HOUR 1:
Tech News & Commentary
Mike in Nashville, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 FM asked: “I’m looking to try to get a universal notebook docking station. We’ve got a variety of laptops we’d like to hookup to a docking station so we can use an external monitor. I did notice that some of the docking stations use a single USB cable and others use a combo USB/VGA combo cable, which I’m not familiar with.”
What you’re calling a “docking station” isn’t really a docking station. A true docking station is designed for a specific notebook model, to connect with a proprietary interface designed only for a docking station. It allows you to leave your external display, keyboard, printer, and network connection plugged in to the docking station and reconnect with them without having to fiddle with a bunch of cables. The idea was to turn your notebook computer into a desktop computer, then “eject” it to take your “desktop” computer with you when you’d leave the office.
This system was very popular in corporate environments in the 1990s, but it’s fallen out of favor somewhat today. What’s popping up now are these so-called “universal docking stations” and that’s what you’re seeing with the single USB connection, or the USB/VGA combo connection. These are trying to do the same thing, but using only a single USB connector in most cases. The concept is nice – you walk up to the desk, put down your notebook computer, plug in a single USB cable and you’re instantly connected with all your peripherals.
The reality of it isn’t as good. The huge problem is the video. There are two kinds of devices you’re looking at. One kind is a passive “pass-through” video connector. That requires the combo USB/VGA cable. You have to connect the docking station (and we use that term loosely) both to a USB port and an external display port on your notebook computer. If you’re going to do that, why not just plug in the external display directly?
The other kind has a video card built in to the docking station and tries to work with just a single USB connection. The issue here is bandwidth. USB 2.0 doesn’t have enough bandwidth to communicate all of the information needed to drive a high definition external display, even with the help of an external video card, and keep it in sync with a high performance notebook.
Some people use these devices and love them, we don’t want to disregard that. But our opinion of them is that they’re a risky proposition. They fail to work well in what seems to be half the cases. That kind of performance doesn’t allow us to recommend a product. It is possible that future products of this sort based on the much faster USB 3.0 standard will not have any of these problems, and might work well. But in the meantime, we can’t recommend one of these to you.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.sumer
Reports” Feature with Paul Reynolds
Ever wonder which telecom company offers the best billing, support and prices? Consumer Reports surveyed more than 70,000 of its readers to find out which service providers are the best and says there are a few options for consumers to try to keep their bills down.
Apps of the Week
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they
have been playing with recently.
- For Android:• Mark recommends: Firefox 4
- For iPhone/iPad:• Chris recommends: Flick Kick Field Goal Kickoff• Rob recommends: SpeechTrans
Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details.
What are your favorite apps?Let us know!
Guest in this hour:
Lonny Paul, VP of Marketing & Strategic Initiatives – TigerDirect.com
Lonny joins us every few months with what’s hot and selling from an e-tailer’s perspective.
Sue in San Jose, CA listening on KLIV 1590 AM asked: “I was driving home on the evening of Saturday, April 9th and I think it was your show I was listening to. There was a segment on useless apps. There was one that I absolutely *HAD* to remember so that I could tell the kids at work. Do you happen to know what useless app was mentioned on the air at about 10:15 pm in San Jose, CA?”
The segment you heard is our “Apps of the Week”. We don’t always point out useless apps, but last week, Chris Graveline mentioned an iPhone app called “Shave Me!“. I believe I referred to it as a big time waster. So, I think that’s the one you’re looking for.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
R.P. from Little Rock, Arkansas listens via the Android App asked: “Where can I get a Compaq hard drive for an 8 year old desktop?”
Hard drives haven’t changed an awful lot in the last 8 years, they’ve gotten roomier and some new connectors have popped up and of course the snappy — still expensive — Solid State Drives or SSDs have become more popular, but you can still easily find hard drives that will work with a 2003 desktop.
About the brand, for the hard drive to work with a Compaq computer it doesn’t need to be a Compaq hard drive, in fact if you were to check the hard drive that’s inside the computer right now you may find that it was made by Toshiba, WesternDigital, Hitachi or another one of the other major players in the hard drive industry.
What you’re most likely looking for is a 3.5 inch hard drive with an IDE connector, you can find them at a brick and mortar computer store or online, we checked Newegg.com and found some for as cheap as $42.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Joe in Hazelton, Pennsylvania listening online asked: “I have a chance to buy software that allows you to backup and restore Windows in case of a major failure. The software is Terabyte Image for Windows. It does Full backup and differential backup. There’s another software I can get for free that has a pay version also, called Macrium Reflect. The difference is, if I want to use the free version of Macrium reflect, it does not do the differential backup, only the full backup. Is that a big problem? I know it means I have to do a full backup each time I backup, but is that Okay? Is the differential Backup preferred, or does that matter? ”
The difference between a full and a differential backup is just convenience, the end product is the same no matter what, you’ll have a full backup of the contents of your computer, the difference is that while a differential backup might take you a couple of minutes or even less than a minute if you haven’t made any major changes since the last backup, a full backup will always take hours.
The way a differential backup works is: it does a full backup of every file the first time around, then each backup after that it only backs up new files or files that have been changed, that makes it much, much, faster.
Now, if you don’t mind every backup taking hours and you’d rather not pay there’s nothing wrong with the backup you’re gonna get from making a full one each time.
It won’t be as quick and convenient and you may need to set up a schedule, for example, leaving your computer on every night so it can back itself up in that time and not bother you when you want to use it, but there won’t be anything wrong with the backup you’ll get.
For more information, tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Wireless Update with Chuck Hamby from Verizon Wireless
Consumers want choice. And, wow, do they have it these days with smartphones. Chuck Hamby of Verizon Wireless is hear to highlight some of the options.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Improv Electronics: Several Boogie Board Paperless LCD Writing Tablets in a variety of
colors and accessories including sleeves with stylus holders &
magnet kits.
iolo: Several copies of System Mechanic – Fix & speed-up your PC, Automatically
SmartShopper Electronics: Several SmartShoppers — Electronic Grocery List Organizer
ZAGG: A variety of goodies, including: ZAGGsparq battery packs, ZAGGMate iPad cases, dual USB 2.0 in-car chargers & XL gadget wipes.