Welcome the New Addition: My Homegrown Windows Home Server Box
Posted by Nam-o | Filed under DIY, Electronics
I’ve always been fascinated of having my own server of some sorts to host your Quake and Duke Nukem Lan games. As a kid, having a server made you feel like a bad ass of some sorts; I guess it was because not everyone in the neighborhood had one. With the advent of Microsoft’s Windows Home Server, my fanatasies of having my own server sprung up out of nowhere.
Since I’ve built and upgraded a good amount of computers during my lifetime, I’ve accumulated a fair amount of computer parts. So why not put it into good use… aka a Windows Home Server!
Here’s my setup:
- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0ghz Socket 754 Laptop Cpu
- 2 x 512mb Crucial Ballistix DDR 400 Ram
- Samsung EcoGreen F2 5400rpm 1tb Hard Drive
- ASRock K8NF4G-SATA2 Motherboard
- Rosewill RC-411 Gigabit NIC
- Antec Smart Blue 350w PSU
- Lian-Li v351b Case
After reviewing the parts I’ve put together, I was like, “Hummm, this setup should somewhat save me some power since I have a low powered hard drive and a laptop spec cpu.”
I can’t say for sure how much power I’m drawing from the wall until my P3 Kill-a-Watt device comes through. I’ll just have to follow back up with an update with the exact figures. What I’m sure of is that I’m not achieving the reduced power via AMD’s Cool and Quiet and Windows Home Server Power Schemes. After running AMD’s power utility, it appears the cpu does not throttle back to 1ghz; and when I try to utilize a power scheme other than the default, ‘Always On’, the box crashes. Ugh!?
Other than trying to figure out on how to reduce my energy consumption as much as possible, my Windows Home Server box has been great with dishing out my music, pictures and videos out to my Playstation 3. If you’re interested in piping all your media over to your Playstation 3 via the DLNA protocol, give this website a good read: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/streaming. You just need to download two things: Tversity and ffdshow.
If you have some spare parts laying around, try building a neat little Windows Home Server box. There’s a relatively good size WHS community, so do your research and build yourself a cool WHS box.
::Update::
In regards to the power consumption… I’m currently running a different cpu now which is a AMD Sempron 3000+ which have replaced 3200+ laptop cpu. From what my kill-a-watt meter have shown, there’s not much of difference of my power consumption from one cpu to another. At this point of the game, this setup is consuming 70 watts at idle and the highest reading I’ve seen during load is pulling about 85 watts from the wall. Yeah, it was a bit disappointing. 
The real game changer was when I replaced the aging Antec power supply with a brand new SeaSonic S12II 330 watt power supply. After the power supply swap, the kill-a-watt reported 51 watts during idle and 72 watts during load; what a difference an 80+ certified power supply will do!
Tags: amd, media, ps3, windows home server
My Quick Review of my somewhat new Dell Studio 15
Posted by Nam-o | Filed under Electronics
About 3 months ago, my long time companion, a HP Pavilion dv1000, finally bit the dust. I tried to resurrect the HP by replacing the CFL bulb but that appeared it wasn’t enough. So the HP and I parted ways; the HP listed itself on Ebay and I looked towards a nice mail ordered Dell Studio 15.
Some basic specs of my new Dell Studio 15:
- Intel t6600 2.0ghz cpu
- 3 GB of Ram
- 250 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
- Ati Mobility 3450 with 256 MB
- LED Backlit Monitor
- Wireless-N network card
- Illuminated Keyboard
- Biometric Fingerprint Reader
The laptop is a bit on the heavy side of things. Heavy as classic Russian military machinery so I guess the weight is a good sign of reliability. There is not a sign of flex on the chassis when I grab the laptop at it’s edges.
As for the OS, I’ve decided to replace Windows Vista in favor for Windows 7 Beta (now running the RC). Nothing against Vista but Windows 7 is way better than it’s former. I’ll just save the Windows 7 review for another time.
Overall, I love my new sexy red laptop! The illuminated keyboard is bright and solid. The battery life is awesome; on a full charge, Windows report 3.5 hours of life. The built-in webcam and mic is really handy for those Skype sessions. The most important thing is that this laptop have just have enough horsepower to play some of my games such as Red Alert 3 and Company of Heroes.
A lot of people complain about how glossy laptop lids picks up those pesky finger print smudges but the Studio’s rubberized lid soaks oily finger prints just as well. A wipe down with a slight damp paper towel is needed to de-smudge the lid.
If you’re looking to purchase a Dell Studio (or any product from Dell), try to hold out for a sale which can save you a nice chunk of change from upgrades to free shipping and handling.
Tags: ati mobility 3450, companion, dell, games, studio 15
Scooby Doo Mystery: Zune 30 Frozen On Loading Screen
Posted by Nam-o | Filed under Electronics
There seems to be a weird case with all Zune 30’s; they’re all seem to be freezing at the loading screen. I’ve found my Zune on the dock helplessly frozen as I was helplessly frozen without any resolution to the problem.
Searching google, I ran across this message board with the same problem occurring to their Zune 30’s.. http://www.zuneboards.com/forums/gen-1/38114-zune-frozen-31.html. This just proves that there is a crazy epidemic running about and that I’m not crazy.
The good ole fashion ‘let the battery die’ trick just won’t cut it.
Is this an evil plot by Microsoft to pull this country out of recession by forcing frozen Zune 30 owners upgrading to the Zune 120 or push us to purchase Ipods?
**Update**
So there seems to be a fix if you need to have your Zune 30 in functional form,
Follow this link to Gizmodo..
Basically, you have disassemble your Zune, unhook the battery and hard drive cables, then reassemble. By following this process, it supposedly resets the internal clock.
If you rather not split your Zune in pieces, you can wait patiently for Microsoft to come out with their own solution.
Tags: Brick, Frozen, help, ipod, loading, screen, WTF, Zune
How to Upgrade Your Blackberry Firmware
Posted by Nam-o | Filed under Electronics, Rambling
Let’s be honest for a second here. We always need to have the latest and greatest especially when it comes to free firmware upgrades. Why?.. because it’s FREE!
I’m not going to run down the list what the update entails other than you can now view your emails in HTML and for some of us Curve owners, the update enables Video Capture. If you would like to see the whole gamut, just follow this link: http://theblackberryguy.blogspot.com/2008/02/blackberry-owners-rejoice-upcoming.html
What I’m not really too sure is why AT&T are taking their sweet time to release the 4.5 firmware update for the Curve; everyone else pretty much have their firmware update available through their carrier for some time now.
No worries! Check out this how-to @ Blackberrycool.com
Now, I haven’t had time to upgrade my Curve so I can’t tell you if I have been successful or not.
**Update** (12/21/08) Humm, seems like AT&T finally gave their blessings to the new 4.5 firmware update. Just connect your Curve via USB and just run the Blackberry Desktop Manager. Don’t worry, the Desktop Manager will backup your goods and the whole process is automated. You just have to give the Desktop Manager your blessings now.
Tags: blackberry, curve, firmware, rim, update
The Art of Black Friday Impulse Buying
Posted by Nam-o | Filed under Electronics, Rambling
What’s impulse buying? It’s buying objects (sometimes garbage) that makes your senses tingle when you shouldn’t be buying anything.
The art is to make sure you’re getting the best deal though. Easier said than done because once you have your mind set on impulse buying on a particular item, you fail to look around and do the complete walk-around of the store which I will demonstrate for you here.
Office Depot is spitting distance from my daily grind so it’s a prime location for the “Impulse Buying” act.
Tip number 1: Go with a cohort. Someone that have a good eye and knows how to read labels well.
Why? You never know when you get that tunnel “impulse buying” vision. You see that sexy Sony laptop out in the corner of your eyeball for a price of $499. Then you run to the line to cash out with this huge smile on your face and the screen screams $699. Yeah, if you read the price tag properly, somewhere in there probably mentioned about a mail-in rebate. Don’t make yourself feel any less by not reading the tags properly. So make sure you take a friend with you to make sure you’re not doing anything foolish.
Tip number 2: As mentioned before, walk the store completely up and down!
After doing my walk around, I’ve stumbled on this killer deal on this 4gig SanDisk Cruzer Micro USB Flash for $10 bills!
Deep down inside, I have a some unexplainable knack for USB flash drives and my inner voice said,
Oh man! Awesome deal. I’ll take one!
Tip number 3: Walk up and down the store!
As I’m heading out to the line to cash out and having a satisfied feeling that I’ve achieved something no impulse buyer have ever done before, I ran into another flash memory display..
Yeah man, believe what you’re seeing! An 8gig SanDisk Cruzer Micro USB flash drive for $15 bucks! Think about it; for $5 extra bucks, you can double the capacity?
So what do you do? You extend your right arm and clinch on the 8 gig and leave the 4 gig behind.
What did we learn today about the Art of Impulse Buying? Walk up and down the store and definitely take your time to weed out the instant rebates from the mail-in rebates.
Tags: buying, flash, impulse, rebates, sandisk, usb, woot
Nam-o’s 2008 Top 5 Black Friday Draft Picks
Posted by Nam-o | Filed under Electronics, Rambling
You and I know, the best thing about black friday is the crazy electronic deals. As mentioned before, the 2008 electronic draft choices are a bit slimmer than the past couple of years, but there still a few great choices out there.
So, here’s my 2008 Top 5 Black Friday Draft Picks.
- Panasonic Viera 42″ 1080p Plasma HDTV @ newegg.com for $799.99 with free shipping.
- Sony Walkman Mp3 & Video player @ Staples for $59.99.
- Garmin nuvi 260w GPS @ Best Buy for $189.99.
- Hauppauge WinTV HVR-850 HD USB Tv Tuner @ Circuit City for $19.99.
- Dell Vostro A860 Laptop @ Dell.com starting at $349.99.
Honorable Mentions: All of those super low price blu-ray movies (**Cough cough** Iron Man for $15) and various capacity usb thumb drives which can be found at your local electronic house including Wal-mart and Target.
Now go out there and fight the crowds for these draft picks!
*Some of these links won’t show the ‘black friday’ prices until black friday!
Tags: black friday, draft picks, top 5
Newegg Finally Dishes Out Intel’s Latest Offering: Core i7 and x58
Posted by Nam-o | Filed under Electronics
If you have been keeping up with the tech gossip, you probably have heard and/or seen some smashing i7 cpu’s combined with an x58 mobo benchmarks.
For some of those that haven’t seen any of these benchmarks, head over to these links:
Yeah, pretty impressive huh?! Supposedly, newegg was not suppose to open the purchasing flood gates until tomorrow. So, if you have the loot and have the need to upgrade your 486dx box, now is the time to do it if you really want to be the coolest nerd on the block!
As of right now, the Intel i7 920 will eat up $319 and the top of line Extreme Edition will burn you at a price of $1069. Oh, it’s free shipping on these items if that makes it easier to swallow. Core i7 Cpu’s
And currently for an x58 equipped motherboard, prices will range from $220 and right under the $400 mark. X58 equipped mobo’s
Happy gaming!
Tags: core, cpu, edition, extreme, gaming, i7, intel, mobo, x58
Say Hi to My New Blackberry Curve (and a Hello to at&t!)
Posted by Nam-o | Filed under Electronics
Humm, what can I say.. Sprint served me well for those 7 years that I have been with them but I felt it’s time for a change.
I felt Sprint was lacking some much needed flavor such as:
- Cool Phones
- The inability of swapping phones on the fly (SIM card)
- and Customer Service
It’s really too bad. I really did like Sprint for the most part but then again, Sprint never really gave me the opportunity to move out of the basic flip-phone era unless I payed out some outrageous greenbacks for a smart phone.
Without further adieu, say hello to my new phone, the Blackberry Curve!
If I was not in a such desperate state to switch carriers, I would have waited for the new Blackberry Bold or the Javelin but the Curve is still a great phone to begin with.
Is it better than a Windows Mobile based phone such as the Blackjack II? I don’t know because I haven’t really had a chance to play around a WinMo phone in an extended period of time. The only comparison I can report between a WinMo phone (in this case a Blackjack II) and the Blackberry is the snappiness of the OS when initiating and switching apps.
For the price, this is a lot of phone.
First off you have the great, world-renowned Blackberry email push feature and it is so easy to setup. Just enter you email address, the password, and that’s it! (Almost reminiscent of those Ronoco’s commercials: Just set it and forget it!)
Another cool gadget built in the phone is the GPS. I’ve paired the GPS with Google’s own Maps application and it provides outstanding results in regards to accuracy and nick knacks such as the traffic status and street view (if available for your location).
The only oddity that appears with my particular Curve is that the phone will not accept a charge for the wall charger; only from the USB cable connected to the computer. (And yes, an exchange is in order.)
I have had the phone for a whole week and the transition from my old but super durable Samsung A900 to the Curve has been seamless.
Samsung A900 and Sprint, R.I.P.
Tags: 2, a900, att, blackberry, blackjack II, curve, easy, email, great, samsung, sprint
Experiencing Problems with Zune 30?
Posted by Nam-o | Filed under Electronics, Rambling
Today, I have been noticing my Zune has been doing some weird, off the shelf glitches lately.
I’m not too sure it’s because I’m jamming out too hard with my Zune. Every now and then when I shut down my Zune, and then when I turn it back on a minute later, the screen displays the Zune logo with the loading bar on the bottom.
At first, this kinda made me worry as I thought the Zune was going through a total reboot. Not too sure what this means but as long my Zune does not erase my data, I guess I’m still happy.
Anyone else have ever experience this glitch or is this normal?
Tags: 30, glitches, loading, reboot, screen, Zune
Hat’s off to the Engineers @ MOTO
Posted by Nam-o | Filed under Electronics
We all know that electronics are getting smaller and smaller which can only mean one thing: you’re bound to lose it somewhere and somehow. With today’s fashion sense, Calvin Klein is not making it much better. Think about.. we never have enough pockets (sometimes not any pockets) or we have way too many pockets. It’s a lose-lose situation folks!
That’s happen to me with my Motorola Bluetooth HS850 Headset. Sure, it’s not the smallest bluetooth headset, but it’s just small enough for me not to feel it’s diminutive composition during my routine pat down of my cargo pants pockets.
Apparently, the headset ran through a wash cycle and then ran another cycle through the dryer; which is where I discovered it. Oh, the horror I tell ya! This is not like finding $100 bucks in the dryer but more on the total opposite end of that spectrum. Yeah, I can find a replacement HS850 online for about $40 but that’s $40. You know what, we don’t think in dollar signs anymore, the new measure of value is in gallons of gas. So the HS850 would probably run me about 10 gallons of petrol. Humm.. nope, not going to buy another one.
Right before I was about to send it out to the dump, I decided to see if it could take a charge. And guess what.. … it did take the charge and the headset operates 100% normal. Woot!
Thanks MOTO for making a great headset that can take at least a wash and dry cycle.
Tags: bluetooth, cycle, dry, headset, hs850, moto, motorola, small, wash
