use UBooks for any additional books in fb2 format. And, of course, there is a Kindle app for newly purchased books.

There is also an app called ShortBook ($5) which looks very promising. It looks like it relies on internal info in fb2 files for its database, so the resulting list is quite manageable. But I don't like the way book pages are presented and the interface is a bit convoluted. I was going to give this app a try, but its free version kept crashing every time I attempted to change the font from the default Arial to Verdana. I guess I will wait until buying it.

Best place to shop for an iPhone case.

Best place to buy a case for an iPhone?

It does not matter how much you spent (and were willing to spend) on an iPhone. You still should not overpay for iPhone accessories. The best place to look at a wide assortment of cases is your local Apple store, but everything there is extremely overpriced. You may find what you like and then hit the web in order to find a better deal. But instead you can head to a discount store. I found a great selection of iPhone cases at FiveBelow. As the name indicates, no item at this store costs more than $5. Because iPhones are hugely popular (I believe about 10% of all cellphone market) there are heavy volumes of related merchandise. Sometimes cases are marked as if they only fit iPhone 3G, but 3Gs is no different! FiveBelow has iPhone cases in many colors and designs. And they also have screen protectors. If you know of a discount store other than FiveBelow, it may be worth checking out as well.

iPhone vs. iPod

It happened so that I had to upgrade a great deal of my electronics all at the same time -- needed a better phone service, my laptop nearly broke and my iPod's hard drive became too small to handle my file collection. After much going back and fourth I decided that there is simply no way for me not to have both a 160 gb iPod and an iPhone. Here are the reasons:

• Of course, the capacity. I envision having to constantly review the files on the iPhone in order to save space and be able to download something new.
• Battery concerns. iPod batteries last a long time and I suppose they have somewhat improved with years. However, my use of the iPod is very heavy every single day. My old one had to run on red quite often. Now, add to this running a phone service, WiFi and some apps. I do not want to end up without a phone all of a sudden because I listened to my iPod too much!
• With 160 gb I can count on having a very spacious external drive to transfer files. Without that I would have to buy another device anyway. Why not make iPod that extra device? I can enjoy it while carrying to files from place to place.
• Using two devices means that the load will be divided between them. Perhaps, breaking down will not be so likely?