I'm eleven hundred and twenty years old! Just gimme a friggin' beer!

Anya ,'Storyteller'


Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."

Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!


Tom Scola - Jan 06, 2016 11:31:23 am PST #24724 of 25496
Mr. Scola’s wardrobe by Botany 500

"The Chevrolet Bolt, when it goes on sale later this year it will be the first long-range battery electric vehicle that's truly affordable. In fact, GM says that after the EV tax credit, the Bolt will cost under $30,000, making it cheaper than the average new-car price. Not bad at all for an EV with a 200-mile range."


askye - Jan 07, 2016 6:49:47 am PST #24725 of 25496
Thrive to spite them

Mom has DSL and it's around 7 mbp, which is way slower than I'm used to. For the most part we can stream Netflix through the xbox BUT we can't have 2 things streaming/downloading at the same time. Downloading takes longer and I'm not able to play certain games right now.

And sometimes things just slow to a crawl but that's usually in prime use times.


DXMachina - Jan 07, 2016 12:15:33 pm PST #24726 of 25496
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.

I am looking for a new wireless keyboard/mouse combo to replace my ancient Logitech combo. So far everything I've tried has been unsatisfactory for one reason or another. For one thing I found that I hate low profile keys. For another, they all go to sleep to save power. I wouldn't mind if the sleep time was adjustable, but the Eagle Tec I'm using right now shuts down the mouse after only 8 minutes of inactivity, and simply moving the mouse doesn't bring it back. You have to press a button. Very annoying. I tried Logitech's current bottom of the line, but it came with a teensy laptop-sized mouse, and there turned out to be a huge lag problem with the keyboard. It was probably due to power saving stuff, but it was taking up to five or ten seconds for the keyboard to respond and actually start typing. It got returned. I've always gone Logitech in the past, so that was very disappointing.

I also have a newish Microsoft combo, but the keyboard is not just low profile, it's so low profile that it's chiclet function keys don't register until you push them through the surface of the keyboard.

So, any thoughts? I use Windows and a little bit of Linux. I want full profile keys, reasonable power saving settings (if any), and a full-size mouse.


Gudanov - Jan 07, 2016 1:02:47 pm PST #24727 of 25496
Coding and Sleeping

Well, I really like my Logitech M510 mouse which is wireless and full-size. I use it with Mac/Windows/Linux. I have a wired keyboard though. So not much opinion there.


DXMachina - Jan 07, 2016 1:11:56 pm PST #24728 of 25496
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.

Yeah, I have considered trying a wired gaming keyboard, but I do tend to move the keyboard about a lot, and the wire gets in the way.


Dana - Jan 08, 2016 3:25:56 pm PST #24729 of 25496
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.

Has the Chromecast improved any for casting a video on your computer to the TV? I remember hearing that it could be dodgy.


Sue - Jan 08, 2016 6:17:26 pm PST #24730 of 25496
hip deep in pie

Do you mean one stored on your computer Dana? I've been using something called Videostream that works through Chrome to do that, and it's pretty reliable. I think I've had to restart things a couple of times, but I'm liking it so far. Also it has an app that lets you use your smartphone (iPhone for me) as a remote.


Dana - Jan 08, 2016 6:35:43 pm PST #24731 of 25496
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.

Yeah, a downloaded video rather than YT or the like.


Gris - Jan 10, 2016 5:21:07 am PST #24732 of 25496
Hey. New board.

I think you can install the plex server all on your computer and cast directly from it to the chromecast. Or control the same server using the ones app on your phone (though I think the phone app costs a few bucks.) It takes a little setup (mostly making sure you have a dedicated folder for movies and a different one for tv shows since it builds a library rather than letting you select files individually) but is very nice once it is done.

Advantage over some apps is it will convert the video on the fly if it's format requires it.


Gudanov - Jan 10, 2016 12:24:31 pm PST #24733 of 25496
Coding and Sleeping

I'm rather digging the Vivaldi browser that is the child of some ex-Opera people. It's built on the Chromium base so it can use Chrome extensions which helps a lot. Worth a look if you like to try something different.

[link]