Anything and Everything
Ever since my hard drive crashed I’ve become increasingly paranoid about losing my data. I went out and purchased an external hard drive to back up all of my data so that I’m not SOL if another drive decides to eat shit.
Looks like my newest hard drive decided to die on me tonight. This is only the second hard drive that I’ve ever lost which is saying a lot because I’ve owned a lot of drives. Although this could have been a huge data-loss disaster I was fortunate. I didn’t lose any of my valuable data because it was all being stored on my other drives. The drive that failed was my Windows XP boot drive. The boot drive on my computer is swappable so even though I lost this particular hdd, I was up and running again in a matter of minutes. I simply had to remove the failed xp drive and replace it with my ubuntu drive and I was back online.
Once I booted into Ubuntu, I went straight to Western Digital’s website and scheduled an RMA replacement. I was expecting the process to be a pain in the arse but it was actually quite easy. Within fifteen minutes I had everything taken care of. They are going to mail me a replacement drive and I’m just going to mail the broken one back to them. I just hope that the new hard drive doesn’t give me any problems.
Now I don’t use Windows XP as my primary OS but this whole ordeal has caused me a few inconveniences. First off, I can’t play any of the computer games that I want to. SUCK! I don’t even play games that often but it seems that now that I can’t… I want to! I guess that’s how it always goes. The other annoyance/inconvenience deals with my youtube videos. I have 4 new videos that are ready to upload and I can’t get them off of my camcorder because Canon’s proprietary software doesn’t want to work with Ubuntu. Right now I’m searching the internet for alternative software that will enable me to do this.
Hopefully my new hard drive will get here soon and I’ll get XP back up and running again.
Also, here’s a video I made about this very same topic…
I just bought a new digital 8-track recorder!!!
Finally, no more cassette tapes!!!!
No more lengthy transfers!!!!
If you can’t tell, I’m fucking ecstatic! I’ve been using the same hand-me-down 4-track cassette recorder for years. This is a vast improvement.
I bought a Fostex MR-8HD! Although it retails @ $399.99, I managed to get it on ebay for a mere $230. I love ebay.
Technically it’s an 8-track but since it can only record 4 tracks simultaneously I tend to call it a 4-track. It has a 40GB hard drive and a built-in CD burner! It also has a USB 2.0 port that makes it possible to transfer projects from the recorder to my computer for easy mixing. This is probably the most important aspect of the new recorder. With the cassette recorder, the projects had to be transferred ‘at length’ which can take a lot of time. It can be very discouraging when you have a 45 minute recording and have to transfer it from a cassette to computer because it takes 45 minutes to do it. LAME! Now, with the new recorder, that would take under one minute! Oh man, so awesome!
Anyway, I’ll post a video inspection when it arrives. This is going to make recording much easier. I’ll be able to put recordings on my computer the same day they are made; and in seconds instead of minutes!
drool
The new processor that I ordered was delivered yesterday at 5PM via UPS. It’s a Pentium D 960 3.6Ghz w/ 4MB shared cache. I know it’s not a core 2 duo but I could only upgrade so much before I would have to opt for a new motherboard. The Pentium D 3.6Ghz will definitely be a few steps ahead of the Pentium 4 3.2Ghz that it is going to replace.
Sadly, I’ve run into a roadblock with the installation. I swapped the CPUs and booted up the computer but nothing would show up on the monitor. I don’t think my video card was booting. I’m beginning to think that my power supply lacks the wattage to accomodate the 135 watt processor demands and still power up the rest of the computer. Logically, this makes sense. Upgrading from a single 3.2Ghz to a dual 3.6Ghz is going to demand a lot more power.
So it looks as if I’m in the market for a new power supply. I just need to figure out how much power my configuration is demanding and make sure I leave room for future upgrades. I’ll probably get a 1,000 Watt power supply if my budget allows it. For now, the Pentium D will be sitting on my desk until I am able to install it.
I still have a few more upgrade purchases to make before my current motherboard has reached its full potential. The mb is a few years old but has never been pushed to its limits. I tend to wait until computer components become cheaper before I upgrade. Now I need to purchase more RAM, a new video card, a high wattage power supply, and a liquid cooling system. Once all of these things have been implemented I’ll be finished for another year or so.
Today I am going to buy my first camcorder. I’ve put a lot of thought into this and I have come to the conclusion that a camcorder will alleviate all of my media capturing needs. My digital camera has ceased to please me. Besides, it doesn’t even work at full capacity anymore because one of the buttons has been removed and despite my best efforts will not re-attach.
As a rule of thumb, I make sure to thoroughly research any item that I plan on spending more than $20 on. This was no exception. I went online and read anything and everything I could get my hands on in regards to consumer-grade camcorders. The first issue to resolve dealt with the recording medium itself.
Which recording medium is the best? Hard Drives, Mini DV, Flash Memory, or DVD? Fortunately, there are hundreds of people that have already asked this question and there were plenty of answers on the internet. Being that most of the answers were consistent I am lead to assume that they are at least somewhat accurate.
Different media types are both good and bad at different things. For instance, Mini DV is touted as having the best video quality of all mediums but the downside is that it takes the longest to transfer from camcorder to computer. Each medium has it’s own +/- points. Recording to a hard drive will make transferring videos to a computer much faster but the video quality is slightly less than Mini DV. Basically it boils down to a compromise between quality and convenience. I’m looking for both.
So let’s go through the mediums and see how they measure up to my ideal.
1.) Mini DV: The transfer time bothers me. I’ve spent countless hours transferring old family videos from VHS and 8MM to DVD and it gets old fast. I don’t want to spend hours transferring my videos to my computer. I understand that the quality is exceptional but I consider my time to be valuable.
2.) Hard Drives: Hard Drives are pretty convenient. They would provide a a large recording medium and quick transfer times but I’m still not convinced. Hard drives have a tendency to crash. Also, since they are constantly in motion (or at least most of the time), I would imagine they drain batteries quickly. I just don’t know if I would want to rely on a HDD that has the potential of crashing if shaken, dropped, or whatever.
3.) DVD: I read that at the highest quality setting you can only record 19 minutes per disk… Terrible! Also, DVDs have to spin and will suck up battery power. Plus, DVDs are expensive and cannot be re-used. Just thinking about the amount of money I would spend on DVDs is discouraging. I don’t think it’s a viable option.
4.) Flash Memory: The quality is still slightly less than Mini DV but the transfer times are WAY faster. Also, there are NO moving parts! Did I mention that Flash Memory is cheap? I can buy a 8GB stick for $24.99 on newegg and re-use it after transferring information to my laptop! I can buy multiple 8GB SDHC cards as well as an additional battery! I think that this is the superior recording medium for me. It’s the perfect balance of quality and convenience.
After shopping around for a few hours I decided that the Sony FS100 was the camcorder model that best suited my needs. Now it’s time to pick a place of purchase. Newegg is currently selling the FS100 for $329.99 (plus $10.00 shipping). So basically, total price on Newegg.com is $339.99 + sales tax. Not too shabby. We’ll use this price as point of negotiation. Normally I would just order from Newegg but I don’t have the option because I’m leaving for Chicago tomorrow and I want to have the camera beforehand…. Ah, limited options. Gotta love them.
So here’s the breakdown so far.
Newegg.com: $329.99 + $10.00 + Tax
BestBuy.com: $399.99 + Tax
Meijer.com: $352.99 + Tax
Target.com: $399.99 + Tax
Frys.com: $369.98 + Tax
Oddly enough, Meijer has the cheapest price in my area. I already figured that Best Buy would be terrible because their prices are consistently terrible. Hrmm. So I guess I’ll be making a trip to Meijer after work. I wish I could wait and order it because I’d save about $10-20 dollars. Now I’m going to have to pay it for convenience. DAMN THE CONVENIENCE!
Anyway, I’ll give a review after I get back from Chicago. I’m sure I’ll have a few words on the topic by then.
Twitter Updates
Last.fm
