I recently picked up the Archos 5 Internet Tablet, so I could use it as an ebook reader.  Well I’ve had it a little under 24 hours and have been very frustrated with it so far.  What this thing can do is LIMITLESS, with android and the Internet..  I thought this could be a contender for any ebook reader.  It’s small, it has an awesome screen.  It has an eBook reader.  It has Multimedia capabilities and WiFi.

My hopes were violently trashed as I tried to setup this device.  First, I could connect to WiFi on my home network, but I couldn’t actually get anywhere.  Due to this fact, I had to download the newest firmware manually and side load it into the device.  The update was easy and no problem have happened there.  With new firmware in hand, I try WiFi again.. Still no network connection, regardless that it has a local IP.

I took this device to work and was FINALLY able to connect to the WiFi network.  Now, mind you, I have another WiFi device sitting right next to it (my iPhone).  Both had a network connection, however the Archos would continually DROP the wifi connection, forcing me to manually reconnect every time.  I was able to get to the Internet, update Appslib (Archos’ Android Marketplace) and download the eBook Reader (Aldiko).  However, 70% of the time (with an active WiFi Connection) I was getting a “Network Error”

Archos 5 Reading a Book

Once I finally got my eBooks on this device, they look wonderful.  I did however have issues of the device just shutting itself off, and having to reboot, clear cache and restart what I was doing.

All the issues I am having with this device is thinking, I should just return this and wait for the Alex, or maybe get the  Nook. The reason I got this device, was that it was the same price as the nook, I thought it would do it all.. but more and more I’m just getting frustrated!

I figure, by the end of this year, I’ll have tried EVERY popular eBook reader, in my futile attempt at the perfect reader.

More to come…

Heck I even bought a Kindle DX, but have since returned it.  I’ll explain a few things I’ve found out doing some research and reading on the net.

Now the kindle.  The kindle was a nice piece of kit, it was big it had a keyboard.. it was nice.  The only thing, I didn’t like exactly how it worked with PDF’s.  But the rest was nice, the wireless was nice, however I usually had it turned off.  e-Ink and display were nice, and of course, it’s amazon.

Now, after doing some reading on the Nook, I’ve found out.. Yes it has a native PDF reader but you can’t annotate PDF’s.  Well that kind of bites.  I was also able to play around with the hardware a bit at B&N tonight.  The display was nice, it did seem a little sluggish when refreshing, but I don’t expect it super speedy.  The color screen seemed.. cumbersome.  It mis-registered finger clicks, the swiping action, when I was using it, reset the swipe every time I tried to swipe the list of options .. So I would swipe up, and the option my finger was under popped to the bottom, and then screened up.. I had to do this 4 times, before I got a “page”.  That kinda put me off.

Now after reading about the Sony 600 Touch, and playing with it quickly at target, I seem to like the interface on that a bit.  Wireless is not a deal breaker for me, but would be a nice touch.  The screen was nice and quick, and it responded well to finger swipes and touches.  I have read online that the Sony Reader allows annotations in PDF’s (Nook and Kindle do NOT), which I think is a selling point for me.. I plan on keeping alot of my books on the SD cards anyway (the Kindle does not take SD cards, the nook takes microSD cards, but you have to take the back off to load it, above the SIM Card).

I have a SD card full of PDF’s I’d like to try, but Targets display blocked the SD Slot.  Best Buy’s display took the SD card and said “Reading Card” but the display unit wouldn’t go out of “Demo” mode, so I’m going to have to ask the staff if they will allow me to see a demo unit that works.  But for the buck, at this time I’d pick the 600 at this time for my styles of eReader.  The Sony has more options of “reading” formats, it has the nice touch and (from what I hear) good PDF support.  I’m sure Sony will come out with a wireless enabled device next year (pending contracts I’m sure).  However, Alex, iLiad and the Que readers coming out next year.  So I’m trying to decide if I should wait, or use Best Buys return policy to “try” the Sony Reader.  It’s on sale ( or was today ) for 20$ off.

If I decide to try the Sony, I will definitely have a review here, stay tuned.

UPDATE: I just found out that the eReader Daily Edition (which launches next week, the 18th), is 100$ more and offers 3G wireless (AT&T) and still a touch screen.  All in a 7″ reader.  Might be a contender.

Alright, I might be a little behind, but back when Uncharted originally came out I downloaded the demo, and had major issues playing the game.  I really never liked FPS style games, and I just didn’t give this one a chance.  The visuals were awesome and I told myself if the game ever dropped in price, I was going to try it.

About a month ago, I found this game for 30$ at BestBuy, so I thought I’d finally try the game.  Let me tell you, this game has got to be one of the MUST HAVE for PS3 owners.

So I got into the game, the amazing cinematics.  The awesome graphics.  The ease of game play.  As I’m not much of a FPS gamer, I played the game very safe (and on normal) and tried to use mostly guns for the fighting.  Let me tell  you, the amount of different weapons was quite interesting.  I myself, loved the Dragon Sniper Rifle.  That was just awesomeness in a can.  There is melee combat as well, which I didn’t do much of.   The game also consists of several puzzles, but on Normal mode the game does help out with some hints.

With this game, unlike many games, I never used any sort of walkthroughs or cheats on this game.  I had lots of fun just trying to figure it out myself, with my 8 year old helping me look for ammo and treasure.

First time through, I got most (half) of the treasures, so I figure for me, that’s not too bad.  Once you finish the game, and save the world the main menu  unlocks some bonus content.  Watching the behind the scenes of how they made the game, for a techie and 3d person was just awesome.

Now I have the ability to play certain levels again (like I didn’t play them enough when I was dying the first time) and try to get more trophies and more treasures.  Now that I understand the game mechanics, some of the earlier levels might be a lot more fun.

As I’ve said before, I would highly recommend this game to every PS3 owner, even if you don’t like the FPS genre.  It mixes a lot of other things in too.. GET IT!! (it’s cheaper now too)

Score: 9.5 out of 10
Recommend: YES

]]> http://www.dave-bates.net/2009/10/28/uncharted-a-review/feed/ 0 http://www.dave-bates.net/2009/08/13/things-on-my-mind-8132009/ http://www.dave-bates.net/2009/08/13/things-on-my-mind-8132009/#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:24:49 +0000 Dave Bates http://www.dave-bates.net/?p=122 Well it’s been a few weeks since my last post.

During that time, I’ve had a few more small occurrences of my vertigo and something else, no one can seem to figure out.  I’ve had this problem for almost a month now, CT Scan was normal, more tests to come.. there are good days and there are bad days.  I just wish there were more good days.

On a lighter note, I’ve recently picked up a sock knitting book, hopefully I can get to this sometime soon.. the problem I have is finding good sock yarn.  I’m looking for a nice set of yarn, also I’m looking for some Red/White self striping yarn as well.. I checked knit picks and a few other places, but have not been able to find some.

As well, I’ve finally got all the books in the InkSpell trilogy.  I’m hoping to start those soon, however I’m really slow in reading, so it might be a while yet before I get them started.
After that I’m hoping that I can get the Alosha Series to read that, book #2 of that series, is really hard to find.. so I hope I can find that.

On the forseable future, I have a few web projects that are closing down here soon.  As well, I have a new LW projects (maybe silo too) that I want to start up, I have a friend that’s going to help me with this one.  Maybe two friends.

Not much more new to report right now, however, still got more med tests and more doctors to tell me, “We don’t see anything wrong”.

First, let me just say, that I love fried foods.  Moz Sticks, Provago Wheels, French Fries, Donuts.. it doesn’t matter, I’ll eat just about anything fried.  So, what better way to merge two of my favorite things, into one.  I found a “Fried Twinkie” recipe on the interwebs and thought I’d try it out.  I’ve heard these are supposed to be the bomb-diggity, so why not.

Okay .. Let me just say, this was the WORST food for you ever.  This thing, I’m sure, would kill a rhino!  The batter was good, the gooey-ness of the twinkie inside was awesome.  However, the heaviness of this thing I could tell was just choking off my arteries.  It was a pretty good treat.. but the recipe called for making 6, and no one else would try them, so I felt compelled to eat three of these things… needless to say I was sick for the rest of the night!

Next, can I just say that I used to LOVE wrestling, when I was a kid.  WWF, WWE or whatever it’s called now, I can see kids enjoying for entertainment value till about their 20’s (past that, I dunno).  I myself, do not consider myself a sportsman by any means either.  Loathe most of the normal sports (basketball, baseball, bad-mitten, what have you).  But let me just say if you EVER get the chance to see a bout of roller derby, DO IT.  This was the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen in my life.  These girls were good sports and they worked HARD at what they do.  You wouldn’t think that skating for 20 minutes at a time is very taxing, but just go watch these girls work out.  It was the most entertaining thing I’ve seen since ABC’s Wipeout.  And our girls trounced the Chicago Crew by 70 points.  I’m definitely hooked, and think I will be getting tickets for every bout that I can!

Finally, on the gaming front, I finished Ghostbusters (on my birthday) on the casual “portion” of the game.  The game was pretty awesome, and I will have a review coming here soon for that, but I would suggest it to anyone who liked the movie, was just as funny.  Good to know that Aykroyd has not lost his touch!

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve talked to everyone, I was in the hospital last week (sun – wed) with BPPV.  My type was what the therapist coined: “Extreme Horizontal Vertigo”.  Basically I had vertigo spells when I turned my head either left or right, and they would last for more than 2 minutes.  If you’d like more information on BPPV, jump here.

BPPV Canals

So far, we haven’t gotten any re-occurence of the BPPV, however they say that it’s a 10% chance that I will have it flair up again this year.

On a more positive note, more info about my world.  I have sent the Kindle back.  It was too much money for not enough return.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’d recommend it to people, I thought it was a great device, however I guess it just wasn’t the right time to get an eReader for me.

On another positive note, we had our Insurance adjuster out to see the damage caused by the storm, we have gotten a check to fix the work and we should be getting that going pretty soon, however we may be displaced for a couple of weeks during renovations.  Seems like most of the house will be replaced after this.

And on a closing note, I’ve started to do some modeling again, I’ll try to show some pics when I get them finalized.. nothing big.. nothing major.. just some “tests” to make sure I remember how to do this stuff.

Okay, I’ve had my Kindle for over 48 hours now.  I’ve done lots of downloading and such to get some open source and sample chapters on the reader.

Here’s my quick and dirty review of the DX after about 48 hours of use.

First, let’s talk about the screen.  The screen is awesome, the 9.5″ screen really isn’t as big as you thing, it seems really natural to me.. I don’t think I could do the 6″ screen.  The battery is doing very well, on a normal CELL phone it would be “one tick” down.  The wireless coverage is actually pretty good, but as is the cell phone 3G coverage.  However, I have found that I use the USB more than the wireless features of the device.

Kindle in ScreenSaver Mode

The screen is pure awesomeness.  It’s big, it’s crisp and works wonderfully portrait or landscape mode.  The keyboard takes some getting used to.  It’s like typing on tick tacks, but it becomes natural after a little while.

Next, PDF Support.  PDF’s seem to work very very well on this device, as in comparison to the Sony 700.  The one thing I found that I really did NOT like about the PDF support is the fact that you can NOT add annotations to PDF files.  Bookmarks, yes.  Notes, no.. and this is one of my MAJOR things when looking for a eReader.

The Text-to-speech is about what you would expect from a computer.  But it’s not overly bad.  On the other token, the text-sizing is wonderful.  My parents, who both have bifocal+, loved this feature.

I did find, after reading  a few chapters here and there, that I do honestly miss having a hardcover book in my hand.  I am sure this is some sort of nostalgia, but I really do miss having that book in my hand, I’m sure this puts me in that weird “old foggy” section of tech geeks.  I love the ultra-shiny aspect of the device, and the fact it can hold all the books I can think of, and it REALLY does look like a book, but not having that paper in my hands.. I miss it already.. and I don’t really read all that often, but having the kindle in my hands has sparked my interest in reading again.

One thing I did find annoying is that, I have a reading disorder.  I don’t really remember what it is, but it takes me FOREVER to read a page, and I found that in my reading of a page, the screen saver would kick in and I’d have to turn the device back on.

So, now I’m in that “on the fence” moment of sending the DX back, and going out and buying a few books and saving the money for something else.. or keeping it and getting over my nostalgia.

Decisions….comments are always welcome.

Yes I sew.  Yes I knit.  Yes I Cross-Stitch (NO I don’t crochet :p).  Deal with it.  It’s fun, and you get to make things.

Well, a friend of ours was teaching a class on how to make sock creatures.  Now, I’m sure many of you have seen the Sock Monkey.  The Sock Monkey has been around since the 1930’s, and was pretty much the easiest thing to make in Arts and Crafts.  Well over time he’s budded into other Sock Creatures (just about anything you can think of), including the Spock Monkey.  I thought these things were awesome, and I figured, since I knew how to sew why not!

Cover of Stupid Sock Creatures

The class, which is 2 nights once a week, was held at Home Ec, a wonderful little Thread-Banger store in Iowa City.  They are nice people, give them a visit when you can.  The class, so far, was awesome and I have a Sock Man started.  There are, however, no plans on what he will actually be.. but it’s a start.  I’ve also been looking at maybe getting the Stupid Sock Creatures book as well and doing many more of these sorts of things.  Goodwill is a plethora of used socks I’m sure we could use and low prices.

More over, this class is  yet another attempt at trying to get the impending delivery of my Kindle.  Keep the mind busy, it won’t know how to cope.

I leave you now, with SPOCK monkey.  Live long and prosper!

Spock Monkey, attacked by tribbles

I currently ordered an Amazon Kindle DX and upgraded my shipping (of course) to two-day.  Today I checked my order status and noticed the estimated delivery date:
Yes that’s right, even though it’s just this Friday (count ‘em, 4 days and counting), I still can’t wait.

I’m very excited to get this nifty new little device, I’m just hoping that it will be everything that I hope it will be.  This is the reason I wish we had an Amazon Store nearby.

Look for my Kindle Review, sometime next week, after I’ve had time to manhandle the thing

eReader?  I thought to myself, why would anyone want a eReader.  The cold plastic book that holds books.  Doesn’t a laptop (or net-book for that matter) do the same time?  Why would anyone want to look at a screen for the amount of time that you would read a book.

These are all things that many people would say.  Let me tell you though, once I saw the Sony Reader (PRS-505) in Target one day, I fell in love with the thing.  The screen was dark gray text on light gray background, it looks almost exactly like a book would.  The text was sharp, rich and clear.  Seems, also, that it would not contain any eyestrain.

eBooks Side by Side

Seems that these LCD’s we have now have a back-light, that after a good amount of time, start to strain your eyes.  LCD’s have, granted, a faster refresh rate than CRT’s, but they do still flicker.  Granted the flicker is almost not noticeable to the human eye, but if you ever video record a Flat Panel or a CRT monitor you will see it.  This flash causes eye strain as your brain still sees the flash and tries to adjust your vision to match.  This, of course, is highly debated.

PDF and eBook, side by side

So in my quest to find the true “The One” eReader, I found a plethora of readers.  Some of which haven’t been finished yet (Plastic eReader) and some that compare to the big boys (JetBook).  I quickly found, the two most popular readers are the Sony Reader (PRS 505 and PRS 700 currently) and the Kindle.

I’m sure many of you have heard of the Kindle (or seen one somewhere) as Amazon has sure put a advertising blitz out there.  Many blogs also talk about the Kindle.  The Kindle, in my findings, seems to be the cadillac of the eReaders (some have called it the iPod of eReaders).  The sony is the nicely priced mid-sized car of the eReader line.

PDF on 700

Now, what I want to do with the eReader is be able to view books (Stephen King, Dean Koontz) and view PDF’s I’ve bought, as well as reading work documents on the go.  This would greatly reduce what I have to carry in a normal day.  Needles to say, PDF support is a must.  I also would like to be able to add notes to pages.  I’m a notorious note take in my books, be it with post it’s or writing, this is very important to me.

Now the Kindle doesn’t native support PDF’s and from what I heard their conversions aren’t the best.  (Except for the Kindle DX, releasing on June 10).  Every other eReader seems to support PDF.  So I thought I would try to find the Sony Reader that supports PDF nicely and allows notes.  The Kindle has always allowed notes and bookmarks, but has just now allowed PDF (Kindle DX).
I was able to see and touch the Sony Reader 505 at Target, which is where I fell in love with the idea of an eReader, but could NOT find a 700 anywhere.  Finally found that Borders has 700’s so I took a roadtrip to a local borders (about 1.25 hours away) to see the Reader.  The 700 honestly did not impress me at all.  The text was hard to read on a normal book, the contrast was horrid.  The PDF support was nice, it had zoom and annotation that I wanted, but reading it was hard with the glare from the touch screen.  I thought to myself, I should just try it.  So I ask Borders what thier return policy is, they only return Readers if they are defective.  The only Sony Store has a 14day return policy I believe, but after seeing the two side by side, I figure I won’t even bother.

The Kindle DX, I believe, will be my reader of choice.  The Amazon Store has an ample 30 day return policy (from delivery date) and PDF support.  Plus it has a bigger screen.  I found that while trying to read PDF’s on the Sony’s 6″ screen, it was hard to read at small “form”.. and when you expand the text the formatting kinda breaks.  The large 9.7″ screen of the Kindle DX I think will really help with that.

The only downside (besides price) of the Kindle DX, would be there is no SD Card support and the battery is in the form factor (ala the iPod).

Once I get my Kindle I will post a more functional review.