Tag Archive: import

Dec
07

Moxi Tip #9: Some DVR Basics

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December 7, 2004

Many prople on this and other forums are long-time Digital Video Recorder (DVR) users, but what about those of you who are new to the DVR world? Read on for some “DVR Basics” that will help you get the most out of your DVR experience…

What’s a DVR and how does it differ from a VCR?
A DVR, or Digital Video Recorder, is a consumer device that lets you record and play back TV show recordings. But wait, isn’t that a VCR? Like a VCR, a DVD lets you record, play back, and Rewind, Fast Forward, and Pause while you are playing back the recordings. But there are some significant differences between the two that make then very unique.

Analog vs Digital
The first concept you need to understand is the distinction between analog signals and digital data. The input to a VCR is an analog audio/video signal. This signal typically originates from an Over The Air (OTA) antenna, a cable, or the output of a Cable box or Satellite box. The VCR records this anlalog signal to tape, and when you play it back, it is the recorded analog signal that plays back through your analog TV input.

DVR’s are very similar in concept except that DVR’s record the show digitally to a large-capacity hard disk. A DVR’s hard disk can only store digital information, so how does it record the TV signal? “Standalone” DVR’s like most TiVo and ReplayTV models, have analog inputs like VCR’s whose signals originate from an Over The Air (OTA) antenna, a cable, or the output of a Cable box or Satellite box. This analog signal is converted internally to a digital data stream which is then recorded to the hard disk. When you want to play back the recording, the digital data is read back from the hard disk, converted back to an analog signal, and output to the TV. From the viewer’s perspective, the DVR viewing experience is almost identical in concept to the VCR.

Some DVR’s, however, are “integrated” into Digital Cable or Satellite boxes, so the signal they receive as input is already digital eliminating the need to convert from analog to digital. This digital data is written directly to the hard disk. Upon playback, the digital data is read from the hard disk, converted to an analog signal, and output to the TV. Because the analog to digital conversion is done at the Cable or Satellite company with high-quality equipment, the resulting picture is typically better than the analog to digital conversion done on a “standalone” box. Moxi in particular does offer HD recording and digital output, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.

Linear Vs Direct Access
Now that you know what is being recorded, you next need to understand how it is recorded. VCR’s record to tape “linearly” (sequencially, serially, etc.) This means that the beginning of the recording starts at the beginning of the tape and as you watch the recording, the VCR is reading the tape sequentially toward the end of the tape. When you “go back”, you Rewind the tape, and when you want to “go ahead” you Fast Forward. One affect of this is if you want to begin viewing 15 minutes into a show, you have to Fast Forward 15 minutes.

With a DVR, the hard disk that it uses is “random access” meaning that the data can be written to and read from any part of the disk as needed (the hard disk hardware controls where to find the data) Using our example above, this means that if you want to begin viewing 15 minutes into a show, you simply “jump” to the point 15 minutes into the show.

It is important to note that how this “navigation” is implemented varies greatly from DVR to DVR. ReplayTV boxes have the most sophistocated navigation controls, letting you jump to specific places within the show, jump forward or backward any number of minutes, skip ahead 30 seconds, or jump back (replay) abotu 7 seconds. Moxi currently only provides about an 8 second Replay jump and either a 30 second or 15 minute forward jump. Sources say that better navigation features are coming….

Another difference between linear and random access is when you want to erase a show. With a VCR, say you record three shows, one after another. Again, they are stored sequentially, so in order to “erase” the second show, you would have rewind or fast forward to the beginning of the second show and “overwrite” it with a new show. But if the new show is longer than the second show, it will record over the third show. Things can get messy, gaps can form in the tape, and finding and keeping track of shows becomes a major headache. You end up just shuffling tapes. With a DVR, because the shows are stored “randomly”, accessing one show is as simple as selecting it. Erasing or deleting a show is as simple as telling the DVR to delete it. The “gaps” created by deleting are simply used to record other shows, and if the show requires more space, as long as there is available free space on the hard disk, you will get your recording without overwriting other shows. The details is well hidden from the user, but the underlying technology provides a seamless viewing experience.

Transportability
One other point of difference is that a VCR’s tape is removable and very transportable. If you want to record something and take it to your friend’s house for them to see, it’s a simple task. Not so with a DVR. The DVR’s hard disk is integrated into the box and is not meant to be removable. While there are some network solutions, and some attempts at portable solutions, by and large, DVR recordings are “fixed” to the location at which they were recorded. For this reason, VCR’s are still excellent solutions to “backing up” or transporting DVR recordings.

But what can you do with a DVR?
Typically, DVR functions fall within two main categories: “Live TV control” and “Recording and Playback.”

“Live TV control” refers to what you can do while watching a live TV show. When you watch a live TV show through a DVR, you technically aren’t watching it “live”. The show signal comes into the DVR, if necessary is converted to digital, and written to the hard drive to a “buffer” space. It then reads back from this buffer and outputs it to your TV for you to watch. Depending on the kind of DVR you are using, you may actually watching TV at a slight 1/2 to 3 second or so delay from “live”. The fact that you are actually watching a slightly delayed recorded “playback” of live is where the true power of the DVD is revealed.

You can “pause” the show and the DVR will continue to record the show into its buffer. You can “rewind” back into the buffer and watch what was recorded, and you can “fast forward” through the buffer back to the point of live TV. Obviously, you can’t fast forward ahead of live because it hasn’t recorded yet.

There are many practical uses for controlling live TV. For example, say you missed a play in a sports show or you missed some dialog in a movie. Just rewind and watch it again..and again…and again. Or say you want to get a snack or answer the phone. Normally, you would miss what’s on or you would have to wait for a commercial break. With a DVR, just press Pause and go do your stuff. The DVR will continue to record live TV into the buffer while it is paused. When you return, press Play and you resume from where you paused. You didn’t miss a thing. Then, when you reach a commercial break or a part in the show that you don’t want to watch, just press Fast Forward, and you sill move past the content to live.

“Recording and Playback” refers to how shows are recorded and what you can do with those recorded shows. The first thing to understand is the differences between how shows are scheduled to record.

A VCR typically has some “interface” for you to enter a “recording event”. You select a channel, a recording start date, a recording start time, and an end time. You can also tell it to “repeat” these settings on a daily or weekly basis for series shows.

DVR’s on the other hand, remove the idea “events” and get you to focus more on the shows themselves. A DVR includes a “channel guide” that presents in one form or another what shows are currently airing and what shows are scheduled to air in the future, usually up to one or two weeks out. (How this information is presented differs from one DVR to another, but the general concept is similar.) You “browse” this channel guide, and it provides detailed information about the shows. When you see a show that you want to record, you select it from the channel guide and tell the DVR to record it. No messing with start times, dates, etc. Just select and it’s scheduled to record. And most DVR’s have some sort of “intelligence” to update the schedule should a network move a show from one time slot to another. Like a VCR, you can also set up a “series” or “repeating” recording.

Once a show is recorded to a VCR, you have to either remember what you recorded or you have to label the tape. When you want to watch a recording, you have to select the proper tape, rewind or fast forward to the proper place on the tape, and watch the show.

With a DVR, you call up a “Recorded shows” screen that displays a list of all the shows you have recorded. Just select the show you want to watch, press play, and you are immediatly watching the show. No shuffling tapes, rewinding, or fast forwarding.

As mentioned above, playback control is similar on VCR’s and DVR’s with the DVR typically having more navigation controls. One “big feature” that really sets a DVR apart from a VCR is the capability of watching a show at any point while it is recording or while it is recording another show. With a VCR, if you are recording a show, you either have to watch it live as it records or you have to wait for it to finish recording, rewind, and watch the recording. If you want to record second show, you have to wait for that recording to finish before you can rewind the tape and watch the shows. With a DVR, you can watch a recording at any time, even while that show is recording or while another show is recording.

How can I find shows to record?
As mentioned above, unlike VCR’s, DVR’s provide some sort of channel guide from which you can select shows to record. It’s basically an electronic version of your local TV listings. With your VCR, you just flip through the local TV listings and set up the recording events. DVR’s on the other hand offer a power unavailable to VCR’s. The channel guide data is stored on the hard disk in the DVR, so all the data is available to search. DVR’s offer functions to do keyword searches, topic searches, title searches, etc. Implementations vary from model to model, but generally speaking, if you want to find a show, a DVR gives you unrivaled capabilities to find it.

Say you know that Tom Hanks is starring in an upcoming show but you can’t remember the show’s title. Just do a keyword search on “Tom Hanks” and the DVR will give you a list of all shows starring Tom Hanks. From the resulting list, just hit record, and the show is scheduled. Depending on the DVR, you can search on keywords in the show descriptions, title, stars, directors, and producers.

Some DVR’s even offer “topical” searches so you can find shows that fall within specific topics like “Kids” shows or “4-star movies”. Some of these DVR’s will let you schedule recordings based on these topics (ie: record all “Archery Sporting events” whenever they air) while other DVR’s show the results of the topic search letting you pick and choose the shows you want.

What else can a DVR do?
In addition to the above functions and features, different DVD’s offer different capabilities. For example, some offer networking capabilities letting you “offload” the recordings to a PC for editing and archival. Some will stream MP3 audio letting you listen to your music collection through your home theater. Some DVR’s will find digital pictures on shared computers on your network and display a “slideshow” on your TV. Some will let you connect remotely from the Web to manage scheduled. Some DVR’s even let you play games.

Not all DVR’s have the same functions. Standalone DVR’s that you buy at retail are all consistent within their models. Those “integrated” boxes deployed through Cable companies can have varying feature sets depending on the Cable company and market. Be sure to check with your local Cable company for specific details.

The key point to understand is at its core, a DVR is really just a computer designed to work with your TV to provide an enhanced viewing experience. DVR developers are continually coming up with new DVR features to enhance that experiance, so keep your eyes open for new features and models.

If you are currently using a DVR, be sure to take the time to learn its features and functions. There may be some features you may not know about that might be useful to you.

If you aren’t vurrently using a DVR, what are you waiting for?!? By all means, take advantage of the trial periods many Cable-provided DVR’s offer as well as the 30-day money back guarantees found on most standalone DVR’s. Once you use a DVR, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it. Whether you watch a lot of TV or just a little, a DVR can let you watch what you want to watch, when you want to watch it. It’s all about putting some control in the hands of the viewer.

I tried to keep this basic for those who may be new the DVR concept. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please let me know. I’ll be adding more Moxi Tips & Tricks here soon!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/moxi-tips/moxi-tip-9-some-dvr-basics

Dec
07

Moxi Tip #8: Get Into The Game!

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December 7, 2004

Moxi has the capability to provide interactive Games to the viewer. Read on to learn about some neat diversions available on many Moxi boxes…

Moxi has a “Games” category from which you can choose a Game to play. Press the Moxi button and scroll left or right until you highlight the Games category. (Important Note: Because all Games can be individually provisioned by the Cable company, you may or not have access to all Games, so check with your Cable provider if you are unsure.) A list of available Games will appear in a vertical list. Scroll up and down to select the Game you want to play. The Games that are currently available are: Solitaire, Battleship, Checkers, Domino Dementia, Video Poker, Blackjack, Bijoux, Blast it, and Invasion Wave.

All games can be played using the Moxi remote, however coming from the PC world, some of the Games can be a bit tedious with the remote. For example, Solitaire, though a fun game, requires lots of arrow presses to move cards around. But, they’re fun.

One interesting point of note is in the “casino” games like Video Poker and Blackjack–your “bank balance” is carried between games, so if you are losing at Video Poker and are adept at Blackjack, you can use that to increase your overall bank! (And no, you can’t actually “cash out”!!!)

It’s great to see that Digeo not only provides in Moxy excellent DVR capabilities, but they also offer some diversions for those times when there’s nothing to watch!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/moxi-tips/moxi-tip-8-get-into-the-game

Dec
02

Moxi Tip #7: Moxi Vs ReplayTV

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December 2, 2004

As a long-time ReplayTV DVR owner, comparisons are inevitable, so here are my rather lengthy impressions of Moxi in comaprison with ReplayTV. This comparison is an enhancement to a posting I made over on the AVS Forum. I have refined it a bit and added some more information, so read on for all you never wanted to know…

BACKGROUND
Before I get into the review and comparison, I want to provide a bit of background and perspective. I have been a long-time proponent of ReplayTV boxes and I have participated on AVS Forum’s ReplayTV forum for a number of years. I have owned three ReplayTV boxes over the past four years, and I run a personal hobby site, JimsTips.com, where I have been providing Tips & Tricks related to several topics that interest me (including ReplayTV), so to say that I’ve had some experience and interest in DVR’s would be an understatement!

As for ReplayTV boxes, I currently own an “upgraded” model 2001, an “upgraded” model 2020, and a “stock” model 5040. For me, the 2xxx models are simply “tanks” that just work. They are solid, reliable, very responsive to the remote, and have proven to be exceptional in their reliability and function. The only downside of them is that they are not “networkable” and require a phone connection to retrieve Channel Guide data and software updates. The model 5040 on the other hand has more bells and whistles, but at the same time, it seems “forced” in many of its design points. Its remote is less responsive, and it has an overall more sluggish feel when compared to the 2xxx series. For a while, it was more prone to lockups than the 2xxx series, but to ReplayTV’s credit, recent software updates have corrected this and a number of other issues.

The one real plus to the ReplayTV 5040 is its networkability: All program data can be received via broadband as opposed to dialup on the 2xxx boxes, and any show that is recorded can be “offloaded” to a PC for playback, editing, and burning to a DVD. This is excellent for building a personal library of favorite shows. You do have to jump through number of hoops to accommodate ReplayTV’s picky MPEG-2 format, but the results are quite good. (See my “ReplayTV to DVD HOWTO” on my Web site JimsTips.com for more details.)

Finally, please don’t think that I am ignoring TiVo here. I think TiVo is very innovative and an excellent product. It’s just that several years ago, I chose ReplayTV, because at the time its interface was more familiar and solid, and it provided a logical and simple transition from DirecTV’s interface. TiVo’s interface was just too different to make an easy transition. Also, ReplayTV just had a “feel” about it that seemed less intrusive. Over the years, though, TiVo has significantly improved things, and they are certainly a fine choice. So much so that if I was starting from scratch, I would seriously consider a TiVo box. I just won’t be covering TiVo here because I have no real experience with it like I do with ReplayTV.

OK, enough background. First off, I’m going to give you my Pros and Cons list about Moxi. These are based on playing around with Moxi, reading data sheets, and my experience with ReplayTV. There may be some bias, and I’m trying to be objective, but when you’ve used ReplayTV for over four years… Also note that I am not focusing at all on the HDTV features of Moxi. While this aspect is huge for many, unfortunatly, I do not have an HDTV nor do I subscribe to any HD channels. I’m focusing here primarily on the “SD” experience.

MOXI PROS:

Low Cost
Charter Cable charges a monthly charge of $9.99, and there are no initial equipment costs. This cost varies from market to market and ranges a couple bucks more or less. Over the course of a few years, ReplayTV would be more cost-effective, but if a new model becomes available, typically Cable companies let you swap them out for little or no cost whereas ReplayTV would require a new purchase and sale of the old box.

Player Bar
AKA, a Status Bar. This is pretty cool. This is something that I wish ReplayTV optionally had that TiVo has had from day-one. It gives you a quick and easy visual cue to “where you are” in a show, live or recorded. It’s clean and slick looking, and at-a-glance, I can really get a good sense of where I am in the show without having to do mental time calculations like I do with ReplayTV.

Buffer Recording
If you decide to record a show AFTER it started, Moxi can record the entire show back to the beginning as long as it is buffered. This is a very nice feature that I wish ReplayTV had.

“Skip” Button
Like ReplayTV, Moxi has a “Skip” button, but depending on the Cable company’s settings (more on that later) how far ahead it skips may vary. Initially, Charter had this configured to skip ahead 30 seconds, similar to ReplayTV. However, they recently changed it to a 15-minute skip. While at first thought this seems like a joke, it means that all “small” navigation forward is done by Fast Forwardin, and “large” navigation can be done with the 15-minute skip. For example, say you record a four hour football game and want to go to halftime. Prior to the 15-minute skip, you woult either hit Skip a couple hundred times or you would have to Fast Forward all the way to the middle. With the 15-minute skip, just a few button presses takes you forward to where you want to be. My only complaint is that you cannot skip back (reportedly, this will be addded in a future software release.

Flexible “Find” Capabilities
Like ReplayTV, you can search by keyword and category (ReplayTV “Zones”), but Moxi has some additional “advanced” search functionality. The ability to search for a show is essential and a very often-used ReplayTV feature, and Moxi doesn’t disappoint here.

Cool User Interface
Moxi’s (award winning) UI is very slick and modern. It reminds me a bit of Media Center PC’s which have very slick UI’s. Navigation is a snap, the response is quick, and the animation is smooth and pleasing to the eye. Just about everything can be accessed with just the arrow and OK keys. I have always considered ReplayTV’s UI to be more “functional” die to its unobtrusive design. Moxi seems to strike a nice balance. I’m ery happy with it, partly because it is so intuitive.

Integrated Cable Box
This is an excellent feature and most welcome. Obviously, this eliminates the Satellite and OTA markets, but consideing that we switched to Cable, it’s an excellent silution for us. It completely eliminates the need for serial connections or IR blasters required of “standalone” boxes resulting in almost instantaneous channel changes. In addition, Pay-per-view and Video On Demand channels are available.

Dual Tuners
This is another huge feature! This virtually eliminates scheduling conflicts, and the ability to record one show while watching another is something ReplayTV could not do.

MOXI CONS:

No “Grid” Guide
I really like the ReplayTV Grid Guide because it really gives you an “at-a-glance” view, especially when you want to visually look for shows. Moxi’s “dual-axis” navigation guide is novel, and I will no doubt get used to it, but I do wish it had an optional Grid Guide. Rumors indicate that an “improved” method of displaying what’s coming up is forthcoming, but it probably won’t be a “grid” guide.

No “Keyword” Themes
ReplayTV lets you create recordings based on keywords, something Moxi doesn’t do. This is nice when you don’t remember the exact name of the show or you don’t know when the show will be on. If a show matches, it will record it. This has proven to be very useful in recording shows that we know get aired occasionally but are not currently in the current channel guide data. I haven’t found a way to do this in Moxi.

“Cumbersome” Interface
While Moxi’s UI is very slick and modern, it is a bit kludgy here and there requireing extra button presses for certain tasks. ReplayTV has some “extra” buttons the let you bypass menus and jump right to specific key functions.

FEATURE-BY-FEATURE COMPARISON
OK, so how does the Moxi compare to the ReplayTV box on a feature-by-feature comparison? I will compare the Moxi to ReplayTV in general while pointing out any differences between the 2xxx and 5xxx series ReplayTV boxes. Note that 3xxx series boxes are similar to the 2xxx boxes and 4xxx boxes are similar to th 5xxx boxes. My intent is not to present a “which is better” review, but more a list of side-by-side features from which you can choose a device based on your needs and wants. As of today, I am running version “3″ of Moxi’s software. Note that software revisions can change these features and specs in a heartbeat, so if things have changed let me know and I’ll update this review.

Recording Buffer
A recording buffer is space allocated by the system where live TV is stored letting you pause, rewind, and resume watching paused TV.

MOXI
Originally, Moxi had a fixed 30 minute buffer, but it now appears that its buffer can grow much larger. The only real “idiosyncracy” to their implementation is that if you are paused for more than 30 minutes, Moxi will resume playback from where it is paused. Initiating a Recording of the current show will also record back to the beginning of the show assuming that the channel was tuned to that channel at the time of the start of the show. This is VERY handy if you missed the beginning of a show and want to retain it for later viewing.

REPLAYTV
ReplayTV’s buffer has a minimum buffer allocation of 20 minutes, with the maximum being the amount of free hard disk space. I know of no real limitations save for the amount of free disk space. I have paused and succcessfully rewound back over 12 hours or more of buffer without issue (tedious, but without issue!) Initiating a Recording of the current show will flush the buffer and begin the recording at live TV. ReplayTV does not back up in the buffer to record the beginning of the show.

Recording Quality
This refers to the quality at which the show is recorded. If you are coming from the VCR world of video tape recording, you will be stunned by either system. No more tracking problems. No more video noise. Just decent to excellent digital quality. There are two types of DVR’s available today: Standalone and Integrated. Standalone boxes have inputs that accept signals from any video source. Integrated DVD’s have Cable or Satellite decodes integrated. These typically cannot record external video sources.

MOXI
Moxi is an Integrated box and records the raw bit stream right from the Digital Cable Box, so how you see it “live” is how you see it recorded. For Digital channels, Moxi does not compress or convert between Digital and Analog because compression is done at the head-end, so the user has no control over recording quality. Overall picture quality is excellent and comparable to “normal” Digital Cable reception. Basically, what you view live is what you see recorded. For Analog cable signals are still received by Moxi and converted to Digital on-the-fly for storage and playback. Users have reported that HD viewing and recording is excellent, Digital Cable viewing and recording is very good, and analog viewing and recording is marginal–worse than ReplayTV or TiVo. Unlike ReplayTV and TiVo, Moxi has no recording quality settings.

REPLAYTV
ReplayTV, unlike Moxi, are Standalone boxes that record any analog signal as input, for example, the analog output from raw Analog Cable or Digital Cable boxes. It records the analog source signal by converting it from analog to digital on-the-fly, compressing it based on one of three recording qualities: Standard, Medium, and High.

Standard Quality rivals VCR quality. I personally think it is better, but it is also somewhat prone to digital artifacting depending on the source content. The reality is that it could be better, but over time, you just don’t notice the artifacting.

Medium Quality is decent quality and is a great compromise between quality and disk capacity. It is, in my opinion, the most “compatible” quality when offloading shows to a PC for burning to a DVD. (See my “ReplayTV to DVD HOWTO” on my Web site JimsTips.com I tend to record everything at Medium Quality for this reason.

High Quality is excellent for sporting events and fast-action movies. If you have a larger TV (and can thus more easily see artifacting) then High Quality is almost essential.

Note that on series 2xxx ReplayTV boxes, audio records at varying levels directly related to the various video recording qualities resulting in better or worse audio quality. On 5xxx boxes, audio is always recorded at the same high quality regardless of video recording quality.

Recording Capacity
Recording capacity refers to the maximum number of hours of show content that you can record. This greatly varies depending on the model of the box and the recording quality used.

MOXI
Currently, Moxi only offers one capacity: 80GB. This lets you record about 50 hours of Standard Definition content and about 10-12 hours of High Definition content. These numbers are rough estimates, but should give you a ballpark idea of total capacity. There are rumored plans for expansion capabilities. As mentioned above, there is no recording quality setting.

REPLAYTV
ReplayTV storage capacity can be approximated by considering the size of the installed hard drive and the recording quality setting. For example, a ReplayTV box with a 60GB drive can record about 60 hours at Standard Quality, 30 hours at Medium Quality, and 20 hours at High quality. Other drive capacities have the same recording capacity ratios. Note that ReplayTV boxes cannot record High Definition recordings, only Standard Definition recordings.

Channel Guide
The Channel Guide is the method by which the system organizes and presents show information on channels over time. This is the way you typically select shows to watch and record.

MOXI
Moxi uses a novel “dual-axis” navigation system. Along the horizontal is a list of “categories” like Channels, HDTV, Favorites, Settings, etc. When you scroll left and right, the available options in each category appear in a vertical scrollable column. For example, if you bring “Channels” into “focus”, all channels and the current show airing on those channels appear in a list running vertically. You just scroll or page up and down to the desired channel. The highlighted channel also displays additional information about the program and pressing the “Info” button brings up yet more detailed information. It also displays the next three shows airing on that channel in an “On Next” section. Pressing the right arrow moves you to that “On Next” section where you can scroll through that sub-list out to 14 days ahead. On any highlighted show, you can record and search for upcoming shows.

If you are used to a typical Grid Guide, Moxi will disappoint. It definitely requires a change in mindset or perspective, BUT it does work well, and is quite effective. The more I use it, the more it works for me. Two quirks: First, the sort order of the channel list is “descending” as opposed to the typical “ascending” list. Not sure why they decided to break with tradition, but this seemed anti-intuitive to me. Second, there are no channel numbers listed in the channel listing, only network logo icons. The channel DOES display on the highlighted item, and I do realize that screen real estate is at a premium, but it seems strange that they would omit channel numbers. I guess a resonable explanation could be that you may be more likely to recognize an icon than a number. If the Cable company changes the lineup, you could still quickly “recognize” the channel. Time will tell if these really are issues.

Moxi provides two weeks of show data.

REPLAYTV
ReplayTV uses a “classic” Grid Guide. If you are used to looking at a paper TV listing, then you will be right at home with ReplayTV. Channels are listed on the left of the screen, half-hour time blocks are listed on the top, and corresponding shows fill the grid. You use the arrow keys to simply move around the grid to view and select available shows. The show that is currently highlighted displays brief information at the top of the screen.

ReplayTV 2xxx boxes store one week of programming data, and 5xxx boxes provide two weeks of programming data.

Info Display
While watching a show, you often want to more information about the show such as description, actors, etc. Both systems offer program information in various forms.

MOXI
When viewing the Channel Menu, a brief show description is displayed next to the highlighted show. Pressing the Info button brings up an extended description screen with full show description, and an extensive cast list. Depending on the amount of data, this can be a multi-page screen providing excellent information. Pressing the Clear button dismisses the screen. While watching live TV, pressing the Info button brings up this screen as well.

Moxi also has a “Flip Bar” that is a small status bar that appears on the bottom of the screen when you press an arrow button. It displays information about the current show and also shows the next three shows airing next on that channel. Pressing the right arrow moves you to the “On Next” section where you can scroll through 14 days of data. Selecting one of these shows brings up options to record. Scrolling up or down in the main part of the Flip Bar will also display the corresponding show information on other channels without actually changing the channel. “On Next” information is also displayed as well. Pressing the Info buton will bring up the extended info screen as well. Pressing Clear or waiting a few seconds will dismiss the Flip Bar.

REPLAYTV
While scrolling around the Channel Guide, the highlighted show’s information displays in a banner at the top of the screen. The number of lines is is adequate, but it is limited, so if there is extended information, it gets cut off. There is no way to view any additional information.

While watching live TV, pressing the ReplayTv’s “Info” button brings up a banner at the top of the screen containing information about the current show. Series 2xxx boxes have “static” info banners while 5xxx boxes have arrow-navigable banners letting you see current and future show information on other channels without tuning to that channel.

User Interface And System Responsiveness
How quickly a DVR responds to remote button presses, and how quickly it processes requests is very important to the overall user experience. If the system is too slow or sluggish, it will turn people off very quickly. Tech saavy people sometimes have more tolerance because they understand what’s going on in the background, but to Joe Sixpack, these are appliances that should respond and operate quickly. You never had to watch an hourglass while programming a VCR, so they won’t expect delays or lags in a DVR either.

MOXI
Version 3 of Moxi’s software improves the interface performance over past revisions. Moxi responds to remote button presses very quickly, and overall, the interface is smooth, nicely animated, and pleaseing to use. Rarely do you see a delay. The only real annoyance I had was that it is painfully S-L-O-W to add and remove channels in the Channel Listing section of Settings. (This is where you can optionally “select” and “unselect” channels to be displayed, for example those channels to which you do not subscribe.) Fortunatly, this is a one-time deal, but unselecting literally a couple hundred channels was less than pleasant. It would be nice if Moxi either had an “auto-unselect” for known, unassigned channels, or at least a faster inerface.

In some cases, Moxie does require some extra button presses to get to “core” functions, but it’s not too bad. Other than that, the overall interface is excellent–probably why it recently won an Emmy award.

REPLAYTV
As mentioned above, the 2xxx series is very snappy and quick to respond. The only time things slow down is during a long search, but there is screen feedback telling you how it is searching. The 5xxx series is more sluggish, but recent software updates have improved the UI overall. It still has the occasional “lag” or “squishy” feel because things just don’t respond as snappy as the 2xxx series, but the added features and capabilities of the 5xxx box typically outweigh any response issues.

ReplayTV has several extra buttons that take you right to core functions with one button press, for example, “Channel Guide” and “Replay Guide” (recorded shows.) While not essential, this is a nice convenience.

Remote
DVRs typically require a remote to do even the most basic functions. Without one, you really can’t do anything, so the decent remote is essential.

MOXI
Moxi’s provides a number of controls on the front of the box itself that you can pretty much control most, if not all functions. This is pretty typical of most cable boxes. Should you lose or break your remote, you are not stuck.

Moxi’s remote is solid, nicely weighted, and has a rubbery backing that gives a good grip. It feels good, and the layout of the buttons is pretty decent. And, because it’s a Cable Company product, if the remote breaks, the Cable Company typically will provide a replacement as needed. I’ve grown to really like the remote.

REPLAYTV
ReplayTV’s boxes have one, yes, one button on the front: Power. All other functions are controlled by the remote. Lose the remote? You better get a new one, because nothing, and I mean NOTHING is controllable without the remote.

ReplayTV remotes have gone through three radical incarnations over the years. While all have their idiosyncracies, they are all are effective. I personally like the most recent version because it fits my hand well, it is compact, and the buttons are in a logical placement. My only issue with most ReplayTV remotes is that over time, the “most often used” buttons do wear out, and I have had to buy several replacements over the years–an added cost I wasn’t anticipating.

Conflict And Space Management
So what happens when two shows you want to record air at the same time? What happens when the networks change the time slot or extend a show (like the “Must Miss..er See TV” shows where they start them 1 minute early or extend them 10 minutes later possibly overlapping another recording.) How a DVR handles these conflicts determines if your show gets recorded or not.

MOXI
Moxi has a huge advantage in that it includes two tuners, so conflicts should be GREATLY reduced. Most conflicts occur typically occur between two shows. Yes, because you now have two tuners, you may have other conflicts, but it’s much less likely with two tuners.

For those times when you have conflicts, particularly with Series recordings, Moxi provides a “piority” method that lets you determine the priority order of selecting series to record. I don’t know how it prioritizes single-show recordings.

Moxi also provides the ability to extend the start or end times of recordings. In fact, once a show has started, you can extend the end time while it is recording–something sports fans of overtime-prone games will like.

Additionally, Moxi provides not only a “Sheduled to Record” listing, but a “Deleted and Cancelled” listing. The first displays everything that is scheduled to record–individual shows and shows associated with a series recording. The nice thing about this is that you can selectively remove shows that you may not want to record–shows that are not repeats (to Moxi) but shows for which you ahve no interest or have already seen.

The second list displays all shows that were deleted, or did not or will not record. More importantly, id shows why the show did or will not record. For future cancelld recordings, you can optionally record them or find upcoming shows. This is very handy and makes recording management a snap.

REPLAYTV
ReplayTV has a single tuner meaning it can record only one show at a time, so conflict management is much more important. For “Single” and “Recurring” show recordings, if the show moves more than two time slots from its originally scheduled time, it will not get recorded. If it is a “Theme” recording, it will still record because Themes are not limited to channels or time slots.

Further, ReplayTV uses a somewhat complex but effective system of “Guaranteed” and “Non-Guaranteed” recordings. Basically, if you flag a recording as Guaranteed, space is “hard-allocated” on the disk. Non-Guaranteed recordings will record if disk space is available. Guaranteed recordings are great for those shows you “can’t miss” and want high assurance that they will record. Non-Guaranteed recordings are great for setting up recurring “filler” shows that you don’t care if you miss an episode or two.

If you want to record two shows that air at the same time, simply put, you are out of luck, but there are several functions to let you find other occurrences of the show. There are a number of other factors that I won’t get into in this review, but ReplayTV’s conflict management isn’t too bad. And the 5xxx series has added several other features to help better manage conflicts. The only major downside is that there is no “ToDo List” showing what ReplayTV actually has scheduled to record. Recordings are listed in the “Replay Guide” but because of the varied nature of different recording types (single-show, recurring, and Themes) Specifics may or may not be available. This is a long-time shortcoming of ReplayTV.

Connections
Like Neo said in The Matrix, “Guns…lots of guns” a DVR needs “connections…lots of connections” to be compatible with the myriad of TV’s and, if applicable, input sources. Both ReplayTV and Moxi offer very comprehensive connectivity options.

MOXI
Moxi’s input is simple. It has a single input: Coax. Given that it has an integrated digital cable decoder, this makes sense. It is not a “standalone” box, so a single input is expected.

Outputs, on the other hand, are numerous. Video options include: Coax, RCA, S-video, Component (YPrPb), and DVI connections providing full SD and HDTV compatibility. For audio, there are standard stereo Left & Right RCA jacks as well as both coax and optical digital S/PDIF connectors. Depending on your cable company’s deployment, some of these outputs may or may not be active, and some may not be active while others are active (for example, if Component or DVI video is active, composite and S-Video are not active.)

Moxi passes Dolby 5.1 through the Digital audio outputs if it is available on the channel.

REPLAYTV
Because ReplayTV is a standalone box, it needs to accommodate several input sources. It has standard coax, RCA, and S-video inputs. You can configure it to utilize all or any combination of these inputs.

For output, all ReplaYTV boxes have multiple S-Video outputs and RCA outputs. The 5xxx series, adds coax output, progressive (YPrPb) video output, and an Optical audio connector. As a side note, though there is no digital audio INPUT, ReplayTV decided that providing optical audio OUTPUT would help provide the best available audio. You will not get Dolby 5.1 audio.

Playback Control
A signature feature of DVR’s is the ability to “pause live TV”. In addition, you can typically rewind back through the buffer, pause, and fast forward through the buffer back to live. Other controls may also be available.

MOXI
Moxi has basic playback functions: Pause, Play, Rewind, Fast Forward. You can also “Replay” which skips you back 7 seconds (useful for replaying a scene) and “Skip” which skips you ahead by a Cable company-determined amount of time. By that, I mean that the Cable COmpany can control the function of this button, and currently it is set to do nothing, skip ahead 30-seconds (useful for skipping past commer…um…I mean unwanted content), or skip ahead 15 minutes (useful to jump forward in large chunks, sat to quickly get to halftime in a football game recording.) You still have full Fast Forward and Rewind control, so how this is set really shouldn’t affect your viewing experience.

There is currently no (or very poor) “Overshoot Correction” so if you hit Play while Fast Forwarding, it stops exactly when you press play, so you may have to rewind or hit Replay to correct if you overshoot. I suspect that this will be correctd in a later software revision.

Missing are “specialty” features like stepping forward or backward one frame at a time and slow motion playback. I am not a sports fan, but I do find this useful with movies, especially the credits. Again, I suspect that these functions may surface in a later software revision.

REPLAYTV
Playback control is a real strength of ReplayTV. Like Moxi, it also has the basics as well as the Replay and Skip buttons. For recorded shows (and live shows on the 5xxx series) you can also skip forward or backward by number. For example pressing “5″ and then “Skip” jumps you forward 5 minutes. Pressing “15″ and “Replay” jumps you back 15 minutes. Pressing “8″ and the “Jump” button jumps you the point 8 minutes into the show. This is very handy for handling long shows like the Olympic coverage.

ReplayTV also lets you step forward frame-by-frame after pressing Pause, and pressing the “Play” button during playback plays in slow motion in variable speeds. ReplayTV’s Fast Forward and Rewind have “Overshoot Correction” where it jumps back (or forward if rewinding) a few seconds to compensate for your hand-eye coordination delay. It works very well.

Parental Control
I do not use Parental Controls, so I cannot speak to them, but suffice it to say both Moxie and ReplayTV provide fairly comprehensive channel and rating controls.

Other Features
In addition, there are other features that are uniquie to each box. Here are some examples of some of these unique features…

MOXI
For an entertainment diversion, Moxi has the capability of providing Games like Blackjack, Solitaire, etc. using the remote. They look great and are quite fun.

For the you information addicts, Moxi has the capability to provide an optional “ticker”. This is a small, user-controllable scrolling banner at the bottom of the screen that can display things like news headlines, weather conditions, stock quote, and sports scores. The TV picture shrinks slightly so you do not miss any content.

If available, Moxi has the capability of providing access to Video On Demand content with full playback control.

Notice that I say, “has the capability.” Moxi, in an effort to attract Cable Companies as customers, offers a very flexible feature set that can be tailored by each Cable company depending on their technical capabilities, economics, and market. For example, one market may enable Video On Demand while other markets may not. As I understand it, these features are typically consistent within a market, but can vary from market to market. However, I could see no real technical reason why specific features could not be offered as “premium” services.

It is important to understand that this effectively means that if you read about a new Moxi feature, that doesn’t mean you will automatically get it. You may need to contact your Cable company to request those features. While that’s a certainly a negative for the viewer, it also helps promote Cable company market share.

REPLAYTV
With some minor exceptions, the ReplayTV 5xxx series pretty much has all the features of the 2xxx series, but it does have some added features.

One significant feature is Networkability. Connect your ReplayTV 5xxx box to a broadband connection or an Internet-connected home LAN, and you can receive all Channel Guide content and software updates over a high-speed connection. In addition, by running some third-party software like DVArchive, you can transfer the shows you recorded on your ReplayTV box to a LAN-connected PC in all its full, digital glory. This is useful not only for archiving to DVD, but if you ahve a capable laptop, you can watch the shows on your commute or travels. Unfortunately, “the industry” doesn’t like this too much, so don’t expect to see this available on Moxi any time soon.

Another extra is “Commercial Advance” that auto-skips commercials. This is technology pioneered on VCR’s except that instead of auto-fast forwarding through the commercials, ReplayTV can “skip” them completely. Again, it’s a controvercial feature that works surprisingly well.

Internet Sharing is another feature that has brought ReplayTV under fire from “the industry”, so much so, that this feature was removed from newer 5xxx models. This feature lets you (in a very controlled and limited way) transfer recorded shows to other ReplayTV users over the Internet. This has proven useful on a number of occasions, but understand that due to current residential bandwidth limitations, it can take many hours, if not days to transfer a movie, so its usefulness is subjective.

The Future
In addition, there are other features that are uniquie to each box. Here are some examples of some of these unique features…

MOXI
Moxi, being a new kid on the block, has had the luxury of learning from the mistakes of its competition. Instead of going after the retail market, they are going after the Cable market. There is a staggering Cable customer base that is ripe for simple, inexpensive, and snazzy innovation, and Moxi may just be the ticket.

In addition to the current box, Digeo is working on a new “remote” version called “Moxi Mate” that provides a second “thin client” box that can be used to control viewing, recording, and playback of the main box from another room of the house. Say you are watching a movie in your living room and it’s getting late. Just pause it, go to the bedroom, and resume playback on your bedroom’s TV–while someone else watches a different program in the living room.

Digeo is also working on the “Moxi Plus” box which is a subscriber-installable box providing additional DVR Hard Disk storage space, and other optional features from card ports for importing photos to audio music streaming to CD and DVD playback and recording.

REPLAYTV
As for ReplayTV’s future, I believe that it is uncertain. ReplayTV has created some very innovative technology, but its financial struggles and failure to capture a larger market share of the DVR market has hurt its innovation. Over the years, ReplayTV boxes end up on retailer shelves, get pulled from retailer shelves, and end up on them again. ReplayTV is currently on its third owner, and it looks like “consumer grade” (read $200-$300 range) offerings will be either limited or non-existent. Dennon, ReplayTV’s current owner, has said that the Program Guide service will continue, but it looks like they are focusing on more higher-end (read $1,000+) offerings. Their technology is ambitious, but not much has surfaced. They are also trying to woo third parties to license their technology.

CONCLUSION
In my opinion, your choice of DVR is a very subjective one. Different people have different needs, so a simple feature list may or may not provide the information you need to make a choice. For example, we have been using ReplayTV boxes for years with DirecTV with excellent results. When we moved to South Carolina, we decided to go with Charter Digital Cable because of the cost savings, but because there is no serial port control capability on Charter’s Digital Cable box, we have to use an “IR Blaster” to control channel changing. Unfortunatly, while this has proven to be about 99% reliable on the 2xxx series, it is virtually useless on the 5xxx series–not something neither my wife or I like. So one of my goals of evaluating Moxi is to provide a less complex and more reliable solution. Having a DVR integrated into the cable box is certainly a step forward.

My recommendation is to give the various boxes a “test drive” and see what features you like and what features “feel good” to you. Be sure to take advantage of free trials–Charter offers the first month for free, and both ReplayTV and TiVo offer 30-day money back guarantees, so you are free to compare as you see fit.

One thing is for sure: Once you get hooked on the DVR concept, the specific make model really becomes almost irrelevent–you just have to have SOMETHING!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/moxi-tips/moxi-tip-7-moxi-vs-replaytv

Dec
02

Moxi Tip #6: System Diagnostics Menu

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December 2, 2004

Would you like to know how to view “interesting” information and statistics about your Moxi box? Read on to see how!

Go to the box itself (not from the remote) and simultaneously press the “Menu” and “OK” buttons. A system diagnostics menu will display giving you access to lots of neat goodies such as software information, hardware information, account information, etc.

Use the arrow keys to navigate through the menus. Pressing the “Moxi” button will exit you from the menu. You cannot change any information, just view it. So, if you are one of those people who like “looking under the hood”, this is a great way to see what’s going on!

Very important note:
You can “trigger” various events, including updates, but unless your Cable company actually has an update staged, and your account is flagged to receive the update, you WILL NOT receive any updates other than what the Cable company has scheduled for you.

When you hear about new updates surfacing, take a breath and be patient, because you cannot force an update that is not scheduled to send. Just remember that there are many steps involved between the completion of development of a feature at Digeo to the final deployment to your box–things like testing, validation, authorization, and probably a host of other political and technical things that we’ll never no about, so please be patient.

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/moxi-tips/moxi-tip-6-system-diagnostics-menu

Nov
11

Gmail Tip #34: Gmail on your Palm!

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November 11, 2004

If any of you Gmail users own “connected” PalmOS PDA’s, you can now use SnapperMail to retrieve your email using Gmail’s new POP3 feature! Read on to learn how…

I tried out about 6 different email apps for the PalmOS, and the ONLY one I could get to consistently send and receive email from my Gmail account is Snapper Mail. Here’s how to get it working:

Log into your Gmail account, go into Settings, select the “Forwarding and Pop” tab, and enable the type of POP3 you want to do.

Next, launch SnapperMail and create a new POP3 account. In the “Server” tab, fill in the POP3 server with “pop.gmail.com”, enter your full gmail email address as the username, and enter your password in the password field. In the “Outgoing SMTP Server” field, enter “smtp.gmail.com”, enter your full Gmail Email address, and enter your password.

Finally, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT, tap “More” and make the following settings:

For POP3 settings:
Set the “Use SSL” dropdown to “Always Secure (wrapped port)”, set the port to “995″ and leave the other checkboxes unchecked.

For SMTP settings:
Set the “Use SSL” dropdown to “Always Secure (STARTTLS)”, set the port to either port “465″ or “587″ and leave the other checkboxes unchecked.

Set up the rules as you wish, and when you tap “Send/Receive” you should be able to send and receive mail!

Works like a charm on my Tungsten C!

SnapperMail can be found at www.snappermail.com

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/gmail-tip-34-gmail-on-your-palm

Oct
04

Gmail Tip #31: Improved and New Contacts Features!

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October 4, 2004

The “Contacts” function has been enhanced to provide some additional functionality, and now adopts the familiar Gmail interface. Read on for the details…

Gmail now displays a “Contacts” link in the left column under the “standard views” (Inbox, Starred, etc.) and just above the Labels. Clicking on the link brings up a nicely formatted display that matches the style of the rest og GMail. It displays the contact name, email address, Note, and any additional information (see below). At the top are two “tabs” that display “Frequently Mailed” and “All Contacts”. I don’t know what the criteria for “Frequently Mailed” is, but it does contain the most-used contacts.

Here are some new or expanded features:

RECENT CONVERSATIONS
Clicking on a contact displays the contact information as well as “Recent Conversations” associated with that contact. Clicking on one of these entries opens it normally with all options available. Very nice.

ADD MORE CONTACT INFO
Clicking on “Edit” allows you to update the basic contact information (Names, Email Address, Note). But there’s a new link: “Add More Contact Info” which lets you add additional “Sections” of information. For example, by default there are “Personal” and “Work” sections defined. Each section contains a Section Name field, Two user-selectable “fields” and an “Address” block. Each User Field has a drop-down label containing the following selectable labels: Phone, Mobile, FAX, Pager, Email, IM, Company, Title, Other. You can also add additional fields as needed.

SEARCH CONTACTS
Near the top of the Contacts screen is a Search field and a “Search Contacts” button. Entering text into this field and clicking the button returns all contacts that BEGINS WITH the text. This is important to know because it will search ALL contact fields (even the :extended fields) for words beginning with the entered text. For example, entering “Ste” would return “Stephanie”, “Steve”, and “Stewart” but entering “phani” would not return “Stephanie”. Obviously, it would be nice to have extended search capabilities, but this is an excellent start!

ADD CONTACTS
Clicking on the “Add Contact” link lets you enter the standard “Basic” information, and clicking the “Add More Contact Info” link opens the extended information screen as descrived above.

IMPORT CONTACTS
The “Import Contacts” links is still there letting you import contacts from a CSV file. According to the documentation, “other” information gets imported into a Notes field. There is no mention of importing into the new “extended” fields.

BETTER INTERFACE
What really makes this shine is the fact that it now uses the same interface as the rest of Gmail giving it some better consistency. That has always been one of Gmail’s strengths: a slick, clean, non-cluttered, fast interface. The added Contacts handling keeps with that philosophy.

So there you have it: some improved Contacts functionality!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/gmail-tip-31-improved-and-new-contacts-features

Sep
08

Review: Proporta Crystal Case for Tungsten T3

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September 8, 2004

Given the functionality and portability of PDA’s, it’s important to me that I always have my PDA with me. Unfortunatly, because of the design and form of many PDAs, unless you have a good case, you simply can’t “pocket” your PDA without fear of damaging the screen or inadvertently pressing a button resulting in a drained battery. Cases provided with most PDAs are marginal at best with the best cases being sold my third-party vendors.

While I’m certainly no newbie when it comes to PDA cases, (I’ve owned various cases for the US Robotics Pilot 1000, Palm III, Palm Vx, and Sony Clie NX70V) the choices are admittedly daunting. Read on to learn more about what case choice I made for my Tungsten T3…

My new Palm Tungsten T3 sports a simple stock leather-like “flip” case. While it does offer some screen protection, I am very hesitent to “pocket it” for fear of damaging the screen, so some better case was in order.

After reading some reviews and product listings, and after thinking about just what kind of case would suit me best, I decided to order a “Crystal Case” from Proporta, an excellent PDA accessory company in the UK.



The Crystal Case for the Tungsten T3 is a “flip” style case. I prefer this design over a “book” style because it lets you easily hold and navigate the PDA as it was intended. I also feel that for the T3, the “book” style is a bit impractical given its “slider” design, so the “flip” style is excellent.

The case construction is simple, rugged, and elegant. According to Proporta’s site, is made from “the type of durable and scratch resistant polycarbonate plastic that’s used to make protective eyewear”. In other words, it’s very durable. Like a pair of safety glasses, it’s clear and rugged providing great protection while at the same time letting you see and access most functions while the case is still closed. The case “grips” the T3 around the edges very nicely and utilizes the small “indents” in the back of the T3 to “lock” into place. Once attached, there is no slippage or movement. There is a “flip” cover that covers the screen and folds to almost 180 degrees when open. The case fits very snugly–almost feeling like it’s a part of the T3′s construction. The very form-fitting case adds only about an eighth of an inch all around keeping the T3 small and sleek like it was meant to be.

All buttons and ports are accessible thanks to nice, beveled cutouts that provide easy access to the power button, the voice memo button, and even the reset hole. The 5-way nav pad is NOT covered. Whilt this does make it probe to in-pocket button presses, this makes is actually nice because it lets you navigate apps without having to flip open the case. THere are several third-party apps available to prevent the buttons from powering on the T3.

At first, I thought that i could not HotSync with the case on. It simply didn’t fit into the cradle. But the, it struck me that if I just pull out the T3′s slider, it sits very nicely in the cradle! So no messing around with removing the case! Very nice.

At this point, I have absolutely no reservations putting my Crystal Case-enclosed T3 in my front pocket, but I’m still a bit hesitent about “back-pocketing” it. Time will tell, though. So, overall, I give the Proporta Crystal Case very high marks.

Oh, and I must also mention that when I ordered the case, it arrived without incident within a week from the UK (I live in the USA.) Proporta did have to backorder another item I ordered at the same time, but they didn’t charge me shipping on the second item. Little things like that make their service really stand out.

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/palmos-pda-tips/review-proporta-crystal-case-for-tungsten-t3

Aug
27

Vonage Tip #6: How to make your Vonage connection house-wide

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August 27, 2004

By design, the Vonage Phone adapter has two phone jacks with the “Line 1″ jack enabled. The “standard” way to connect your phone is to simply plug it into the jack on the Phone adapter. You are now using Vonage’s service, and couldn’t be happier, right. But what if you have more than one phone in your house? Read on for some information on how to connect all of your home phones…

One method is to add a “splitter” to the jack on the back of the Phone Adapter and plug in a second phone.

That’s fine, but it certainly won’t help if you have more phones or phones located in other rooms.

Another method is to plug your…

Wait a minute. First and foremost, before we go on, you need to know one very important thing: You should ONLY plug your VOnage (or any VoIP) Phone Adapter into one of your home’s phone jacks if, and only if you have disconnected the Local Phone Company’s line from your inside wiring! If you do not do this, you could damage your Phone adapter! OK, that said, let’s continue…

Another method is to disconnect the Local Phone Company’s line from your house and then plug your Vonage Phone Adapter into an open phone jack. Assuming your home phone wiring is done properly, your home phone wiring is wired in parallel. “Connecting a dial tone” to one jack should provide a dial tone to all jacks. So, if you disconnect the Local Phone Company’s dial tone from the wiring and connect your Vonage Phone Adapter, it will provide a dial tone “house-wide”.

I’m not going to go into all the specific details about how to do the Local Phone Compnay disconnection and the Vonage connection. Instead, I refer you to an excellent online resource at:

http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html

This “How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home” page details some telephone basics, how to disconenct your Local Phone Company’s line, how to prevent your Local Phone Company from re-connecting it, and some other fascinating and technical telephone-related information. It is truely a “must read” page!

Obviously, your individual situation will dictate how you connect the Vonage service. For example, if you live in s studio apartment, maybe a single phone connected to the Phone Adapter is sufficient. Maybe your setup requires a whole-house connection. Like so many things about Vonage, you have some flexibility to determine how to set things up for your situation.

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/vonage-tips/vonage-tip-6-how-to-make-your-vonage-connection-house-wide

Aug
24

Vonage Tip #5: Flexible Call Forwarding

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August 24, 2004

One feature I REALLY like is Vonage’s Call Forwarding feature. It is VERY tailorable, and can help you in many different situations. You can set up and configure Call Forwarding over the phone, but using Vonage’s Web Interface is very simple. Read on for some scenarios that Vonage Call Forwarding will handle. There are no doubt others, but these cover the basics…

1. Immediate Forward
Say you just want the call to be immediatly forwarded to another number. Simply enter the number to which you want to foward and then select “Instant” on the dropdown menu. When your Vonage number is dialed, it is immediatly forwarded to the number you enterd. From the caller’s perspective, they dial a number, it rings, and you pick it up–simple. From your perspective, the phone at the number to which the Vonage number is forwarded rings and you answer the call. This could be your cell phone, another phone line in the house, or a number in another state or country. Just be aware of the impact on minutes charged depending on to what number you are forwarding.

2. Delayed Forward
This is just like the Immediate Forwarding, except that the number to which you forwarded doesn’t ring until the time delay you set expires. Again, from the caller’s perspective, they dial the number, it rings, and you pick it up. From your perspective, the Vonage line rings for the number of seconds you define and after that time, the phone at number to which you forwarded rings. This gives you the opportunity to pick up the Vonage line before it forwards.

3. Concurrent Ringing
I found this to be cool. Again, it’s the same from the caller’s perspective as above, but from your perspective, the Vonage line rings AND the line to which you forwarded also rings at the same time. Say you set the forward number to be your cell phone. Every call the comes to your Vonage line will ring on your Vonage phones AND your cell phone at the same time. Either line can be answered. Depending on your various call plans or your circumstances, you can determine what line to pick up.

Important Notes:

First, be aware that the call to the number to which you forward is charged to your Vonage account as it would be if you called it. If it is a local call, then it will count against your local minutes. Likewise with Long Distance. If you have one of the unlimited plans, then it doesn’t matter. Also, if you are forwarding to a cell phone, then the cell phone’s minutes may also apply.

Second, be aware that VoiceMail also uses a form of call forwarding, so you must consider the forwarding delays of each. For example, if you set VoiceMail to pick up after 15 seconds and have Call Forwarding delayed to 20 seconds, the call will never get forwarded, but go immediatly to VoiceMail. One thing that “stung” me was when I had the line ringing to both my Vonage line and my cell phone. Vonage VoiceMail was set to answer after 30 seconds, but my cell phone’s voice mail picked up sooner than 30 seconds so the cell phone was answering the voicemail, so Vonage VoiceMail never had the chance to picked up.

If you really think about how it all works, it does make sense, and the fact that you can tailor it is VERY nice. It just takes a bit more thought to ensure that what you really want to happen happens.

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/vonage-tips/vonage-tip-5-flexible-call-forwarding

Aug
24

Vonage Tip #3: Uh oh, the Powers out!

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August 24, 2004

Unlike “standard” telephone service, Vonage requires that your Phone Adapter be powered and connected to an active broadband connection at all times. Read on to see what can you do to ensure uninterrupted service for those inevitable times when the power goes out…

Have you ever noticed that when the power goes out, you can still pick up the phone and make a call? That’s because standard phone lines are powered by their own electrical systems that are controlled and maintained by the Phone Company. This is a low voltage electrical connection that is separate from your home electrical wiring and service. But what about Vonage? Well, to maintain uninterrupted phone service, you must maintain power to all of your “Vonage-related” equipment such as the Phone Adapter, Routers (if any), and your Cable/DSL modem.

By simply connecting these devices to an inexpensive UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) you can ensure that, at least for a while, you will have continued phone service. Typically, UPS’s are designed to provide uninterrupted backup power for PC’s and related equipment. How much power it provides and how long it will last depends on several factors including the power rating of the UPS and the actual load you are putting on the UPS (the number and types of equipment connected.)

UPS manuafacturers typically rate their UPS devices with “VA” or “Volt-Amps” numbers, for example 350VA, 500VA, etc. This number is calculated based on voltage and amps (or watts.) If your device has an amps rating, multiply the number of amps by 120 (volts.) If the device has a watts rating, multiply the number of watts by by 1.82. So, for example, if one device uses 2 amps (2 x 120 = 240) and another user 100 watts (100 x 1.82 = 182) then the total volt-amps needed would be 422. Basically, you add up the total power requirements for all devices and then purchase a UPS that is rated at least at the number you calculated.

The good news is that home networking devices like Cable Modems, Routers, and the Vonage Phone Adapter have rather low power requriements, so if you were to purchase a UPS typically sized to accommodate a PC and a Monitor, and use it just for your networking devices, you should have lots of extended usage time. Your best bet is to take the time to add up the power requirements for everything for which you want battery backup and then reference the UPS packaging or manufacturer’s web site to determine your best options. Look for “sizing” information. My recommendation is to connect as few devices as you can. This will enable you to either purchase a smaller UPS or it will give you much longer backup power when the power goes out.

Like so many “cutting edge” gadgets and services, Vonage VoIP requires a bit more “user participation” in some areas to make it work best. Some may view it as a burden, but it really just provides more choice for the user. Obviously, if you don’t care if you have a phone connection if the power goes out, then you can save some money. But if it’s important to you, then you need to take the time to provide the best backup methods.

Finally, to what extent you provide backup power again is purely your choice. Some people have provided solar backup power. Some use generators, and others use simple, inexpensive UPS’s.

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/vonage-tips/vonage-tip-3-uh-oh-the-powers-out

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