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Man, I love those moments when something comes along that just . . . well, blows your mind. If you read my previous post about Spotify, you know I was pretty keen on the service. Well, I’m ending month number two of LOVING the steady stream of anything-I-want-at-any-time-for-free music. And, guess what? My mind just got blown even bigger.

Spotify is now open to the public (no longer invitation only) for US users. This is the point where you pause your reading, open a new window, and go sign up . . . seriously, NOW. I’ll wait.

OK, here’s where the next 6 months get really nice . . . then, it’s decision time. From what I hear, free users of Spotify can get the offline sync mode functionality in their smartphone app. So, this means you can get the Spotify app on your phone, log in, then it is seen by Spotify on your computer. You can then sync ANYTHING to your phone for as much space as you have.

Did I mention that this is done WIRELESSLY. And, it’s about the most flawless execution I’ve seen. I literally opened the app on my phone and a “sync playlists to iPhone” popped up on my computer screen. I selected the playlists I wanted to include and it started chugging away – pretty swiftly, I might add.

So, here I am excited all over again – six months should be plenty of time to see if I want to chunk down $9.99/month for all-you-can-eat music.

This is just plain awesome.

www.spotify.com

So, I heard news of our friends across the pond having this super-fantastic service called Spotify. There, they could pay a fee and get all-you-can-eat service . . . still, something about the “rental” model just didn’t seem to thrill this “old-school” music consumer (even if I have adopted MP3 downloads pretty heavily lately).

Then, yesterday, I get my invite to spotify (it was hidden in my spam filter – woohoo!). Now, you might ask, “did he just jump into the paid model of service?”. Nope. Ready for this? So far, the free version is every bit as good as LaLa’s old service . . . AND, I can play the files again! LaLa would limit to 30 seconds after the first full listen. Right now, I’m jamming out to the Marty Stuart Ghost Train Sessions with wreckless abandon (pretty good, btw, BTrain).

So, looks like happy days are here again . . . if you work at your computer all day – I can leave this humming through my speakers as I work. Now, the paid version ($9.99/month) would let me dump any and all music to my iPhone, but I’m gonna stick right here for a while . . . this is pretty dad blame sweet.

www.spotify.com

LM

I think the major draw for this app is the fact that it’s just $.99 for 30 days of activity. This make it very nice for special trips when you don’t want to buy a dedicated system.

What I really like about the system is the clarity of the screen and the speed of the app. Menus are very quick to respond, and I can see the screen while well away from my face. The interface itself for navigating and searching local restaurants and other places is very well laid out. Also, I like the way I can set my home as a favorite and other locations as well.

In addition, just the feature of having an ETA and mileage count down (like a real GPS) is much better than using the Google maps app (of course, until Google Nav comes along!).

All in all, I’m really pleased with this app and I’m excited about taking another trip just opened tried out. I highly recommend it especially since it’s just one dollar.

Well, I went and did it . . . a hard drive crash on my old faithful Thinkpad put me over the edge for something new. I’d been eyeballing the Envy 17 for quite some time for it’s great reviews of screen quality, processor and overall performance, so I bit the bullet.

Let’s say I’m not disappointed. This upgrade moved me from a Core 2 Duo up to a screaming Core i7 quad core chip (8 threads). Also, it’s a 64 bit version of Windows 7 with 6 GB of RAM . . . a very welcome change of pace. I won’t bore with details, but suffice it to say this is a great machine for graphics processing. I’ll go through a quick list of likes/dislikes.

What I like:

Screen – this 17+ inch screen is 1920×1080 (full HD) and is, in a word, gorgeous. It’s amazing what improvements have been made over the past few years. This LED backlit screen leaps at you. I don’t use the full brightness, so it’s more than ample. The glossy screen takes some getting used too, but doesn’t nag too much. It is a 3D screen, but I don’t use it for such – the 120 Hz screen is smooth as butter.

Speed – I’m running 64 bit CS5 suite and it runs very well. 64 Bit Photoshop is great and the 6 GB of RAM really helps out for large files. Most any application runs very well and the large amount of cache on the chip makes common instructions repeat super fast. Since this i7 allows for 8 threads at the same time, multi-threaded apps really scream . . . I just wish there were more available.

Keyboard – while it’s not the same feel as my beloved Thinkpad, the keyboard is enjoyable. What I really like, and didn’t realize I missed, is the number pad available for the right side. Typing is quite comfortable once I adapted to the large island style keys. Back lighting is a nice touch for nighttime work.

What I’m not fond of (but can live with):

Heat – if you’ve read reviews on hight heat from this laptop . . . they’re right. It’s not a deal breaker, but there is a definite ramp up of heat as the processor gets busy. I work at a desk most of the time, so this only affects me during typing and it’s not a big aggravation.

Battery – HP includes an extra battery that is extended, and I can get an hour of normal work in before it needs changing . . . as I said, I’m tethered to a desk most of the time, so this doesn’t affect me so much. Still, not so great to kick back on the couch.

Beats Audio – wow, I really wanted this to be more than it is . . . most reviews were favorable for the Beats audio on the Envy models, but I’m finding it no better than my old laptop. I’ve tried several settings, but it just doesn’t do any better (in some cases worse) than my old Thinkpad. No biggie as I plug in to speakers, but I was disappointed in the lack of clarity for what was promoted.

Perks and Misnomers

One thing I think I’m really going to like, once I make room, is the multi monitor aspect of this machine. You can run the laptop monitor as well as two other monitors at the same time . . . makes for great work space.

Many have griped about the finicky trackpad. There is a tendency to hold your “click”finger on the pad while trying to move the cursor which, in turn, cancels out the motion. This is managed better with repetition, so after a few instances, I figured out the pattern. Not a bother to me.

Overall, I am very satisfied with this notebook after two weeks. I think I’ll get several years of use from this laptop and am impressed with HP’s gaming laptop.

Oh, and the instructions below are only for Windows users (Mac instructions are out there somewhere!)

http://jaxov.com/2010/11/how-to-enable-airprint-service-on-windows/

FYI – you’ll need iOS 4.2 or higher plus the latest iTunes (10.1 or higher)

So, I just heard that the JoliCloud 1.1 OS was just released. I always wanted to try it, but found Ubuntu just fine. Well, I had the HP 1000 just sitting there, so I went for it . . . glad I did.

Install was as easy as anything. Download an ISO file, run a program to save it to a USB drive, then boot the netbook from the USB drive (press F9 at startup). From there, it took about 5-10 minutes to install. Once booted up, it was ready to go . . . drivers (wifi too) included.

I’m toying around with it, but so far it’s a pretty sweet setup. Chromium Browser is ready to go, as is Facebook. A good number of the apps are simply portals to the web, but it actually works nicely.

I’ll try to post again later with updates, but if you have an old netbook or laptop lying around, this is a great use for browsing and simple computing (text editors are amply available). Go for it at www.jolicloud.com!

So, I went to the old guard, Sony, to see what they had cookin’. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had a very similar setup in their new Bravia Televisions. I read some great reviews of the EX308, so decided to take it for a spin. Sony is moving them out (2010 models) at sonystyle.com. Plus, they make it too easy with financing!

All in all, this is a great TV. Sony has had a solid running in the picture quality department and this one does well (it’s no Panasonic, but their prices were out the roof). I can stream Netflix, Amazon Video, Pandora, Slacker . . . and the list goes on and on. I can even stream from my home network (haven’t set that up yet though.

The set is 720p, but actually I like that in this size (22 inch). The Vizio was 1080p, but everything seemed “softer” on the menus and text. The Sony just feels crisper for whatever reason.

Speaking of menu, the Sony has a very slick interface. It mimics the Playstation 3 menus and is quite easy to use. It does take some time to boot, but you can set the tv to keep power full at certain times of day to avoid boot up times.

All in all, this is a great kitchen (or maybe bedroom) tv. It’s not the cheapest, but is well priced for what it does. It’s not LED backlit, but is plenty for our bright room. It has built in WiFi (usb adapter included). It’s at the far end of the house away from the router, but pulls in streams ok. I might use wired ethernet later (it does offer this).

Good to be a Sony owner again . . . they still got it . . .