Recently in Gadgets Category

As regular readers of this blog already know, I'm fond of gadgets. Recently, I've spent way too much time pondering a few new ones, and this entry is just to let you know how it all sorted out:
1) Palm Centro - Now that I've had one a couple weeks, I realize that what I really wanted was an updated Palm PIM (Personal Information Manager.) That it can also act as a cell phone is great, but turning out to be a rarely-used feature. It's nice that a Centro or Treo 755P with suitable data plan can do lots of cool things via Internet access, but now that I've gone without a while, and thought seriously about how much extra I paid for that data access, I may never bother with it again. Skipping it is saving us at least half our monthly cost of service. Further, unlocked and pay-as-you-go is absolutely the only way for me to go - not only is it the only way you can buy a Centro without being forced to also get a data plan, it also simplifies and clarifies the per minute cost of each call. One side effect is that I no longer use my cell# for work, which surprisingly has not been a problem at all.

Kudos to Sprint, which just re-instated the right of its customers to change plans without extending their contract period. That's how they've kept me as a customer for the Middlewife's Centro. Turns out I could put my drowned Treo 755P on a vacation plan for the remaining year of its contract, and switch our Sprint Centro (which is not on contract) to their basic plan with no data plan and cut our bill to a third of what it was before. That eliminated any desire on my part to buy another unlocked Centro and terminate the Sprint contract early. Having service from both Sprint and T-Mobile also improves our odds of having at least one working phone wherever we are.

2) iPhone 3G - As a result of the above realizations, I no longer have any interest at all in the forthcoming new iPhone 3G. Maybe some day if I can get an unlocked one for a fair price and use its data features via pay-as-you-go it will be of more interest, but for now, the Centro meets my needs. Realizing AT&T's pay-as-you-go plan costs twice as much as T-Mobile's, for no obvious reason is another reason not to switch.

3) OLPC XO - We've just gotten back our One Laptop Per Child computer, and have now updated it over the Web. That turned out to be both easier and harder than expected. Several things I tried failed (particularly updating from a memory stick loaded by my desk PC), but in the end updating turned out to be a simple matter of entering a few weird lines of Linux commands on the XO itself. Next week we take the XO out to Shades to be our grandson's first computer. The XO is really designed for kids a lot older than 9 months, but hey, Shades was precocious too.

Sadly, OLPC seems to be selling out now to Microsoft, which is really sad news for the children of the third world who might otherwise have more easily escaped the Microsoft monopoly. But the original XO will always be a keepsake, right alongside our Tandy 100, the first actual laptop computer. (Ours is the "premium" version, with 32K of RAM, and an 8 line 40 character LCD screen, all running on AA batteries. We actually wrote a book on that puppy one summer many years ago.)

4) EEE PC 901 - Got one of these on pre-order from Amazon, in the Linux flavor. It's even smaller than the XO, and can run both Linux and Windows XP (after I also install the latter.) My hope is that it will be good enough to be my only computer when traveling, and cheap enough that I won't have to fret about it like I do the office laptop when I carry that along. Initially, I plan to try going without XP on it, but it's nice to know the option exists, if it proves to be necessary.

Update:
Changed my mind on the EEE PC 901. Instead, I ended up getting the slightly-larger EEE PC 1000 model instead. So far it's working extremely well.

Well, not quite, but being dropped in a urinal comes pretty close, I guess. That was the fate of my Treo 755P yesterday, and probably also the fate of my Sprint service today when they refused to do anything about it other than sell me another phone, and didn't seem to mind that I'd be switching to another provider in response after over ten years with them..

A few seconds with Google found several cures for a wet phone, and they appear to have almost entirely worked. My Treo is now back in operation after:
1) turning it off and removing the battery and battery cover and added memory card and stylus
2) drying off everything I could reach
3) putting it on a fan and later a heat vent and finally a few inches in front of a hair dryer set on low
4) a hard reset (triggered by holding down the power button when reinstalling the battery, and then pressing the up arrow key when asked.)
5) restoring all data from the most recent daily backup via backupman on the added memory card
6) Using a T5 Torx screwdriver from Home Depot to open the case and letting the hair dryer have at it again got a few more keys to work. All that remains non-functional now is two keys: "r" and "u". That will have to do for now. Note: opening the case presumably voided the warranty, but at this point my reply is "what warranty?" as Sprint is already unwilling to fix it.

The timing of all this is both awful and great. It's awful, because I'm out of state at a business meeting next week and really need a working cell phone if anything comes up that needs my attention at work. It's also great, though, because the new iPhone is expected to be announced Monday, and that may very well be my next phone.

AT&T has warts too, of course, but I was pleased to drop in their store this morning and have all my questions answered immediately and correctly without waiting. To have anyone even talk to me at the Sprint store took over half an hour, not including the 45 more minutes they needed to determine they wouldn't even try to fix the phone.

Also, both of my colleagues with AT&T phones are able to receive calls in our basement office, whereas I can't with Sprint, even though there's a new Sprint tower within a mile of us.

The other thing I've concluded from all this is that instead of paying for repair insurance, which turns out not to cover what actually goes wrong, I'm better off getting a phone service that uses a SIM card (as does the iPhone), so I can just pop the SIM out of a dead phone and into a substitute and I'm back in business. I can buy a simple unlocked GMS phone for as litle as $30, which is less than a year of repair insurance.

The other debate I'll be having with myself in the coming week is whether or not I really even still need a $600 smart phone rather than a $30 dumb phone.

Now that Asus has announced their Eee 901 and 1000 model 2-3# computers for about the same price as a smart phone, I'm likely to get an Eee PC for all my non-telephone computing needs on the road, so might be perfectly happy with a rudimentary cell phone, so long as it does well at making and receiving calls.

I'll have a month or two to think about that as well, as we await their arrival in the U.S., along with several competitors that may turn out to be an even better choice, which I define as the cheapest PC that can meet my needs when traveling.

I guess the key thing is that the day of the expensive gadget one can't afford to lose (or flush) is passing.

Update: The middlewife really likes the Palm Centro Sprint gave her (via the equipment maintenance fee we pay) back when her Treo 650 keyboard died earlier this year. As it turns out, AT&T has the Centro too, so if she prefers that to the new iPhone, we can keep her happily using a Centro even if we switch to AT&T. In fact, that might be a good choice for me too, as the Centro with a 2 year contract is one cent, less a $50 rebate on Amazon now. Its only disadvantage compared to the 755P is a slower data rate. But I wonder if we should even have a data plan any more. It's nice that a Centro or iPhone can check the weather, and the blogs and the mail, but those are wants, not needs.

I'm getting an increased sense of why Sprint's business seems to be going down the tubes, and may be talking myself out of an iPhone.

Update2: Switching is proving harder to do than expected. I can't quite complete the nice AT&T Web pages that would sign me up with them at my company's discounted rate (it eventually, using either FireFox or Internet Explorer 6 asks me for a login name and password it hasn't assigned to me yet, which it unhelpfully explains may be due to cookies, even though I've specifically permitted its cookies. Fortunately, there's also a phone# I can call to do this instead, except that no one is there over the weekend.

Guess I'll definitely now have to wait and see what Apple announces on Monday before doing anything more about this. As I wait, I'm finding myself increasingly attracted to the idea of getting a cheap pocket organizer and the cheapest cell phone that works. I really don't want to carry anything expensive that can die so quickly and easily any more. Too bad there isn't a phone-less Centro, along the lines of the iPod Touch.

Update3: Looks like the new iPhone is pretty neat. I like the added speed and GPS and battery life. Not sure I need it, but I like it. More problematic is that it's not available until July 11, and my current cell phone is next to useless right now. (Although the keyboard mostly works, it sometimes doesn't when first powered up, which is of course right when you most need to use it.) May be a good thing for me to do without a cellphone for a while though, just to remember what it was like. Plus, the low price of the new iPhone may lower the cost of other phones too, such as the Centro.

Another option would be to bite the bullet and re-up with Sprint to get another Centro, but I can't do that either until July 1 at the earliest, and I think I'm at the point that an ISP change is going to be made now regardless of cost.

Sadly, that means I have to prove credit-worthiness to a new ISP, just after putting a credit freeze on all our records. Since I already have AT&T service at home, that may not be an issue, but I won't be surprised if it turns out to be a problem. Who knows, I may need from now til July 11, just to figure out how to buy either a Centro or iPhone from AT&T.

Update 4: I visited both an AT&T store and an Apple store this afternoon. Both assured me there's no way to pre-order or even be pre-approved to order the new iPhone. I just have to take my chances on July 11. The good news is that after that date I should be able to order on-line, even if the local stores are out of stock at the moment.

The AT&T store also reported I can't get their discounted price on a Centro unless I sign up for a data plan for it. If we want the data features, that's fine. Otherwise, it adds enough to the 2 year cost of ownership to make it cheaper to have bought without the discount.

If I'm going to be required to pay for a data plan regardless, I may as well enjoy the cool additional features of the iPhone (such as WiFi & GPS.) The middlewife, on the other hand, may choose to stay with the Centro. I'm starting to be glad I have time to decide.

Update5: If I lived in Europe, I could get an unlocked Centro now, though if it ever needed repair under warranty I'd have to send it back to Europe, and have a European address to which they could return it afterwards.

If I bought an AT&T phone without a discount, it would still be locked when I got it, but AT&T tells me they'd unlock it for free a few days later on request by calling them. Various other Web sites offer to unlock the Centro and pretty much anything else for a small fee. Presumably AT&T wouldn't like that as much.

Having a credit freeze isn't a big deal to AT&T. They just have to call my home# and have me answer it before they can complete the setup process.

Pay as you go is not available for the Centro yet from AT&T, and the Centro is not yet available from T-Mobile. However, an unlocked one could presumably be used on either. Both appear to also offer a SIM card with 1,000 minutes that are good for a year for $100 (pay as you go.) That would be usable in any unlocked GSM phone. I kind of like the idea of getting a 3rd phone set up that way, to just keep around in case of emergency or as a loaner. A matching unlocked phone costs as little as $100 locally.

As I chase down all these options, I'm increasinly seeing the benefit of a helpful local dealer. There's an official AT&T store 2 miles from my home, and a multi-brand dealer 4 miles away. The AT&T store rep says she can arrange the discount offered folks who work where I do, and also combine my existing AT&T account with the new service. The only thing that seems hard for her to do is get me something that works now, plus an iPhone in a month, plus a Centro eventually. So, no decision yet.

Update 6: Getting back to the original cause of all this discussion, I went looking last night for a water-resistant cell phone. Sadly, they no longer exist, except one mil-spec model available only from Verizon. Cell phones are considered cheap enough now to no longer need water protection, though I for one do not consider being offered a chance to pay $450 to replace a dunked phone "cheap." Apparently the market has spoken though, because 5 years ago you could get phones able to survive being dunking 3' deep for 30 minutes. Since you CAN get waterproof cameras, I'm not sure why the same folks who buy those wouldn't want the same protection in their cell phones, especially since Sprint's optional monthly fee for equipment repair explicitly excludes water damage - presumably because they see that a lot.

I did also read that if someone were to give me an old iPhone, I could still get (the current slower) service for that at the current $10 a month lower cost.

Update7: OK, I have a solution, at least for now. It turns out I can buy an unlocked Centro after all, from Expansys USA, apparently located here in Illinois. That will give me the first thing I was looking for - a current Palm data device, whether or not I ever activate it as a cell phone. I suspect I will do so, using a T-Mobile SIM and $100 pay as you go card that provides 1,000 minutes good for a year. Consumer Reports recommends T-Mobile over AT&T for cell service, so it's worth a shot. If that works, our immediate problem is resolved, and we can either order another and cancel with Sprint, or just leave the Middlewife using her Sprint Centro until our contract runs out in another year. There are even rumors of T-Mobile buying Sprint (which I consider at least as dumb an idea as Sprint buying Nextel.) In the "keep trying" category, Sprint just announced new "lower" rates higher than we're now paying!

The main thing this solution does not give us is wireless Internet. But unless my company wants to pay for that, I no longer see that as worth its added cost. It seems mainly aimed at selling us stuff: ring tones, music, videos, sending photos and videos to others, along with more useful SMS, Email and Web access. But we really should be able to do without all of that other than the occasional SMS message, and we can still get those without a data plan.

The other thing it probably doesn't accomplish is giving me a way to keep my current cell#. Oh well, I'm about out of business cards anyway.

Update8: The new phone arrived, just 36 hours after I ordered it, and an hour after that a local independent phone store had it up and running with T-Mobile. I've synced it with most of the data I care about from the previous Treo, so all is well. One disappointment is that I still have only 1 bar of service at most in my basement office at work, just like on Sprint. That may be more due to the phone than the provider; one AT&T dealer told me Nokia phones get 1 more bar than other brands, and my co-worker whose phone has an extra bar here in the basement has a Nokia.

I'm not giving up the Centro for a Nokia though. It has everything my Treo 755P had (except for the fast Internet access I don't expect to use anyway), and is significantly smaller and cheaper than the 755P. Now all I need for it is a waterproof case for the next time I get fumble-fingered.

Having simple service with no contract, no monthly or daily fee, and a per-minute fee of only ten cents, with no taxes feels amazingly better. Highly recommended solution.

Update9: Palm has just announced availability of an unlocked Centro for $300 in the U.S. too. Details here.

One of this year's hottest Christmas gifts is one you give to the poorest of the poor. The new XO laptop computer, originally intended to help poor children in the third world learn to use a computer, was for a limited time also available to donors via a buy one, get one free offer. Beginning November 14 and ending December 31, 2007, charitable donors were offered a chance to both donate an XO to a poor child via laptopgiving, plus get another XO for personal use or direct donation. Sweetening the pot even more, T-Mobile also threw in a free year of WiFi hot spot access (and I will definitely remember their generosity the next time I need a mobile phone.)

Without knowing this would become a trendy thing to do, I signed up immediately, and became one of the first to actually receive an XO.

The shocking thing to me is that the XO is actually a very cool laptop. It weighs just 3# 9oz (including the battery & power supply), is a tiny 10" x 10" x 1", and uses only 8 watts. yet includes a custom version of Linux, WiFi, 3 USB ports, an SD port, a mic and audio port, a 7" color screen visible even in full daylight that can be flipped over to cover the rubber-protected keyboard and used as a tablet for such tasks as reading an ebook,

Without much fuss I was able to connect to the Internet via my home WiFi system and browse my favorite blog. Even so, it may be months or even years before I figure out all the other options included in this critter. (By then my newborn grandson may be big enough to explain it all to me as we enjoy it together.)

Update: Here's a bit more technical info on the XO: It has a 433MHz AMD CPU, 256MB of RAM, 1GB of SSD storage, and can accept one SDHD card up to at least 8GB in capacity. It also has a 640 x 480 Web cam, so theoretically might even be capable of running the new Linux version 1.4 of Skype for video calls. Its browser is based on Gecko, the same as FireFox, and I've already managed to use the XO to run (albeit very slowly) the database I support at work. Here's my prediction: both kids and hackers (in the good sense) are going to have a ton of fun with this thing.

Update2: After seeing it, Shades agrees. Small example: It turns out the XO is an excellent eBook reader, with many of the features of the hot new Amazon "Kindle" reader. I've already downloaded and read one very good recent novel on it, and found it every bit as good an experience as reading a book on paper, and better than reading one on my Treo. I expect a LOT of good content to be made available for free on the XO, in support of its educational mission to the poorest of the poor. I'm happy to help with that, and also happy to be among those who benefit.

One more new learning: the target age for kids is 6-12, though kids as young as 3 are already enjoying the XO, as are adults.

Update3: The Give One Get One promotion has ended, and was a great success, with 150,000 computers donated. For those who got one, the first update is expected to be available sometime during January of 2008. Some expected features weren't ready yet on Day One, such as a spreadsheet, but will be eventually, so be sure to check the OLPC Wiki occasionally for updates.

Update4: Wow, look Shades, there's already an OLPC group at IMSA (Illinois Math & Science Academy, a wonderful public high school.) Here's their Wiki. Here's how OLPC News described their first presentation to a new Chicago OLPC group.:
"The evening opened with some presentations by the IMSA students. The thing you need to know about them is that they are scary smart. In a good way. Whatever you do, don't underestimate them. Students at IMSA are proud to hold the distinction of the only OLPC High School Interest Group.

Their work with the acoustic tape measure activity led them to believe that the OLPC is a good tool for conducting experiments. From here, they decided to work on a module to present the scientific method. This led them to do research on the societies where OLPC laptops are targeted for, so as to understand social constraints around manner of dress and gestures for video-based content."

Update5: Sadly, Nick Neg, head of OLPC may have just jumped the shark (gutting the OLPC movement of pretty much its entire purpose) by abandoning its open software design in hopes of making the XO into just one more cheap computer that is barely able to run Windows XP.

To American ears, being able to get XP for only $3 may sound pretty good, but to folks who only make a dollar a day in poor third world countries that's a whole lot of unnecessary money given up to make one of the richest men in the world even richer. Learning this made me want to barf, and I'm not alone. It sounds like pretty much everyone whose work I admired on the project has now left, either voluntarily or by being fired.

Mickey Kaus had this to say about Prius drivers:
"It used to be that Toyota Prius drivers were polite and methodical, almost Gandhiesque, as if they were trying to demonstrate the better world they sought. No more. As Priuses have proliferated from the do-gooder niche into the mainstream, their drivers have gotten as rude and aggressive as anyone else. Ruder, in my experience. I think they feel entitled because of their small carbon footprint. P.S.: And you can't hear them coming."

Speaking as a Prius driver, I don't feel ruder in that car than in our other car, and try not to be rude in either. As I was once taught, "Don't be dead right."

I wonder if part of what Mickey might have in mind is zippy starts by Prius owners when the light turns green? Thanks to the hybrid engine, there is no loss in gas mileage from flooring it. Extra juice from the battery adds the power of the electric motor to that of the gas engine, making a Prius one of the fastest cars off the line when a stoplight turns green, particularly because the added electric power is ready now, rather than a few seconds later as in a turbocharged conventional car.

On the other hand, the regenerative braking of the Prius works best when braking gently rather than by standing on the pedal, resulting in lots of offended drivers cutting in front of Prii as we slow down gradually approaching a red light. (My personal ideal in such situations is to time things so I don't have to stop at all, with the light turning green again just as I arrive at the corner, but that often involves other cars passing me who then fail to resume speed as promptly on the green as I do, so the "offense" goes both ways.) Prius mileage also drops off rapidly above about 65MPH, and with the continuous readout of MPG the driver knows that, so Prii are rarely among the fastest cars on the Interstate.

I've also never seen one driving in the bike lane, or on the shoulder, or any of the other "death-defying feats" so often seen here in the Windy City. I can't speak for other Prius owners on that, but I figure that even if I could get away with such behavior 99 out of 100 times, the fact that I had done so would make it more likely I also tried it the 100th time and thereby became a statistic. I learned long ago that driving like a maniac gets you there only seconds earlier, and only at the risk of not arriving at all.

Five years in, I still consider our 2002 Toyota Prius the best car we've ever owned. (Previous comments here.)

The Middlewife is sure I'm nuts this time. Despite already owning 3 folding bikes and 2 pairs of skates, I recently became convinced I also need a scooter for my daily commute. Part of why she's sure I'm off my meds is because she and Shades already gave me a scooter for Christmas once, several years ago. It was just what I wanted too, until I actually tried to ride it farther than a block.

What's changed? Me, mostly. When I last had a scooter, I was 40 pounds heavier, and thought a mile daily walk home from the subway station was lots of exercise. Scooters have changed too. That one had bigger wheels than a Razor, but still far smaller than the wheels on my Landroller skates. Its platform was also fairly high off the ground, which makes for more work pushing off to propel the scooter anywhere. Finally, it was a royal pain to assemble and disassemble, which killed my idea of taking it with me on the subway.

Now I expect to exercise an hour a day most days, and can walk 4.7 miles in that time on "gentle" days. Scooters are better too. The one I chose this time is called a Xootr Mg, with the Mg standing for its platform made of Magnesium. It has essentially the same 7 inch hard wheels as are used in the rear of my Landroller skates, and its platform sits very close to the ground.

Moment of truth: it arrived today in late afternoon, leaving just enough daylight to see if I could ride it the 4 miles I'll need to when I commute with it. And the answer is -- Yes! Four miles of mostly-flat terrain took 37 minutes, at an average speed of 6.4 MPH. As for effort, yep, it's more of a workout than either riding a bike or using my skates. My average heart rate was 152, rather than 128 - 137 on the same route via bike or skates. On the other hand, my average when running or jogging is 159 - 165, and I covered 1 more mile than I could have by jogging the same number of minutes.

The acid test will be when I take the Xootr to work. I'm looking forward to it fitting under the seat in the train, unlike even the smallest folding bikes. That will make it a lot easier for me to find a seat. I'm also looking forward to it being a whole lot safer than skates when crossing busy intersections. Simplicity is also a virtue - I broke a pedal on my bike this week. As my dad would say, the fewer parts there are, the fewer there are to break.

If anyone buys one, be sure to get the optional fender for $10 more. Riding in the rain isn't recommended, but with a fender it's at least feasible, plus the fender serves as an extra brake if needed. And if you'll be taking your Xootr on the train and don't already have a bag in which to pack it, the cheapest way to buy the official one is at the same time as the Xootr.

Update: CAUTION! I just did a face plant on my new Xootr and chipped both front teeth. I was going up into a driveway from the street, and the lip on the driveway curb was too much for the scooter. It just stopped, and down I went. No other damage to me beyond a cut on the nose, a slight abrasion above the upper lip, and a bit of discomfort in my hands. It's a good thing I was wearing thick gloves and ski goggles or I expect there'd have been more damage to report. The goggles show definite scrape marks. It was a lousy way to end a very pleasant 3 mile scooter ride!

Update2: I found a great 30" X 13" Alpine Designs nylon stuff sack at Sports Authority that holds the Xootr well for $8, and easily fits in a pocket or backpack while riding.

As for the fall, other Xootr owners advise keeping weight well back on the scooter, and not pushing the arms too close to the handlebar. I'm not the only one to have falls while first learning to ride a scooter, and extra slowness and caution is recommended on all but smooth flat dry surfaces with good traction.

If falling, tucking a shoulder and rolling is recommended. Shades similarly suggested the dead man fall, in which you land flat on the forearms and outstretched palms with the head turned to the side. Either would presumably have been far better than what I actually did.

Update3: That face plant I did in December is proving to be a gift that keeps on giving. I ended up needing two root canals as a result, and may also be getting a crown on one of the two affected teeth. I guess I know where my tax refund is going this year!

On the other hand, it could have been worse - a good friend fell on his bike about the same time, and ended up with a new hip! I suspect we'll both be more cautious as a result of our injuries.

I've been eying the Garmin Nűvi 350 GPS for a year now, but hadn't been willing to pay its $800 asking price. But recently the 350 became a former model, replaced by a new version whose added features (Bluetooth and a wider screen) are of no interest. What was of interest to me was that Amazon was now offering it for $600.

What I particularly like about the Nűvi is that it fits easily in a shirt pocket, can run for 4 hours on rechargeable batteries or plugged into a car, has a full street-level map of North America, and uses the top-rated SiRFstarIII chipset that locks on quickly and keeps its signal even under tree cover.

Now that we have it, we also very much like "Jill" the synthesized voice that talks us through routes without even needing to look at the Nűvi itself. It also has given us quite a comfort level about going to destinations we've not been to before, knowning that if we make a wrong turn, "Jill" will quickly notice and offer a solution.

One other unexpected blessing is that Garmin has already upgraded the software on our Nűvi twice this summer with new features, such as showing our current Latitude and Longitude.

To safeguard the touch screen, I covered it with two Palm screen protectors.

I'd considered other Garmin models, ranging from a wristwatch version for runners to ones for hikers, bikers and cars, but the Nuvi pretty much does it all. The only feature it still lacks that I might appreciate is "breadcrumbs" (dots showing on a map where you've actually been, so you can retrace your steps.) Highly recommended.

We went to the bike show to get the Middlewife a new helmet today, as the one she's been using is over twenty years old and starting to flake. While there, I looked around at the new bikes. But it was the Middlewife who found one. After trying lots of alternatives, she decided she wanted the Sun EZ-3 USX recumbent trike. Her key requirements were that it had to be easy to get a leg over, and mustn't fall. The Sun met both requirements easily, and includes a shock absorber that make bumps kind of fun.

Sadly, fitting in our car was not one of its virtues, so I rode it the two miles home, after which the Middlewife and I went for a good ride, her on the Sun, and me on a Dahon folder (Jetstream P8.) Once she was done for the day, I put another 12 miles on the Sun. I really enjoyed its relative immunity to headwinds, and how utterly stable it felt even at speed. I also liked being able to easily steer with one hand.

Someday when we are too old to drive a car safely, we may still be using this "adult trike" for grocery runs. Meanwhile, it's great for daily exercise.

We recently decided to buy a real dining table. Our church is encouraging its members to get together for a meal with neighbors at least monthly, and we had no way for such a group to all sit around a table together.

After surfing the Web and cruising most of the local furniture stores, we found lots of great choices, nearly all of which cost over a thousand dollars, and in some cases up to four thousand dollars. And then there was IKEA, where the most expensive table available cost $349.

I honestly tried, but just couldn't convince myself that any of the other tables were actually worth triple the price, or even an order of magnitude extra. Then too, there was the simple fact that an IKEA table fits in the car today, and ordering elsewhere can take several months for delivery.

I had to assemble the IKEA table myself, which took a half hour. All needed tools were included in the box. Result: a very good-looking dining table that normally seats six, and expands easily to seat ten. The added leaves store right inside the table, another plus.

I've previously been fond of calling Trader Joe's grocery stores "Aldi for yuppies", because they sell Whole Foods-quality foods at Aldi prices. (By the way, Consumer Reports just praised Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and even Aldi.)

Now I realize that IKEA is similarly "Wal-Mart for yuppies." The same quality offerings we love from Scandanavian furniture stores, but at Wal-Mart prices.

Which raises an interesting question: Why is it that cultural elites find it so easy to sniff at Wal-Mart, yet flock to IKEA? I expect that whatever complaint can be made about Wal-Mart could be made with equal validity about IKEA. The only difference I see is that the "better than you" types don't want to be seen shopping at Wal-Mart, but can't do without IKEA. Result: once again, the "better people" try to shield poor folks from options for a better life.

One of my favorite memories from childhood is that my mom, from an aristocratic but poor family, had to find ways to look good for less. If two of her fancy friends wore the same dress to a party, it was a major emergency. My mom's solution? She shopped at Sears, a fine store at which none of her fancy friends would have been caught dead. Worked like a charm.

Four of my favorite shirts came from Wal-Mart last year. And I intend to keep shopping at both Wal-Mart and IKEA, along with Trader Joe's and even Aldi, no matter who sniffs their nose in response.

One downside to riding to work via bicycle and public transportation is unexpected rain or snow. Another is unexpectedly needing to do something a bicycle can't do. In such situations a taxi is one option, and a rental car is another. But now there's a third option -- I-Go Chicago, a car cooperative for folks who need a car briefly and rarely, usually at predictable times.

The idea is simple: join the cooperative, and thereafter, whenever you need a car just reserve one already parked nearby whenever you need it. Once reserved, just authenticate at the car and use it. Afterwards, pay the hourly rate automatically via credit card.

It remains to be seen yet whether this actually works better than calling a taxi. The $75 signup fee is enough that I'll let someone else be the pioneer to try it first, but the standard fee of $6 an hour plus 50 cents a mile seems entirely reasonable. There are already plans to preposition an I-Go car a block nearer my office than the closest cab stand, so once that happens I'll likely join up the next time I'm downtown with only a bike but need a car.

Learn more about I-Go here.

I've been buying software and music and videos for well over 25 years now, and for nearly all of those years, copy-protection has been hotly debated.

As a published author of both books and software, I definitely don't want folks using intellectual property without paying for it.

Even so, I have always considered copy-protection an evil to be avoided at all costs.

I'm OK with registration of software - the idea that you have to register with the vendor for a secret code that lets you use a program. That doesn't limit how often I can copy the program, or even how many computers I personally can use it on, so long as it is always me doing the using.

That's the old Borland "treat it like a book" idea, and I've never heard a good argument against it.

What I am utterly opposed to is the idea of limiting the number of installs allowed of a software program, or the number of times or ways a video or song can be copied or played. I've had too many hard drive failures and complete system rebuilds over the years to ever accept any such limitatons.

For that reason, I refuse to buy anything whatsoever that is copy-protected. All of my music files are MP3s, and I will not even consider purchasing music in any format protected in even the tiniest regard against my duplicating it as often as I need to, and onto any device I please. Hence, even though I use iTunes, I don't buy music that way.

But I do respect the right of the vendor to refuse to sell me an unprotected product, so long as they are open about the copy protection before purchase. Any vendor that hides copy protection from purchasers until after the sale deserves whatever evil befalls them.

I would even favor a law requiring all products that are copy-protected to be so labeled prominently on the package, so there can be no doubt prior to purchase.

Enter Sony/BMG. They have chosen to copy-protect many of their audio CDs, and did not have the common decency to alert consumers of this on the package.

For that reason, I favor all the lawsuits now engulfing Sony over the truly despicable method via which they chose to copy-protect some of their audio CDs. Even though they have finally (after intense pressure) agreed to replace audio CDs copy-protected via one particularly-evil rootkit technique. But they have not yet agreed to properly clean up the mess left behind, leaving consumers in danger until the entire PC hard drive is reformatted and all software re-installed!

I therefore now boycot all Sony products, even though I have lots of Sony gear, and have previously praised much of it, because I no longer trust Sony to do the right thing in any situation.

Gaining a reputation as a trustworthy partner took Sony years, but was lost in a moment, perhaps never to be regained.

C|net has a summary of the Sony issue here.

Update: Here's more info, from another article here:
Sony and EMI copy-protect CDs. Rival labels Warner Music and Universal don't. [Hence, I buy from Warner and Universal, and avoid Sony and EMI.]

Sony uses DRM tools from two companies, SunnComm and First 4 Internet.

The CD titles that use First 4's XCP software are the ones that recently got Sony into legal hot water.

To tell which kind of copy protection is on a CD, check the fine print on the back cover (a First 4 Internet CD will read ?cp.sonybmg.com/xcp).

Finally, if you ever insert a music CD in a computer and have it pop up a EULA (End User License Agreement) rather than starting to play music, you may be about to become a victim unless you immediately exit without accepting the EULA.

When you feel you must accept a EULA, at least read it all the way to the end, because some EULAs deny pretty much every right you ever had.

Update 2: Gartner Group points out Sony's efforts were pointless in any case.
"...what makes the Sony BMG incident even more unfortunate, is that the DRM technology can be defeated easily. The user can simply apply a fingernail-sized piece of opaque tape to the outer edge of the disc, rendering session 2 - which contains the self-loading DRM software, unreadable. The PC then treats the CD as an ordinary single-session music CD, and the commonly used CD "rip" programs continue to work as usual. (Gartner emphasizes that it does not recommend or endorse this technique.)

Gartner believes the industry would be better-served by efforts to develop solutions that use DRM as an accounting/tracking tool, rather than as a lock. This approach would enable them to move to play-based business models not tied to hardware, and to track their digital assets without complicating users' ability to move legitimately acquired content to whatever devices they choose."

Update3: Ed Foster has more:
"OK, so let's see what we've got here. A company that seems bent on sneaking files onto unsuspecting users' computers, pretending they've gotten permission to do so from a vaguely-worded EULA, transmitting a constant stream of usage information back to their servers, and using that information for who-knows-what revenue generating opportunities. Does this sound like a familiar profile to you? Of course, it's the profile of all the spyware/adware scum that have come very close to destroying the Internet just to make a few bucks peddling their trash.

But we shouldn't miss the fact that Sony's behavior with both its XCP and MediaMax implementations matches another pattern we've seen many times before. It's the serial DRM offender profile that Microsoft, Symantec, Intuit, and lesser lights in the software industry have exhibited. Their product activation and other forms of copy protection also aren't really about stopping piracy - they admit their DRM won't stop the software counterfeiters. It's about giving the vendors control over your usage of the products you buy, so they can decide if you're using it in ways they don't like, or that they ought to force you to upgrade, or that it's time to start selling the information they've collected about you to the highest bidder."

The article also reminds us Suncomm's copy protection is defeated by holding down the Shift key while starting its CDs. You may indeed want to do that. Here's why:
"While Halderman found no evidence of SunnComm's MediaMax using a rootkit, some of the things he did discover provide considerable grist for our behavioral profile of Sony. For one thing, before users can even say yes or no to accepting the Sony EULA, MediaMax has already installed a dozen files on their hard drive and started running the copy protection code. The files remain even if the user rejects the EULA, and the Sony CDs provide no option for uninstalling the files at a later date."

Today was installation day for 3 new skylights in our home, except they weren't traditional skylights, but rather something new, called a Solatube.

Think of a periscope, and you're close to the concept. Like a skylight, there's a hole in the roof covered with clear material. Unlike a skylight, there is a highly-polished round tube leading from that hole in the roof down to the ceiling in an interior room, ending in a Fresnel lens diffuser.

They are available in different sizes, 10" diameter for small rooms, and 14" for larger rooms. (An even larger 21" size is offered, but won't fit between our 16" rafters, plus might be a security problem as some folks can fit within such an opening.)

The amount of light passed through a Solatube is amazing -- far brighter than a conventional skylight, of which we have two. Twice today I caught myself trying to turn off the light in the bathroom with the 10" Solatube, only to remember the light was coming only from the Solatube, and today was cloudy. I can't wait to see what it does on a sunny day!

These will never pay for themselves in reduced energy bills for lighting, but due to being sealed, also won't add to our energy bill for heating and air conditioning.

Our reason for getting them was so every room in our home will have some natural light. And believe it or not, we aren't pioneers here - on our street we are the third home to have these, and the other two have had them for years and still love them.

Update: Yesterday, when it was cloudy, we wondered if we should have installed two Solatubes in our living room, because that end of the room was still a bit dim. Today, with the sun out and no clouds, we're glad we only bought one, as it was quite bright enough.

Also, a neighbor who had considered getting Solatubes a year ago noticed we had this done, and is now very eager to do the same.

Here is another good Web site about these, hosted by the Midwest distributer. It includes pricing info, both installed and do-it-yourself, plus a good set of FAQs (Frequently-asked questions.)

The recent failure of the hard drive in my home PC motivated me to again seek a true solution to the computer backup problem. My solution is the 300GB Maxtor One Touch II backup hard disk, which I bought from a friend at PC Connection.
This is not merely an excellent backup drive. It is such an excellent overall drive that I bought an internal version to replace the dead hard disk, storing the similar warranty replacement drive for use only if and when needed. The key specs are 300GB, SATA, 7200 RPM spindle speed and 16 MB cache. (The warranty drive is close, at 250GB & 8MB cache, but didn't arrive til a week after needed.)

Theoretically, a trojan or virus could destroy both my primary and backup hard disk simultaneously. But that can be easily avoided by merely turning off the backup drive except when you want to make a backup. The tradeoff is that then you won't have an every night backup. In the long run, I will likely do both, with the help of the warranty replacement drive as the normally-unplugged and powered off and even stored off-site backup.

Naturally, I also copy key files daily to other computers via a 1GB USB flash drive. (By the way, the iPod Shuffle and iPod Photo can both be used for this, though I don't use mine that way.) Shares between trusted computers are another good way to back up key files between them, though with the added risk of malware taking down more than one computer at a time.

Another longterm solution will be the Maxtor 300GB Shared Storage Drive. It's the same drive I bought, in the same case, but with different electronics, allowing it to act as network-attached storage for an extra $100.

Or there is a Linksys version with an extra drive useable for mirrored (RAID 1) storage - the best way to ensure a single drive failure can't ruin your day. Unfortunately, I couldn't see spending triple the cost for 1/3rd the storage.

One option I didn't consider was tape - 300GB tape drives do exist, but aren't any more reliable than a second hard disk, and cost ten times as much. Similarly, I rejected writeable DVDs as simply not high enough capacity for the need.

Long ago, the maker of our dishwasher explained that the way they made their fill valve vastly more reliable was by putting two in series, so that water couldn't overflow unless both failed at once. If the odds of one failing were once in a hundred years, the odds of both failing at once would be once in ten thousand years.

The principle of having all key data backed up on a second hard drive is much the same, with the further refinement that one of the two can be off-line and off-site.

Update: I'm now backing up monthly, with a full backup, plus an every 5 times I change it backup of financial data. The nightly backup required too many badly-written memory-resident programs.

However, we also now have two further backup devices in use, for even more protection: 1) a 100GB Seagate 2.5" USB 2.0 HD that doesn't need external power and (barely) fits in a pocket; and 2) a 4GB version of the Sandisk Cruzer Mini flash drive. We've also added "His and Her" 4GB Nanos.

Sprint has just begun shipping the new Treo 650 cell phone/PDA combo. Much though I've loved my Treo 600, it's been a problem using a different PDA than the Middlewife, who prefers just to have a PDA cloned from mine than have to keep data up to date herself.

We could have gotten another Treo 600, but instead chose to get a pair of Treo 650s. The main reason for that is that the 650 has the 320 x 320 resolution I so loved about the Palm Tungsten C PDA I used before the Treo.

The cool thing is that I was able to immediately upgrade the Treo 600's data into the 650, make a backup with BackupMan, and then restore to the other Treo 650. Presto, both completely set up.

It turns out I was lucky to do that before adding some of my data from the 600 to the 650. A newly-discovered memory problem with the 650 limits BackupMan from working properly with over 10M of data.

This is due to the 650 using a new kind of non-volatile RAM that allocates memory less efficiently than on the 600. Palm suggests programs from the 600 will grow in memory use by about a third on the 650, and suggests moving any programs that may not fit as a result onto an SD card. That solution has worked fine so far for me. CompUSA had a $60 sale on a SanDisk 1G SD RAM card last weekend, so running out of that memory likely won't happen any time soon. Palm is promising an update to improve the memory problem ASAP.

Sprint too is promising an update, to enable the Bluetooth dial-up networking feature that is missing from the 650 thus far. A clever 650 owner has figured out how to enable the feature, but reports it appears still buggy, which is likely why Palm and Sprint left it hidden for now.

The camera on the 650 is the same resolution as on the 600, but works vastly better. The screen and keys are also much better lit than on the 600, especially when using it in total darkness.

As you might expect, some of the utility software for the 600 doesn't work on the 650. That's to be expected, as the developers haven't had one to work on yet either. Fortunately, everything I really care about works fine, and most of the rest is being updated for the 650.

If you already have a Treo 600, you may want to hang on to it while these gamma test (first consumer sale) bugs are resolved. Similarly, if you are buying a Treo, and don't care about higher screen resolution or swappable batteries, you can save some money by going with the 600. (I, for instance, will soon have one available used...) But for those who want maximum screen resolution, there is now a new king of the PDA and cell phone hill.

Ever since last summer I've been saying they'll pry my Treo 600 from my cold dead hands. But now it sits in a drawer, unmourned, as both of the Middles happily investigate their new 650s.

One caution for Sprint customers: if you've had your current phone 18 months, Sprint offers a $150 credit on a Treo 650, but ours arrived without the expected rebate form in the box. Supposedly, we can also just extend our current contract for another 2 years to get the discount, rather than having to start over with a different contract. So now I have to call Sprint Telesales back and ask what's up with the missing rebate form. On the other hand, a new contract could easily be $150 worse over a 2 year period than the one I have now, so perhaps I'll look over the currently-offered new contracts first, just to make sure I won't regret accepting the discount.

Update: I neglected to mention the 650 does a fine job of playing MP3s, and can hold lots of them in a 1GB SD card.

Also, don't forget about accessories. Those I consider useful enough to order included: a dock, a car adapter, a stereo headphone adapter (for the MP3s), a laptop charging/sync cable, spare stylus+pen combinations, screen protector, and a spare battery. These are cheaper from TreoCentral.com than from PalmOne.com, though only the latter had the laptop cable.

Update#2: The $150 rebate form is available at Sprint stores. I picked up a form today.

One important difference between the laptop cable for the Treo 650, compared to the one for the Treo 600 is that the one for the 650 does not charge the PDA. That means carrying a separate charger. On the other hand, if your laptop PC has Bluetooth, a new version of PdaNet reportedly makes the laptop cable unnecessary.

Update#3: GadgetX has now published a very detailed comparison review, pitting the new Treo 650 against last year's star smartphone, the Treo 600.

Update#4: Treonauts offers a Top Ten list of reasons to buy a Treo 650, whether or not you already have a Treo 600. I also neglected to mention that I got the Bluetooth feature working via PdaNet. And I'm all submitted, confirmed, and waiting for the offered Sprint $150 rebates on both of our 650s.

Update#5: There is now an update to fix the Treo 650 memory problem, so BackupMan is working properly again. Connection of outgoing phone calls is a lot faster now too.

Sadly, I'm still waiting for my Sprint rebates from purchasing the 650s. I suspect that from now on I will do my consumer math as though rebates are not real, so as not to be disappointed when they fail to be paid as promised. As a result, I now avoid firms that rely on promised rebates of high prices rather than offering low everyday prices.

Update 6: I finally called Sprint to see what had become of my rebate. That department is at www.sprintrebates.com and their phone# is (800)477-4127. From the Web I learned that they at least intended to send me a never-received postcard denying the rebate.

With that informaton and all my proofs of purchase in hand, I then eventually figured out how to discuss the matter with a human. It took a while, but she eventually agreed I've earned $225 of the promised $300 rebate.

I could have kept trying for the rest, since I am absolutely certain I met all conditions for the full amount, but I realize her job is to refuse rebates, so I decided it wasn't worth a further fight for only $75.

On the other hand, I'll never again accept anything Sprint offers via rebate, I'm done recommending Sprint to others, and when the curent agreement expires I'll switch to an unlocked GSM Treo.

Update7: Just as I was getting ready to call again and ask whatever became of my shrunken rebate, it arrived, six months and several phone calls after the associated purchase. Better late than never, but for retaining a good customer's repeat business better never late.

Update8: Treonauts has just posted an excellent entry on travel gear when packing a Treo 650 for a trip.

That's timely, as I'm currently packing for a trip myself. And I agree with a lot of their recommended items to pack, specifically:
spare battery
travel charger
laptop sync cable
headphone adapter
sideways belt holster

One thing I'm still seeking though, is the mother of all headsets.
To be ideal, it should:
1) go behind my head like my Nike stereo headset for listening to my iPod.
2) include a microphone, so I can also use it for phone calls
3) plug directly into the Treo 650, without needing an adapter, such as via Bluetooth
4) if cabled, be passively powered, without any added circuits embedded in the cord to weigh it down
5) if Bluetooth, be charged by the Treo travel charger, so I don't have to carry 2 chargers
6) automatically mute MP3 play when a call comes in
7) probably impossible with the Nike stype headphones, but why not have it be noise-cancelling too?

Apple has finally increased the maximum storage of an iPod above 40GB. That's important to me because my collection of MP3s (all legal thank you) is 41GB. To the rescue comes Apple's new iPod Photo, with its 60GB capacity, and a new color screen.

It is exactly the same size as the original iPod, but has the controls of the iPod Mini, and comes with a dock, external charger, a belt clip case that also fits a Treo perfectly, and cables to show photos on a TV. (Yeah, that's the ticket for an 8 Megapixel digital photo: show it on either a 2" 16-bit color screen, or on a 320 x 200 pixel television screen...)

On the other hand, with almost 20GB of spare storage, why not let it also carry a safety copy of all my favorite photos? It acts like an external USB drive, allowing the photo files to be manually moved to a device able to display them properly.

Battery life is supposedly better than on the original iPod, and has been ample for a full day of listening thus far.

I've settled on two other sets of headphones than the ones included in the box. For high noise environments, Sony has a fine set of ear buds for about $50 that actually go inside your ear. They are fine for a few hours of listening on the subway, for instance. But for all day listening I prefer a $22 Nike behind the head wire pair of earphones. Both came from Best Buy.

If you don't need the 60GB capacity, the original iPods have been thinned down now, and cost less than before. If all goes well, perhaps Shades will report on that one after Christmas.

After a week of use, I can see why Apple has 85% of this market. The software is intuituve to use, and very powerful. I'm having to manually copy my preferences for each song from MusicMatch to iTunes, but having playlists smart enough to skip songs I only rated One Star is enough reason to do the coding. I also modified that playlist to omit anything marked as a speech, or as Christmas music (and have a separate playlist for the latter.)

I really used to enjoy my Intel Pocket Concert MP3 player, but iPod is a huge step beyond its 256M of flash ROM storage.

The only weakness I've found thus far is in syncing the iPod with Windows XP. Once iTunes thinks it has finished syncing with the iPod, I usually have to manually order first iTunes and sometimes also the safe eject icon in Windows' system tray before the iPod itself stops displaying "Do not disconnect." Otherwise it will still say that after syncing overnight, even though a sync actually only takes a few minutes.

Update: I've now added an iPod Shuffle (1GB version) to the family. This allows me to leave the iPod Photo at the office, and carry something far less susceptible to damage that still holds almost all my very favorite songs (about 200 of the 300 I've rated with 4 or 5 stars in iTunes.) Apple was hoping the Shuffle would sell even to folks who already have iPods; if I'm typical, they guessed correctly.

One other recommendation: Anapod Explorer software. It only did one thing for me, but that one thing was crucial. When my PC hard drive recently failed under warranty, it was easy to get replaced, but created a need to restore all the files from my iPod Photo back onto the new PC hard drive. iTunes won't do this, but Anapod Explorer is happy to. (One hint: there is an obscure option, explained in section 5.2.2 of the manual to have it restore files to directories by artist and then album. Trust me: you want that option.)

Our 2002 model Prius arrived on March 26, 2002, after a 2 month wait. Three years later, it's still the best car we've ever owned.

Looks like other Prius owners share that opinion too. The 2004 annual auto issue of Consumer Reports lists small car owner satisfaction as highest among Prius owners (graphed here.)

As gas prices head up again, and Earth Day approaches, anyone considering a vehicle purchase might want to consider a Prius.

I still love how the engine stops and the car goes utterly silent at every stop once the car is warmed up. The gauges in the middle of the dash (just under the windshield to eliminate glare in front of the driver at night) are another continuing joy. In winter we get 38 mpg overall -- 47 in summer. At over 25k miles I still haven't spent the first dime on maintenance, and won't until the car reaches 45K miles. Better, the warranty on the weird hybrid stuff continues to 100k miles.

If you haven't yet, "just drive it." It's much easier to understand the Prius concept once you've been in one.

Here's a link to the factory site.

Here's a link to the Prius owners group on Yahoo; toyota-prius

Update: Buying a Prius might also be the most effective peaceful way of helping resolve troubles in the Middle East. Cutting our dependence on Middle Eastern oil has to be a good thing.

Update2: Our local dealer recently offered me a free new Prius in a year if I'd trade in my almost 3 year old Prius now. That's how long the wait is now for a new one, and how much some folks want one now. Unfortunately, the new model has a bit less headroom, and that's important to us, so we're staying with the one we have for now.

Update3: Our Prius is now 3 years old, and just about to receive its last free service at 37,500 miles. Here's what I had to say about it on another blog today:

Our 2002 Toyota Prius routinely gets high 30s mileage in winter and high 40s mileage Spring through Fall. I suspect the difference is mostly in gasoline formulation, as the change in mileage occurs rather suddenly after a fillup.

Cutting pollution was the primary design goal for the Prius, which is fine with me, as I share that goal. However, in addition, it gets over twice the gas mileage of our VW Passat V6, and has done so for 3 years, burning any cheap gas happily rather than requiring only premium fuel like the Passat.

The Prius is a true hybrid, able to drive up to a mile without use of the internal combustion engine at all, whereas the Honda partial hybrids only use their electric motor as an assist. That difference is particularly noticeable in bumper to bumper rush hour traffic, where our Prius always gets in excess of 50MPG, due to the gas engine being mostly off in such situations.

Opinions may vary, but this has been the best thing we've ever done to cut pollution and cut our dependence on Mideast oil in time of war. By my calculations, it cost me only $2K more than an equivalent Toyota Echo, of which part was immediately rebated in a tax break that year, and the rest long since recovered in lower gas bills. Plus, I have still never spent a penny maintaining the Prius, as all that is covered up to 45K miles.

I understand CR just reported Prius owners remain the most satisfied of all car owners, and that is certainly true of me.

But don't take my word for it, find one and "Just Drive It". Everyone who has ever driven ours has loved it.

Update4: Our Prius is now 4 and a half years old, and remains the best car we've ever bought. With gas prices having about doubled in the past 18 months, we are ever more grateful to have an efficient car.

It's now old enough and has enough miles to be out of its free service period, but still doesn't cost much to service, and only needs service about half as often as other cars. Those savings also add up.

I don't fit the new Prius as well (too little headroom) so expect to keep my 2002 model for at least a few more years. The middlewife still wishes it had leather seats, and a moonroof, but it that mattered enough there is now a hybrid Toyota Camry available too.

My brother now also owns a Prius, and a sister now has the Honda Civic Hybrid. Both are very happy with their purchases.

For those "really" into digital photography, the new king of the hill is Sony's DSC-F828. It is the first "prosumer" camera with 8 Meg resolution and 7x optical zoom. It is also the first Sony to use CompactFlash memory.

I've only taken one serious photo with it yet, but it turned out well.

There's a full review at Steve's Digicams. Here's his summary:
"While the $999 price tag may seem a bit steep, the Sony DSC-F828 is a lot of camera. With its excellent build quality, manually-operated Carl Zeiss 7x zoom lens, robust shooting performance, excellent image quality, superior low-light performance and rich feature set, the F828 is sure to please. And with its high resolution 8-megapixel imager, there's no need to be concerned about obsolescence any time soon. If you are in the market for a high-end digicam, the Sony DSC-F828 is worthy of your consideration; I liked it very much and I think you will, too."

One more thing. Although I bought the camera from a friend for less, I also added a Sandisk Ultra II 1 Gigabyte CompactFlash card (9MB/sec--fastest I found), along with a spare battery, a travel charger, multi-coated UV and polarizing filters, a mini-tripod, and a soft "lunchbox" type camera case to carry it all.

Update #1: OK, I've now taken over 50 serious pictures with it, and this is one fine camera! The long zoom lens lets me focus in on such subjects as a pair of geese without disturbing them. It is also adjustable in a zillion ways, or fully automatic. So you can either point and click, or make such changes as ensuring the shutter speed stays fast enough. The movie mode just made the best screensaver I've ever seen by recording 5 minutes of our fireplace in operation at 640 x 480 resolution, 15 frames per second.

For 30 FPS I would need Memory Stick Pro memory, of which Sandisk just announced a 2 Megabyte version. If interested, get at least that size, as my 5 minute movie used 105 Megabytes of memory.

Other reviewers have noted noise and color problems can occur with this camera, especially when used at ISO ratings above 64 and full aperture in glare-prone settings such as back-lighting. I haven't noticed that yet, even when trying to induce it. Perhaps that was improved in the production version.

Apparently there will be several 8 Megapixel cameras out in 2004.

Update #2: Now you can judge for yourself. Several pictures taken on this camera are posted here. The ones with names were taken on the Sony DSP-F828. Those without names were taken on a Pentax Optio 430 by Shades.

Both are great cameras: The Optio because it is small enough to always be with you, and the Sony because it flat out has it all when only the best will do for a particular picture. "Flamingos (at Punta Cormorant on Floreana Island)", for instance, could not have been taken from that spot by the Optio, simply because its telephoto wasn't long enough, and its resolution wasn't high enough to allow the needed cropping.

One other item to consider adding to the Sony camera is a travel tripod. Here's the one I highly recommend for travel:
Velbon Maxi 343E (Search for VNM343E.)

It weighs under 2 pounds, and at only 17.5" folded straps easily to my fanny pack. Since I prefer a pan head to a ball head, I swapped its ball head with the pan head from an 8" high mini tripod I'd bought for under $20 at Ritz Camera.

Update #3: As of 4/2/04, Sony is still on top of the digital camera market. Here's a link to the story, which includes a photo of this camera.

Update #4: Sony has posted updated firmware for the camera here PC Magazine considers "sharpness and resolution dramatically improved" by the firmware upgrade, and adds that " the DSC-F828 is the easiest 8MP camera to operate." (Their updated review is here.)

Update #5: Almost a year later, this is still the best camera available, in my biased opinion, and potentially also a fine digital movie camera. To explore that aspect of the camera, I've just temporarily replaced the 1GB Compact Flash memory with a 4GB Hitachi Compact Flash hard disk that was on sale at good price locally one weekend.

As I'd hoped, the 4GB disk allows me to record 640 x 480 (VGA) resolution movies at 30 FPS for 50 minutes. To put that in perspective, a typical TV only displays 320 x 240 resolution. So HDTV it ain't, but it's also a lot cheaper than even the cheapest HDTV camera.

Update #6: I'm now contemplating a second, much smaller and less intimidating to subjects camera to share with the Middlewife. Key features will be: small and thin but with a large LCD, zoom lens that does not protrude from the camera, automatic dust cover, powered by a standard battery and using SD-RAM. No existing camera has quite all of this. Sony and Nikon both have 5MP candidates that come close, except that they use proprietary batteries, and the Sony uses Memory stick Pro Duo RAM. Canon has a 7MP candidate that also comes close, except that its lens protrudes, and its battery is proprietary. Fortunately, there's no rush to decide.

Update #7: OK, I decided. I settled on the new Sony DSC-T7. It is by far the thinnest camera I could find that is any good. It is 5MP, only 1/3rd of an inch thick, has a solid lens cover and huge 2.5" LCD , and its lens does not protrude from the camera to scare the subjects. Amazingly, it not only fits in a shirt pocket, but fits along with an iPod or Treo.

If you get one, also get a spare battery, as one is only good for about an hour of use when set up for the Middlewife to use it most easily. Also get a bigger Memory Stick (Pro Duo). The largest I could find in stock was a 512M Sandisk that works fine, but if a 1GB one had been available, I'd have chosen that instead, and in the 5x higher-speed Sony version. Be sure to cover the LCD with a sheet of the screen protectors sold for Palm PDAs. Also, since it isn't water resistant, you may want to carry it in a small ZIP-lock baggie when there's any chance it will get wet.

Compared to the DSC-F828, the DSC-T7 lacks an optical viewfinder, has only a 3x zoom, and a maximum aperture of F4 rather than F2 (so can't take pictures in dark areas as easily.) In short, it isn't quite as good a camera, but is small enough to always be with you.