This is the first in a series of posts about choosing the right bits to build a Personal Video Recorder. A couple weeks back I decided that neither PlayTV nor TiVo really suited my needs, so I will be building my own.

It’s been a while since I looked at computer components, and the market has changed dramatically. Nowhere is this more evident than the CPUs. Originally, I had flagged a dual-core desktop chip like the Intel CoreDuo or an AMD Athlon II. However, there’s a new entrant to the CPU space: the Intel Atom that is at the heart of a lot of lightweight applications like netbooks, mobile phones, and media players. Read the rest of this entry »

Having to go several days without one’s primary PC makes one appreciate anything that can help replace the lost functionality. And so I spent a very intense couple of days with my new iPod Touch.

This second generation is very sexy. I’ve been interested in upgrading my Nano for a while, but couldn’t justify the iPhone to myself. As an all-in-one package for media play and portable web access, it really is a great device. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s no secret I’m an Apple loyalist. The first computer I set eyes on was an Apple][e when I was four. I touched my first Mac when I was 6, and the first PC my family owned was a MacSE 30 with an ImageWriter II. I’ve had a couple non-Macs over the years (running everything from Windows to Linux and a shade of BSD in between), but I keep coming back to the products produced by Steve and co.

And that makes my disappointment with my MacBook so much harder. Since I got it about 12 months ago, it’s been in for repairs three times. One for a cracked topcase, and twice for hard drive failure. That means I’m on to my third hard drive now. Read the rest of this entry »