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Tech News & Commentary
Ron in Dover, Delaware listens on WXDE 105.9 FM asked: “My computer room is not heated and overnight the temperature gets to about the 40’s. What I want to know is, is there any chance of my computer being damaged from the temperature swing. It’s cold at night and heated during the day.”
Ron, Computers tend to handle the cold pretty well, but there are risks. The main issue is condensation, even if the cold itself doesn’t damage the computer, any condensation on the electronics might. Try to let the computer warm up to room temperature before using it to 
try to minimize that risk as much as possible.
If the computer’s temperature changes too quickly, some physical parts may suffer too, laptop keyboards tend to bend when the temperature drops too low, and plastic parts may shrink and expand and cause cracks.
The cold itself isn’t that big of a problem, computers like the cold and handle it well, but sudden changes in temperature or exposure to condensation can be tough.
If you can move it to a heated room, it would probably be better for it, but chances are that even if you don’t, unless the temperature drops even lower, it will tough it out.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Jon in Rocklin, California listens to the Podcast and is calling in via the App asked: “I recently got into metal detecting. You want to use headphones to hear deep targets. I want to find some good quality, wireless headphones. What could you recommend that is reasonably inexpensive and decent quality?”
Jon, That’s an interesting hobby. A great pair of inexpensive wireless head-phones you might look into is the MEElectronics Air-Fi AF32 which sells for around $40. For the price, these headphones give you the ability to even use a cable if don’t want to go wireless.
A brand that is also worth looking at is Sennheiser, They have headphones in all sorts of price ranges and is our brand of choice here in the studio. One model you might consider is the RS 120 which sells for around $99 – but for the quality and reputation Sennheiser has, its probably a good investment.
After a little “online detecting” about metal detecting, we’ve learned that one of the issues with wireless headphones is lag or delay in the signal. It’s very important that you get the tone indicating the presence of metal instantly, the very moment the coil passes over it, without any delay. Otherwise you will have inaccurate information and might dig fruitlessly in the wrong spot.
Most treasure hunters seemed to prefer headphones using the “Kleer” wireless technology that uses a 2.4 Gigahertz radio transmitter instead of Bluetooth. Kleer sends an uncompressed signal, which they do for the sake of audio quality, but which you care about because it means no lag or delay. There are a number of wireless headphones using this system. The Sennheiser RS160 and RS220 both do, but they’re pricey.
TDK’s WR700 headphones also use Kleer wireless and they’re priced around $150 online. Some sites are showing discontinued flags on them now, so TDK might be phasing them out, but we still saw them offered for sale at many locations this week.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Layla in Saudi Arabia listens via the radio station in her dad’s car asked: “I’m looking for a convertible laptop as in it can also be used as a tablet. Oh and my dad loves your show”
Layla, You have a lot of options when it comes to convertibles, so with any luck you’ll be able to find just what you need.
The Surface Pro 3 is not exactly a laptop, it’s more like a tablet that does Windows, but you can buy a keyboard for it and it is generally well regarded.
If you want a pure laptop, we’ve tried some Lenovo convertibles, and both the Yoga and the Thinkpad lines seem to work well. The Yogas will cost you considerably less, but the Thinkpad are typically marketed as a more professional line, so your choice will depend on your actual needs.
In between the Surface and the pure convertibles you’ll find the ASUS Transformer and the Dell Latitude lines, they look like a standard laptop but you can detach the screen and use them as a tablet as well. They are closer to the Surface Pro to most convertibles in hardware, they may appeal to you if you plan to be in tablet mode a good portion of the time, whereas the convertibles with their always attached keyboards are great if you may need the laptop functionality more.
Whichever one you go for, they’ll all qualify as Ultrabooks, so you’re looking at light weight, very long battery lives and, obviously, touchscreens.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Chris Spanos, CEO & Co-Founder – Urgent.ly
roadside assistance network in America
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
In 1988 radio stations were no longer anonymous: Radio Data System, or RDS was developed in Germany which identified every station and showed the name on the display. RDS car radios automatically searched for the best available transmitter or frequency of each station. In 1991 at the IFA or International Funkausstellung, an extension of the RDS service was introduced which enabled the reception of traffic information even if the chosen station didn’t offer one. RDS radios are still around in many cars today.
Jack in San Jose, California listens on KLIV asked: “I have a Samsung 55-inch LED TV that constantly shuts itself off and reboots. I have looked online and there’s apparently a lot of problems. I have not been successful in getting answers from Samsung.”
Jack, That’s outrageous, we are very sorry to hear you have to experience something like this– and yes! We have also seen that this is a big problem for some consumers like yourself with Samsung television sets. You definitely don’t expect a problem like this to occur, especially after spending as much as $2,500 on a 55-inch TV, of course – depending on model.
According to Samsung customer support, this is an issue related to the power supply of the TV. Have you reached out to Samsung’s support line or the source you purchased the TV from? It’s important to know if the TV is still under warranty, so you can turn it over and handle it as you see fit– although Samsung claims that they can send a technician over to oversee the issue and repair it. You should immediately contact Samsung or look over your warranties in order to compare options.
Some owners have reported that the problem went away after at technician replaced a discolored connector that they think may have been damaged by excess heat, whether that’s the case with yours or not, you can be sure that it’s some kind of fault with your set and it needs to be looked at by someone who knows how to repair it. You will not be able to change a setting and make the problem disappear.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Richard in Habsburg, Mississippi asked: “I recently received a wifi antenna for my desktop computer (plugs through a USB cable connector). It works fine for free internet, I’ve had free internet for the past four months, is this okay? Is there anything illegal about doing this? I also have a an antenna, its a analog digital converter box for my Tv with a clear TV antenna and it works free and good too. I have been able to shed Comcast from internet and TV and it is great. Am I doing anything wrong?”
Richard, Using someone else’s WiFi network may or may not be legal depending on where you are. Usually, it’s illegal but few people get in trouble.
Here in Florida, for example, it’s a third-degree felony, but not many people will get in trouble for it. Sometimes even using your neighbors WiFi with their permission is not allowed because of the service contracts that users sign when they get internet access.
The thing is, you probably won’t get caught sitting at home on a desktop on someone else’s WiFi, it’s not like you’re going to be parked at night in some dark alley with the screens glow making your ski mask stand out in the darkness…
You are most likely safe, and you are most likely also breaking the law, if you want to be on the legal side, you should probably be paying, but you’re probably not gonna get in trouble.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info, please email us here.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Brother: A bunch of Tape Measures and Cleaning Cloths for your computer screens
TurboTax: Several online codes good for one free federal and state Tax Return and e-file for Deluxe, Premier or Home & Business via TurboTax.com
HD Radio: “Into Tomorrow” branded Portable AM/FM/HD Radios
OkiDokeys: Complete SmartPhone Operated Smart Lock for your home – including wristband & key FOBS
G-Technology: Several 500GB 7200 RPM Touro S High performance portable Hard drives with easy & local Cloud Backup and in a variety of colors!
NanoTech: Several UltraFlix Gift Cards for 4K Content, like movies and a ton of other cool stuff. Let us know if you have a 4K Ultra HD TV!