Turning it back on, I hear the optical drive make some unusual noises: “Uhhn, chirp, chirp. Uhhn, chirp, chirp. Uhhn, chirp, chirp. Buzzzzzz.” Instead of going to the starting screens of Oblivion, it drops me off at the dashboard, where, in the disc status area, it says “Reading” and then “Unplayable Disc”. Taking the disc out, it appears to be spotless, but I wipe it off anyway and get the same result upon reloading it. I then try Tiger Woods 2007 and NHL 2007, and get the same result. I then try a DVD: Charmed, Season 1. Same results.

I think my optical drive is not feeling so well. The rest of the system seems fine, in that I can connect to Xbox Live with no issues and play the Xbox Arcade games that are on the hard drive with no problem.

I guess I get to call Customer Support tomorrow morning. How fun.

Update: 12/26 9:00AM – I just got off the phone with the Xbox support folks. It was surprisingly easy. After telling the annoyingly casual-sounding robot he couldn’t help me (I half expected him to call me “dude”), I was immediately transfered to a nice woman named Inez. I told her my problem, she took my contact information, and we ran through some basic troubleshooting.

I unplugged the cables and plugged them back in and still had the problem. I removed the hard drive and still had the problem. That was about it. After that, she set up a repair order and is sending me a shipping box, so it shouldn’t cost me a cent. I should have it back within 14 days, though I’m not sure if that starts now or when they receive it. It’s the latter, I’m sure.

By the way, in case you missed it, Microsoft extended
Xbox 360 warranty to one year, instead of the former paltry 90 days.

I’ve never noticed this behavior on my PowerBook, so I’m not really sure what’s up. Unless the battery vs. plugged-in behavior is a red herring, I’d guess that it has something to do with the power management stuff that happens in those situations. It seems like a strange symptom of that, though, especially noting the second-click quick page loads.

Any ideas?

Technorati tags: vaio sony techsupport laptops

We’ll start off with the inspiration for my dream device:

It’s a nice hardcover Army-issue notebook, about 5 inches by 7 inches and about a half an inch thick, full of what looks to be college-ruled paper. It’s great for jotting down notes during a meeting or sketching diagrams to organize some disorganized thoughts. It doesn’t weight more than a few ounces, I’m sure, and it weighs noticeably less than my 40-gig iPod. All-in-all, it’s a great little recording unit.

Its downfall is that it’s inherently analog. I can take beautiful notes in it, but they’re not fully indexed for quick searching. I can’t re-order the pages without destroying the notebook. I can’t upload notes or data from other sources quickly. I can’t easily copy my notes and diagrams into an e-mail or a blog post.

So pay attention now, hardware companies. Here’s what you need to do to make me happy, somewhat in order of importance:

1. My new device needs to have the same form-factor as my little green notebook. About 5 in. by 7 in. by 1/2 in. and no heavier than an iPod. It must open like a book and have a nice cover on it, preferably one that’s customizable. I’m sure some people would like a nice leather cover and others would go for a sleek, brushed-metal exterior. Personally, I like the simple, smooth book-style hardcover like on my notebook, but to each his own, I say.

The book form-factor is important to me, since it has a built-in protection mechanism and as shown by the past few centuries, it’s a great shape for just sitting around and reading.

2. I need to be able to write in it. Ideally, both open pages would accept writing, but if that’s too hard or expensive, just the right side would be fine. If it’s limited to just one side, the entire device should be able to be flipped upside-down for left-handers, since it would probably be more useable for them to be able to write on the left side.

There’s got to be some great handwriting-recognition software on there, too. Everything I write has be able to be quickly searched through and easily transferred as either the original handwriting or translated ASCII text to any other document on this device or my main computer.

3. Both open pages need to have very high resolution. I want to be able to sit and read from this device for hours with no more eye fatigue than I’d get from reading a regular book.

4. I must be able to upload entire books and easily navigate them, search through them, and make notes in them. Since I can read from this for hours, I need something to read. This device will replace the fiction books I bring on the commuter train and the technical books I use at work.

5. It must store and play my entire music collection. I’m fine if it just handles MP3s, but integration with the iTunes Music Store would be nice. And while you’re at it, integration with the other major music stores would be excellent. Oh yeah, support Ogg Vorbis, too, for the the Slashdot crowd.

6. The device also needs to make phone calls, send and receive e-mail, and browse the web, all without forcing me to jump through a cellular company’s hoops. This might be done by having wi-fi access of some type and doing voice over IP for the phone calls. I’m not ready to move to Japan or Korea to be able to hook up with a phone company that can handle modern technology.

7. It needs to support wireless peripherals of all kinds. It can be Bluetooth or whatever, but I need to be able to use wireless headphones, phone headset, keyboard, mouse, fancy digital pen, and anything else that might be of use.

8. It must easily sync up with any common computer a user may use: Windows PC, Mac, Linux, etc.

9. Its pre-loaded software needs to include a text editor for note taking, a calendar, an e-mail client, a fully functional, modern web browser (Firefox, perhaps), a book reader that can handle all common document formats, a music player, and a fast search engine, along the lines of Apple’s Spotlight.

10. The device’s operating system must be open, such that I can easily install any third-party application I want to use. Interested developers must be free to create any applications they want, without having to license any expensive SDKs. Even better, it could run Linux and a world of applications would be just about available right from the start.

Ok, that sounds easy enough. Oh, I forgot to mention, the battery needs to last at least 8 hours if the user is just reading or taking notes. Using more advanced features can reduce the battery life a bit, but it better not be by much. And, it needs to cost less than $1000 and under $500 would be even better.

So there you go, hardware companies. Get to it. Christmas is almost a month away.

There’s something about the smell of a new piece of computer equipment that makes me happy. I’ve heard that memory and the olfactory sense are linked; the smell of a new mouse, keyboard, or in this case, a new Powerbook, brings back that feeling from Christmas morning, opening presents from Santa.

Similarly, the smell of new software and books bring back pleasant feelings, though a bit different from computer equipment. Opening up new software brings me back to when I’d save up my allowance and make a trip to Electronics Boutique at the mall and buy a new computer game. That was always fun: leaving shrink-wrap plastic and registration cards scattered over the dining room table while I sat there switching between 12 3.5″ floppy disks, installing my new game.

New books–text books, in particular–on the other hand, have an odor that gives me that first-day-of-school feeling, that bit of excitement and optimism that I’d get before realizing, a few weeks later, that this year isn’t much different from the last and this year’s classes aren’t any more exciting than last year’s ones.

Anyway, I got a new PowerBook for work. Woohoo!

Man, that makes me sound like a geek.

My favorite Christmas present this year is the Macally iceKey keyboard. It’s a full-size 108 key USB keyboard that has laptop-style scissor key switches rather than the standard type of keys normally used with desktop computers. Some people prefer the loud clickety-clack of standard keyboards, but as someone who’s used a PowerBook almost exclusively for the past year, moving to such a keyboard was not something I relished when I recently took a new job. Luckily, I stumbled upon a webpage extolling the virtues of Macally’s iceKey. I added it to my Amazon Wish List and a magical wish-granting elf wrapped it up and put it under the Christmas tree.

My only concern was that the iceKey was designed to be used with a Mac and my new job involved primarily a Windows XP machine with a smattering of Linux work sprinkled in. My concerns were unfounded, though, as the iceKey works flawlessly—for my purposes—with my Windows computer. I haven’t had the need to use it with my Linux server; however, I have read reports that it will work there as well.

There are, though, a few small idiosyncrasies that may dissuade other possible Windows-based users from plugging in an iceKey. First of all, there are several keys that do not function in a Windows environment: volume controls and an eject button. On a Mac, these would mirror the functionality of the same keys that appear on my PowerBook keyboard. However, the drivers that are provided with iceKey are Mac-only, so they remain unused when plugged into a Windows machine.

Also, as is standard on Mac keyboards, the left Option key (function as Alt) is directly to the right of the Ctrl key and to the left of the Command key (functioning as the Windows key). This differs from a standard Windows keyboard, which has Ctrl, Windows and Alt, in that order. It was not a big deal to me, coming from a Mac world, but the different layout could take some getting used to for an exclusive Windows user.

Also a non-issue for me is the lack of a Print Screen key. There may be a work around for that, but as someone who has pressed that key approximately 5 times in the past 15 years, it hasn’t really concerned me. Similarly, the Scroll Lock and Pause keys are missing. These three keys have been replaced by F13, F14 and F15 keys, which may or may not be of use to some users. Additionally, a key labeled “Help” is in the position of the standard Insert key; under Windows, however, it does function as the Insert key.

That all said, this keyboard is a joy to use. Typing on it is smooth and quiet and the keys are very responsive. The spacebar, however, feels a bit looser than the other keys and makes a bit more noise when pressed, but it is still much quieter than a standard desktop keyboard. Additionally, there are two USB ports on the keyboard itself, potentially keeping someone from crawling under their desk to plug in their iPod.

I know there are folks out there who seek out ancient IBM keyboards specifically for their stiff and loud action, but I personally prefer my keyboards to make as little noise as possible and to take as little work as possible to actually type. This keyboard is a perfect fit for both of those requirements. If you are a Windows user and can handle the slightly different key layout, the Macally iceKey should be on your Amazon Wish List if it’s not already on your desk.