eSATA is faster than USB 3.0 — at least right now

USB 3.0 brings a host of other improvements over the 2.0 spec and eSATA, more power efficient, allowing more power-hungry bus-powered devices and better power management when devices are idle. USB 3.0 also can theoretically hit 600 MB/s. But right now it’s not the ultimate external data transfer protocol. That title belongs to eSATA.

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 01-31-10

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 01-31-10. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Sorry About the Amish Heater Scam

Sorry about the Amish heater scam, hope everyone was smarter than me. I should have learned by now that, anything sounding like a very good deal needs to pass the Google test. Hope no one was taken in. Here is a link to a site describing the scam. http://www.consumeraffairs.com

Links From The Gregg Zone

1) This is an article about the advancement of car sharing companies. I have linked several of them from Agassi’s electric car company, to the Zip Car here in the Zone. This article is sort of encouraging, seeing interest in this area. How long before the perfect business plan is developed and put into action. There are several links in the story worth looking at. http://earth2tech.com
2) I am going to toss in an extra green link this week; this is to an article in Science Daily discussing the problem of growing crops for bio fuels instead of food. Basically another approach of using waste products, I think this may be part of the solution, I like recycling in any form. http://www.sciencedaily.com
3) I ran across this yesterday and thought it was interesting in several ways. When it comes to material science, and the discovery of new materials necessary to build new technology there are few more important factors than weight, and strength. So finding a new metal lighter than aluminum, but stronger than steel, impressed me. The applications seem endless, the article references run from body armor and prosthetics, to car bumpers, but is seems like there would be many more. http://www.livescience.com
4) I saw this earlier in the week, have not had time to look into it, but plan to soon. I first linked to this at least a year ago, the availability dates went by, and I forgot about it. Well evidently I missed the debut, looks like it is up and running. I am referring to Microsoft’s World Wide Telescope, much like Google Maps, but for the night sky, stitching most of the world’s telescopes together, and putting them on your computer. I am looking forward to that next big meteoroid shower, solar flare, and more. http://www.worldwidetelescope.org
5) This is something Joe sent me, I was going to set up the free trial this morning, but got side tracked. Planning to do it soon though, talking about using Windows 7 media center for XM Radio. I listen to more radio than watch T.V., so this may be very cool for me. My biggest question is can I run it in the background while using the computer to surf, or play games. Guess I will find out, anyway here is a link for instructions at How to Geek. http://www.howtogeek.com
6) For my geek link this week I ran across this rather cool search site, what it does is tile Google and Bing side by side. Enter one search term, in one box and you can compare the results, or just find more results. I played with it a while and like it quite a bit, now I have to figure out how to make it my default search site. Or at least find out if I can, know how let me know. http://www.bingandgoogle.com/

Earl's Cyber Steals and Deals

ZipZoomFly has the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM Software for $100 - $10 rebate [Exp 3/5] = $90 with free shipping. For users who do not require remote desktop hosting, XP mode, or automatic backup utility.

Dell Home offers the Dell Inspiron 15 Pentium Dual-Core 2.2GHz 15.6" Widescreen Notebook in Jet Black w FREE MEMORY UPGRADE for $449 plus $12.95 for shipping This 5.8-lb. notebook features an Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4400 2.2GHz processor, 15.6" 1366x768 widescreen LCD, 3GB RAM, 250GB 5400 rpm Serial ATA hard drive, dual-layer DVD burner, 802.11g wireless, 6-cell battery, 2GB of Dell Online Backup for one year, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

Dell Small Business offers the Dell Vostro 220 Core 2 Duo 2.93GHz Mini Tower Desktop PC with the Dell E2010H 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $439 plus $35 for shipping. That's $50 over last week's mention, although this configuration features a faster processor, larger hard drive, and DVD burner. Sales tax is added where applicable. It features an Intel Core 2 Duo E5700 2.93GHz dual-core processor, 2GB RAM, 250GB hard drive, DVD burner, and Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit.

Newegg has the Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive for $60 with free shipping. Includes 3-year manufacturer limited warranty.

Newegg has the Rosewill RNX-N300 IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wireless-N 2.0 PCI Card for $20 with free shipping. Good Newegg user reviews for a budget-priced card.

Newegg has the Western Digital Caviar Green 1.5TB SATA Hard Drive WD15EARS for $109 with free shipping.
Features a large 64MB buffer, 100MBps internal data transfer rate, and is covered by a 3-year warranty. If you prefer, Amazon also has it for $105 shipped.

Surplus Computers has the Sabrent TV-PCIRC TV Tuner Capture PCI Card w/ Remote for $15 + $0 shipping = $15 shipped. Functions include Video Capture, TV Tuner, DVR, Personal DVD/VCD, Remote Control. [Compare]

Deal:Netgear 4-Port Web Safe Router with Switch $13 at Buy.com Buy.com has the refurbished Netgear 4-Port Web Safe Router with Switch for $13 with free shipping. Connects all computers on your home network to a single broadband connection and features double firewall protection. [Compare]

Amish Built Heat Surge Room Heater 2 Day Sale Down From $298.00 To $58.00 With Code

I ran across this in U.S.A. Today, the Amish are hurting because of the recession, and are offering the new Heat Surge Fireless Flame room heater for $58.00, 2 days (48 hours) only starting this morning at 8:00 am, with the code FP12132. Website http://www.amishfireplaces.com/
This heater uses the new hi-tech heat turbine technology to provide 5,119 BTU's at 9 cents per hour, on the high setting. Enough to heat 1,500 square feet for about $1.00 per day, or $2.16 per day at full blast. I have talked to two people who have this in the past and they were very satisfied.
It comes fully assembled out of the box, just plug it in and turn it on. I have seen one and it was quite attractive, looks like a fireplace in an oak cabinet, and seemed to be very well made. The Amish are only making the cabinet, and installing the heater. But, they do everything by hand, and are very quality conscious. This offer is only good for two days, so if you are interested you will need to be quick. Enjoy it whatever it is, Gregg

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 01-24-10

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 01-24-10. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Earll's Cyber Steals and Deals

SuperBiiz.com (eWiz.com) has the popular Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System on discount. Free Shipping.
Discounts after $10 off Coupon Code: WINTER10 (Exp 1/25)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (OEM) $92.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit (OEM) $92.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit (OEM) $127.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 32-Bit (OEM) $127.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit (OEM) $163.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 32-Bit (OEM) $163.99

mwave.com offers the ASUS 802.11g Wireless Router, model no. WL-520GU, for $39.99. This $10 mail-in rebate cuts it to $29.99. With free shipping, that's $2 over our November mention, but the lowest total price we could find by $9. It features a built-in print server and can prioritize your gaming, audio, and video Internet traffic. Rebate ends January 31

7-Port Powered Standing USB 2.0 Hub for $11 + free shipping eForCity.com offers the Powered 7-Port USB 2.0 Hub for $12.99. Coupon code "EFWS011840" drops it to $10.99. With free shipping,). It includes a USB cable and AC adapter.

Dell Home offers its Dell Inspiron 546 AMD Athlon II X4 2.8GHz Desktop PC for $469 plus $12.95 for shipping via the directions below. That's the least expensive Dell AMD quad core desktop we've seen of this speed or better. Sales tax is added where applicable. It features an AMD Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, 320GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA hard drive, DVD burner, Ethernet, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. To get this deal:
1. Click here to begin
2. select Processor - AMD Athlon II X4 630 Quad-Core 2.8GHz (+ $150)
3. select Operating System - Windows 7 Home Premium (+ $30)
4. add it to cart for $469

Dell Small Business offers the Dell Vostro 220 Intel Core 2 Quad 2.5GHz Mini Tower Desktop PC with the Dell E2010H 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $529 with free shipping. This PC features an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 250GB 7200 rpm hard drive, DVD-ROM drive, Gigabit Ethernet, and Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit


Dell Small Business offers the Dell Vostro 220 Pentium Dual-Core 2.6GHz Mini Tower Desktop PC with the Dell E2010H 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $389 plus $35 for shipping. This PC features an Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 2.6GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, DVD-ROM drive, and Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit.


Sceptre X46BV 46" 1080p Widescreen LCD HDTV for $598 + free shipping Walmart slashed its price on the model no. X46BV-1080P, to $598 with free shipping. . It features a native resolution of 1920x1080 (1080p), 8,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 550 cd/m² brightness, four HDMI inputs, and VGA, component, and other video inputs


Newegg has the HANNspree 32" ST321MKB 16:9 6ms 1080p LCD HDTV for $350 with free shipping. Sports a 1080p resolution, 178 degree H/V viewing angles, 500 cd/m2 brightness, 1300:1 native contrast ratio, and a 6ms response time. Input Video Compatibility PC Input: Analog RGB ATSC, NTSC, QAM Tuner HDTV Capability HDTV Tuner Inside
Connectors 4 x HDMI Inputs
2 x YPbPr Inputs
2 x S-Video Inputs
2 x Composite Inputs
VGA (PC) Inputs
RF Inputs 4 x L/R (RCA) Inputs
PC Audio Inputs Headphone Out (3.5mm Mini-Stereo)
HDCP Ready Yes HDMI 4

MWave has the Sabrent WCM-6LNV 6-LED Infrared Night-Vision 1.3 MP USB 2.0 Webcam with Audio Microphone for $10 with free shipping. Features 1/3" sensor, 6mm lens, 640x480 video, metal body, manual focus ring.

Links From The Gregg Zone

1) Starting off with a little regression back to CES, this was one if the things I noticed walking around the show. One of the buzz words or terms that were flashing around was green energy. Another related term was home energy, especially referring to saving due to a greater understanding of how much energy the home was using and more importantly where it was being used. This is an interesting link on that whole area, do click around the links, a lot of interesting stuff here http://ces.cnet.com
2) This is probably my favorite areas when it comes to zone links, specifically the “I want one of those” links. This one comes thanks to Troll thank god there is no way I could afford one of these, so I won’t have to worry too much. But, as far as the cool factor. And that, “I wish I would be around long enough to see this developed”, maybe into a fad. Something just taking off due to a basic practicability, sort of like the new V.W. Bug taking over the market in the ‘70’s. That is something that would make me envious of the next generation. http://www.smartplanet.com
3) This is one Joe sent me a week or so ago. I like keeping up on these medical advancements, they just keep getting better. This is one on using the conteversial stem cell technology in giving sight to a kid born blind. It seems odd to me that someone would have to go all the way to China to take advantage of these breakthroughs. We are destine to lose our technological edge as a country if we continue to let antiquated belief systems continue to get in the way of our progress, just my perspective don’t write. http://www.mirror.co.uk/
4) This line of physics leading to M-theory or multiverse theory is one of those areas that keep me interested, not so much for all the presented hype that goes along with most of the articles related to it, dealing with the math and theory. The part that keeps me coming back are the obvious questions of how does it relate to consciousness, the human questions of how do I fit I as a conscious entity fit into this matrix. http://www.astrobio.net
5) Time for that link that just zooms by me, leaving me thinking wow that’s cool, followed by what’s cool. Not sure what effect this may have on the world, but I keep hearing about virtualization from people in the radio show rooms, so when I saw this and realized it was only a day or two old, it just seemed like it a was postable link. http://blogs.zdnet.com

After Google hack, Microsoft asks users to abandon IE6, XP

Microsoft is using a widely publicized flaw in Internet Explorer as a way to push users to upgrade both their browsers and operating systems.

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 01-17-10

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 01-17-10. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Earl's Cyber Steals and Deals

Buy.com Brinkmann 3 Watt LED 2D Aluminum Flashlight for $15 with free shipping. Features 3 watt Luxeon LED produces 120 Lumens, 30 times brighter than a standard 5mm LED flashlight, water resistant and shock

ZipZoomFly has the Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive for $60 - $15 rebate [Exp 02/28] - $5 with coupon code ZZF1029 = $40 shipped. This is the 12th generation of their hard drive family. Covered by a 3-year warranty.

Newegg has the Toshiba 32RV525R Regza 32" 1080p LCD HDTV for $390 with free shipping. [Compare] • 1920 x 1080p (31.5"), DynaLight Dynamic Back-Light Control • Built-in ATSC, NTSC, and QAM tuners, 3x HDMI inputs, PC input

ZipZoomFly has the Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB Hard Drive for $80 - $15 rebate [Exp 1/31] - $5 with coupon code ZZF1029 = $60 with free shipping. Sports a 7200R PM rotational speed, 32MB buffer, and 7.7W average power consumption at idle

Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB SATA 3.5" Hard Drive $90 at Frys website

ASUS Radeon 4350 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI-E Video Card $15 at MWave MWave has the ASUS EAH4350 SILENT/DI/512MD2(LP) Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFire Supported Low Profile Ready Video Card for $30 - $15 rebate [Exp 1/31] = $15 with free shippingLITEON

Newegg has the LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW SATA CD/DVD Burner for $24 with free shipping.

Samsung 22X DVD+R Writer SATA Drive $24 at Newegg Newegg has the Samsung 22X DVD+R Writer SATA Drive for $22 + $2 shipping = $24 shipped. Writes DVD+R discs at 22x, DVD+RW at 8x, and reads DVD-ROMs at 16x.


Dell Home offers the Dell ST2410 24" 1080p Widescreen LCD Monitor for $184. With free shipping, that's the lowest total price we could find, although we saw it for $5 less three days ago (since expired) It features a native resolution of 1920x1080 (1080p), 5ms response time, 250 cd/m² brightness, one HDMI input, and DVI-D and VGA inputs.

Lots of good deals at Fry’s IN STORE AD - 16GB SDHC card $23.

Links From The Gregg Zone

1) Starting with what looks to be a positive sign in the green energy field. Hope it becomes a trend. It looks like Stirling Energy Systems is getting ready to start up their first plant in Arizona. They are not the only solar supplier using the Stirling Engine. I like seeing small energy companies like this just starting up, with out much encouragement. If they are successful it may start a movement toward this type of energy production. Maybe even a gold rush type investment bubble, it is the Home Depot model I am looking for lean it against the garage and plug it in. Interesting article, a few of the links are informative. http://earth2tech.com
2) Being still close to the beginning of the year I still have an attraction to those prediction sites, when I found this one I thought I would pass it on. No doomsday, end of the world here. Fairly sane and reasonable forecasts and predictions for technology in 2010, I thought his daily video was fairly well done and interesting. http://www.jumpthecurve.net
3) This is about another area of interest to me space, our technological capability's are increasing exponentially. This looks to be another of one those jumps. There is a company currently building a plasma rocket engine that will cut down the travel time to Mars from two years to about forty days. I would say as they are supposedly beginning production now at this rate it looks like we may land someone on Mars in my lifetime WOW! http://www.cbc.ca
4) This article I found on language death I found it sad, unfortunately I think he is right that it is inevitable his case for this seems well thought out. Everything in our world is determined by economics, not much we can do about that. I do think language preservation is important, and study as to origin and such is necessary, but like they say at what level, and at how much cost. He wrote what looks to be an interesting book. I looked it up at free library, but it is not free and price ridicules. http://io9.com
5) For my geek link of the week, the news that there is a geek shortage, here in the U.S. to the point of being considered a national security emergency. Just my twisted point of view, but when we passed laws enabling everything to go overseas, to save a buck. We had to know we would pay in the end. Oh well an interesting read, maybe job security for some, opportunity for others, just hope it is in time. http://www.wired.com

LPD HDTVs: - The Future or Simply Late to the Party?

Earlier this week, display company Prysm announced a new display technology that could revolutionize consumer HDTVs and business professional displays>

Privacy is dead on Facebook. Get over it.

Ripping the privacy carpet out from under its users is the kind of shifty behavior that will no doubt result in lawsuits topping that of Facebook’s Beacon debacle back in 2007, when user purchases and other Internet activity popped up in Facebook's "news feed"

Better Gmail 2 - Free download for FireFox

This collection of popular Greasemonkey scripts makes tweaking Gmail's look and behavior as simple as installing a Firefox add-on. The 15 features in Better Gmail 2 allow for a deeper level of customization than Google can provide, even though the introduction of Google Labs in Gmail demotes Better Gmail from "must-have" to "still pretty cool."

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 01-10-10

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 01-10-10. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links From The Gregg Zone

1) I was sort of hoping to start off my green link with something super cool from CES, but in that area I was rather disappointed at the show. Lots of whiz-bang fancy stuff, most of which reminded me of a movie sequel, new twist on an old story. So when I started looking around and spotted some news on something I had used along time ago. And, I remembered thinking it was a keeper back then and, I saw the article was about their success; that they were attracting more money and interest I thought I would bring it back. http://www.konarka.com
2) One more CES link, because I know we will be talking about the show, and I don’t want to over do it here, I may use some other CES related stuff next week. One of the biggest new hype products this year; was 3D T.V. I was not very impressed, nor was Joe. We talked about it quite a bit and we both had the same ho-hum feeling about it. I thought this article was very insightful, they were not very impressed either, and he made some very good points about the industry. I think he was right on with his analysis about why the industry will lose in the short term, but probably force us into acceptance eventually. http://www.thedailymaverick.co.
3) Moving on from the show, this is a link that Troll sent last week that is one of the coolest I have seen in quite awhile. Our friend in Playa Del Rey has been so wound up in this he has been at the site for many hours every day all week. While I like it a lot, I’m not quite that hooked. But, if you are into photography you really need to check this out. In the past I used a link on this Gigapixel Technology. But, it was nothing like this super high resolution, 18 gigapixel, 360 degree spherical panorama, photo taken from the top of the T.V. antenna in Prague. Full zoom capability you can zoom in on someone miles away and see their facial features. Just amazing detail be sure not to miss this one. Thanks Troll, you sure did well this time.http://www.360cities.net
4) This is one that Earl might be interested in if he is not already aware of it. It has been said you cannot reinvent the wheel; well the guy’s at MIT may have something to say about that. They have just unveiled The Copenhagen Big Wheel, for bicycles. This is a very impressive bit of engineering; it is comparable to the Swiss Army Knife, a lot of useful stuff crammed into a small space. http://web.mit.edu
5) My geek link for the week is not totally computer related, but has a definite geek appeal. This is a video site called Engineering TV, an online video program by engineers for engineers. Focused on technical B2B engineering topics, there is an archive in addition to the current offerings, very nice site. http://engineeringtv.com/

Earl's Cyber Steals and Deals

Micro Center offers the retail-boxed Intel Core i5-650 Clarkdale 3.2GHz Dual-Core Socket 1156 Processor, model no. BX80616I5650, for $149.99. With $5.99 for shipping, that's the lowest total price we could find by $36. (In-store pickup is also available.) Sales tax is added where applicable. This 73-watt CPU features a 4MB L3 cache. A heatsink and fan are included.


Beach Camera offers the JVC 32" 1080p Widescreen LCD HD Television, model no. LT-32J300, for $399 with free shipping. That's the lowest total price we could find by $30. It features a native resolution of 1920x1080 (1080p), 3,700:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 6ms response time, 500 cd/m² brightness, three HDMI inputs with HDCP, and VGA, component, and other video inputs.

Dell S2209W 22in Widescreen LCD Monitor $139 Free Shipping ,
Dell Home has the Dell S2209W 21.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $139.00 Free Shipping. Tax in most. 1920x1080; 5ms; 1000:1; 300nits; DVI (HDCP) & VGA; 3yr warranty


Refurbished ASUS Eee PC 900A Intel Atom 1.6GHz 9" Netbook for $170 + free shipping mwave.com offers this netbook that features an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, 8.9" 1024x600 widescreen LCD, 1GB RAM, 4GB Solid-State Disk (SSD), 802.11g wireless, USB ports, 4-cell battery, GNU Linux, and more. A 90-day warranty applies

Walmart offers the Sceptre X46BV 46" 1080p Widescreen LCD HD Television, model no. X46BV-1080P, for $648 with free shipping. That's $51 under our December mention and the lowest total price we could find by $171. Sales tax is added where applicable. It features a native resolution of 1920x1080 (1080p), 8,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 550 cd/m² brightness, four HDMI inputs, and VGA, component, and other video inputs

Abe's of Maine offers the Canon PowerShot SX120 IS 10-Megapixel Digital Camera in Black, model no. 3634B001, for $199. Coupon code "DEALNEWS10" cuts it to $189.95. With free shipping, that's the lowest total price we could find by $9, although we saw it for $1 less in December, since expired. Features include 10x optical zoom, 3" LCD, optical image stabilization, face detection, 2GB Secure Digital card, and more.

$251 TechNet Plus subscription. Go To http://www.microsoft.com/click/technetplus/Use TNWIN7L as the Promo Code

Seagate Super Speeds Transfer Rates With USB 3.0 External Portable Hard Drive

Seagate announces its first USB 3.0 external harddrive at CES. At last the USB 3 products are starting to appear. - Earl