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Tech News & Commentary
Channing in Pocatello, Idaho listening on 690 KBLY asked: “TV Size … What size do you need to go from 720p to 1080p? And the refresh rate, when 120hz is necessary, and when 240hz is necessary. Everyone I talk to at TV stores like Costco never have a good answer.”
If you’ve been trying to get an answer out of employees at stores like Costco, that’s your problem right there. We always say, if you want reliable information, go to a store that specializes in TVs and other electronics. You want a specialist. You can’t always trust an answer from someone on an HDTV that was just selling somebody else a 20 pound bag of frozen chicken wings.
As far as the resolution, it’s really a matter of preference. Most people say they can’t tell a difference between 720 and 1080 on TVs smaller than about 42 inches. If you’re going with a set bigger than that, you may want to look into the higher resolutions. But, keep in mind that
a lot of TV networks still only broadcast in 720p, as opposed to 1080i, although more and more a moving to the higher resolution. None that we know of are broadcasting in 1080p because it takes twice the bandwidth that 1080i does. Really, the only place you’re gonna get 1080p resolution from right now is a Blu-ray player.
As far as the refresh rate, it all depends on the content you are watching. Normal everyday TV-watching should be fine at 120hz. But when you start getting into the faster motions of action movies and sporting events on larger screens, the 240hz refresh rate can really make a difference. The “hertz” is the number of times the picture refreshes itself every second. What that means is a 240hz set will refresh 240 times
per second, twice the speed of a 120hz, making the motion on screen smoother.
You should also keep in mind that a faster refresh rate, in and
of itself, is not a guarantee that the rest of the TV has good enough performance characteristics to take advantage of it. If the pixel response time is not quick enough, the resulting HDTV blur can be aggravated by
a higher refresh rate. As always, the best judge is your own eyes. Don’t buy an HDTV that you haven’t either seen personally or one where you’ve read a review source you respect and trust. We’ll link you to a good Wikipedia article on the topic of HDTV blur. It discusses the higher refresh rate technologies and has some solid background information on them.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Rick in Nashville, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 FM asked: “Dave, I have a Toshiba Satellite A215-S4767. Each time I start it up, it will freeze after a few seconds. After I shut it down (I have to power it off with the power button), and turn it back on, it will stay on. I have to go through this same process each time I start it up. Can you help?”
There is likely a driver or something on your registry that’s causing the problem. Your Toshiba Satellite model came with Windows Vista, and Vista has been known to have plenty of problems with old device drivers.
You can prevent software from running, one program at a time, and try to pinpoint if a particular program is causing the error that way, but your easiest solution is likely going to be running a registry cleaner. For instance, CCleaner or System Mechanic would be our two top choices, and see if they can find registry or driver errors on your laptop.
If that doesn’t solve the problem, we’ve also heard that defragging the hard drive may, in some cases, help. The other common cause for these problems is an outdated BIOS, check for BIOS updates for your laptop, if there is one, it may solve you problem
If you download CCleaner to your computer, you can also go in to its Tools menu and click Startup. There, you can disable all the programs that are running on startup. Don’t delete them, just disable them, so you can enable them again just as easily. Disable everything for right now and then see if this makes your problem disappear. If it does, you know that one of the drivers or apps loading, or a conflict between one or more of them, is at fault. Try only re-enabling what you know you have to have, and see whether the problem is still gone. If it is, then just delete the things you don’t need and you will have corrected your problem. Good luck!
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Jim in Murfreesboro, Tennessee listens on WTN 99.7asked: “What is the most economical Internet service for Nashville? I’m moving there this weekend. Also what’s the most economical Aircard/hotspot for Nashville?”
Depending on whether you’re looking for phone service along with your phone or not, AT&T, Verizon and Comcast all offer broadband plans for $15 to $20 a month for the first year.
AT&T and Verizon’s plans are on the very low end of the broadband spectrum, with speed below 1 mbps. Comcast’s basic Xfinity service though, is $20/month for six months and it will offer speeds of
up to 12 mbps download and 2 mbps upload. The catch is that between months 7 and 12, your rates will go up to $34/month and past 12 months those speeds will cost you $48/month.
Charter offers a 3 mbps plan for $19.99 for 12 months. That may be a happy medium between the slower plans and Comcast’s variable pricing plan.
As for mobile broadband, Clearwire and Sprint seem to be your least expensive options, both of them start at $34.99. In Sprint’s case, there’s a 3GB cap, but if you live in an area with WiMax coverage you can use Sprint’s 4G network for the same price as their 3G network. T-Mobile with their own version of “4G” is available in your area for $39.99 and up, and Verizon’s LTE will cost you $50 for 5GB of data.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Guest in this hour:
Chuck Hamby, Florida Public Relations Manager – Verizon Wireless
Is your techie dad a mobile warrior? Our next guest is going to share some great gift ideas with us.
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT with Rob: Emmi-dent 6 Ultrasonic Toothbrush
We don’t normally talk about dental hygiene on the show, but a new toothbrush using ultrasound technology has caught our attention.
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 – The Emmi-dent requires a different brushing style. Unlike other brushes, with Emmi-dent, you don’t have to scrub your teeth. You simply hold the brush-head to the teeth for about five seconds. The brush-head covers about 3 teeth at a time.- If your teeth are extra dirty from coffee, red wine, food or nicotine stains, you would simply hold the brush over your teeth a bit longer.- The Emmi-dent has a patented ultrasonic microchip located in the brush-head that works along with a special toothpaste. This toothpaste is said to create millions of “nano-bubbles”, which help clean where normal toothbrushes and toothpastes can’t reach.- Regular toothpaste can also be used, but the results are reduced – according to the manufacturer – because it contains abrasives which damage the enamel and doesn’t small bubbles that help clean unreachable areas. – The company says Emmi-dent doesn’t harm your tooth enamel because it doesn’t cause any friction or use any abrasive toothpaste particles. – The antibacterial effect of ultrasound is said to remove plaque and tartar off your teeth. – For those curious about the dangers of ultrasound in your mouth, have no fear. The company says are no negative effects when using ultrasound. And, it works well with fillings, inlays, crowns and bridges. – For this product spotlight, we tested the Emmi-dent 6 Ultrasonic Toothbrush starter kit. It comes with one hand-piece, two brush-heads, a charging dock, and toothpaste. This sells for $189 here in the US. Dave Before:
Dave After:
Rob Before:
Rob After:
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Dwayne in Raleigh, North Carolina listening on WPTF 680 – calling via the App called to tell us about Replay TV, and how in the 90s it already had the same commercial skipping technology that Dish just added to the Hopper.
Thank you Dwayne.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Kingston: 16GB SD memory cards and a MobileLite G3 (USB 3.0 Card Reader)
Radio Shack: Auvio Element Earbuds with Microphone
ZoneAlarm (Check Point Software): Download keys for ZoneAlarm Extreme Security