Hi All,

Wanted to let y'all know that I did another review for Tech TV last week. I reviewed the Logitech Bluetooth DiNovo Media Center and it's gonna be on Fresh Gear tonight at 5:30 PM PST and repeated a bunch during the week...

I gave it a big thumbs up, btw.

- Jon

So, are you like, a TechTV employee yet?

Not yet... But I'm supposed to be doing a piece for the Travel Channel also (Segway related)...

Everyone says that I should charge for this stuff. I doubt they'd pay for it... There's a lot of people that are capable and would do it for free... I think.

- Jon

Tony, you can see your "face" program shortcut on my desktop when they do a zoom in on the Logitech setup screen. You is famous dude!

- Jon

Heh, too cool. Last night, I got home, sat down and turned on the TV, and the Tivo happened to be tuned to TechTV. I pointed and said, "Hey honey, that's Jon Bauer, one of the empeg guys."

I only caught the last few seconds of your clip, though, and the Tivo wasn't set to record that show. Maybe I'll find a re-run of it somewhere...

Bit late now but wouldn't it have been in the live buffer?

wouldn't it have been in the live buffer?

I powered on the unit at the same time I sat down.

Powered on? You turn yours off??

Ah okay. My S1 standalone TiVo always records to the live buffer even if it's in standby. Dunno about DirecTiVo's and S2 machines.

You turn yours off??

Well, put it in standby. I honestly don't know if it tries to record live TV when it's in standby mode. I know that it has no problem recording scheduled stuff when in standby mode.

Anyway, what I've got is a universal remote that I've programmed with the JP1 interface. I have a macro that turns all of my equipment on and off with a single button press. The Tivo is just part of that macro, so it goes in and out of standby with all the other equipment.

So what does putting it in standby do? I frequently turn on my TV and want to rewind what's on at the moment. I don't see why you wouldn't just let your Tivo go. I'm glad that this mode doesn't even appear to exist in the SA Tivos

It exists, but it's hard to find. As in, it's right next to restart system in the setup menu. Why it would be useful is beyond me. If it really does record things while in SB mode then what's the point? Everything that could fail is still running, just not outputting video. And if it DOES prevent recording live buffer, then I wouldn't want that either. Then again, I never turn off my VCR, Amps, DVD, or CD player either. Mebbe I just like the little glowing lights.

I don't think standby does anything to a TiVo except for turning off the video output...

- Jon

I don't think standby does anything to a TiVo except for turning off the video output...

It also stops video playback so you will notice the hard drive accessing less.

Apparently when the TiVo is in standby then it will record all suggestions. When it's not in standby then it will wait 30 minutes after the last keypress before it'll consider recording a suggestion.

Did you include Logitech's software in that review? If so then I really don't know how it got any positive marks. I'm using the MX700, which uses similar Mouseman software and while the mouse itself is decent, the software complete sucks. I've had to uninstall it and use default windows drivers with an dditional mall program to fix the scroll focus (makes it auto-focusing).

And the cons to the hardware: the buttons other than LMB and RMB are too small. And the extra buttons on top are completely useless - too difficult to access, with the Window Flipper one being downright impossible without harmful hand/arm strain or removing your hand from the mouse.

It seems to me that nothing on these shows ever gets a bad review. While reviewing (for myself) anything, I always keep in mind alternate products. And for this product, apart from its charging cradle, MS mouse products win in every way. Oh well. It was free, so I use it on my media system.

Bruno

I didn't have any problems with the software in the short time I played with it. I didn't try the auto focus feature though. The buttons seemed useful to me, but again, too short a time to really know if they were the right size or not.

They didn't prompt me in any way to give it a thumbs up. Tech TV sincerely wanted to know my thoughts on it.

During the Pioneer TiVo with DVD review I did, the negatives that I mentioned were definitely included with the review... It DID make the # 1 top rated product in their list though...

- Jon

My dad has that MX series mouse, and I agree about it. The buttons on the top are useless due to how difficult it is to reach them. But my biggest gripe is something that you'll find on MS mice too: the thumb button. As far as I've seen, all the latest mice have the thumb button on the top of the side. I know it sounds lazy, but why do I need to move my thumb up to hit those buttons, especially when there's a chance I may use those buttons quite often.

The best mouse I've ever used is the one I'm hanging onto right now. The original Logitech Cordless Mouseman Optical. It has the absolute perfect shape, not too big like the MS mice I've held, and it fits my hand like a glove. The thumb button is on the bottom of the side, right where my thumb rests, so it's easy to hit. This is good for me because I use it nearly as much as the primary click button, since I chose to make it the double-click.

I'm sure there are people who hate this design though, because there must have been a reason to change the layout like they did. Believe me, I love the idea of having a charging cradle so I can stop buying batteries, but the single reason I haven't upgraded to the new Logitech line is the placement of that thumb button. And the reason I haven't gone with MS mice is that I've seen the complete lack of support that my girlfriend and I have been able to get for her mouse, and it is completely unacceptable.

*edit*
Oh yeah, I've seen them review stuff they didn't like, but in most cases the #1 negative thing they have to say about it is that it's simply unnecessary. I think they reviewed that hotspot finder one time, and said that it worked pretty well, but if you're using the thing, chances are you're looking for a signal for your laptop which is most likely along with you and fully capable of searching for a signal already

Finally getting caught up on Fresh Gear and just saw the episode. I'm tempted to get one of there for my media system, how well does the media pad integrate with other media apps, like the ATI Multimedia Center?

Two screenshots I snapped of it:

Other keyboard companies call that piece on the side a numeric keypad. Whether it's removable or not.

That Logitech setup is little bit too expensive. Oh, "little" = "a lot" for this message. Ha.

Bruno

Other keyboard companies call that piece on the side a numeric keypad. Whether it's removable or not

Here is a better view of it.

I am curious how it drives the LCD and what it can do with it.

It's actually pretty cool. It is called a "media keyboard" and it works pretty well for what it does. So 1) you can control your media stuff from far away from the PC 2) it links into MSN Messenger and Outlook to give you any status msgs (someone new logged in, you got a message, etc) and you have a new email, etc. Of course, you can't interact with Messenger or Outlook with it (no alpha keyboard). When you are playing an MP3 file (with a bunch of different apps including WinAmp, the status shows how far you are into the song, how long is left, etc.

I am seriously considering buying this kit as I haven't seen anything better or cleaner or as functional. Also, it comes with a Bluetooth hub that is SUPPOSED to work with all other Bluetooth devices (unlike the Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard thang). I haven't tested that though.

I don't have any other Bluetooth devices yet, but plan to get a Bluetooth supported printer and think I'll prolly eventually have a Bluetooth PDA (damned Treo doesn't have it yet). If I can eliminate SOME wires, I think it's good to do it...

- Jon

I spy an empeg in the top picture. =]

Yep! But I did forget to put the unit into the dock for completeness before the interview...

- Jon

I spy an emplode and Jemplode icon on the desktop...

So, should we change you from Old Hand to Skeptical Shopper?

Sean in NC

I spy an emplode and Jemplode icon on the desktop...

And and EmpegFace icon.

and newsbin pro...
but thats slightly tangential