Tech Tips

11 August 2014

Ikea Dimmable LED Light Bulb Review

Ikea Dimmable LED Light Bulb Review

Model:
LEDARE - E26 - LED1207G11

Link:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20266225/

Key Specs:
10 watt
600 lumens (~60 watt equivalent)
2700 kelvin
25000 hours

From Energystar.gov, here is a quick reference chart that shows approximate lumens for old incandescent light bulbs:

Old Incandescent Bulbs (Watts)	ENERGY STAR Bulb Brightness (Minimum Lumens)
40	450
60	800
75	1,100
100	1,600
150	2,600

We used 4 of them to replace 60W incandescent bulbs in a ceiling fan.

Pros:

Despite being lower lumens, the lights actually appear brighter, in fact we normally only have to turn the dimmer half way up to get enough light!
Use only 10 Watts at max brightness, so we are saving over 75%
Price, was $10-12 when we bought them and have dropped in price to $7.49

Cons:

They are "instant on", but I have noticed at lower dimmer settings they do take longer to come on, and it works best to turn them on fully and then dim them.
Hang out slightly farther in the light fixture than the bulbs they replaced

Other Thoughts:

Does not dim as low as the lights they replaced, but maintains a constant white (old bulbs would become redder as they dimmed)
Come in both frosted and clear

21 February 2014

Review ASUS AC66R wireless router

I picked up a refurbished ASUS ACC66R wireless router in June 2013 for 119.99 from newegg. The only difference between the AC66R and AC66U is that the R version is sold in brick and mortar retail stores and the U version is sold thru online channels.

It had been running great until I moved it in Feb 2014 and then it did not like to stream 5GHz thru 3 walls (2 outside ones). However, upgrading the firmware to the latest and upping the 5Ghz transmit power to 110 mW stabilized the connection.

Pros:

Simultaneous Dual Band (2.4 and 5GHz)
Gigabit LAN
Supports draft AC
Has guest networks that are isolated from your network
2.4GHz range is much better than my old E2000
Stable, has needed very little rebooting (I think twice in 6 months)
Sleek looking
3 adjustable external antennae (recommend 45, 90, 45 degree oreintation)
Supports IPv6

Cons:

Not final AC

Other thoughts:

Have not tested AC streaming as I don't have any clients

20 February 2014

Review Canon Powershot s110

Canon Powershot s110

I was looking for a higher end point and shoot that works better in lowlight than our older models. I had a couple choices that I narrowed it down to:

Canon Powershot s110
Nikon Coolpix P7700
Sony DSC-RX100

However Amazon and Bestbuy put the s110 on sale for $219.99 including a 32GB and a carrying case. This was enough to seal the deal.

Pros:

Flash is bright, but does not give our dogs zombie eyes
Camera starts up quickly
Touch screen works well
Zoom is quick

Cons:

Flash pops-up right where you want to put your left hand.
Lots of controls, made finding the timer shot difficult

Other thoughts:

WiFi requires an app installed on the phone
I used this website to help pick: http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canon-powershot-s110/

25 December 2013

Windows CD Rip to MP3

As I bought my first cd in a long time thanks to Pandora :-) I needed to get some software to create MP3s out of it so that I could transfer them to my phone and audio players. iTunes would have been the obvious choice, but I do not use that so here is what I used.

I chose Exact Audio Copy: http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/
I also needed to download LAME from here: http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-bundle.php

It worked like a charm.

23 December 2013

Review Sony Blu Ray Player BDP-BX110

Review of Sony Blu Ray Player BDP-BX110

Here is my review of the Sony Blu Ray Player BDP-BX110. The only difference between this model and the BDP-S1100 is the inclusion of a HDMI cable. Also similiar are the BDP-BX310 and BDP-S3100 which include Wi-Fi and the BDP-BX510 and BDP-S5100 which include 3D playback.

Pros:

I got it for $40 refurbished from Newegg (about the price of a new DVD player)
DVD playback is very quick to start
Blu Ray playback takes longer to start, but is still fairly fast
Internet apps include: Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, and Hulu Plus (among others)
Amazon Instant Video works well (don't have Netflix or Hulu Plus account to try) and is easy to navigate on the TV using the remote
Nice looking small enclosure
Only the power button lights up in a non-obtrusive white

Cons:

Ethernet Only. I really wish I shelled out more cash for the Wi-Fi version ($78 on Amazon new)
Had to sign up for a Bravia account to use Amazon Instant Video - however, it easily allows you to sign up for a free account right through the Blu Ray player
Battery door on remote squeaks when pressing buttons for me (my wife does not have this problem)
Remote is not universal, but can turn on the TV and adjust the volume, it just does not allow you to scroll up and down through the channels

Other Thoughts:

Includes a quick start mode that increases the start up speed, but requires more power when "off" (I do not use this mode)
Did have to apply approximately 100MB of updates before the internet apps would work

16 October 2013

Installing perl in a User Directory

Here is the procedure that I went thru to add perl into a user directory:

Setup the directories:

```
cd 
```
```
mkdir perl5 
```
```
mkdir perl5/bin 
```
```
mkdir perl5/lib 
```
```
mkdir perl5/man 
```
```
mkdir perl5/man/man1 
```

Download the source (See this link for URLs: http://www.cpan.org/src/README.html)

wget http://www.cpan.org/src/5.0/perl-5.10.1.tar.gz

Unpack it

```
tar zxvf perl-5.10.1.tar.gz 
```

Install it

```
cd perl\-5.10.1 
```

./Configure -des -Dusethreads -Dprefix=$HOME/perl5

```
make test && make install 
```

Configure PERL5LIB (add to .profile)

export PERL5LIB=$HOME/perl5:$HOME/perl5/site_perl

Install cpanm

```
$HOME/perl5/bin/cpan App::cpanminus 
```

Install LWP

```
$HOME/perl5/bin/cpanm LWP 
```

Install XML::Parse and Expat:

Download Expat: http://sourceforge.net/projects/expat/files/expat/

wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/expat/files/expat/2.1.0/expat-2.1.0.tar.gz/download

Compile Expat

```
tar -zxvf expat-2.1.0.tar.gz 
```
```
cd expat-2.1.0 
```
```
./configure --prefix=$HOME/usr 
```
```
make 
```
```
make install 
```

Install XML::Parser

```
cd 
```
```
perl5/bin/cpan 
```

o conf makepl_arg "EXPATLIBPATH=/prod/user/home/boz604/usr/lib EXPATINCPATH=/prod/user/home/boz604/usr/include"

```
o conf commit 
```
```
install XML::Parser 
```
```
quit 
```

Install Net::SSLeay and OpenSSL and Zlib:

Download OpenSSL

wget http://www.openssl.org/source/openssl-1.0.1e.tar.gz

Compile OpenSSL

```
tar -zxvf openssl-1.0.1e.tar.gz 
```
```
cd openssl-1.0.1e 
```

./config shared --prefix=$HOME/usr --openssldir=$HOME/usr/openssl

```
make 
```
```
make test && make install 
```

Download Zlib

wget http://www.zlib.net/zlib-1.2.8.tar.gz

Compile Zlib

```
tar -zxvf zlib-1.2.8.tar.gz 
```
```
cd zlib-1.2.8 
```
```
./configure --prefix=$HOME/usr 
```
```
make 
```
```
make test && make install 
```

Install Net::SSLeay

```
cd 
```

OPENSSL_PREFIX=$HOME/usr perl5/bin/cpan Net::SSLeay

Install LWP::Protocol::https

```
cd 
```
```
perl5/bin/cpanm LWP::Protocol::https 
```

Here is how to set custom Include and Lib directories:

In CPAN:

```
perl5/bin/cpan 
```

o conf makepl_arg "LIBS=-L$HOME/usr INC=-I$HOME/usr/include"

```
o conf commit 
```

When running perl:

```
perl -I $HOME/perl5/lib/site_perl 
```

Inside your perl script

use lib "/home/user/perl5/lib/site_perl";

17 September 2013

LG 32LN5310 Review

Over Labor Day weekend, I purchased the LG 32LN5310 from Best Buy for $259.99 +tax. Here is my review of it.

Pros:
- Assembly of the base was easy
- Good auto channel detection
- Seems to use Direct LED back-lighting instead of edge-lit
- 1080p
- Excellent viewing angles
- Has an Optical Audio out

Cons:
- Eco mode seems to be too dark and I can't seem to find a way to increase the backlighting without going to normal mode since it is automatic
- Does not appear to support HDMI 1.4 and Audio Return Channel

Other Thoughts:
- Does not support local dimming and 3D, but at this price point not to be expected
- Switching the tv from Eco to Normal mode and adjusting the brightness down gives an excellent picture
- I know that 1080p at this tv size does not make any difference, but at the same price it certainly doesn't hurt :-)
- This is the perfect size for a bedroom (or small living room)
- I cannot find the tv on LG's website, but the best theory I have found is that it is just a rebranding of the 32LN5300 to be a Best Buy exclusive.