Blessed by the Potato

Though I do consider myself a techie and computer geek in many respects, I have to admit that as soon as I’m done buying a computer, I immediately stop following the latest developments in processors and graphics chipsets, etc. So I’m not really going to review my new laptop on the specs, because they’ve stopped meaning much to me, except to say that it does have a discrete video card on it so I can game if I want to. Though it was a xmas present from my dad, I picked out the model I wanted myself: a Dell XPS 15″ L501X. For reference, I’m moving up from a ~7 year old Toshiba A70.

Look and feel: the keyboard and trackpad both have a nice feel to them: the keys articulate with just a little bit of resistance, with a smooth, polished surface. I really do have to emphasize how pleasing the tactile elements are, even the non-functional parts where the heels of my hands rest while typing. The backlit keyboard option is nice, especially when typing in the dark. I like the feel of the trackpad, too, and it’s positioned nicely between my hands when I type, even though it’s slightly left-of-centre. Most importantly, the keys are where they’re supposed to be: no concessions to the French! The trackpad supports two(+)-finger touch, allowing for gestures like putting two fingers down and pinching them together/apart to zoom out/in on the screen.

The screen I’m a little mixed on: it looks nice, it’s bright with good contrast, and the coating is not so glossy as to make using it in the light impossible. However, it’s a TV resolution (720p: 1366 x 768) and aspect ratio, which is a little weirdly wide for me: I preferred the 1200×800 of my old laptop (a little taller), or better yet, 1680×1050 of my desktop (yes, I’m a 16:10-preferring troglodyte). The screen viewing angles are also backwards: there’s a large horizontal viewing angle where you can still see the screen really well (not great for privacy on a laptop), and very little vertical viewing angle: the screen noticeably darkens just from lowering my head due to slouching, and Wayfare, who’s about 6″ shorter than me (and the difference isn’t that much when sitting) can barely see the screen when sitting beside me. The screen doesn’t tilt back much beyond vertical, which could pose a problem if sitting high above the laptop, such as when sitting too close to a desk (or an airplane tray table). The fonts don’t quite look right, but I’m not sure if that’s a function of Windows 7, or the screen itself (they’re largely “too serify”, which looks a little like when you set an LCD monitor to a non-native resolution, but I am at the native resolution here!). Images/videos look fine though.

It came with a TV tuner, which I thought was a neat option, though a dongle is needed to plug in a regular antenna/cable coax. There’s no special software included, so one must resort to windows media centre, which has a very poor implementation for scanning for over-the-air channels (though it’s pretty straightforward to use your computer as a PVR once you do get the channels added). If anyone has any suggestions for TV tuner software, I’m all ears (esp. if free!).

The battery has to be the biggest disappointment, though not in the way you may think: I do 90% of my “mobile” computing plugged into the wall, and I could do with only ~2 hours of battery life for the rest. Yet since I opted for the package with the higher numbered video card (435M) and processor (i7), Dell would only let me configure the laptop with the larger 9-cell battery… and that battery is a bit of a travesty, adding weight to an already chunky computer (though still much lighter than my old one), but also sticking straight out from the bottom. That appendage is going to make it hard to carry the computer around in my backpack, though it does nicely elevate the rear of the computer when placed on a desk (conversely, it makes it hard to use on your lap, it seems to create pointy corners that dig at my knees). Though I do get ~5 hours of battery life with mild web-browsing and OTA TV watching. I can’t find a battery on their site to order (having it as a 2nd may be the best of both worlds – smaller form factor for travelling when I expect to be able to plug in, larger capacity option when I need to roam for a few hours), but it’s $150 for the previous generation. I thought that a second 6-cell battery was an option when I was checking out, at more like $40… I might just pay it to make putting it in my backpack easier, but not if it ends up being $150 (if anyone is ordering an XPS based off this review… want to shoot me a line before you finalize the sale and see if I can add a 6-cell battery to your order? :)

On a related note, the power adaptor has a three-prong plug, which is a disappointment: so many travel adapters (and extension cords) on the market are only for two-prong cables, and there’s no need for a laptop to have a grounding pin (Toshibas and Sonys don’t!). The cord is also fairly short, at about 6′ long (I believe my Toshiba is ~9′), and of course the 3-prong issue means it’s harder to find an extension cord! There’s a little blue light-up ring on the power cable, which on the one hand will let you know that the AC adapter has juice, but on the other will be annoying when trying to sleep in the same room the laptop is charging in (i.e.: hotel rooms). I don’t see any way of turning that light off. I really wish they hadn’t included that. Speaking of weird lights, there’s an LED to indicate hard drive activity, as with most laptops… but it’s behind the screen. That was a weird design decision.

I have yet to try to stress it out with a game, but for just web browsing, it runs cool and quiet, which is a huge improvement over my last computer. The main heat exhaust is out the left side, and it looks like there are several intakes on the bottom (which I know from experience with the Toshiba, can be easily blocked and lead to an overheat shutdown).

The speakers are “JBL certified” which means nothing to me per se, but I do have to say the sound quality is excellent for a laptop. There’s even a “subwoofer” on the bottom of the computer — and heck, even without the “for a laptop” qualification, the sound is very decent. There are two headphone jacks, which allows you to plug in two sets of headphones (to share sound with a friend) — I haven’t tested it with 5.1 sound yet, but a popup did ask if I plugged in headphones to the jacks, with the option to instead pick front/rear/centre/subwoofer, so I’m pretty sure that’s a possibility, and one port says S/P DIF, though all I know about those letters is that it’s something for audiophiles. 3 USB ports are spread around the computer, one on each side and the back, making it easy to avoid physical size conflicts with large USB keys, and allowing you to always plug into your preferred side of the computer. One of the ports doubles as an eSATA port in a clever bit of workmanship. I was a little disappointed to see that there was no VGA port for video (all of our conference room projectors connect via VGA), just HDMI and mini display port. Another dongle to get and keep somewhere… Oh, and it can output full 1080p over the HDMI, and even use that as a second monitor while you’re using the main screen on 720p mode (sound will go out over the HDMI connection by default, but that can be toggled).

Though I’ve only used it for a day, I actually haven’t been too annoyed by Windows 7 — some of the new features I’ve turned off (gone is that annoying “dock” at the top of the screen!), and some settings I’ve put into “classic” mode. Keep in mind that’s high praise from me: I thought XP was the very pinnacle of Microsoft OS design, and took Vista as a personal insult. One thing I haven’t yet figured out how to do is to make the control panel list contents “normally”: that is, down by column first, then across by row, but otherwise everything is just simply working, which is the point.

So, all in all I’m quite pleased with the Dell XPS. I’m particularly impressed with the build quality, just the tactile feel of it and some of the little features. The power packed in here is good according to the specs, but like I said, I haven’t really stress tested it yet, so I can’t comment first hand. The only real downsides are the screen (I’d prefer a 1680 resolution, and the vertical viewing angle is poor) and the lack of choice in batteries — if I want a smaller form factor Dell, why not let me downgrade the battery and just deal with the reduced life?

Here are some pictures of how the 9-cell battery sticks out of the bottom:

And here’s a pair showing how the screen darkens when you’re off on the vertical viewing angle. The camera settings are the same for both shots, just the second has the camera lowered by about 4″, and you can see that the screen is noticeably darker. So you’d have to adjust the position of the screen every time you go for a good slouch…

I had a fair bit to write about UBB, there are updates to this post:
UBB Update 5, including my submission to the CRTC
UBB Update 4, including a new metaphor. (I didn’t say it was a good one though!)
UBB Update 3, a reminder of the basic economics behind the CRTC being involved in regulating wholesale internet in the first place.
UBB Update 2(b), a very long post on the issue. Also, 2(a) came just before that, as a short summary.
And the first update, including my first letter on UBB to my MP.

***

Cloud computing – you may have heard of it, it’s becoming quite the buzz word lately. The idea is that rather than everyone having all this computer hardware on their desks or in their laps or (now with smartphones) in their pocket, you put the big giant gobs of data on a central server that you reach over the internet. If you have a complex task but don’t have the computing power on your smart-phone, for example natural language speech-to-text for something more complex than an address book lookup, you just send the audio to the cloud, and let it compute the conversion. It’s supposedly going to be the wave of the future, and some cloud computing start-up companies have already been bought out at ridiculous prices. You can even keep your data there, backed up, safe from a local calamity, and available wherever you want it.

Streaming video is already becoming popular, with internet connections now able to process streaming hi-def movies and TV shows from Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc.

But you may not ever see these in Canada thanks to the outrageous usage based billing model the ISPs have started.

It’s also hippocritical. “A bit is a bit is a bit. If you’re a heavy user, regardless of what’s causing the heavy use, you will pay more. That’s the concept,” said Mirko Bibic, Bell Canada’s senior vice-president for regulatory affairs. Somehow a bit isn’t a bit when it’s coming from Bell or Rogers for another service: Rogers’ digital phones, Bell’s IPTV (“Fibe”) and Rogers on demand use the same bits travelling over their networks, but they wouldn’t dream of charging $2.50/GB for that data. In fact, it was the rollout of Rogers’ digital home phone service that first lead to throttling and data transfer caps being implemented on their network.

Not to muddy the waters, but there are two issues with that one: network congestion has been in the past (and may again become) an issue affecting the quality of service, especially at peak usage times. Throttling (as much as I also disagree with how heavy-handed it is/was), is one method to solve that issue. Caps, and usage based billing, on the other hand, are completely unrelated to any notion of congestion: it’s possible to blow through your cap in just a few hours of downloading with the speeds available these days, which you could easily do in the off-hours without affecting the rest of the network. The only good explanation I’ve heard for bit caps is to snuff out on-line competition for Bell and Rogers’ video/TV services.

“The rates are absolutely atrocious. How the hell are we doing above one dollar for extra usage?” said Rocky Gaudrault, president of Chatham, Ont.-based Teksavvy. “It’s in the thousands of multiples beyond what the costs are.”

Indeed, Teksavvy currently charges just 25 cents per GB, or 10 cents per GB in pre-purchased blocks, and that’s their retail price. These charges from Bell and Rogers (which they are now trying to force on their resellers like Teksavvy) are outrageous. From most reports, the actual cost of a GB of data is around a penny, maybe as much as three cents. However, today’s CRTC ruling is forcing Teksavvy to match Bell’s pricing (with as much as a whopping 15% discount). That is extremely uncompetitive. It undermines the whole idea of bringing in competition with resellers of monopoly infrastructure, and moreover, it’s bad for Canadians.

Now, I’m not against charging based on usage. In many ways, that makes sense. However, these charges are ridiculous, usurious even. And just as there are usury laws against charging excessive interest on loans, the ISPs, if they want to charge for usage, shouldn’t be able to apply a 250X mark-up, fees that put whole industries out of business as infrastructure becomes too expensive to use. They especially shouldn’t be allowed to engage in the anti-competitive act of forcing their resellers to adopt their own pricing model (what’s the point in having resellers then?). The ruling doesn’t even make clear if the resellers are getting charged on a per GB basis, or if they can also create buy-in-advance usage plans like Bell can.

The next step is to do something about it.

Open Media has a petition going, which I’ve already signed. I’m going to write letters to my MP, Tony Clement, and the CRTC as well. I’ll update this post when I’m done, but don’t wait for me: write your own! Though you may get stuck with the same fee package, switch to a reseller like Teksavvy if you can, and tell Bell or Rogers why you’re leaving when you cancel your service with them.

The Globe and Mail opinion piece: A metered internet is a regulatory failure.

Edit to add: Ellen Roseman’s blog post. “Since Ottawa has abdicated, Quebec passed a consumer protection law that restricts penalties charged on cellular contracts. Manitoba also plans to impose new rules, although perhaps moving too far into an area of federal responsibility.” Hey, maybe a note to the MPP wouldn’t be out of place, either…

The CRTC ruling itself.

I was having an interesting discussion with Netbug earlier about net neutrality and bandwidth caps and the like. He also recently sent me to a standup bit by Joe Rogan:

“If I left you alone in the forest with a hatchet, how long before you can send me an email?”

It’s a funny, poignant point that much of what we use in our everyday lives is basically magic to us. Infrastructure is very important, we basically can’t do anything without the network of tools and facilities around us. But infrastructure covers a lot of things, certainly more than roads and sewers and electricity which may be what first comes to mind with the word.

At some point in the future, perhaps the ability to download large files will be seen as an important infrastructure for a country to have. Without that in place, innovation can get stifled. Maybe soon the government may wake up to the anti-competitive behaviour of the ISPs and the data caps, how it’s crippling the infrastructure, and start to regulate them like the duopoly utility they are. Maybe split the companies up so that the infrastructure company is separate from the content distribution/media company.

An interesting idea to be sure. I don’t think it’ll happen in the near future: the current government seems to have no stomach for smacking down the ISPs or touching net neutrality, but if it’s recognized that these policies are holding back whole sectors of the economy, it may be an issue in the future…

Another bad week for exercising, but the diet was at least a bit better.

A NYT story on credit scores suggests that the pendulum has swung too far in the states, and now it’s becoming hard for even borrowers with decent credit to get a loan. Some mortgage brokers are lamenting that too much weight is being put on the FICO score:

In fact, FICO scores are not the best predictor. The amount of equity a person has in his home, his debt-to-income ratio, his job stability and his cash reserves are all better predictors than credit scores, according to Dave Zitting, the chief executive of Primary Residential Mortgage, a leading mortgage lender.

Now from what I’ve read I don’t know if I’d say the amount of debt-to-equity is a better predictor, but it’s certainly up there. This just reinforces my earlier point that the line “Canada doesn’t have a subprime mortgage problem” is glossing over the prevalence of CMHC-supported low/no downpayment loans, which while not quite as risky as a pack of NINJA negative-amortization loans, are still much riskier than the “conservative” banking culture played up in the media.

Aside from seeing another source to use to trot out my ongoing argument, the article isn’t all that good. It belabours the point that lending criteria use hard cut-offs sometimes (like here with FICO scores) where the difference between just over and just under the line are too small to be meaningful. Unfortunately, life is full of such arbitrary cut-offs: for instance, if you have $499 in your account but write a cheque for $500, it’s bounced all the same as if you had nothing in the account. These cut-offs can help protect the larger system (e.g., the bank) from bad risks from decisions made throughout the organization. Though the article didn’t mention it, there is one solution to the issue: make the cut-offs continuous rather than binary. Rather than someone with a credit score of 620 getting a loan and someone with 619 getting nothing, scale it in so that someone with a 650 could get a full loan right up to their debt service level of say 32%, while someone with a 620 could only get 20-some percent, and scale it down to zero over a wider range… But that’s nitpicking the point.

Rogers has tightened up their download limits again, just days after Netflix announced it was coming to Canada. Whispers of market manipulation to shut out a competitor to their own video-on-demand service arise.

An older article from the CBC goes over some of the basics of download limits, and some of the anti-competitive issues. As you all well know, I think the companies are BSing us here — first off, their “average user’s usage” figure hasn’t moved in years, despite the prevalence of things like streaming video in the last few years. I think it’s probably way out of date now, likely a factor of 10 too low.

the company says the caps were necessary because between five to seven per cent of its customers were using more than 80 per cent of its bandwidth, thus slowing service down for everyone.

This is an argument trumped out often in favour of caps or limits, but what does it really mean? Years ago, during the first round of ISPs cracking down on heavy users, these sorts of arguments were used to cut “abusers” off… but this sort of relationship is just a feature of how humans distribute resources. It’s the Pareto principle. Plus of course, data transfer is very cheap, on the order of cents per GB, yet the overage charges are $2/GB. Even with a healthy extra put in there to act as a disincentive, this is clearly a massively profitable area for ISPs, way beyond the costs of data transfer or economic disincentive. The real issue they often complain about with their networks is peak usage, i.e. time-of-use (especially Rogers’ architecture). Yet they’ve taken no steps towards time-of-use billing, even though that would make more sense.

On the StarCraft 2 front I ended up using one of my guest passes since it’s just getting ridiculous that they can’t solve the account problem that’s kept me from playing. I finished the single-player campaign, and found it quite short. There were 26 missions (Terran and a few Protoss side missions), which compares well to the number of missions in the first StarCraft. However, I found the missions to be very fast and small-scale. I don’t think there was any one level that took me more than 30 minutes to clear, whereas I remember at least one level per race taking over an hour in the original as you had to carefully pick your way through the enemy forces and win by attrition sometimes. Detaching the single-player a bit more from the multiplayer did add some neat options with unit upgrades and mercenaries, as well as a greater spectrum of units (e.g., the medic, wraith, and goliath were cut from multiplayer). Still haven’t played multiplayer though. I tried calling the support line a few times last week, only to find that I couldn’t even get into the holding pattern since the queue was full. When I did finally get through, though the fellow was nice, the problem didn’t get solved. I sent an email right away on release day, and found it ironic that the message telling people to call again since the hold queue was full suggested emailing support instead. Finally, 6 days later, a rep has gotten back to me, and after some back-and-forth going through the motions of trying steps that everyone in the support forums said didn’t help (and that I already tried on my own), it looks like I should get my account fixed tomorrow (8 days after release). Update: Just got in, woo-hoo! Now I’m too tired to play though and have to go to bed…

These Rogers bills are killing us. Ok, financially, we can afford $35/mo, but it just seems so silly to spend that much (now with HST!) for basic, analog cable. We don’t see the value in the higher TV packages, and especially not in digital. Especially now that there are so many shows offered on demand online (e.g., Jon Stewart on the Comedy Network, all of BNN’s programming). I haven’t watched TV in like 2 years now, and don’t have any kind of cable at my place in London. Wayfare, unfortunately, stipulates that she must be able to put something on in the background while she veges in the living room, and hasn’t wanted to give up cable.

For a while I was using my Xbox with TVersity to stream shows from the computer, but that was a little cumbersome because it meant the computer had to be up-and-running with TVersity going, etc. Wayfare wants something simpler.

So I was encouraged to see the Iomega ScreenPlay Plus HD Multimedia Player come up as an option. It’s cheap: $150, which includes a 1 TB hard drive, and promises to be easy to use, plugging right into the TV and playing most of the common digital video formats.

First up, right out of the box it looks well put-together: there are a few pieces of foam to shockproof the drive, and the cables are in baggies, but other than that the box is split into 2 neat compartments without a lot of wasted packaging. Best of all, none of that ridiculous hard-shell packaging crap that drives me nuts. It has a remote control for operating the player part of the system, and yes, it comes with batteries. It also comes with a (rather short) USB cable, and composite and analog AV cables. Nice.

I can hook it up to my computer just like any other external USB drive, and load it up with files.

Then, it also has another USB port on the front so you can plug in another USB drive and just use the player function: something I already know will come in handy since Wayfare was a little hesitant about downloading shows and then having to unhook the drive from the TV to load them on it. She can just download them to a key or other drive, and play from there.

The operation with the remote and viewing content on the TV is straightforward. Unfortunately, the file list is as “large tiles” where the tiles are unhelpful icons just showing that you are looking at a video file. Lots of wasted screen real estate there. Only 7-8 characters of the filename show up under the large icons, with a fuller name at the bottom. Weirdly enough, even though the name at the bottom only takes up half the screen, it still truncates after 30 characters or so. I tested a few DIVX files and they all played fine — some looked great, but others had a fair bit of graininess/artifacts to them. Not sure why the difference, but those same files I’m pretty sure showed up fine on the Xbox/TVersity combo. I may have to investigate the video quality a bit more… One file that absolutely refused to play over TVersity played the video, but not the audio, so it doesn’t look like there’s any more capability there. OGG and MKV files don’t even appear in the file list as options, just AVIs and WMVs.

With composite and HDMI outputs it does have high def capabilities, but I didn’t test those out.

So from a video player point of view, it does work out of the box, but looks like it could use a few more refinements yet. Oh, one other weird bug is that it sorts capital and lower-case letters separately (i.e.: it would order a list of shows like Alpha Delta Echo November Zulu alpha bravo delta… etc.), which is just not right.