Computers and the Internet – Page 6

KINDLE REVIEW

With the Australian dollar currently worth more than the US dollar, now is the time to buy stuff from the U.S.

I have had an Amazon account for some time and have always been interested in their eBook reader, the Kindle, so I bought one.

The process is simple. First set up an Amazon Account. You need to give them a credit card number but Amazon is a reputable major US company and giving them your Credit Card details is as safe as these things can be. Far safer than handing your card over to say a waiter at a restaurant which is something we do regularly without thinking too much about it.

Amazon also owns Audible and the UK government is currently considering the proposed acquisition by Amazon of “The Book Depository”. Amazon and Audible have my Credit card details but I use PayPal for “The Book Depository”.

After the account is set up, log in and you can then buy a Kindle direct from Amazon if you wish. CARE!!! – If you want a wall charger make sure to get both on the same order to save on postage.

I selected the Wi-Fi only model without ads for $139. There is a cheaper option at $114 that has adds on the screen saver. A model is also available with 3G Wireless Internet access if you want to be able to buy books anywhere at any time. However, I have a Wi-Fi network at home and a Telstra Prepaid Mobile Wi-Fi router so I don’t need to pay extra for 3G. If you have an iPhone with Telstra (and other carriers I assume) you can set it up as a Wi-Fi router and connect your Kindle to the internet via iPhone.

After I ordered it, I was astounded when it turned up just a few days later. I don’t know how they did it but the package said that it was posted from 1850 Mercer Road, Lexington KY USA.

It is ready to go when you get it. Apart from charging it and inputting the WPA password to get on your home Wi-Fi network, there is nothing else to do as it is already registered to the Amazon Account from which it was ordered. You have full control over the device via your Amazon Account so you can change registration and account details if necessary.

It comes with a USB cable to charge from a computer but you do not need a computer to operate it. I purchased the wall charger (optional extra) so mine has never been hooked up to a computer.

Buying books could not be simpler. Providing you are on the internet via any 3G or Wi-Fi network, you go to the Kindle Store link on the Kindle, browse and select a book and click on buy and within seconds it downloads and you can start reading.

Alternatively, can also log into the Amazon site on a computer and buy Kindle books there and they will automatically download onto your Kindle. However, I have never used this option but I do sometimes browse on the computer but, after I have made a selection, I go back to the Kindle to buy it.

There are two important matters that need to be addressed.

FIRST – THE BAD NEWS – This is the lack of available books to Australian Account Holders. As is the case with Audible, there are thousands upon thousands of books available both old and new in the Kindle format until, that is, you log in with your Australian Account. This is not the fault of Amazon or Audible. It is however the fault of Australian Publishers. Yes, the exact same bright sparks who moan and groan and complain about falling sales and closing book shops apparently don’t seem to realise they have a growing number of people with money in their hands wanting to buy their product. But for reasons known only to them, they have decided that they don’t like the colour of our money or something. It beats me but because of this I have no sympathy at all for them. If my money is not good enough they can go to hell. I will now only buy from Audible and Kindle and, if not available from these sources, I will buy paper books from The Book Depository in the UK (or Amazon in the US but The Book Depository is cheaper and they only take about 2 to 3 weeks to get here).

SECOND – THE GOOD NEWS – In general you can have up to 6 devices (Kindle, iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone etc.) connected to one Amazon Account. (Sometimes it is less depending on individual publications. In this case you are told of the limit). This means that you only need to buy a book once for up to six devices to be able to share it.

This is always the first question I get asked about the Kindle. Most families buy one book and share it around various family members. The following is copied from the Amazon Web Site http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_kip_faq_num?nodeId=200298470&#howmany

How many Kindles can I use to access titles in my library?

Most books and other non-subscription items you purchase from the Kindle store may be simultaneously accessed for your personal use on up to six Kindles (or Kindle compatible devices, such as Kindle for iPhone) registered to your Amazon.com account. If the limit is less than six kindles for a specific title, you’ll see the message "Simultaneous Device usage: Up to X simultaneous devices, per publisher limits" on the detail page.

If you reach the device limit and wish to replace one of your current devices with a new one, you must first deregister and delete the content from the device you wish to replace before you can access the content in question from your new device. For device registration instructions, please see the Help page for the device you wish to register/deregister on the Kindle Support pages. There is no limit on the number of times a title can be downloaded to a registered device.

Subscription content can only be downloaded to one Kindle at a time and cannot be accessed from Kindle for iPhone.

Therefore if you want to share books, you have the option to buy more than one Kindle or if you have an iPad, iPhone, iPod touch etc. you can register these devices.

However you may want to seriously consider the multiple Kindle option as it is the perfect device on which to read books. The Kindle basically does one thing but it does that one thing faultlessly.

Here is a summary of my review:

· The Kindle behaves a lot like a paper book. You turn pages with back / forward buttons and use bookmarks. It is not backlit. Consequently, you need a light to read by, but by the same token this means that there is no trouble using it in bright sunlight – just like a book.

· Because of the technology it uses (no back light for the screen), the battery lasts for weeks if not months. You are given plenty of warning when the battery is getting low. To re-charge, either plug into a computer or the wall socket (with the optional extra cord). I have had mine for 2 months and I have only fully depleted the battery once but, even then, I ran an Audio Book through the speakers for days to run it down.

· Mine has 3 GB of memory so that it will hold thousands of books (depending on size). When (and if) you fill up your Kindle, you can delete content but it always remains available on your Amazon Account Archive to be downloaded again at any time (much like Audible).

· The Kindle weighs less than a book and you don’t have to hold it open like you do with a book.

· The prices of individual books vary but all are significantly less that paper books. To give you some idea, here a couple of examples – More Recent Books – Harry Bosch (Michael Connelly) novels – The Overlook (published 2007) $7.59 – – 9 Dragons Published 2009 $8.42 — Jack Reacher (Lee Child) “Worth Dying For” Published 2010 $9.12– Dan Brown “The Lost Symbol” $8.63

Older books can be really cheap but my 2 most recent purchases were:

Zero Day (Mark Russinovich) $11.99
The End of the Wasp Season (Denise Mina) $9-99

· Dictionary – There are any number of very handy features that the Kindle provides but one of the best is the Dictionary function. If you come across a word you don’t know, you just put the cursor before it and a definition appears at the bottom. In the book “The End of the Wasp Season” which is about a Scottish detective, the word “oxter” came up. I had no idea what it meant but with the Kindle Dictionary function I just scrolled the cursor down to the beginning of this word and the following definition appeared at the bottom of the page – “oxter” – Scottish – N English – A person’s Armpit”

· Find Function – When I wanted to find “oxter” in the book to write this blog, I used the Find / Search function and found it immediately. Try doing that with a paper book!

· One feature that I have found that I need is “Bookmarks.” Just like a paper book you can turn down the top corner of a page as a “bookmark” and you find this place again from the Menu / View Notes and Marks. When you leave your Kindle it remembers the last page that you were on but I have found that with my clumsy hands I frequently accidentally press the page back / forward buttons thus losing my place. So I have trained myself to add a bookmark (as I would have to do with a paper book).

· Print / page Size. It is fully adjustable and you can make the print bigger or smaller with plenty of settings that will satisfy all tastes including type size, words per line and whether you want it to be vertical or horizontal. There is also a “Text to Speech” function that I have not yet tried. (I tried it just now – It is typical Computer type speech – I’ll stick with Audible).

· The Kindle store has publications other than books. Newspapers, magazines etc. are available and every time I look the list grows longer. Magazines and Newspapers might be better on an iPad but at least this is an option. I have heard that in the U.S., text books are now being made available on Kindle and this seems to me to be a great idea. Not only should this make text books much cheaper, but it would also reduce the bulk of printed books that students need to carry around these days.

· There are plenty of other functions that I won’t go into here but, after you make a couple of purchases, Kindle makes suggestions for similar books you might like and you can download your Audible Audio Books and listen to them via the Kindle’s speakers (or headphones).

· Each Kindle comes with a private Kindle Email address that you can use to download your own content onto it via an attachment to an Email (that you send to your Kindle Email). Many formats are acceptable including Word Documents, PDF and JPG pictures and more. See http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200505520&#email

COMPLAINTS

I am genuine when I say this but I can’t think of anything to complain about (apart from the content issue for Australians but this is not the fault of Amazon / Kindle).

However I will mention a couple of things that you should be aware of:

1. Impulse buying – If ever there was a device designed to encourage impulse buying it is the Kindle. It is just so easy, quick and cheap to buy books. One of the books mentioned above (The End of the Wasp Season) was an impulse buy. I was listening to our local talk radio (4BC Brisbane) and every Friday they have a lady who reviews books. She highly recommended this one and I went to my Kindle and before I knew it I had clicked “Buy”. (Yes – It was a good book and I enjoyed it but I will have to exercise a bit of self-control in future).

2. Bookmarks – As mentioned above, I have had to train myself to always add a book mark to my last page as I have a terrible habit of accidently clicking the Forward / Back buttons when I put it down after I finish reading. I am trained now but when I first got it, I had to leaf back to find my place on many an occasion (just like when you lose your place on a regular book).

SUMMARY

I know a lot of people will baulk at paying for a Kindle but with the average cost of a Kindle book at about half of the retail price of a paperback book at the large chain stores like Big W or K Mart it would not take all that long to recover the purchase price.

The issue of available content for Australians cannot be overlooked but one would hope that Australian publishers will eventually wake up to the fact that they have a growing number of eBook readers with money to spend. Also remember that Big W and K Mart do have some limitations on the range they carry and if you are forced to go to a book store to find what you want then prices are higher again.

On the other hand a Kindle is better than a book. It is light and easy to use with heaps of handy functions. Buying books at any time day or night is cheap and simple (as long as you have an internet connection). Moreover, you can carry around thousands of books on a small light device.

For me it is a “no brainer”

Now I must get back to reading “Zero Day” (by Mark Russinovich). Although I am not sure that I ever should have started reading it. This is from the Amazon Description:-

The horror of cyberterrorism explodes on the page in Russinovich’s first novel. A plane over the Atlantic suddenly needs to reboot its computer to stay in the air, and the pilots barely avert disaster. A hospital network mixes up patient information, resulting in the death of several people. A law firm, which has lost all of its clients’ data and can’t get its system running again…,

“So what” – I hear you say – “It is just another work of fiction”.

Maybe – but look at who the author is – See Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Russinovich

If ever there was a bloke who knew what he was talking about it is him! I think I will sell all my computers and anything using a computer to operate (there goes my new car), stop flying in planes, going to hospitals and even shopping at Woolworths (their systems are fully computerised – my milk might get mixed up with the rat poison) and go and live in a tent in the bush somewhere.

UBUNTU – A REAL WORLD TEST

In a previous post “Re-Furbish – 1/10/09” I documented the refurbishment of an older computer on which I installed Ubuntu. By the time I was able to return this computer to its owners, Ubuntu had been updated to the latest version 9.10 (Karmic Koala).

The family have now been using this computer for about a month and I thought that it would be interesting to find out how they are coping with Ubuntu. The Ubuntu computer has been used mainly by the two teenage daughters both of whom can be regarded as generally proficient in technology including the use of computers.

Unfortunately the news is not all that good for Ubuntu. After one month, both daughters stated clearly that they would prefer to have Windows XP on the computer.

I am a little disappointed as I like Ubuntu and was hoping that it would get a better reception.

The daughters did not take into account that Ubuntu is free. To older people like me, the fact that Ubuntu is free and Windows costs an arm and a leg would be a significant factor when assessing the pros and cons of a product like a computer OS but it was not an issue in this assessment.

On the other hand, they did fully appreciate that Ubuntu is safe and virtually malware free and no anti-virus program is needed. But also it must be said that, in their world, they know that a fully patched copy of Windows is safe, unless you go looking for trouble, and there is a good free anti-virus program from Microsoft. Their only contact with viruses has been with computers belonging to their friends who have little/big brothers who use Limewire for “free” songs and surf for porn.

The girls are twins and I will refer to them as Twin L and Twin K. The school they attend uses computers running Windows OS and Microsoft Office. Extensive use is made of computers with both text books and homework work issued and completed on Thumb Drives. Students are expected to have home computers and to comply with Windows / MS Office standards.

When they first started using it they had to manually connect to their Wi-Fi network a few times but this issue is now OK. It connects automatically. Also (and this has happened to me) after an update either on Ubuntu or Windows, it stopped being able to print to a Vista attached printer. (This is a bloody annoyance to me also). However, apart from the printing issue, things generally are going OK.

With 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest their ratings and comments are:

TWIN L

Comment – She had no difficulty working out how to use Ubuntu.

Cons –

· She is used to Windows and would generally prefer to stay within the Windows world. She has had some formatting problems when opening larger Word (.doc) files particularly for textbooks. (I have advised on how to overcome this by the View / Zoom menu in Open Office). Further to this issue she does not like the default file formats for Open Office which require an extra step to save / open files in MS Office format.

Pros –

· She finds Ubuntu easy to use and is happy with web applications like Facebook / Myspace that are accessed the same as in Windows via Firefox. (The family uses Firefox as well as IE).

Rating 6 out of 10

TWIN K

Comment– Twin K is a little more positive. Like her sister she picked up how to use Ubuntu quickly and easily. She would use it permanently but for one great big deal breaker:

Cons –

· Deal Breaker -No iTunes

· Also the MSN Messenger substitutes are a little flaky.

Pros-

· Likes ease of use and safety and would be prepared to use it but for the iTunes issue

– Rating 7 out of 10

MY COMMENTS

I was hoping that they would really like it but I forget that most people use computers as a tool. They are comfortable with Windows and as their school and probably their future University and employers will use Windows, they probably see little point in using something different. Moreover, they are part of a generation that finds no difficulty with using technology and they could pick up a new OS without problems if and when the need arises. For example they would not need to be told how to use an iPhone.

Neither girl had any difficulty in using it. Rather, their complaints pertained to specific issues and I have to agree that the iTunes matter is significant. The things that would stop me from going fully to Ubuntu are the iTunes issue as well as the driver issue and lack of refinement on some of the programs (like the MSN Messenger substitute as pointed out by Twin K).

But I have to say that the biggest disappointment to me is that both girls want XP re-installed even though this is the third computer in the house. Their point is that it is just another tool and they have neither the inclination nor the patience to muck about with what they consider to be a second best choice.

Ah well – I tried!

NETGEAR WNDR3700 DUAL BAND WIRELESS-N GIGABIT ROUTER

NOTE – AN UPDATE AS AT Feb 2010

Recently I opened the router and completed a software update. I then put one of my Xbox 360s back on the 5GHZ band and the problems mentioned in my original post are no longer there. I get 4 out of 5 green bars on reception and, more importantly, the streaming from PC to Xbox 360 now works as well as it did on the 2.4 GHZ band.

Obviously the software update fixed whatever was originally causing the problems. Therefore I amend this post and remove any complaints about the 5GHZ band.

Also I re-tested the ReadyShare transfer rate by copying and pasting a 146MB video file.

When the external HDD was connected directly to the PC via USB2 the copy took 8/9 seconds. When connected via ReadyShare it took 3 minutes and 9 seconds.

My rating is 9 out of 10 and the only negative now (after the firmware is updated) is the slow ReadyShare transfer rate.

I decided, since it is Christmas, that I would upgrade my Home Wi-Fi network to the new 802.11N standard. While I was doing this, I also elected to buy a dual band router so that I could use the 5 GHz band for the Xbox 360s. I have two Xbox 360s and one is used mainly as a media extender to facilitate the viewing of recorded programs and other video on a TV set.

Everything that I have read suggests that the 5GHz band provides better performance for video transmissions.

Initially, I was looking at buying the latest (and expensive) D Link dual band router. Luckily, however, the technicians at my local computer business talked me into buying the Netgear WNDR3700 which is about half the price of the D Link. I am glad that they did.

Two new 802.11N Wi-Fi adaptors were also needed for the Xbox 360s and these are not cheap.

The Netgear WNDR 3700 was very easy to set up. I am running Windows 7 64 bit on my main computer and, as some people had complained on the internet that the install disk for the WNDR 3700 had problems with 64 bit Win7, I performed a manual install via a log on to 192.168.1.1.

I have nothing but praise for the clear and easy to use interface and I had it set up and running with log in passwords changed and WPA encryption applied in minutes. I did not try to use the set up disk so I can’t report on whether or not it works with Win 7 64 bit. However, the manual installation was so easy that I can’t see what extra benefit a disk could provide.

The router provides three separate networks – one in the 5 GHz band and two in the 2.4GHz band. The second 2.4GHz one is a “Guest Network” which came in very handy for me as my Wii will not connect when using WPA2 (AES). (I had the same problem with D Link so I guess it is something that needs to be fixed on the Wii.) I used WPA TKIP on the Guest network and the Wii connected without any further problems.

I have three devices that support 802.11N and 5 GHz – the 2 Xbox 360s and my Mac Book so I used 5GHz with them and everything else including my PS3 stayed on 802.11g with the Wii on the separate guest network.

However I have had a problem with this arrangement. The range of the 5 GHz frequency is very short and as the two Xbox 360s are at the opposite ends of the house (with the router in the middle) signal strength when running the X Box 360 Network Test varied from poor to average. This was very disappointing. When the signal is average the Xbox 360 Media Centre network test showed all green bars for receiving HD TV. On the other hand, when the signal strength dropped, this test performed badly. When actually viewing recorded HD TV stored on my computer via the Xbox 360s, there were drop outs and a slow response to the remote controller. It was worse than when using 802.11g. See note above.

I had also read that it was not wise to have a mixture of 802.11N and 802.11g devices together on the same 2.4GHz network as this slowed everything down to the 802.11g speed. Nevertheless, I put everything on this band and went back and did the tests with the X Box 360s again. This time the signal was a solid full strength and the Media Centre test was also solid full green bars whether or not I had 802.11g devices running at the same time.

Therefore, at least in my case, 802.11N (with some 802.11g devices) on a single 2.4 GHz band is all that I needed. Aren’t I glad that the Techs at the shop talked me out of the more expensive D Link as further reading on the subject suggests that 5GHz performance deteriorates rapidly over distance.

Despite this issue, I still like the WNDR 3700 and I guess that I will buy the WNDA 3100 USB Wi-Fi dual band adaptor so that I can use and get the benefit of the 5 GHz band on my second computer which is located much closer to the router than the 2 Xbox 360s. I walked around with my Mac Book (which is using 5GHz) and ~~this confirmed that the 5GHz signal strength does indeed fall off quickly with distance~~. See note above – The 5GHZ reception, while slightly less that the 2.4GHZ is now OK – at say 20 meters behind a wall, 2.4GHZ was 5 out of 5 bars and 5GHZ 4 out of 5 bars.

Of course, I can’t say whether or not another brand of router would perform any better, but I can say that 802.11N (backwards compatible to at least g) with a mixture of N & G devices on one 2.4GHz network is all that is needed.

Another important thing is that, if you do not turn off UPnP, Xbox live works flawlessly with this router.

~~Even though I am a little disappointed with the 5GHz performance~~ (See note above – 5GHZ is now OK), I am not sorry that I bought this router. ~~The shortcoming with 5GHz is made up for by the performance in the~~ 2.4GHZ band performs very well and 5GHZ is also good. In addition there are a number of functions that I really like. I will list a few of these:

· It is a Gigabit router

· It has an on/off switch. Many routers do not have this simple facility and you have to remove the power cord to turn them off

· There is also a button to turn the Wi-Fi on and off

· The control interface is easy to use and extensive. Unlike some other routers, doing things like port forwarding etc is made very easy.

· It checks for and installs updates automatically. (You can easily turn this off or on as desired.) It updated automatically the first time I used it without any input on my part. Updating other routers I have used has been something of a challenge.

· The LEDs on the front are easy to understand and let you know what the router is doing

· You can attach a USB drive to it that becomes available on your network

· It has something called WPS which is a function that works with WPS enabled devices to make it very easy to set up a secure network. I have not used this as I do not have any WPS enabled devices but it seems to me to be a good thing for people who have trouble with WPA passwords and the rigmarole in setting up a secure network.

· It has an easy to use back up function that makes it simple to re-set the router.

· There are many other things that I have not fully explored like WDS, QoS and traffic monitoring.

There is a good review here at CNET http://www.cnet.com.au/netgear-rangemax-dual-band-wireless-n-gigabit-router-wndr3700-339298270.htm

I note that CNET also found the 5GHz performance not so good and they also criticised the speed of data transfer rate of the “Ready Share USB Storage Access”.

~~I agree with their assessment about the 5GHz speed~~ (See note above)but I conducted my own test of the data transfer speed for a USB attached HDD.

I used a 372MB Video Podcast file on my computer’s HDD and an external USB HDD.

· First test is a transfer from Computer HDD to USB HDD when the USB HDD is attached directly to the computer – TIME 15 seconds

· Second with the USB HDD attached to my Belkin Network USB Hub – TIME 1 min 36 seconds

· Third with the USB HDD attached to the WNDR3700 Router. – TIME 3 minutes and 24 seconds

This confirms CNET’s tests and comments. CNET gives the WNDR3700 a rating 7.3 out of 10 and users give it 7.7 0ut of 10.

I would give it ~~8 out of 10~~. 9 out of 10

Pros – everything I have mentioned above

Cons – ~~The signal strength of the 5GHz Wi-Fi drops off quickly over relatively short distances but this is offset by excellent 2.4GHz performance~~. Data transfer rate of the “Ready Share USB Storage Access” is slow but I will not be using this feature and, in any case, I did not know it had this function before I bought it. I will continue to use my Belkin Network USB Hub which itself is a bit slow compared with a direct connection.

Summary

Excellent router with the only 2 1 negatives mentioned above. ~~If your Xbox 360 or similar 802.11 N 5GHz enabled device is within a reasonable range of the router~~ I would not hesitate to recommend it.

I note that the Netgear site has a “coming soon” WNR 3500L Gigabit model which appears to be the same as the WNDR3700 but without the 5GHz. However the specs for this one do not mention the “Multiple SSID” with a “Guest” network and, if this is the case, I would recommend getting the WNDR3700 just for this excellent feature even if you have no current use for the 5GHz band.

Furthermore, the cost of routers has dropped substantially. I paid AUD$235 which is not too bad considering I paid $150 for a DI624 four years ago. You can get it on line for around AUD$200 but I like to support my local blokes. They help me out a lot with free advice and general help.