ULTRAVIAS - Notebook, Laptop and mobile device reviews

One item that seems to always arise when discussing Blu-ray Players, is the loading of the Blu-ray Disc.  Why does it take so long for the Blu-ray disc to load? And when it does load, why does the movie start to play immediately? Why are there no opening menus first?

The first thing you need to realize is the blu-ray disc is more complex than a DVD. The blu-ray disc holds larger amounts of data since it has five times more storage capacity than DVDs. It can hold 25GB (single layer) and 50 GB (dual layer) of data. With this amount of space for data the Blu-ray menus are more intricate and interactive. It can even make use of animation and special audio effects. Since a Blu-ray Disc will have picture-in-picture and online BD-Live, all features a DVD disc does not have; it takes a while for the Blu-ray Player to load these extra features into its memory.

As for the Blu-ray Disc playing the movie right away, instead of the Blu-ray menu, has to do with how the Blu-ray Disc is written and nothing to do with the Blu-ray Player itself. People who are coding the Blu-ray disc decides if the disc will play the movie or the menu first. The reason each disc will have a different loading time is because Blu-ray discs are coded differently from each other.

However, Blu-ray Players will load discs at different speeds depending on how fast the processor is in each Blu-ray Player. Some of the fastest Blu-ray Players are Sony’s PlayStation 3, Oppo’s BDP-83, Samsung BD-P3600, and LG BD390. Some of these players can load certain Blu-ray movies in 20 seconds. One way to make sure your Blu-ray Player is loading the disc as fast as possible is to update its firmware. Updating the Blu-ray Players firmware will likely increase loading times since manufactures are always looking to improve playback on its products.

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For more information on Blu-ray and Blu-ray Players try this handy comparison guide: bluray players Copyright 2010. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

Intel Clarkdale has graphics in the CPU core: The model code of Intel’s new Core i5 661 processor sounds as though it might be a subtle variant of Core i5 750, whereas it actually takes a significant step forward. Core i7 900 (development name…

stylish ultraportable with Windows 7 and poor battery life: Advent’s latest notebook, the slim-line, ultraportable Verona, is a bit of a curate’s egg. While it has styling which catches the eye, a largish screen and an admirably low price tag, the use of a single…

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I updated my PwdHash page to tweak the CSS for mobile (webkit) browsers. It’s not quite a replacement for a native app on a mobile device, but it’s a lot better than the desktop version was. Feel free to use it if you like.

Can you set up an Airport Express to create a wired network as part of a larger network that the Express is connected to wirelessly? Yes, you can.

I had a hard time tracking down this info so I thought I’d post it here for the benefit of others.

I recently added a Sony Blu-Ray player to my basement home theater system. I’m really pleased with the device; besides playing Blu-Ray discs quite nicely, it also supports streaming video from Netflix and Amazon. I had considered getting a second Roku, but this is fitting the bill nicely. The only problem I had was getting it connected to the network as it doesn’t have built-in wifi.

I had a similar problem with the PowerMac G5 I moved to the upstairs office which similarly doesn’t have wifi. Basically, I needed a way to get working wired connections to the upstairs and basement of my house. I knew this was theoretically possible with the hardware I already had (Airport Extreme base station and 2 Airport Express units), but I couldn’t find an overview of how to properly set it up.

So the first question is: fundamentally, can this work? The answer is yes.

Depending on how you have it set up, the Ethernet port can function as a LAN port (defined as either simple bridging or sharing your Internet connection via network address translation)… When it is set up as a WDS remote station, it can act as a LAN port.

I first tried to get an Express to extend the wireless network created by my DLink router. This will not work. While the Express will connect to a 3rd party wireless network for Airtunes, it will not extend a 3rd party network. In short, you can’t do what I want to do with a non-Apple wireless router.

In client mode AirPort Express does not offer itself as a wireless access point or use its Ethernet port.

In order to get the Express’ ethernet port live in extending the network, you must have it set up as a relay/remote on a WDS network.

A remote base station connects wirelessly to the main station and extends (or “rebroadcasts”) the wireless network to clients that are not in range of the main. A relay base station is like a remote, but it has the additional function of extending the wireless network to a remote which isn’t within range of the main. There can be only one relay between a remote and a main.

A couple of tips for setting up the WDS configuration:

1. You will need to copy/paste the Airport ID of each airport into the proper location in the admin panels. You need to enter the Airport ID of the relays/remotes into the Main and the address of the Main into the remotes.
2. You must make sure that the wireless network settings of the WDS relays/remotes match that of the WDS main. This means the network name, authentication settings, and the channel.

Once you have configured the Extreme as the WDS Main and the Expresses as WDS relays/remotes, the ethernet ports on the Expresses will also extend the network, just as desired. Works like a champ!

If you need to connect more than one wired device from the location of an Express, you can do so by adding a hub. Connect the uplink port on the hub to the Express, and the rest of the ports on the hub will now all extend the network.

Hopefully this will help someone with similar questions.

You may have heard that Apple made a little product announcement this week. But that’s not the only thing that went down in the gadget world.

When Apple releases the iPad in March, several new e-readers may be rendered obsolete. Check out our list of e-readers in jeopardy.

Originally posted at Fully Equipped

A hands-on look at using the Maps app on the Apple iPad, including new features such as terrain view and street view.

Originally posted at MP3 Insider

Deaf people can benefit from a smoke alarm that emits a strong odor of wasabi. The Japanese device has been shown to wake deaf sleepers within three minutes.