Summer Product Tour Poll

In the spirit of next week (which, if you have forgotten, is our Summer Product Tour), we are asking our readers to vote regarding their most-used summer technology products. The winner will be featured in our first day of the tour, this Sunday (May 3, 2009). So get voting!

Search Engine Wars

The internet can be frustrating; there are popups, downloads, questionable images, unwanted messages, etc. What we have to remember is that behind all of that is a wealth of knowledge that is just waiting to be found.

But how do we find it? Microsoft would like us to use Live Search, AOL their own search, and Google well…Google Search.

Well which is the best? The simple answer is that they are all using very similar algorithms to get you basically the same results (AOL is even “enhanced” by Google). My biggest concerns are: a) Getting the page I want, and b) Not being nagged by pages I don’t want to see. Let’s review in a few categories

1. Advertisements: They will all have them since this is their source of revenue, so we should look for the most applicable and least obtrusive ones. I did a search for “computer” and got ads on every site. Google Search use shows ads above your search and then to the side, while AOL shows ads above and below your search, and Live shows ads in all 3 of these locations. Furthermore, Live’s ads seem somewhat less related to my search. I got an “Earn an online degree” ad…probably not something I’m looking for when searching for computers. Winner: Google- least number of ads that were clearly separated from search results and were relevant.
2. Forced Information: Both AOL and Live tried to suggest searches for me, such as “buy a computer” or “upgrades for a computer”. While these may be helpful, I think I know what I’m looking for with this simple query. Google didn’t try to do this, and I’ve seen them only help in potential misspellings or very closely related searches. Winner: Google- gives me the search I want and gives it now.
3. Relevant Pages: As I said before, we get pretty much the same informati0n in all of them: a link to the Wikipedia page, Apple, Dell, Microsoft, etc. But Google goes one step further; apparently, they can look into my site history with them (since I use their service often) and see what pages I go to often. Hence, Apple was my first result (since I just downloaded iTunes yesterday). The other searches might be able to do this, but for me I declare the Winner to be Google.

So there you have it. Google seems to win all 3 categories. Coupled with an easy-to-use, minimalistic, customizable design, I say we have a winner. If you are more comfortable with another search engine, definitely keep using it; we all eventually get to similar (if not the same) information. If you haven’t tried Google, I recommend it highly.

Site Updates, Summer 2009

As I’m sure you have all noticed, we have migrated to WordPress, which provides a more stable and accessible system for the site. We appreciate your continued support and would like your feedback! Please send any suggestions, questions, etc. to comments@theivytech.com.

In further news, we’re preparing to kick off our week of summer gadgets, where every day we will highlight a new product that college students will benefit from this summer, whether going abroad, interning, or lounging at the beach. We hope you enjoy!

Microsoft’s Zune Phone

Apparently Microsoft wants some of the Smartphone cash. If it wasn’t enough that huge numbers of smarphones already use Windows Mobile, they are now releasing a “Pink” phone for use with Verizon. Read about it at Wired.

Now I can see why Microsoft wants to do this–the iPhone/iPod is a major competitor to their Zune line. But honestly, people don’t really want a Zune because most people find the iPod to be more user friendly and visually stunning. I just like using it more. But if they will insist, I have a few suggestions:

1. Roll out Windows 7. Impress everyone there. Then release your phone
2. Improve the Zune’s design. The iPod has changed quite a bit.
3. Why Pink? I hope this isn’t the only color it will come in!

Genius G-Shot HD520 camcorder

The Genius G-Shot HD520 camcorder is available for purchase today. Quite a few years ago, I had a camcorder. Now, I just use my digital camera if I want to record something quick. However, this product may change my mind.

For starters, it’s only $149. Well, we can find a lot of camcorders for similar prices…the true difference here comes in its shooting quality and resolution. It’s a 720p HD camcorder. That is very rare to find even in the $200 price range. The ONLY downside is that it only comes with 32 megabytes of internal memory, but can be increased up to 8 GB using an SD card (why only 8 GB I’m not sure…higher capacity cards definitely exist…).

It can also shoot still shots at 11 megapixels and connect flawlessly to Macs and PCs alike. If you need an inexpensive, quality camcorder, this is a great buy!

Read the full press release.

Dell Mini 9: Review

So now that I’ve had a week or so to play with my Mini 9, I figured I’d post a review of my thoughts so far. First, here are my specs:

• Dell Mini 9, preloaded with Ubuntu
• 1.3 megapixel webcam
• Bluetooth
• 2 gigs of RAM
• 8 gig SSD hard drive (I’m working on upgrading…they’re out of stock!)
• 16 gig SD card
• OS X 10.5.6 Retail

So now, some pictures:

Note: I kept the images Hi-Res so you can have a closer look if desired.

Boot up: takes about 15 seconds. Not bad at all!

After booting, we are faced with the familiar OS X screen. Perfect image quality and great performance!

Here’s the screen up close:

The image quality is really outstanding, and all applications work completely as planned. The webcam, bluetooth, SD card, microphone, etc all seem to be fully functional! In addition, I get about a 3 hour battery life (which I think is pretty good) with very fast speeds and performance. Finally, SLEEP WORKS! This has always been a problems with non-native OS X machines, but not for the Mini 9! Close the lid, and the Mini enters a low-powered sleep mode to conserve battery. Open the lid, and you are back to working almost instantly!

Of course, there are a few cons that go along!

• HOT! The computer doesn’t have a fan, so it heats up a bit. Not a huge problem, but it can get uncomfortable on your lap!
• New hard drives are EXPENSIVE and DIFFICULT to acquire. I suggest upgrading from Dell at the get-go, even though it is very expensive, to relieve yourself of the hardship of finding a RunCore drive.
• Screen resolution is kinda weird-1024×600. Some applications don’t fit well in the screen. There are fixes for this, but none of them work perfectly. It doesn’t happen too often, and most of the time there is a way around it.
• The keyboard is tiny and it has some weird key positions. I’ve grown accustomed for the most part EXCEPT for the ‘/” key that is down by the arrow keys. That will take some getting used to!

So there you have it! My ultimate rating is 4/5 stars, and I HIGHLY recommend that you get one if you are looking for an ultraportable, inexpensive laptop!

XP Virtualization in Windows 7

If you couldn’t tell, I’m pretty excited about the release of Windows 7. I wasn’t disappointed with Vista, but its huge hardware footprint left my older machines unable to run it smoothly. Since then, I’ve been using OS X. But, I could see myself switching back (or, at least, dual booting) with a good release. The newest feature, XP Virtualization, is a huge step in the right direction.

With Vista, a bunch of old software titles, especially those I or other science people made were left uncompatible. But apparently, this will be a nonissue in 7. You will be able to download an XP virtualization addon to allow full XP support (not just the “compatibility mode” of Vista). I’m even more excited now! Read the full story at Engadget.

CALLING ALL STUDENTS: win a 500GB Toshiba USB 2.0 portable HDD!

Engadget is graciously having a contest to win an external 500 gig hard drive!!! What a great time to back up your hard drive (which you should always do!). Visit the link here. I’ll quote the contest below.

This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of
jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn’t want to stand
helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving
anything back — so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a
little positivity. We’ll be handing out a new gadget every day (except
for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff or companies
stop sending things. Today we’ve got an 500GB Toshiba USB 2.0 portable hard drive, complete with a swank black / white motif and a nearly unlimited amount of room for, um, whatever the heck you want.
Read the rules below (no skimming — we’re omniscient and can tell when
you’ve skimmed) and get commenting! Hooray for free stuff!

Huge thanks to Toshiba for providing the gear!

The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for “fixing” the world economy, that’d be sweet too.
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once.
  If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically
  disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure
  fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one (1) 500GB Toshiba USB 2.0 portable HDD, model number HDDR500E03X. Approximate retail value is $139.99.
• If
  you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond
  within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond
  within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Friday, April 24th, at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here.

Ubuntu What?

I finally received my Dell Mini 9 in the mail, and I have to say I’m impressed. I’m writing this on it right now, and a full review will come later. However, since I knew I would be changing the operating system anyway, I opted for the free version of Linux, Ubuntu. Before installing OS X, I played around in Ubuntu a bit just to get a feel for it. Overall, it was a nice operating system that could do everything I needed it to do. However, it wasn’t incredibly user-friendly and I just didn’t like the navigation.

Some things I wanted to do but had a hard time doing:

1. Installing software. It’s not as easy as in Windows or OS X. It’s a complicated process that can be simplified with third party apps, but not yet ready for mainstream.
2. Partitioning. I had a new SD card. I wanted 2 partitions. I couldn’t figure out how to do that without the Terminal, which scares many users away
3. Navigating. There’s the boring task bar like in Windows. Minimal alerts when anything happens. Just blah.

But, it’s getting there. Eventually, it may be a major competitor for OS X and Windows alike. They just need to hit the tech-unsavy department and it will definitely be a hit. Who can resist free?

It seems that they are slowly making types of improvements. Today, I read on Wired about a new user interface and some other improvements. Read the full article and decide if you want to switch!

Smallest Flash Drive!

I would say that 80+% of students have a flash drive of some sort (include MP3 players with flash memory, and that would be closer to 100%). But have you seen one this small???

Apparently, EagleTec (which I had not before heard of) just released this new, minuscule drive. Measuring 19x16x5 mm, I really wonder where all the storage goes! You can get 4 gigs for a relatively inexpensive $22 and 8 gigs for $33. I ordered the 4 gig and will report back with speed/functionality. That is, if I don’t lose it first! I’m glad they include a lanyard, because I’ll need it!

[Thanks, OhGizmo!]