Viewing Category: Shiny Things
I finally replaced my Epson Stylus Color 900 with a new Canon Pixma IP-5200R network printer. Booyah!
Ah, my Epson. It was a 4-color business printer with exceptional color output for its time, with pretty decent speed and reliability; it's lasted me for 8 years, surviving five different moves without a hiccup. Sadly, its printing quality has degraded to the point where it smears everything, and no amount of cleaning would bring it back.
While Epson had been the print quality leader for much of the 90s, the gap has been eliminated in the past few years by HP and Canon's latest models. Epson's current offerings have left me feeling crawly with their guzzly ink usage and cheap build quality. I also was not looking for a "photo printer", but a fast general-purpose 4-color model for daily use. HP printers I avoid on general principle (I hate their driver software), which left Canon. I had been reading good things about Canon printers for years, but they fell just short in image quality versus Epson. Until recently, that is; the recent batch of printers seems to get good buzz. The features that appeal to me:
- Network ready! Includes both ethernet and wireless (802.11G) connectivity!
- Both Mac and PC drivers!
- Individual ink tanks!
- Two-sided printing!
- Two paper paths, a bottom cassette and top-feed!
- Fast, quality black & white / color printing!
- PictBridge (direct from supported digital camera) printing!
The North American version, unfortunately, doesn't include the direct-to-CD printing feature that the European and Japanese version of this printer. Apparently you can hack the printer to re-enable this feature on the U.S. versions if you're willing to crack some plastic and twiddle the registry.
I first set the printer up on the Wireless Network, and it was pretty awesome. However, when I power-cycled the printer it stopped working; I suspect it has something to do with the drivers expecting the printer to be on a particular IP address; however, the printer is using DHCP and is grabbing a dynamic address every time. I'll have to fix that. I've put the printer on the regular ethernet for now, and it's working just fine. The printer also includes a regular USB 2.0 connection.
A couple of notes about the installation:
The manual is relatively straightforward but somewhat poorly organized. The diagram labeling is incomplete, never identifying the "inner door" that you're supposed to manipulate when installing the print head for the first time. I eventually figured out that the inner door instructions were edited out because it's related to the "Direct-to-CD" printing feature that IS NOT shipped with US models.
I was shocked to see that the printer driver by itself required a whopping 100MB of disk space. That is without the optional utilities that I didn't install. This is a huge printer driver; I thought HP was bad. The Mac OS X drivers, by comparison, are a little smaller at 40MB. I haven't gone and looked yet to see what's taking up all that room.
Installing the wireless network requires that you hook the printer up to a computer through the included USB cable. The setup software communicates with the wireless network through the printer, so you don't actually need to be using a computer with a wireless connection.
The print quality is quite a bit better than my 8-year-old Epson, which I suppose is to be expected given that my old 900 is 3 or 4 generations older.
The Epson output, scanned at 1200DPI. You can see the huge dots, and that the grayscale is composed of random colors. Click the image to see it bigger.
The Canon output, scanned at 1200DPI. Noticeably smoother! Grays are also printing much lighter, and there's a hue shift.
The Epson color output, scanned at 1200DPI. You can see how the printer is smearing a lot, and that the text isn't very sharp. The green color also shows a lot of dithering.
The Canon, by comparison, is much smoother and even. As it should be...it's brand new!
That was all with plain paper, so it's low resolution. Both printers were set to their best plain paper quality setting. The Epson takes several minutes to print a sheet at that setting, while the Canon takes something like 10 seconds. A vast improvement.
Normally, this printer is about $229, but Amazon was running a special for $199 plus free shipping, so I jumped on it. The IP5200R is the network-ready version. if you don't need it, then go with the IP5200 (no 'R' designation). It retails for $179 or so without the networking.
I can now print from every computer in the house, which kicks ass. Now that I have a working printer again, I'm more inclined to do some more paper-based work...hooray!
It has been 14 years since I've wanted an Apple for its sexy hardware. I'm not talking, mind you, about Apple's industrial design (when Jobs is in charge). Nor am I talking about Mac OS X, which continues to delight me. I'm talking about the guts: the processor, memory bus, video card, and integration with the operating system.
Finally, the first Mac I could buy without feeling ripped-off on performance is here: The MacBook Pro, with Intel Inside. Glee!
Now, I am not saying that Intel Rules over PPC... the Intel architecture is rather kludgy compared to, say, the much-loved Motorola 68000 series of the original Macs. However, the Mac has been trailing PC hardware (not the OS, the hardware) for over a decade. In 1992, when the first 486-DX2 PCs because available at 2x the performance for 1/2 the price, the Macintosh has been outclassed in terms of raw speed. I should know...I was facing that decision in 1992, and reluctantly went with the PC. Full disclosure: The LucasArts game X-Wing was only available on PC at the time...that may have had something to do with my decision as well :-)
Anyway, speed still didn't matter as much because all the good graphics software was still Mac, but around 1995 things started to turn the other way when Adobe made a usable version of Photoshop (version 4) available. The rise of 3D gaming and the Internet further pushed the Mac into a game of catch-up. Great software design and a loyal user base is what kept the ball alive, not speedy hardware.
Despite all that, I've always wanted a G5 box. They just look so cool, and OS X is so sexy. But as soon as I touched the mouse and felt the lag, I just walked away and kept my money. I did succumb once and bought the cheapest PowerBook I could (a 12" 1GHz G4), and it's easily my favorite machine in terms of personality. But fast it ain't. My 1GHz Compaq Presario notebook is noticeably faster.
No more! The MacBook has a dual-core Intel processor in it (2 processors in one = faster data processing), a faster frontside bus (better cpu-to-memory speed = faster data handling) , and PCI express (quicker graphics transfer = faster screen refreshes). I imagine that some of those sluggish 3D acceleration issues will go away too, because now 3rd party vendors can incorporate portions of Intel-native hand-optimized driver code. It's all good...hooray! Mac OS X and speed. Together at last. At a competitive price. Someone pinch me.
I see that there's a new iMac too too, that's supposed to be 2x faster. The cynic in me was analyzing the ad copy on the iMac page: it sounds like with the dual-core CPU, it's of course 2x faster than the single-processor version. But there are so many fundamental improvements under the hood, I'm wondering if it's actually capable of more speed than they're willing to admit to, say, people who just bought a PowerBook or G5; sorry if that's you...it's one of the hazards of being an Apple person! And think of this: the 2x speed may be referring to emulated PPC code, not Intel-native versions of your favorite apps. I eagerly await benchmark results of a totally-native software suite. There will be dozens of announcements over the next few weeks.
Now it feels like 2006! There are new Macs! Will 2006 will be the year to switch?
For my birthday, I met up with some friends for Dim Sum at the China Pearl in Woburn. Normally I am a little grouchy on my birthday, but my mood quickly lifted when I saw my present: a Master Replicas ForceFX Star Wars Lightsaber.
I'd come across Master Replicas before, when I was ogling their delectable Star Trek Classic Communicator (sadly, it isn't on their site anymore). The company specializes in making high quality movie prop replicas. From their website:
“Master Replicas are a bunch of lunatics who watch too many movies, work too hard, have no lives, but make cool stuff that helps collector’s dreams come true. Word.”
The handle is made of metal, beautifully weighted and detailed. There are some plastic elements, but they're not in places where you'd be offended. There are no cheesy decals except for the labels that tell you where the on switch is. Overall it's a little light, but it is a real object.
The blade is a single piece of clear plastic with an inner luminescent coating. It's quite nice; the thickness of the plastic gives it that "iPod" look if you know what I mean. As you power it up, the blade doesn't just light-up...the blue glow illuminates from the bottom to the top. Sweet!!! When I powered it up held high overhead, the entire place quieted down. Little kids turned green with envy, and the manager came out to tell us that light sabers were not permitted out in the dining area. He admitted though that it was super cool.
The saber has all the sounds you expect: powerup and hum. For interactive effects, a sensor detects when you swing the saber, which plays the louder humming noise. There's another sensor that detects when the blade strikes something, so you get that clashing hit effect. Simply awesome.
The saber is powered by 3 AA batteries. Even the battery module is a work of art. The AA batteries are fitted into the notches on the side of the cylinder, and then the entire cylinder is placed back in the handle. It feels like you're really putting in a power cell! The position of the cell is at the very end of the handle, which I think contributes to the saber's excellent balance.
The battery cap on the end is beautifully detailed...check out the lettering! A metal ring unscrews, which allows the entire battery module to slide out.
This is simply the coolest Star Wars toy ever. Perfect for the geekus supremus in your life!
It's sitting on my desk right now in the display stand, power switch up and ready for emergency activation. The display stand is nice; the bottom has rubber feet, and there are also holes in the back of it to allow wall mounting with screws!
I shot some grainy video with my digital camera so you can see and hear the power-up effect. You'll need Flash8 player installed.
For real drama, check out this saber duel using the toys! It's good to know that Master Replicas tests these things out for real! QuickTime required.
P.S. HOLY CRAP CHECK OUT THIS ALIENS MOTION TRACKER!!!
I've been drooling over the latest Levenger catalog, which features upscale furniture and gear for the discerning bookworm. Here's a few of the things that caught my eye:
The Scooter Laptop Stand with a single-pole support that you can draw real close; your legs slide by on either side of the pole. Adjustable height via foot pedal, ergonomically designed! And since it's from Herman Miller, I'm inclined to believe that it's a solid piece of furniture, unlike those deathtraps sold at the local mega-officemart. It certainly costs enough...
This 3x5 Card Bleacher is for organizing 3x5 index cards in a storyboard format! There are slots that hold the cards, and places for your pens! Levenger also sells a lot of other gear for managing 3x5 cards, such as their pocket briefcase. I hadn't thought about using 3x5 cards as the basis for organization, but it would be perfect for my kitchen gear mashup project...
The Circa Notebook System uses Rolodex-style rings so you can easily insert and remove paper, and it's designed to fold over flat. It looks awesome; no surprise it won 2005 Organizing Industry Product of the Year from the International Association of Professional Organizers. Levenger also sells a paper punch so you can convert any kind of paper to the system. This is exactly what I need for the next phase of The Printable CEO system. The basic notebook is $16.00, which is a little pricey, but not outrageous.
This Folding Editor's Desk is allegedly modeled after inclined writing desks used by scribes. What I like about the design is the back shelf, which can be used to support reference books you're referring to as you write. When I'm assembling custom reference material, I often get buried in multiple source books; I'll have to look into building something similar.
This Carousel Book Shelf/Stand would look awesome rotating in my fantasy library, wouldn't it? Levenger sells all kinds of neat library furniture, like a circulation manager table for newspapers with rounded shelves that keep magazines from sliding out. Nifty!
I am not a fan of poker, but I could get into Read 'Em. It uses poker rules, but instead of going for the straight flush you spell words using letter cards. The longest word spelled with most letters of the same suit wins!
The Inka Pen is a compact all-weather pressurized pen that can fit on your keychain; it's 3" closed and 5" open. According to the site, it's designed by engineer Greg Adelman, who needed a reliable pen while at sea deploying research instrumentation[.] It apparently even writes underwater. Makes my classic Fisher Space Pen seem a little less shiny...time for an upgrade, I think.
There's more cool stuff on the Levenger website...send away for your catalog! There are also a few retail locations: one's in Boston's Prudential Center, two are in Chicago, and one is in Del Ray, Florida. I'm going to have to check out the Boston location and see if this stuff is really any good.
I had a pretty good Christmas, with a large number of thoughtful gifts from my sister and her boyfriend: a pair of snowshoes, some cool OXO cooking whisks, a pizza stone, a John Cleese wine appreciation DVD, some neat clothes (my sis has a great eye for clothes, and I am mature enough to accept such practical gifts now!), and the incredible Guitar Hero game. That game deserves a post of its own...it's sort of a air-guitar rhythm game, except it comes with a miniature guitar-shaped controller (big enough to strap on!) and you wail to rock classics. It's awesome! There's even a functioning whammy bar! From friends, I got my very own copy of 7 Habits of Successful People, Season 3 of The Shield, and the complete Bone Adventures collection in one giant paperback. Hoo!
For food, I cooked up Vegetable Curry over Shake-n-Bake Chicken (it's not as weird as it sounds), and a Shanghai Red-Cooked Pork Shank. Both were really good, winning accolades from my sister. I gained 5 pounds over the past 3 days, so I'm back to the diet. Another friend gave me 4 gourmet hot sauces "from the Internet" that I have yet to try...we'll wait for Spring, dudes!
On the down side, my water heater died, so on the last day we had no hot water. I'm getting it replaced tomorrow...money I don't want to spend at all, but I'm fortunate that I caught it before the tank flooded my basement. I also discovered that the tank had been leaking for a while, and may be the cause of the mildew smell I would catch every so often. Could mold have been the source of my Dad's mystery allergy? I rediscovered the "joy" of taking a bath out of a pot of water heated on the stove.
On the business side, I'm almost done entering my accounting info into QuickBooks, the popular business accounting package from Intuit. The biggest snag was entering in paid bills and properly crediting them...it was taking hours to enter in just a handful of them, and the "Bill Pay" feature of QuickBooks didn't strike me as particularly intuitive. Partly this was because my paper filing and record keeping has been rather haphazard, so I've had to organize and sort at the same time. The other difficulty has been learning QuickBooks terminology so I know when to use a credit as opposed to a check, or an account transfer as opposed to a check. I think I have it mostly worked out, and for the first time ever I can actually see where all my money has gone, broken down into about a hundred different categories. It was really depressing, but this is exactly what I needed. Tomorrow I'll start entering current bills to reconcile the active accounts, and I will then be ready for the year. As a bonus, I'll be ready to start doing my 2005 taxes months ahead of time. That rocks!
