IT Werkz Sometimes

I got a subwoofer to go with the 42″ TV, Blu-ray player (PS3) and pseudo home cinema with the stereo. As usual I ended up spending more than I wanted to but the sound is great. The subwoofer was made by a Chinese company called Gale, $220.

When I first started playing a DVD the noisy studio logo played, I hadn’t realised how loud the volume levels were set to, I nearly jumped out of my skin. The sound wasn’t a TV sound at all, it was enormous. I then demo’d it with several clips from films and also the Zeppelin DVD – ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’ – and also The Who’s Kids Are Alright. It felt as loud as being at a friggin’ concert. 

After 10 minutes of me playing with this rig there was a knock on the front door. Oh no, I’ve already started to annoy the neighbours with my racket. But no, it was somebody collecting for charity. Did I pay him off well.

The Microsoft interview is back on tomorrow. So what happened to the outsourcing to India line?

Got another email from Slysoft the other day regarding the non working license key for CloneDVD.

Didn’t have the heart to give it another try till today and it worked. The previous license key/registration file they had sent would not update the registry as it was not a registry updating file i.e. a file with a .reg extension.

When I looked at the new file it appeared to be attempting to update the registry exactly the same way as the previous non working file. The only difference being the file type as displayed in Windows Explorer, this was a file with a .reg extension, so there was a fair chance it would work. The working version is of type ‘CloneDVD Registration Key’ and the always working AnyDVD registry file was of type ‘AnyDVD Registration Key’, which is consistent with the .reg extension.

The never working CloneDVD registry file was of type ‘CLONECD File’. Hmm..Clone CD? Well that was a bit of a Slysoft mashup wasn’t it. I’m surprised Slysoft let that mistake loose onto the great unwashed. I wonder how many other people have had trouble with this stuff?

Got the game Motorstorm for the PS3 and it plays great. Also tried several of my old non-HD DVD’s on the PS3 to see how the Blu-Ray upscaling was. For comparison purposes I also played a couple of minutes of the same films on the normal non-HD DVD player. There was definitely an improvement.

The picture quality of non-HD DVD’s played and upscaled on the Blu-Ray were closer to the picture quality of Blu-Ray disks themselves than they are to the picture quality when they are played on a non-HD DVD drive. And that’s a big deal, as whilst Blu-Ray disks are relatively expensive there is no reason to buy them as non-HD disks play so well. Bet I still do buy a few anyway. Let’s see, when’s Goodfella’s out on Blu-Ray?

Thought I’d have a look at an upscaling HDMI non-HD DVD player. These cost from $120 so ain’t gonna bust anyone’s bank account. I also thought that if I could get that, instead of the raucous racket in my head inspired desire to get HD, then I could get some home cinema stuff to beef up the sound a bit.

Of course it didn’t work out like that. When I had a demo of an HDMI non-HD DVD, watching the same film, first via the SCART cable and then via the HDMI cable, the latter was definitely better but nowhere near Blu-Ray nor HD DVD better. So I passed on that.

Stopped messing about and bought the PS3. Heavy lump it is too. Plucked up courage to read the quick reference guide, which seemed straightforward enough. Wired it all up, setup a username, time and date and resolution and that was it. Haven’t tried the wireless stuff yet. Also haven’t got a remote control for the Blu-Ray yet so instead use the controller.

I bought the Blu-Ray disk of Babel and stuck it in the drive and started playing it. Is it any good? Too right it’s good, it’s freakin’ great. The clarity is terrific. Dunno how the heck I’m ever gonna be able to watch normal TV again without noticing the difference.

Now all I have to do is figure out the wireless Internet connection and play a game on it. The next thing is gonna be a home cinema box and no doubt about 17 speakers. Then sign-up for some HD channels. Lord, this ain’t cheap.

Quote of the day

‘Love is the answer, but while you’re waiting for the answer, sex raises some pretty good questions’ Woody Allen