Requested: External Hard Drives for Dummies

Sorry for my delay in posting. My work has been picking up, and I've basically have been sorta running the show on my project...regardless, I'm back and I'm going through some requests that I've missed...Jean I'm looking at you.

(If anyone is ever looking for some great advice on places to go in NYC that aren't touristy but trendy, check out my friend Jean's blog.)

Alright, here we go.

Hard Drives: The Never-Ending Battle of Storage Space

As with a lot of things on computers, there is a constant need for more. More memory so our programs can load faster, more screen size and resolution to see more stuff on our desktop, more graphics power for our games, more processing power for all the stuff we do on our computers....including games, and more hard drive space to store all of our photos, documents, video, music...and games...

Ugh, I'm such an old man I remember when hard drives were listed in megabytes, and not gigs. The value of hard drives were measured in terms of $$$ per gig. I remember when it was above a dollar a gig. Nowadays, internal SATA hard drives go for less than 10 cents a gig. External hard drives are hovering at just over a dime. Prices continue to drop. Had I made a recommendation before Christmas (like Jean asked me) it would actually be more expensive than it is now by a little bit. In addition, a few months from now, prices will change, and probably for the cheaper. As companies figure out how to cram more space into a hard drive and parts and manufacturing becomes cheaper the price will continue to go down, benefitting the consumer.

So What Should I Look For?
Since prices are constantly in fluctuation, there are some basic things to look for in a hard drive.

External vs. Internal vs. Make your own external
Back in the day, the cost between an Internal Hard Drive and an External Hard Drive were fairly significant. My 120 gb external cost me $150 bucks, while a 120gb internal hovered at around 120. Nowadays the cost between them aren't as bad. This is very helpful for those of you who: A. Don't know how to swap your hard drives in your computer, or B. Have a laptop or want to keep the drive somewhere away from your machine.

In addition, you can purchase enclosures and internal hard drives and combine them together. You can get them in desktop hard drive or laptop drive sizes (3.5 inch vs. 2.5 inch) I know people that keep literal stacks of hard drives, have an enclosure that they plug the hard drive into whenever they need it and store the drive away until they need it again. Probably too geeky for most of you.

Hard Drive Brand
Throughout my geekhood, I have run across die hard fans of certain brands of hard drives. (The fact that there are hard drive fan boys and the fact that they are friends of mine is a scary thought but I digress) Much like my tv recommendation, brands don't matter as much as specific models. In general, I would stick to major names like Maxtor, Western Digital, Hitachi, Samsung, and Seagate. Even then, do check the internet over the model you want to buy. Issues crop up here and there for certain models, like Seagate's Barracuda or Western Digital's 500gb MyBook. Or if we want to keep on this train there's also issues with Maxtor's MaxLine Pro 500 gb. They also don't call Hitachi's Deskstar drives failstars for no reason either. You could try other companies like Fantom too. The bottom line is: Do your research. If there are known issues, they will be obvious online when you type in your model number. If random people bitch about it here and there they might just have isolated issues. But if you see the words well known or widely reported, buyer beware.

Cost

At this point and time, I think the sweet spot for external hard drives is roughly 1Tb for less than $100 bucks. You can pay a little extra for more features, but if you just want simple drive that turns on and off and lets you put stuff on it, anything around $100 is a good deal.

Backing up your system

Some people like to have little things like backup systems built into the external hard drive that automatically back up your stuff. While some work ok like Maxtor's OneTouch for the most part I honestly don't recommend those as they usually require installing some special app that takes up resources or require the use of that app to restore the system. Me personally, I drag and drop all my important files in My Documents (pictures, paperwork, music, video) and Program Files (saved games, configuration files, etc).

While there are tons of different apps for pc, my friend requested help for Mac, which makes the choice easier: most external hard drives don't come with apple-compatible software for backing up, or the programs are crap compared to the ones out there, namely Super Duper and Time Machine. Super Duper is an extra $27, while Time Machine is built in.

For those of you with Macs, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you guys use either one, preferrably Super Duper, which keeps a bootable copy of your ENTIRE system on whatever backup drive you want, which will let you instantly boot up your hard drive on a different machine if your old one kicks the bucket. Time Machine requires the OS install cd and needs to restore itself to a new machine before you can use it. That isn't to say that Time Machine is useless, since it keeps incremental versions of your system, which allows you to find that word doc you deleted yesterday, or even those photos from a few days before. For a better breakdown, check out Shawn Blanc's article on Bulletproof Backups. If you are a geek on a budget though, you can either go it alone, or try out Carbon Copy Cloner, which I have heard is a great alternative if you want something better than Time Machine with the flexibility of Super Duper.

Beyond backup apps, there really aren't too much in terms of raw features for external storage. Security might be an issue, but I would be more concerned about physical security (aka locking it up) than connection security. You could look at something like Maxtor's Black Armor, but if you need that much security, I wouldn't look at this article.

Firewire might be important if you need a dedicated connection for something, or maybe an ethernet connected one so you can share on a network. But those don't come cheap.

Recommendations

So what do I recommend? For barebones and cheapness, I recommend the Seagate FreeAgent 1.5 TB for $130. If you need that security, there's the BlackArmor 320gb for $80. If you need portability, the Western Digital Passports aren't that bad either. Finally, Fantom has a 1TB for just over $100, and the reviews aren't bad at all. Always check prices and reviews. If you need to know the very cheapest hard drive price at any time, you could use pricewatch.com to get a baseline before you start shopping. Remember, always check reviews for the model you're going to buy.

Again, with backups, pc-wise you'll have to look for them because I don't use them. Mac wise it's simpler: Time Machine, but Super Duper if you can muster it, or Carbon Copy if you're cheap.

Next article will be on gaming, since every spare minute I have I spend on that. I haven't bought a new game in a while, but I have amassed a freakin' collection now. Again, if you have a request, just drop a comment or email. Geek smart and geek cheap.

Quick Update: I'm getting killed at work

Sorry guys, but my work has been picking up fast lately so I've been a little behind the ball.

A quick summary of the past week or so:

• My TV has finally come in. I am 99% happy with it. Resident Evil 5 demo on the PS3 looks amazing. It's all good except for the fact that the bezel somehow mysteriously cracked on the top right corner. I'll post pics of it later, but this is why we have warranties when we first get tvs. As a bonus, I found out the $50 warranty I bought actually kicks in after the initial 1 year warranty from Toshiba ends, so I have 2 years of protection. Now I actually need to get a table or something to put it on, as it is currently sitting on top of the biggest platform in my room, my dresser.
• I've been deluged with video games, with absolutely no time to play them. I'll post a guide on what I've done lately, but as a summary I have picked up Call of Duty 5, Little Big Planet (again), Heavenly Sword, Ratchet and Clank, and some random ps2/ps1 games in the past few weeks, all under MSRP.

Prices on TVs have continued to drop after Super Bowl.

A Dynex 42 inch Plasma 720p tv goes for 600 at Best Buy

22 Inch Vizio for $260 at Geeks.com

If you want bigger, a 50 Inch Samsung 1080p goes for $1195 on Amazon!

There's ups and downs to all, but I am satisfied I got mine at that price. 1080p baby.

In addition, for Jean since I'm awful at this, I'm starting to see 1 terabyte External Hard Drives start to dip below $100 or at least close to it:

Western Digital 1TB for 109 (87.99 if you put in this code on dell.com: 3XQW3BK2SCTG4Q)

Fantom 1TB for $119 (or $80 if you use their rebates on their site)

or even a Seagate 1.5 TB External HD for $150

I'll be a bit more thorough about HD reviews but those are all pretty good sets I think. Check reviews for each online as usual. I'll eventually get to another article when I have time

Stay Smart and Stay Cheap.

Mission accomplished: I got a TV!

So after stressing about this purchase I finally jumped the gun and bought a brand new HDTV. Currently our house has the following tvs:

Me: 2 15 inch tvs (yes i know they're small)
Dude Roommate: 1 15 inch tv
Chick Roommate: 1 37 inch hdtv in her room
Living room: 30 inch standard def tv which is a little long in the tooth, but it still does its job well.

Now, with regular tv, I honestly don't give a damn about resolution and all that other crap. To be honest, I think some people should not be allowed on hi def tv due to magnified ugliness. However, in the realm of gaming and movies, I am one of high definition. I had purchased a ps3 over the summer for myself due to the fact that I love games and will continue to play them long after I am old. I opted for the ps3 due to the fact that I already had purchased several wiis in the past and sold them or gave them to my gf and that the 360 was still in crazy RROD mode at that point (I won't lie, I'm thinking about picking up a 360 soon. Gears of War and other coop games ftw!). Blue ray is also amazing. Watch Planet Earth and then talk to me if you don't think so.

However, being a frugal person that I am, my desire for the most powerful and greatest looking tv was met with shock at some of the prices. However, I think now is probably an awesome time to look for tvs. The market is slowly shrinking due to the economic conditions that we face all over the world. At the same time, these television companies are putting out tvs that need to be sold year after year.

So what's the best plan of attack? Research.

Websites Used: HDGuru.com- One of the most widely trusted websites out there on advice for getting a tv. The owner is very technical at researching his tvs and many geek websites like engadget and gizmodo link to his site. Very helpful if you want to know more about quality.

Amazon.com and Newegg.com - These two, including Tiger Direct, are the only places where I will order online with confidence. Their customer service and prices are second to none. I love NewEgg more due to more geek stuff and more technical reviews, but I tend to avoid rebates with them. Actually, I avoid rebates all together. But that's for another time.

Cnet.com and Consumer Reports blog - These two websites gave me good advice on buying tvs as well, and cnet offers reviews of many of the more popular tvs.

Requirements:

So I had a few things I wanted in a tv:
Screen Size: I was aiming for a 37-40 inch tv. My room is fairly small. I originally wanted to put it in the living room but since I was getting it for myself I figured if I really wanted to share it I could always take it downstairs. Maybe.
Output modes: 1080p, hands down, had to be the max resolution. I don't like regretting purchases later incase 1080p is supported. However, this can be arguable at smaller sizes (see below after these bullet points)
Model Overall Quality: I had to research models that did not wear out in the first few months, were well known and were not prone to bad pixels. God help me if I find a dead pixel *shakes fist*. This is where the reviews come in. Also, you more often than not can't trust the manufacturer with a lot of their data. All that contrast bullshit and refresh doesn't mean a damn until you see it in real life.
Price: I'm still a recent college grad, almost done paying off college loans (I opted to do that now that the market is in a condition I am not willing to throw more money into with my Roth IRA), but I am still paying that debt and thus I need to save money still. My target? Under $1000 definitely, preferrably $800 or below.

I don't care about inputs other than at least 1 HDMI port and my ears are so crap I don't care about audio as much as long as I have something that spits out noise.

The Approach:

-Using the Consumer Reports page, I did some research about tvs and things to spot. I've seen enough of them to know what I want and I am technical enough to know about the regular goofs people make so this was a pretty fast part.

For most people, I would advise that if you find a model you want, go into a store and look for that model of tv and see it in real life. I did not do this part partially because I feel that I've read enough reviews of my tv to be confident in that it won't be total crap and also even if I found a better looking tv in store, you couldn't beat the price I was looking at for it. Also, DO NOT be suckered into buying expensive cables. Do your research. Buying a $10 cable is just as good as buying a $50 one. I would advise doing this part online.

-I kept tabes on sites like amazon, newegg, and deal sites like buxr.com, dealhack.com for hot prices on tvs that were seeing huge price drops. I used those in tow with HDguru.com, specifically it's article on the HDTV Christmas Buyer's Guide, specifically the list of tvs at each screen size and price level. Naturally, since I was looking for a 40 incher, I focused on the Toshiba 40 inch model 40RV525U. THAT was originally the tv I was going to buy.

-I talked to my geek friends about what to get and prices and such. Props to my brother and steve for their advice. Steve was still an ass about it, but I digress. Going to friends gives you a personal second perspective and they might know things you don't.

Conclusion:




This is what I went with: Toshiba REGZA 42 inch 42RV535U And here is why:
Reviews: If you look at the reviews on both Newegg and Amazon, everyone is saying that the quality and output is stellar. 4.5 cumulative on amazon and mostly 5's on newegg. Ignore the idiot on the amazon review who says it doesn't output 1080p, as people have corrected the fool. I tried to google the tv, but I found way more positive reviews about this tv than I did negative. Always google your model number online to find out if anyone has had problems or to get more reviews than just amazon and newegg.
Size: 42 inches! Holy shit! Where am I supposed to put this damn thing?
Output: HDMI, S-Video, yadda yadda, I just want the damn HDMI.
Price: Here's the funny part. Remember how I said I wanted the 40RV525U? That was recommended by HDGuru as the budget TV to get at the 40-42 inch level. But this model is a step up in every way, and more importantly, at the SAME PRICE.

As of this article, NewEgg and Amazon both have the 40RV525U and the 42RV535U at $800, maybe a few bucks more or less for some reason.
NewEgg 40 inch
Amazon 4o inch
NewEgg 42 inch
Amazon 42 inch

However, I found a coupon today due to it being SuperBowl week for $50 bucks off (MMCHTV50) at NewEgg. Also, I picked up a $50 1 year onsite warranty in case something happens in the first year. HDTVs in general do not have high failure rates. Generally if it lasts the year it'll last a while. I wanted onsite because I travel a lot for work, and incase the thing breaks I may not be able to come home to mail the monster out. So for the same price at NewEgg and Amazon, I also got a 1 year warranty thrown in too. Hah!

(Note: I don't usually advise getting extended warranties for TVs. Consumer Reports blog advises against doing so as well due to low failure rates and the standard warranties cover most problems. However, if you look at what I'm paying vs. the cost of the warranty, a 6% cost of hedging the tv for a year ain't bad. If it was more like $100 bucks, I might not have done so. Also, that $50 coupon helped a bit)

Final thoughts and what you need to know if you buy:
I could have walked into a Best Buy and picked either of the TVs up there if I wanted as well. Hell, the 40 inch was also $800 there too! But then I would have had to pay $40 bucks in taxes. The 42 is $1000. And Best Buy isn't held high in my regard due to past experiences. Meanwhile Amazon and NewEgg are both awesome and their customer service is excellent. I'm a little scared of having this delivered due to possible poor handling but I'm hoping it comes through. In the event something breaks, well, that's what the warranty is for.

Things to do when looking for a TV:
-Look at websites for reviews on tvs and advice on what or how to buy.
-Price match on websites like amazon and newegg (use pricegrabber.com if you have to).
-See your tv in real life if you can to see for yourself.
-Ask friends for advice if you can.
-Be flexible and if you find deals on something you like, take advantage of it.

It's okay to wait on things like TVs. Electronic devices become cheaper all the time as they make more and new models come out. Hell, remember that 2 gb Sansa clip I got for $40 a while back? You can get it for $20 now. Beat that Apple.

My biggest issue about getting this tv was more personal than anything else. I haven't bought too many big ticket items before, so getting over that was pretty hard. And with this economy, this may be the only present I'll get myself this year. But oh, man, what a present. Of course, this could all backfire on me. But I think I was careful enough and I can't wait to see this baby.

My review on the tv and reflections on it once the thing comes in, probably next week.

Upcoming things I'm going to blog about:
-Portable Hard Drives because I keep telling Jean I would finish this and I suck. I know.
-Budget gaming because I realize i'm buying too many games. So I'm trading them. Online.

So in the mean time everyone, stay smart and stay cheap.

Quick Post: Obama Inauguration

Just quick post, the main one will be up mid week and it will have my pick of HDTV, plus a quick bit about external hard drives and how to buy one. I've decided to post on a weekly basis, so keep me in the loop if you have requests.

I've been running around DC this weekend, checking out the concert and other events and having a blast with some friends. I won't be attending the inauguration, however, because I don't have a ticket and the travel time will be ridiculous. People going are looking at traveling for at least 3 hours to the mall, then lord knows how long afterwards. Best bet is checking it out on TV.

If you don't have a tv, Lifehacker has a post on how you can watch the inauguration in the safety and warmth of your house/computer.
http://lifehacker.com/5132476/lifehackers-guide-to-catching-the-inauguration-from-anywhere

stay smart and cheap.

Requested: Wireless Headphones: Freedom for a Price

I had been trying to put this up for a while, but December-January was a bit of a break from work for me. I got a good amount of extra work done that I had been meaning to get around to, in addition to selling some old games and beating older ones (damn you FFVII). Anyway, I digress.

I promised someone I would do some research on wireless headphones, just to do a bit of webcrawling for fun. However, I realized some things:

-Wireless headphones are a mixed bag for me. I am a cheap person; wireless headphones are generally not as inexpensive as their corded counterparts due to the cost of adding the wireless component.
-However, I am also a lazy person: walking around my house and listening to my music on my computer (not mp3 player) without cables is nice, and also blaring it without bugging my roommates at 3am is great also.
-But in the end, quality wins: wireless headphones sound quality isn't as good as corded headphones due to signal interference.

I noticed my parents had two of them when I came home for the holidays: dad watches his action movies at night without waking my mom and mom can watch her chinese/korean/american dramas without waking my dad or forcing him to watch said drama.

They got these: Sony-MDR-RF960RK-Wireless-Headphones

They're not bad, but I still wasn't impressed and thought they could get better. I think they got these as a gift from my uncle tho, so I can't blame them. And the reviews look okay on Amazon too. But here are some things to look for if you're shopping around for these:

Brand. Any audiophile will tell you the brands that are the best and those same brands apply here: Sennheiser hands down offers the best quality, but Sony puts out many decent headphones as well. Buyer beware though with Sony: they have many models that range from suck to great so look up your specific model carefully.

Infrared, Radio Frequency, or Bluetooth? There are different ways to transmit audiot wirelessly:

-Radio Frequency uses radio waves to transmit to your headset, allowing you to wander up to 100 meters away from the base unit. The downside is that the signal is easily interfered with by cell phones, microwaves, tv signals, and wireless routers. Good headphones will scan different frequencies to find the best channel to transmit with as little interference as possible however.
-Infrared are good for movie viewing or laying in bed. These require a direct sight to the infrared transmitter in order for them to work, but they provide less interference compared to radio frequency headphones.
-Bluetooth seem to be the most varied and work with things from computers to cell phones and have a very high quality output, but you can't use them for a theatre set up, for example.

Use: Are you using it for a movie setup, bedtime, wandering the house, or wandering in general? Bluetooth can be used with any bluetooth enabled device, but you can't easily set it to work with your tv. RF headphones will let you walk around the house, and IR is good if you use them in one specific spot with one specific device and offer a clearer sound. Also, if you buy bluetooth, make sure that the thing you want to use it with is compatible with the headphones. Some headphone makers have headphones that will only work with certain ipods for example.

Price: Adding features such as audio-canceling will also jack up the price like mad. In addition, Infred is usually more expensive than RF.

The safest bet looks to be the Sennheiser RS120 for about $80, RS130 for about $120, or RS140 for about $190 based on your price range. Again, make sure you distinguish between RF and IR, I think these are all RF and I would vote for that only because I could walk around with them on, but be aware that RF gets hissing sounds in moments of silence due to interference.

Headphones are one of the things you can't skip on for good quality sound. You can pretty much buy the crappiest mp3 player out on the market and if you pick up a good set of headphones it'll sound amazing.

Which is why I'll stick to corded headphones, thank you very much. Stay smart, stay cheap.