New York Renovator

Is it any surprise that home entertainment has made tremendous advances in the past ten years. Remember WAY BACK when, about 15 years ago, when we all had one of these?

But now, there are these:

Yow. I have the first TV but certainly not the second. Actually, I’d purchased a newer, fancier model with a flat screen just a few years ago, only to be completely outdated by the plasma, HDTV, super fancified models. I feel so old.

TV really isn’t all that important to us. I still have a barebones tube TV (we picked it up off the curb, for pete’s sake), but I have a very high-end, high octane computer and an iPad for watching stuff. It’s all a matter of priorities.

As a family, we like to watch DVDs and Internet documentaries during dinner, but since we have no television reception, we are limited to watching movies on my small laptop screen. I’ve been investigating my choice for a few months (I take forever to make sure decisions), and am leaning more toward HDMI cables or a converter to rig the laptop to the TV. Getting the cables or converter at Optimization-World.com is WAY cheaper than buying a digital TV. They also sell nice VGA cables for computer to monitor connections.

So I’m pleased as punch that there are affordable options out there for old fogies like me. Maybe I’ll even write a tutorial once I finally get the ball rolling on the project….

I’ve been concerned with those “vampire” electronics in the house these days. Because we’re renovating, I’ve moved the family television into one of the bedooms. And every time I pass by that blasted device, I hear the “tick tick tick tick” of the power. And this is when it is OFF. Gah! I hate those “vampire’ electronics!! They nag at my frugal brain. I cannot fathom why these things would be made in the first place! They consume precious electricity even when they are not being used?! That’s terrible!

Yeah, yeah, place a power strip and turn it off when the devices are not in use, everyone says. That isn’t very practical for me, because my power strip not only holds the TV and DVD player, but also my alarm clock and lamp– things I WANT to have accessible at all times. And I don’t want to have two cluttering power strips in the same outlets and area. It’s a waste. Ugh.

I spotted a device on sale at Buy.com and was wowed. It’s a Tripp Lite ECO Energy Efficient UPS device. UPS stands for Uninterrupted Power Supply. This is terrific! This is from the Buy.com description:

Now you can protect your valuable electronics, save money on your utility bill and be kind to the planet! Tripp Lite’s environmentally friendly ECO550UPS standby UPS system is the ideal green solution for complete protection against blackouts, brownouts and power surges. Its 550VA/300-watt power handling capacity supports entry-level PC systems for up to 17 minutes during blackouts. With a power efficiency rating of 99%, the ECO550UPS offers energy savings plus cooler operation by limiting UPS power consumption to less than 3 watts!

The ECO550UPS provides 4 battery-supported outlets for computer, monitor and other vital system peripherals, plus 4 surge suppression-only outlets for accessories not requiring battery support. Three of the surge-only outlets are ECO outlets that can be configured to automatically power off unused computer accessories like printers or multi-media speakers when the computer is not in use. Built-in single-line RJ11 jacks protect a modem, fax machine or phone. One USB port (USB cable included) plus free PowerAlert software (available via Web download) enables unattended system shutdown without data loss in the case of extended power failure. The ECO550UPS comes with $100,000 Ultimate Lifetime Insurance coverage for connected equipment (USA/Canada only) and a 3-year product warranty.

I already have a UPS device for my main computer, but do need a few more for the other electronic stations we have here. The price is very good, about $50 and it includes shipping. I highly recommend UPS devices, especially now that thunderstorm season is upon us. Our electronics are too valuable to be fried by power outages, power surges, and power fluctuations. Plus, end the vampire suckage, lol! Definitely worth it, in my opinion.

… they start to want the electronic gadgets.

Yep, I’ve managed to keep my kids away from the excessive electronica of our day for this long, but I’ve got a few sons who are suddenly into music. And cameras. And stereos. All we have around here is ONE CD player and one old cassette player (and I still have my old record player, by the way!). But problem is, we don’t buy CDs or cassettes anymore. Everything is moving to mp3 and digital files, and now that the boys like their music…. I guess I’m going to have to adapt. I am very comforted that they like good music, though– Hillsong, Kutless, Newsboys, Andres Segovia, etc. So while I do have to get them mp3 players, at least I don’t have to stomach the fingernails-on-chalkboard screeches of Metallica or anything. Whew!

So. MP3 player. Gosh, where do I begin?! They are expensive! $350 for an mp3 player, for a TEENAGER? That’s crazy! I don’t even have electricity in my upstairs bathroom! NO WAY am I getting an iPod or iPhone, NO WAY.

Ah, but looky here– an iPhone imposter! It’s at Buy.com and it’s very, very slick! It’s the V-Touch 8GB MP3/MP4 2.8″ Touch Screen, and it has a camera and earbuds, too. On sale right now for under $50, with free shipping. I love it, because it does everything a cell phone does except make and receive calls! (My sons have no need for a cell phone, but they like to play with mine because of all the features it has). The V-Touch has got a webcam, a digital camera, plays music and videos, has a voice recorder, an e-book function (very nice!), has a calendar, and more. I think this is perfect for kids, and not *too* expensive, either. It sure beats the $350 price tag for those other players. It’s on sale right now at Buy.com, along with sales on loads and loads of other stuff. I also use Buy.com for my household needs, such as small appliances and parts, garden supplies, etc. I love Buy.com! And I think my kids will love Buy.com, too. This gadget is definitely going on the Wish List!

Well, winters storms are only a few weeks away, and that usually means power outages. Sudden power outages, and power surges, can cause terrible damage to electronics. I have a very high-power (and expensive) computer and monitor that I use for my business. Earlier this year, we had a severe sudden power outage with power surge, and all my computers went ZZZAPPP. Thank God, I had the computers plugged into power strips with surge protectors, but being without Internet service and my computer for several hours was tough! And the sudden shutdown of the computers with a power outage is not good for them.

I bought an uninterruptible power supply battery backup system– the APC Back-UPS model– to protect my computer unit and DSL router and to provide power during outages. Wow! What a difference! We’ve since had several outages, and the APC has performed really well. These models are currently on sale at Buy.com, for very reasonable prices and free shipping.

The battery backups don’t power your electronics very long, though. I have my router, behemoth computer, and 23″ screen monitor (a big power sucker it is) and am able to have about 15 minutes of battery power until I have to shut things down. Of course, if I didn’t use my big computer and used, say, my laptop on its own battery, the APC unit will last much longer. But the APC gives me enough time to finish up what I am doing and shutdown my computer properly during outages. If you have expensive electronics that you want to protect, check these things out, they are very nice to have! I don’t think they are terribly expensive, especially if you can get one on sale. They are certainly less expensive than a new computer or computer repair!

Outlet photo thanks to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakematesdesign/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Have you ever wondered what your computer keyboard looks like inside? I have. Today I decided to open it up and check it out.

It all started when I saw Apple’s new Aluminum Ultra-Thin keyboard. Oh, it’s a beautiful looking thing. I like flat keyboards. Because I sit at a computer all day, I’m quite fussy about my keyboard (and mouse). The Apple is a little beyond my price range ($80 at BestBuy, $50 from Apple) and I’m not sure how it would function with a PC, so I am waiting for a Windows thin keyboard. I’d read that you can take your own keyboard apart and make your own flat one. I don’t necessarily want a flat shell, I want flat keys– that’s why I like the Apple so much– the keys are shaped like Scrabble tiles, only thinner. It’s very nice to use.

Well, all this dwelling on keyboards brought out the screwdriver and camera. We took apart a very old HP keyboard that went to our Windows ME we got almost ten years ago now. My, how time flies!

Inside the plastic shell are three layers of plastic. Two of the layers are very thin sheets. The top protective layer rests on top of the key matrix, which has small gold dots and lines. The electronc pulses course through the lines and dots. They are activated when you press down the keys.

Behind all this is a thicker layer of rubbery plastic with small plastic pads. The pads are directly correlated to the keys above and the gold dots on the key matrix. This kind of HP keyboard is a rubber dome switch kind. It resembles bubble wrap, in a way, but the plastic is more rubbery and the little domes are firmer. When you press on a key while typing, a small mechanism pushes these little rubber domes down. It works as a plunger to touch the point on the key matrix layer. Your computer registers it all as letters, numbers, and symbols. Pretty amazing, huh?

Some geeks have used only the key matrix as their keyboard. They keep the circuitry intact (I dismantled mine, so that I could see it all in pieces). Then they plug in their flat keyboard and press the gold dots with their fingertips.

I can’t see how a homemade flat keyboard would be very comfortable. I don’t mind the shell, it’s the shape and size of the actual keys that matter to me. But after this, my curiosity was sated! Cool, huh?