Mark Groves' Weblog: Gadgets

ZUNE Gen 2

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:26:10 GMT

Val has been wanting a new flash based music player, and of course me being the gadget guy that I am I had to see if we were going to jump the Zune given it finally has a flash player. So on Friday before I left for my leave I decided to stop by the Microsoft Company store and pickup a couple new 8GB flash Zunes. I have to say I am pretty impressed, the devices is much lighter than I expected and the screen is great to look at. I actually like the new Zune software, the big issue I have right now is no ability to build auto playlists. What I am looking for is the ability to customize what I put on my player based on how much I like the music and how many times I have played a given track. I understand that the Zune team pulled the Auto Playlists in this version since they did research that most normal users just never understood how they worked. Well I hope they bring them back, and better than in WMP.

Technorati Tags: Zune,Music,Gadgets

EBay Rocks

Thu, 14 Jul 2005 19:56:03 GMT

So as you may have read I went out a few weeks ago and got the new Dell Gen 2 30 GB music player. The player itself cost $224, plus I need a few accessories for the generation 2 player. So all told it ended up costing me $319.

I put my first generation 20 GB Dell Music Player, with the accessories that I no longer needed, on EBay on Friday. The auction ended last night, and I ended up getting $237 for it.

So a new player with accessories and an extra 10 GB only cost my $82, not bad.

Comcast new DVR

Tue, 28 Dec 2004 23:35:02 GMT

I receive the new Comcast DVR (Motorola DCT6412) yesterday, so far it is really great. It has a 120 GB hard drive so you can record about 80 hours of Standard Definition TV, and 15 hours of High Definition TV. This is replacing a ReplayTV unit, I really like the Replay, but when it compares to the Comcast unit, it is not even close. The Comcast unit can record 2 channels at once, and you can record HD also, which the ReplayTV unit would never be able to do. It cost and extra $4.95 a month over the normal HD tuner, but that is completely worth it.

I have just done some simple tests, and so far the picture and sound quality look great. And I really like the new menu system on the Comcast receivers. Really easy to navigate.

Windows Media Connect Disappointment

Sun, 12 Dec 2004 23:17:33 GMT

Well after getting my D-Link DSM-320, I am a little disappointed in Windows Media Connect. It seems for some reason they have locked down this release from being able to share a network drive. Very disappointing! I have all my media on a Windows 2003 server, and right now WMC adds no value to my layout.

I hope the next version takes care of this.

Demo of Windows Media Connect

Sat, 04 Dec 2004 23:09:38 GMT

Pretty cool demo of Windows Media Connect on MSDN's Channel 9.

Quote

Jason Flaks - Demo of Windows Media Connect

New Media Player

Sat, 04 Dec 2004 16:21:43 GMT

My D-Link DSM-320 Media Player is now on its way. I wanted something that could handle playing the music off my server, and have an interface for a TV. Since this was going to be placed in our TV room.

I already have an Audiotron, and have loved it, unfortunately, it is no longer being made, and it does not have a TV interface. I use the Audiotron in our living room, which works out great.

The D-Link does support the Plays for sure technology so I am looking forward to play stuff from Napster on this device.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/playsforsure/default.aspx