D-Link SharePort Go Mobile Companion DIR-506L Review

I had the opportunity to test out the D-Link SharePort Go DIR-506L a few days ago and I thought that I would write my thoughts on the product.

The SharePort Go Mobile Companion is portable and slightly larger than a deck of playing cards. It is powered through USB port (mini-USB) or by battery with the included removable proprietary battery. Included with the unit is a USB cable, the battery, and a very small instructional booklet.

I charged the unit using an AC to mini-USB cable from one of my other devices for a few hours. According to the documentation, it takes ~4 hours to fully charge using the USB cable when attached to the USB port on a computer. Charging it fully via my AC adapter was obviously a lot faster. According to the documentation, the battery lasts for 4 hours on a single charge, however like with all electronic devices this number probably depends on how the device is used.

The unit configures via either a WPS set-up button, by connecting to the device via http://192.168.0.1 (either wirelessly or wired), by using an Android/iPhone application. Not being a real fan of WPS since I prefer to configure my wireless devices manually, I configured the device using the free Android application. I also wanted to try it also using the iPhone application but unfortunately, the application only works with iOS 4.3 and above and my iPhone 3GS is still at iOS 4.01. The configuration was straightforward on the free Android application (called QRS Mobile) for basic set-up. The only problem that I experienced was due to the fact that this device's internal IP address matched the internal IP address of my existing wireless router.

Because my home network isn't very straightforward and the very small instructional booklet (Quick Installation Guide) was written for very basic network configurations, I had to download the user manual from the company's website to get some added information about setting up the device as an Access Point. At the same time, I checked to see if there was any firmware updates on the company's website and applied the latest firmware on the device.

Accessing the device's configuration directly via a browser allows for more advanced configuration options. The options available when configuring the SharePort Go Mobile Companion are similar to most advanced router configurations including MAC address filtering, opening network ports, etc.

The company's video below from YouTube outlines some of the features of the device.


I tested to see whether the device would charge my iPhone 3GS and my Android phones (Samsung Nexus-S & LG Nexus-4) and according to the phone display, it was charging without any issues. It was unable to charge my Blackberry Bold 9700 but then again my Blackberry Bold 9700 will sometimes charge using some cables and sometimes it won't charge using the same cable so I'm not sure whether it will charge Blackberry phones. I didn't let the device fully charge my phones, I just looked at the message or icon on the phone to see whether the phone was actually charging.

I tested the device's SharePort capability by plugging in my USB memory stick (with some photos on it) and I was able to watch them without any issues on my Android tablet with the free SharePort Mobile Android application. I also tested it with some MP3 files and didn't have any issues either. Unfortunately, I didn't have any quickly accessible videos in MOV or MP4 to test.

I find the device good and useful but here are my negative comments about the device:
1) Even though I like the fact that the device has a removable/changeable battery, I would have preferred it if the device used standard batteries or batteries used by some other devices (like camera batteries) but then again, the required voltage/amperage probably makes this very difficult.
2) Unlike a laptop which can be powered with an AC adapter without having the battery plugged into it, the device requires the battery in the unit even when it is being charged/powered by an AC adapter (similar to how cellphones behave). For users who don't need a battery powered device, the non-battery powered SharePort DIR-505 might be a better option.
3) Since most cameras use SD memory cards, having an SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot would have been nice (but I basically have a USB SD card reader stick so it isn't really a big deal).
4) Only supports USB devices that are less than 500 GB
5) I find the video file format that the unit supports limiting. However since I believe that the primary market for this device is for users/consumers to share videos taken from their digital cameras, this might not be a big issue for most people.

All in all, even with the negative comments mentioned above, I like the D-Link SharePort Go Mobile Companion DIR-506L device and don't have any issues recommending it for any user who needs the functions of such a device.

If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and an comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.

Online/Cloud Storage Solutions

There are a multitude of free online/cloud storage solutions available to consumers. I use 4 online/cloud storage solutions and I thought that I would describe them for this week's blog entry. They all offer a client for Windows which synchronizes the online/cloud storage space with a specific directory on your computer. Some of the online/cloud storage solutions also have clients for cellphones (Blackberry, Android, iOS, and HP's WebOS).

The first online/cloud storage solution that I used was Dropbox because most of the people where I work used it. I started with 3 GB of online storage and through referrals, I'm currently at 5 GB of storage space available. By clicking on the above link and going through with the installation process, you will get a bonus of 500 MB (giving a total of 3.5 GB). Dropbox gives 500 MB for every referral up to a maximum of 16 GB. There are other methods to increase your online storage (via connecting to your Facebook account (+125 MB), connecting to your Twitter account (+125 MB), following their Twitter feed (+125 MB), etc. For a complete list of ways to get additional storage space, you can check out their comprehensive list on their website. Dropbox offers mobile clients for Blackberry, Android, and iOS).

The second online/cloud storage solution that I used was Google Drive. Google Drive was originally Google Docs. I use Google Drive mainly because it is part of Google and I use most of Google's products. Google Drive gives 5 GB for free. Google Drive includes a mobile client for Android and iOS.

The third online/cloud storage solution that I used was SkyDrive. It is part of the Microsoft line via their Live products. My SkyDrive is 25 GB as part of a promotion that they had. I believe that new users get 7 GB of free online storage. Because I have more storage space on SkyDrive, I find myself storing most of the files that I want to back up on SkyDrive.

The fourth online/cloud storage solution that I used is Box. My Box account is at 50 GB of free online storage via a promotion that they had for users of the HP TouchPad. They currently have a feature where business users can get 50 GB of online storage for free via a referral from someone who already has 50 GB at the same company. Box determines if the e-mail address of the person doing the referring is a company e-mail address. Box is the only company to have a native WebOS client application for the HP TouchPad. It also supports the most mobile clients (Blackberry, Android, iOS, WindowsPhone, and Playbook)

Out of the four online/cloud storage solutions that I've mentioned on this blog, I primarily will use (in the following order): Box, SkyDrive, Google Drive, and then Dropbox. The reason why I primarily use Box is because I have the most space available via Box than any of the other cloud storage solutions that I've listed here. However, generally I find myself storing important files on all 4 online/cloud storage locations so that if any one solution fails or is not available, I will still have a copy of my files.

All the online/cloud storage solutions that I've listed work similarly (at least based on the type of usage that I use them for and I believe that most people would use them for) so my recommendation on which solution to use would depend on how much free storage space the company offers and whether you use the company's other products (ex: Google or Microsoft Live).

Before uploading any of my files onto any cloud storage product, depending on the file, I will generally encrypt the files to keep them away from prying eyes. For confidential files like tax slips/receipts, bank statements, etc., I will always encrypt these confidential files whereas for pictures I will generally leave those unencrypted. Even though most (or all) of the online storage companies don't allow guests to download files without you either sharing the files or making a link available, my feeling is that you can never be too sure who has access to your files on any of these storage spaces including the company itself.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to write a comment in the comment section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment that contains a URL link (whether or not it is embedded) will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Unblock-Us and non-Netflix Subscribers

I was asked at work a few weeks ago about Unblock-Us and decided that perhaps it was time for another blog review on it especially now since Unblock-Us has updated their website recently. The person who asked me did not have Netflix but I had mentioned that I watched an entire episode of an American show from an American broadcaster's website (CBS). He was looking for a service that would allow him to watch certain videos from television websites (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.) without getting the prompt that the video was not available for the region.

I use Unblock-Us mostly for Netflix as you can see from some of my previous blog entries on Unblock-Us but I also use it occasionally to watch some of the television programs that I've missed for whatever reason (didn't/couldn't record it on my Tivo, etc.).

Because Unblock-Us is not a VPN service, it doesn't change your computer's IP address but changes the DNS (Domain Name Server) that your computer/devices use in order to access certain websites/applications, it will only allow you to watch videos from certain websites. For a list of the websites that Unblock-Us supports, you can click *HERE*.

Accessing the videos on the websites is seamless. After configuring your computer/network to use the Unblock-Us DNS servers, there is no configuration that you have to do. With Netflix and Unblock-Us, there is a country selection that must be done on the Unblock-Us website. However, with the supported websites shown in the above list, the website will think that you are in the respective country. You would access the CTV videos at http://www.ctv.ca as if you were in Canada and you would access CBS videos at http://www.cbs.ca as if you were in the US.

Because the cost of the Unblock-Us service is roughly the same cost as VPN service, I told my friend that he should probably look into getting a VPN service since he wasn't a Netflix subscriber. A VPN service would also allow for better access to videos since it would not be limited to only the Unblock-Us supported websites. A VPN service would also work for other websites (ex: Google, etc.) which restrict IP addresses to a particular host country. The only thing to watch out in terms of the VPN service is that I've heard that the response rate (bandwidth) for a lot of VPN services are not very good for streaming and I've never really experienced any issues with Unblock-Us and bandwidth as long as my regular internet bandwidth was fine. For me, I find accessing videos from certain websites to be an added benefit from my Unblock-Us subscription since I use Unblock-Us mainly for my Netflix subscription.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to write a comment in the comment section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment that contains a URL link (whether or not it is embedded) will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

XE Currency Conversion Application

While I'm waiting for some new hardware/electronic items to evaluate/review, I thought that rather than not posting a blog entry for the week, I would start evaluating some applications that I use on my smartphones.

One of the programs that I've installed on all my smartphones (Blackberry Bold 9700, Samsung Nexus-S, and iPhone 3GS) is a currency conversion program called XE Currency. I use it mainly get the Canadian and US exchange rates but I've also used it to get the Swedish rate as well as some of the Asian currencies.

The program works very similar on all the smartphones that I own. You basically set up a home currency and then add a few countries that you want to get the currency of or that you want to keep track of.

After adding the countries, you can configure the number of decimal places for the currencies. The number of decimal places is universal for all the currencies in your list and is not individually set for each country's currency.

Normally I keep a value of "1" for the home country and every time I start the application, the program will download the exchange rates for the other countries and get the exchange rate for "1" unit (ex: dollar) of the home country. If my home country is set to Canada, and I want to know how much $159.95 is in US dollars (and the US is one of the countries in my list), I will replace the $1 in the Canadian field with $159.95 and the program will automatically convert show how much $159.95 is in US dollars.

XE Currency Converter is a very useful application for anyone who travels. The only negative thing about this program is that it has an advertisement banner on it but then again the application is free.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to write a comment in the comment section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment that contains a URL link (whether or not it is embedded) will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Netgear Universal WiFi Range Extender (WN3000RP) Review

I got the opportunity to test the Netgear Universal WiFi Range Extender (WN3000RP) and since there were a few deadspots within my place and slightly outside of my place, I decided to give it a try. This universal WiFi range extender supports B, G, and N routers.

To configure the device you have to locate (or roughly locate the half-way point of the range for your wireless router) and plug the extender near this "half-way point." You would then connect to the extender and configure it to access your router. After doing this, you can then configure your devices to access the Netgear Universal WiFi Range Extender either via the 1 ethernet port on the device or via WiFi. I've tested it using the network cable (hard-wired) connection and I found that it was "okay" (not great but not what I would consider bad either).

My problem with the device isn't really a problem with the device itself but my place doesn't seem to be ideal for such a device. The reason for this is that there is no power outlet at the half-way point between where my wireless router is situated and where I have a very weak wireless signal. As a result, I have to plug the WiFi Range Extender somewhat close to the wireless router. Because of the distance between the WiFi Range Extender and my wireless router is only about 5 feet, the improvement in the wireless signal near my deadspot/weakspot is not that big of an improvement.

The extender documentation mentions that if both the extender is detected and the wireless router is detected by your wireless device (and the wireless router signal strength is decent), it is preferable to connect to the wireless router since the speed of the extender is slower than the speed that can be obtained from the wireless router.

In terms of whether I can recommend this device, I guess it would depend on whether you have a power outlet near the half-way point of your desired deadspot/weakspot and the wireless router. If you do have a power outlet located in the proper place, I think that this device is a good buy if you can find it on sale.

If you have an questons/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section. Please note that comments are moderated and any comment that contains a URL link (whether or not it is embedded) will be automatically flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

HP Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One Printer Review

I had an ink jet printer (Canon) over 15 years ago and after using it for about two years, I stopped using it since at the time I had access to a laser printer and was using that. Eventually, the inkjet printer nozzle got clogged since I wasn't using it and after fixing it one year, I eventually sold it.

I found myself needing a printer again recently and decided to purchase an all-in-one printer. For me, I didn't really care about faxing (although it would be a nice feature to have) and I was interested mainly in printing, scanning, and copying. I did some research on the internet and solicited some advice from friends on my Facebook. It just so happens that one of my friends had purchased an HP Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One Printer and he had very good comments about it. One of the things that he mentioned was that it uses less ink than the other ink jet printers and he personally vouched for this since after a few months of printing every day, he was still using the original ink cartridges that came with the printer. He mentioned that there were 3 HP Officejet 8600 printers (Pro, Plus, & Premium). I opted to purchase the Pro version since it was the one that my friend had, it was the least expensive, and the additional features in the Plus & Premium version although nice to have, I didn't consider the additional price to be worthwhile based on my usage.

First of all, the HP Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One Printer is considered to be a home-office type of device so it is somewhat more expensive than a lot of the entry-type (home) all-in-one printers on the market. It is larger/bulkier and seems more sturdy than the other printers that I saw while I was shopping for a printer in the store.

What I like about the printer is that it is wireless and supports both wired and USB connections. Since the printer is away from my computer (and away from my wireless router), I opted to use mine in wireless mode.  According to the documentation, it supports B, G, and N. I had no problems connecting to any one of my three wireless routers using WPA encryption. Another nice feature that I like is that the printer can upgrade/update its own internal software/firmware without the need of a computer. This is different from updating the computer's printer software drivers/application.

One other thing that I like is that it has an enclosed paper tray as opposed to some of the other inkjet printers where you put the paper standing up into the paper slot. I'm not sure how much paper it accepts into the tray but according to the documentation, it says that it supports 250 sheets.

It supports direct printing from memory card (SD/MMC, MS/DUO) as well as USB memory stick. There is an LCD display touchscreen which is used to preview images as well as to navigate through the menus.

The Pro version (which is what I have) supports automatic duplex printing. Unfortunately, it doesn't support automatic duplex copying (the Plus & Premium versions support this along with some additional features).

The HP Officejet Pro 8600 has 4 independent/separate ink cartridges so that if one of the cartridges runs low, all you have to do is replace that one cartridge as opposed to replacing a cartridge that has all the colours. The cartridge types that it uses is 951 (or 951XL) for Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow whereas for Black it uses 950 (or 950XL). The XL cartridges print ~2x more pages. For example, whereas according to the specifications the HP 950 ink cartridges prints up to 1000 pages, the HP 950XL ink cartridges prints up to 2300 pages.

This printer also supports HP's ePrint and Google Cloud Print. What HP's ePrint allows you to do is to print certain types of documents (mainly Word, Adobe PDF, Excel, JPG, and PowerPoint) from any internet device that is capable of sending an e-mail since the printer is assigned a unique HP ePrint e-mail address. I've tested the ePrint feature (printed a photo while I was at work to my home printer) and it works very well. After adding the printer onto my Google account as a Cloud Printer, I was also able to print from Google Chrome on my PC as well as on my Chromebook to my HP Officejet Pro 8600 at home while I was physically at work.

I tested the scanning, printing, and photocopying and they all performed relatively well. Printing is relatively fast although I'm not sure about quoted/documented speeds of 13 to 32 ppm depending on print quality. I tested the printing a picture to the printer and to be honest, I was not overly impressed with the colour print quality for pictures. However, perhaps this was due to the paper that I was using. Another thing to mention was that when the picture print-out came out of the printer, the paper was not "flat" and the shape and texture was similar to a piece of paper being sprayed with water and allowed to dry. This obviously was not the case when printing regular printouts where the colour/ink does not encompass every square centimeter of the paper.

The device scans in either JPG or PDF and will either store the files onto a computer (where the  HP Officejet Pro software is installed) or it will store it onto a USB memory stick. I did have issues scanning directly from the printer onto my computer but I believe that it is probably a problem with my computer as opposed to the device (since my friend who has the same printer informed me that he did not experience this issue). The error message that I would receive on the LCD display would be a connection issue even though my computer was connected to the same network/router that the printer was connected wireless to. I would also occasionally get a small warning on the task bar indicating that the connection to the scanner was lost but then it would reconnect a few seconds later. When scanning from my computer using the HP Scan software, I didn't experience any issues.

I downloaded a copy of the user guide (which describes some of the HP Officejet Pro 8600's features as well as troubleshooting instructions) and stored it *HERE*.

All in all, I'm satisfied with my recent purchase of my new HP Officejet Pro 8600 e-All-in-One Printer. The only thing that I would have liked is that if it had some of the features of the Premium or Plus versions at the price of the Pro version. I also find the ink cartridges to be a bit expensive but I'll see how long the current ink cartridges last (since the printer is supposed to use ~50% less ink and most of my copying/printing is mostly in draft mode).

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that comments are moderated and any comment which contains a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Using Netflix, Unblock-Us, and the LG Smart TV Upgrader ST600 Box

I had some spare time today and was making a few changes/adjustments to my LG Smart TV Upgrader ST600 box and I noticed that it started to partially work with the Unblock-Us service which was a pleasant surprise.

What I decided to do was to switch the region of my Unblock-Us service account to Mexico and reconfigure the network settings of my LG Smart TV Upgrader ST600 box to use the DNS settings from my router as opposed to my ISP. I had previously set the DNS settings directly on my LG Smart TV Upgrader box to use my ISP's DNS settings instead of using the DNS settings from my router (which I set to use Unblock-Us's DNS servers since I routinely connect multiple devices to Netflix) after I couldn't get Netflix to work at all on the LG Smart TV Upgrader box because Netflix would appear in a weird state. The previous time when I checked it, the listings were the Canadian listings (my home country) but these videos were not available from the Unblock-Us Netflix country settings which was set to the US. When I would select one of the movies, it would say that the movie wasn't available and tell me to pick a different movie or try again later.

I'm not sure if what I did fixed the problem or whether the problem was fixed on Unblock-Us's side but my Unblock-Us Netflix country selection was set to Mexico (because I was watching a lot of Pixar movies), I wanted to try my Smart TV Upgrader ST600 box to see if I could get the Netflix Mexico listings. This was the first time that I was trying to use my Smart TV Upgrader Box with the Mexico listings (previously I had just tried it with the US settings).

Because my LG Smart TV Upgrader box was set to use the DNS settings from my ISP (I was using it to only watch movies from the Canadian Netflix selection), I changed it again to start using the DNS settings from my router (which was set to use Unblock-Us's DNS servers). After doing this, I clicked to test whether it properly connected to the internet and the LG Smart TV Upgrader box showed that it had an internet connection.

I then unplugged the power cable from the LG Smart TV Upgrader box, waited a few seconds, and replugged the power cable back into my LG Smart TV Upgrader box.  The box rebooted/restarted and then I turned it on and went into Netflix and noticed that the Netflix application on my LG Smart TV Upgrader box was now showing the US listings (even though the country selection on Unblock-Us's website was set to Mexico). I tried one of the movies and it didn't work (since the actual Netflix listing was somehow the US listings on my LG Smart TV Upgrader box whereas the country selection on Unblock-Us's website was set to Mexico).

At this point, I went to Unblock-Us's website and changed the country to the US and unplugged the power cable again from my LG Smart TV Upgrader box, waited a few seconds, and replugged it in. After it rebooted/restarted, I powered on my LG Smart TV Upgrader box device using the remote control and went into the Netflix application. The Netflix listing was still showing the US listings. I selected one of the movies and this time it worked.

When I have some additional time I will try my LG Smart TV Upgrader box again with the Brazil or Mexico country settings on the Unblock-Us service to see if I can get this to work properly. More details will follow once I do this.

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My thoughts on Netflix US content

I've been using Netflix Canada for about 9 months now and so far I've been satisfied with it. I watched Netflix when I was in the US (US selections) using my Canadian Netflix account and I thought that there was quite a lot of good movies as well as television shows available on Netflix US which were not available in Canada.

There are many ways of seeing the US Netflix content while outside the US and I discovered one such way about a month ago called Blockless which I reviewed *HERE*.

I find that the Netflix US selection oftentimes compliments the Netflix Canada selection. For example, currently as I write my review, Netflix US has all the Star Trek television series/episodes (Star Trek original series, Star Trek Animated Series, Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager, and Star Trek Enterprise) but none of the Star Trek movies while Netflix Canada has all the movies (except the recent Star Trek reboot with the new Captain Kirk) but none of the television series/episodes. Netflix Canada did have the new Star Trek movie (the one with the new Captain Kirk) but for some reason, it was removed a few months after I watched it. There are other examples where the Netflix US selection compliments the Netflix Canada selection (ex: Terminator appears only in the US selection while Terminator 2 - Judgment Day appears only in the Canadian selection)

There are other shows/movies that appear on both the US selection as well as the Canadian selection. For example, the NBC cancelled television show Heroes appears in both selections as does a lot of other cancelled television shows (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Family Guy, etc.) as does a lot of movies (Thor, Captain America, Iron Man 2, etc.)

I find the Netflix US selection to not be "better" than the Netflix Canada selection but "different". If anything, if I had to choose (and based on my personal viewing preferences), I would say that the Netflix US selection is only slightly better than the Netflix Canada selection. I would say that 50% of my Netflix viewing are only available to the US whereas 40% are only available in Canada (with 10% being available in both selections).

For me, because I use the Blockless service, I get the US selections on certain "mobile" (portable) devices in my house I like having both Netflix Canada and Netflix US available to me for the additional cost of Blockless service. I wouldn't stop viewing the Canadian selection just because I have access to the US selections on Netflix.

If you have any questions/comments related to what I've written on this blog, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments selection below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment which contains a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Watching US Netflix while outside of the US

I've been using a service called Blockless in order to get access to the Netflix US content while in Canada. They offer a 7 day free trial so I decided to give it a try before subscribing to their service.

The first thing I want to mention about their service is that they do NOT give you free Netflix service. You have to be an active Netflix customer in order to watch Netflix using their service. As long as you haven't subscribed to Netflix before (or within 1 year), Netflix has a 30 day free trial offer.

The way that their service works is that you either configure your individual device or you configure your router to use their DNS settings and you log onto your blockless account with your PC in order for their service to determine that you are either on a trial membership or you are an active subscriber. Because their service requires the changing of the DNS settings, their service will probably not work with some public WiFi access points especially if the access point requires a type of logging-in (or accepting the terms of service).

I find their service to be very good as it allows me to watch Netflix and get the US content when physically I am not located in the US (similar to a VPN service). The Blockless service works with other geographical IP restricted content/websites as well such as Pandora, Hulu, etc. but I mainly use their service to view Netflix US content while outside of the US on my mobile devices. You can also use their service to access Netflix Canadian content or Netflix United Kingdom content while you are outside those areas as well by logging onto your Blockless account and then configuring the Netflix content to point to either Canada, US, or United Kingdom. So far I haven't accessed the United Kingdom Netflix selection since I have plenty of things to available to me with Netflix Canada and Netflix US but according to the Blockless website, Netflix United Kingdom selections are available as well.

I noticed that the Blockless service only seems to work on "portable" or "mobile" devices. By this, I mean that after configuring my home router to use their DNS and I access my Blockless account on my computer, I'm able to watch Netflix US content with my Android tablet, my Android phone (over WiFi), my iPhone 3GS (over WiFi), my Chromebook (over WiFi), my Windows computer, and my Windows laptop/netbook. It did not work with Netflix my LG SmartTV Upgrader ST600 box even though my LG Smart TV Upgrader ST600 box was using the exact same router and as such it had the same public IP address information/settings.

When I tried to use my LG Smart TV Upgrader box while it was connected to the same router, the Netflix on it would be in a weird state. I would see the titles for the Canadian content (which is where I am physically located) but I would not be able to watch any of the Canadian content because they were not available (in my area). I reset the LG Smart TV Upgrader box and tried changing the settings on the box itself to the US but it still didn't work. I also contacted Blockless' technical support department but they couldn't help me (although they were very helpful when their service stopped working for Netflix on my Android devices). Instead, what I decided to do was to configure the box so that it used the actual DNS settings from my internet service provider. This way I could continue to use Netflix on my LG Smart TV Upgrader box and watch Canadian Netflix content while if I wanted to watch US Netflix content, I used one of my "portable" devices. When I want to watch US Netflix on my television set, I plug in one of my "portable" devices to my television (in my case, I plug my Acer Android tablet using an HDMI cable) and I start the Netflix application and then select the Netflix video that I want to watch.

So far I've used their free trial service and it worked for me enough that I decided to actively subscribe to their service. Based on the cost (~$5/month), I found that I was using their service enough to watch US Netflix content to make it worthwhile for me to subscribe to their service.

If you have any questions/comments regarding anything written on this blog, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section. Please note that comments are moderated and any comments that contain a URL link or hyperlink will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Google Play Store selling Nexus-7 Tablet to Canadians

I was looking at the upgrade for my Samsung Nexus-S (Galaxy Nexus) at the Google Store and noticed Google is accepting orders from consumers who want to purchase their new tablet the Nexus-7. Surprisingly when I went to the Google Play Store, I noticed Google was actually shipping this product (once it is available) to Canadians as well as to some other countries outside the US. This is somewhat unusual because generally a lot of the other products that Google releases isn't available in Canada (ex: Chromebook, Google Voice, Google Music, etc.)

I already have an Acer Android 7" tablet (Acer Iconia Tab A100) that I use but having something that is pure Android (without the customizations of the manufacturer) is something that is appealing to me. The Acer tablet doesn't have a lot of Acer customizations but I prefer using devices (cellphones, tablets, etc.) that don't have the carrier add-ins or the manufacturer's add-ins. It was actually one of the reasons why I opted to purchase a Nexus-S as opposed to purchasing another Android phone.

The Google Play Store seems to be using UPS to ship the item to Canadians and if the item is actually being shipping from the US to Canada using UPS, I will definitely not purchase it because of UPS's high brokerage fees when receiving items that were shipping from the US.

I'll continue to read the reviews about the Nexus-7 before I decide whether to purchase it or not. The hardware specifications look very nice and are better than my current Acer Iconia Tab A100 but then I've never really ran into a problem with my Acer Iconia Tab A100 (except that I consider the battery life to be somewhat on the weak side). The expected battery usage for the Nexus-7 seems good but normally I don't trust the values posted by the manufacturer since I often find these values don't represent real usage. If I do manage to get my hands on one either as a testing unit, I'll probably write a blog review on it.

If you live outside the US and you're interested in purchasing the new Google Nexus-7 tablet when it becomes available, check it out the Google Play Store. They have 2 models (8 GB & 16 GB). In my opinion, the price point for the 8 GB model ($210+taxes) is also good.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to place a comment in the comments section. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment that contains a URL link (whether or not it is embedded) is flagged as spam and won't be posted.

My thoughts/review of Marvel: Avengers Alliance Facebook Game

I enjoy playing the occasional video game and one of the "free" games that I am currently playing on Facebook is a game called Marvel: Avengers Alliance. Marvel Avengers Alliance is a simple flash game based on various heroes from the Marvel universe.

The game involves your team of 3 characters comprising of a SHIELD agent and two heroes. In Chapter 1 of the game, you start the game with Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Black Widow. Each hero belongs to one of five classes (blaster, bruiser, infiltrator, tactician, scrapper, and generalist). Your SHIELD agent starts off as a generalist but you can change it at later levels by research and purchasing the appropriate uniform.

It is a "free" game in the fact that it is possible to play this game without spending any real money on it. When I first started playing it, the only game commodity that you could directly purchase with money was gold. This gold could be used to purchase silver, SHIELD points, or command points. Currently the two game commodities that you can purchase directly with real money is gold and silver. Gold is the more scarce commodity and is rewarded every time your agent gains a level and every time you get 4 stars on a particular mission. Silver is gained via sending your heroes out on the flight deck as well as during battles (and visiting allies). The more allies (Facebook friends who also play Marvel: Avengers Alliance) you have, the easier it is for you to get silver and SHIELD points. As you progress in the game, the game requires a minimum of 3 allies/friends in order to obtain the 8 level 1 ships on the flight deck. If you don't have enough allies, you will have to use gold in order to get the ships or upgrade the ships which is not recommended.

In my opinion, you should only use gold to get weapons and inventory items (mainly ISO-8 items which increase the statistics for your heroes/agent). The only other time I would use gold in the game is if there was a limited hero/uniform that you did not have enough command points to purchase directly before the deadline expires. Command points (which are used to purchase new heroes or uniforms for the heroes) seems like hard items to get is somewhat easy to get by going to a particular battle in a chapter mission and fighting these hidden "epic bosses" and once they drop their command point, you let your team get killed. Although very boring, you repeat this until you get enough command points to purchase your hero or a hero's uniform. Currently, hero prices range from 15 command points to 90 command points. Generally, the high tier heroes have better abilities/powers or are more popular. An example of a high tier (90 command points) hero would be Spider-Man while an example of a lower tier (15 command points) would be Invisible Girl.

Heroes gain special abilities when they reach level 2, level 6, and level 9. Their abilities/powers have various strengths and weaknesses.

There is so much about this game that it is impossible to write one blog entry that covers this game entirely. As such depending on the interest, I might write additional blog entries regarding Marvel: Avengers Alliance.

If you like the heroes in the Marvel universe and you have a Facebook account, you can give this game a try. The game has its good points and bad points. One of the bad points is the random sales/pricing that the game developers seem to often practice. What this means is that sometimes when you see an item for sale in the store for a certain price, it is possible that another player has a different (lower or higher) price for the exact same item.

If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave me a comment in the comments section. Please note that comments are moderated and any comment that contains a URL link (whether embedded or not) will be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Google Authenticator & Google's 2-Step Verification Process Review

Since I sometimes log onto public PCs to check my Gmail account and I wanted a bit more security because I didn't know what was installed on those PCs (keyloggers, Wi-Fi snooping, etc.), I configured my Google account to use the 2-step verification.

For information about 2-step verification process, please refer to Google's YouTube information video about it below.

How this works is when accessing your Google account (like Gmail), after entering your Google password, you are prompted for a specific algorithm generated PIN. This PIN is displayed on a program called Google Authenticator which can be obtained for Blackberries, iOS devices (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad), and AndroidOS devices or it can be sent to your cellphone via SMS or it can be configured to call your phone where the PIN is given to you via an automated voice system. Since I have multiple phones, I sometimes use the automated phone system to get the 1-time usage PIN on the phone that doesn't have Google Authenticator activated with my Google account (for example: I might have the Google Authenticator program on my personal cellphone whereas I would configure the automated phone system (or SMS) to use my work cellphone. You should be aware that when the Google system calls you, the incoming phone number will be a blocked/private number. If your phone is configured not to accept blocked/private calls, you will have to allow for blocked/private calls if you want to receive the automated phone calls from the Google Authentication system.

I've installed the program on all 3 phone platforms but it will only work on 1 phone at a time because the Google Authenticator program must be configured for the Google account on 1 device only. If you change devices or want to use Google Authenticator on another device, you will have to go into the 2-step verification set-up and select "Remove/Replace" for the device.

What I like about Google Authenticator is that it allows you to get an extra level of security for your Google account where it displays the 2nd password (PIN) on your phone. The Google Authenticator program doesn't require data or WiFi and the code is generated via algorithm so if you don't have WiFi coverage and/or you don't have a data plan, you can still use the Google Authenticator application. In a lot of respects, it is similar to the security card that we use where I worked called a "RSA SecurID card".

What I don't really like about the 2-step process is that some applications don't support it and you will have to generate these application specific passcodes for these applications. Every application specific passcode that you create is another method of gaining access to your Google account so you have to be careful where you enter these codes. The good thing about these codes is that they can be revoked if necessary.

One another thing about the 2-step verification process is that you can generate 1 time usage passcodes. These passcodes are similar to the application specific passcodes except that once you enter them once to access your account, the passcode expires and you can't use it again (even on the same computer/browser or with the same application).

What makes Google's 2-step verification system and Google Authenticator great is that even if someone manages to guess/hack your Google password, without your cellphone (or the associated Google Authenticator program), they won't be able to get into your Google account.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that comments are moderated and comments that contain a URL link will be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Acer Iconia Tab A100 Android Tablet Review

I got my hands on an Acer Iconia Tab A100 Android tablet a few weeks ago and since that time, it has received approximately 2 official updates. Originally, if I remember correctly, the Acer Iconia Tab A100 out of the box came with Honeycomb (3.2.1). The first update brought it up to ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) and then a few days ago there was another update that brought it to 4.0.3. I believe that the first update brought it to 4.0.1 if I'm not mistaken.

The Acer Iconia Tab A100 is a 7" Android tablet with a resolution of 1024 x 600. Mine is currently running 4.0.3. I had previously rooted it when it was running Honeycomb since it was so easy to do with this tablet but since upgrading it to ICS, I haven't rooted it yet because it requires the use of a computer to root it. With Honeycomb, it didn't require the use of a computer. All you needed to do was get ~3 files onto your tablet and then run a command. Since I only use 1 program that requires root access, there is no urgent need on my part to root it.

Previously, I was using a no-name resistive touchscreen Android tablet which I found to be okay but didn't like the fact that it was slow and that the screen was resistive (and not multi-touch capacitive). For anyone unfamiliar with resistive screens, they require pressure on the screen in order for the system to register that you want to do something. Because of this, they are usually slower and don't allow for the "2-finger zoom". I didn't really mind the size (it was ~10") and I did like the Android OS so when I received the A100 at a deal too good to pass, I got it.

I use the Iconia Tab A100 most of the time to read PDF documents/books. I find that it works very well for this because of the size. It is also very responsive. I also use it for the occasional browsing, Slingbox viewing, Netflix viewing, Facebook access, etc.

The battery life on this tablet is what I would consider as "okay". I can watch an entire online/streaming movie from Netflix and still have enough power to do other things before requiring a charge. I say that the battery life is not as good as the HP TouchPad tablet that I reviewed earlier *HERE* but it is still good.

It also connects to my all various routers without any issues. The A100 has a dual core CPU but at times I find it very sluggish. Excluding the sluggishness, I have not had any major issues with my A100 such as random reboots.

The A100 has a slot that supports a micro-SD card and it also has a micro-HDMI port. I routinely connect my Acer Iconia Tab A100 to my HD television in order to watch Netflix using a micro-HDMI to HDMI cable and never had any issues.

The unit comes with a front facing camera (2 MP) as well as the main back camera (5 MP). I really haven't used either of the cameras often so I can't really comment on the quality of the pictures. Suffice it to say, if you wanted to take a very good picture, you wouldn't use a tablet to take that picture.

I'm not sure if this is Acer's customization of ICS since there is no such feature on my Samsung "true" Android Nexus-S but there is a setting for encryption that allows you to encrypt the entire filesystem. Once you encrypt your filesystem, you will need a password or PIN every time you power it on (separate from the screen password/PIN if you activated this). I encrypted it a few days ago and didn't notice any issues with speed or performance. The only thing is after encrypting it, I'm not sure if you can unencrypt it without wiping out the system since during my brief look at the setting menu options, I don't see an option to unencrypt the filesystem.

One negative comment that I have regarding the Acer Iconia Tab A100 (excluding the sluggishness which I've already mentioned) is that it charges via a what appears to be a proprietary charger. For me, I would have preferred it to charge using a standard micro-USB (or any type of USB) cable.

Another negative comment that I have regarding the Acer Iconia Tab A100 is that even with ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich), it does not allow you to transfer applications to an external microSD card. In order to do this, you will have to root your device.

There is not much I can say/write about the Acer Iconia Tab A100 tablet since it functions to my expectations and the Android applications that I use with it work relatively well so if you have any questions/comments regarding this review, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section. Please note that comments are moderated and any comment that contain a hyperlink will be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

YouTube on LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600 Review (Updated)

Since the last time I wrote about using the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600 to watch YouTube videos, there was a firmware update to it which invalidates most of what I wrote in my previous blog entry located *HERE*. I wrote a comment in my own blog entry mentioning that instead of using your YouTube/Google account to log in, it now requires using your computer to go to http://www.youtube.com/activate and then enter a code which is generated by the LG Smart TV Upgrader box.

As of this blog entry, the firmware is ST.8.79.207. For my previous blog entry regarding using the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box to watch YouTube videos, the firmware was at ST.8.79.202.

In terms of the video/audio quality, I will say that the upgraded firmware version is comparable to what I was getting with the older firmware.

The most noticeable change with the firmware is that the menu for YouTube has been revamped/altered drastically. The menu is now on the left side of the screen instead of on the top and the selections are "Discover Channels", "Search", "My YouTube", and "Featured".

For the "Discovered Channels", you have a submenu (on the side of the screen) that includes Animation, Automobiles, Beauty & Fashion, Causes & Non-Profits, Celebrity & Gossip, Comedy, Cooking & Health, Family, Film & Entertainment, Gaming, How To & DIY, Music, News & Politics, Science & Education, Sports, Technology, and VLOG Stars.

Within the "Featured" menu, you have YouTube Trends, Gaming, Music, Sports, Film & Animation, Most Popular, and Most Liked.

I've tried the various menu options and it basically shows a selection of videos that are related to the category. The News & Politics selection seems to be limited to US news even though I'm located in Canada.

When I actually watch YouTube with my LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600, I normally just use the "Search" feature and the "My YouTube" feature.

The "Search" feature allows you to search the videos for a specific topic in the exact same way as what I reviewed in my previous blog entry. After playing the first video, it will automatically go to the next video within the selection.

The "My YouTube" feature allows you to watch videos or channels that you've subscribed to using your Google/YouTube account.

Excluding the drastic change in the menu (and the new way used to link your Google/YouTube account to the ST600 box), not much has changed in terms of video/audio quality from what I stated in my previous review and this review. Videos will sometimes buffer/pause but not that often and this will depend on the internet bandwidth available. I find that videos will buffer/pause more often when I'm using my PC to watch YouTube videos than when I'm using my ST600 box to watch YouTube videos.

Overall, I would say that just like during my last blog entry regarding my YouTube experience with my ST600 box, I'm satisfied with using it to watch YouTube videos.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry (or anything written on this blog), please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section. Please note that comments are moderated and any comments that contain a URL link or hyperlink will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

HP TouchPad Review

I've had my HP TouchPad for almost 1 year now and people have asked me what I thought about it and why I haven't written anything on it

I wasn't planning on getting an HP TouchPad when it first came out. After it came out for a few months, because of the dismal sales, HP decided to abandon the product and sell it at a huge discount ($99.99 for the base 16GB model compared with the original price of ~$499.99 for the same unit).

Even though it quickly sold out in stores across Canada and the US when HP discontinued the product and slashed the price to $99.99 for the 16GB unit, a friend of mine who worked for HP managed to get me one. From what I know, they were allowed to purchase 2 at the heavily discounted/discontinued price.

As of the date of this blog entry, the current firmware/OS on the HP TouchPad is v3.0.5. The tablet runs HP's webOS (which they purchased/got when they purchased Palm).

For me, the price that I paid for the HP TouchPad is probably the highest price that I would pay for it considering that there is very little application support/products for this tablet. I use this tablet mainly for quick browsing to check various news stories, check my e-mail, get PDA (calendar/contact) information, and read my PDF documents.

One of the things that I like about this tablet is that it supports Flash videos so I am able to watch videos from various news sites (CBC, CTV, etc.) on it. It also plays YouTube videos very well.

One of the things that I don't really like about this tablet is that the included Maps program is Bing maps and not Google maps. Google Maps does work on the tablet but this is obtained using the browsing experience and not a separate application. The tablet does support Google synchronization for contacts, calendar, and Gmail which I find to be very useful since I store my contacts and calendar items using Google and it synchronizes across my various gadgets (Android phone, iPhone, Blackberry, & Android tablet).

I find the battery life to be okay and based on my usage, I need to recharge it every 2 days or so. As I mentioned, most of what I use it for is to verify my e-mail, check my Facebook account (maybe update the status using it), get PDA information, and read my PDF documents.

The HP TouchPad charges using a standard microUSB cable but this cable must be plugged into a special adapter (roughly the size of a D-type consumer battery). The HP TouchPad won't charge by plugging it into most standard USB chargers that I've tried.

About 2 months after I purchased the HP TouchPad, I hacked it to increase the speed (overclock it) and disable some features that made my HP TouchPad seem snappier. However, earlier this year, I decided to revert back to using it non-hacked since I has having problems updating the firmware/OS.

I am currently considering putting Android on my HP TouchPad. There is a lot of information/instructions on the internet on how to do this and as long as it is stable and most of the HP TouchPad's hardware (Wi-Fi, speakers, etc.) still works properly, I would prefer using an Android device over a webOS device mainly due to the lack of 3rd party applications.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that comments are moderated and any comments that contain a URL link or hyperlink will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Netflix Canada Review

After having used Netflix Canada for a few months, I thought that I would post my thoughts about its offering and the quality.

There are a few devices that have Netflix capabilities. I've seen Netflix enabled televisions, blue-ray DVD players, game consoles, and smartphones. I access Netflix mainly on my television set using a small box called the "LG Smart TV Upgrader box ST600". I've written a few reviews about this box which based on the number of hits when compared to the hits of my other blog entries seems to be a popular search feature. I've also accessed Netflix on my Chromebook, my Windows netbook, my iPhone 3GS, and my Android Samsung Nexus-S. I'm able to access Netflix content very well using the devices that I've tried.

When I first decided to try Netflix Canada, I wasn't sure what movies and television shows they offered. The reason for this is that there is only a partial list on their website of the available content. I heard that the offering in Canada was not as good as it is in the United States. Luckily, Netflix Canada offers a 1 month free trial (credit card required) in order for users to see whether Netflix is right from them.

Having gone to Las Vegas in January 2012, I was able to access my Netflix account on my laptop as well as on my smartphones while in the US and I can say that the offering in Canada is extremely limited when compared with what is available to Netflix US customers. When I went to the US, my Canadian Netflix account automatically gave me access to what American customers have access to watch. There was a warning/disclaimer message when I accessed my Netflix account informing me that I would be accessing country specific media. Because of time constraints, I only managed to watch 2 Netflix movies while in the US and both of these movies are currently not available to Netflix Canada customers.

While the Canadian Netflix content does not compare with the US Netflix content, I do notice that there is new content added on a somewhat regular basis. I would estimate that every 2-3 weeks, there are new movies and new television series that are added to Netflix Canada.

Because I've seen a lot of movies in the theatres, most of the content that I watch on Netflix Canada are television programs. I would say that 80% of the content I watch from Netflix Canada are television programs and 20% of the content that I watch are movies. There are a lot of television programs available using Netflix Canada. I've personally watched Heroes, Dragon's Den, Early Edition, and Family Guy. Movies that I've watched include a few of the Star Trek movies (as of the date of my post, all the Star Trek movies including the 2009 Star Trek movie are available), Unstoppable, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Next, and Thor.

To access Netflix on a Netflix capable smartphone or on your computer, it requires logging on using the e-mail address you used to sign-up for Netflix and your Netflix password. To access Netflix on the blue-ray DVD players or Netflix enabled television sets that I've seen as well as on the LG Smart TV Upgrader box, it requires that you add the device to your Netflix account. You do this by logging onto your Netflix account on your computer and entering a code which displayed by your device. Your computer will then display a code to enter into your device.

Once you log into your Netflix account, you are able to select what quality you want the media to stream to your devices. There are 3 settings: Good (up to 0.3 GB per hour), Better Quality (up to 0.7 GB per hour), and Best Quality (up to 1 GB per hour, or up to 2.3 GB per hour for HD content). Since I have unlimited internet, I keep my setting at Best Quality but I have tried the other qualities as well and the quality is comparable to what you can get with the different settings in YouTube.

The big question is whether Netflix Canada is worth the money. At the time of this blog entry, the monthly subscription cost is $8.00 per month. Netflix gives a 1 month trial subscription (valid for new subscribers only) so that users can see the type of content available and whether the service is right for them. Even though the Canadian content doesn't compare with the American content, because I currently have unlimited internet and the cost is only $8.00 per month for unlimited viewing (which is comparable to ~3 DVD rentals at a DVD/video store), it is worth it. The only thing that I would advise users if they don't have unlimited internet is that they should actively monitor their internet usage and reduce the Netflix video quality settings if necessary.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section. Please note that comments are moderated and any comments that contain a URL link will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Netflix on LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600 (Part 2) Review

With a few topics/reviews that I wanted to write about this week, I wasn't sure what topic I should pick. Rather than pick a new topic/item to write about, I've decided to write some additional comments that I had regarding watching Netflix using the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600.

I could have modified my first blog entry on this topic but thought that it was a better idea to create a new blog entry this week for it. You can click *HERE* for the first blog entry/review that I wrote about using the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600 to watch Netflix.

As of the date of this blog entry, the firmware on the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600 is current (up to date) and is at ST.8.79.202.

One of the problems that I've been noticing a lot lately regarding using the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600 to watch Netflix is that when watching television episodes, sometimes the program will not be available for viewing. This generally happens after I've watched a few episodes from the program already.

Previously, to fix this problem, what I did was I simply rebooted/restarted the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box and the problem would go away but now (or at least with this current firmware), restarting the unit more often than not does not fix the issue. The only time that I've noticed that this problem will go away is by waiting a few days (or sometimes weeks).

What appears on the television screen during this Netflix episode "weird" state is when the television program is selected, the option to play the television episode will show a strange message such as "Resume episode undefined." Also, the number of episodes will not be displayed for the particular problem television series and you will also not be able to go through the television episode listing.

The problem only seems to happen when using the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box to watch Netflix since when I use my phone (iPhone 3GS or Samsung Nexus-S) as well as my computer, I'm able to watch the program/episode without any problems. Since I have access to two LG Smart TV Upgrader Boxes, I wanted to see if it happens with both boxes and when the television series is in this "weird" state where you can't watch it, it seems to be account related because on the other LG Smart TV Upgrader Box, the particular television series experiences the same issue.

If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comments in the comment section. Please note that comments are moderated and any comments that contain a URL link or hyperlinks will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

YouTube on LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600 Review

I've decided to make another blog entry about the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600. This time I wanted to write about the/my YouTube experience using this box.

When I first got the box and used it to watch some YouTube clips/videos, I was not overly impressed with it. The videos would pause/buffer often even when I was sure that my internet bandwidth was more than sufficient to support the stream because I didn't have the same pausing/buffering experience with watching NFB videos or Netflix videos using the same box (and the same internet connection).

However, after upgrading the firmware to ST.8.79.202, I would like to say that I'm satisfied with the video/audio quality that I'm getting when I'm watching YouTube videos with the box.

The YouTube screen has a menu on the top of the screen which shows 8 options: Featured, Recent Videos, Most Viewed, Top Rated, Search, History, Sign In, and Local Site.

I don't spend a lot of time using my box to watch YouTube videos. I will do the occasional search on a specific video or topic such as "Nikon D5100" and I will watch a few videos on the topic. The video and audio quality that I've experienced with the box and the ST.8.79.202 firmware update is very good. It used to buffer/pause a lot with the older firmware but now, the buffering/pausing that I used to get is as rare as what I see with NFB or Netflix. You can either watch the video fullscreen or using ~40% of the screen where the remaining 40% of the screen is the video description with 20% of the screen shows some of the LG Smart TV Upgrader box's menu options and titles/headings).

I've tried to watch some of the free movies available on YouTube that I've seen on my computer using the LG Smart TV box but these movies are apparently not supported since they don't show up when I try to search for the movies. The pay movies also don't show up in the search.

I've logged in using my YouTube account (actually using my Google account) and it doesn't seem to give me any additional functionality except to give a different history list. The videos that I watched on my computer were not reflected in the history list on on the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box even though I was signed in using the same account. The only thing that I think that signing in might allow for (although I haven't tested it) is the ability to watch videos that have a more mature rating.

I've also changed the Local Site setting from "Worldwide" to "Canada" and I didn't notice any difference in the menu or the items found in the search or videos selected in the other menu options.

Overall, I would say that I'm satisfied with watching YouTube videos using the LG Smart TV Upgrader box (although as I mentioned, I don't use it a lot for watching YouTube videos).

If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below.

National Film Board of Canada on LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600 Review

I've decided to post another review (3rd review as of the date of this posting) about the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box ST600 but this time dealing with using it to watch material from the National Film Board of Canada. The first review that I posted was a general overall review and the second review that I posted dealt with using the LG Upgrader box to watch Netflix content.

Please note that I am basing this review from Canada so depending on your location, the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box might not allow you to access material from the National Film Board of Canada.

As of this review, the firmware/software on the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box is ST 8.79.198.

Before getting an account on Netflix, I used the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box to watch material from the National Film Board of Canada.

In terms of the video and sound quality, I find it to be very good. I would say that it stops/buffers less than both Netflix (which rarely stops/buffers) and YouTube. I believe that all the material available on the National Film Board of Canada's website is available using this box.

I've watched mainly political documentaries but there are also a lot of cartoon shorts including the famous "The Sweater" by Sheldon Cohen which is a cartoon from Quebec about a boy much to his dismay whose mother buys him a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater to replace his Montreal Canadiens sweater. Something that I was surprised to see was "Hitman Hart - Wrestling with Shadows" by Paul Jay.

If you enjoy content from the National Film Board of Canada, you shouldn't have any issues with using the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box to watch the content. My main negative comment is only the amount of content available and the type of content available. However, it is the same negative comment that I had regarding using the box to watch Netflix Canada content.

I find the NFB search feature of the LG box to be very good. It is much better than what is available with the box for Netflix content. The NFB search on this box will search keywords whereas the Netflix search feature using the same box doesn't do this.

All in all, I'm very satisfied with the video/audio quality that I get with the LG Smart TV Upgrader Box when I am using it to watch material from the National Film Board.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section.

Samsung Series 5 3G Chromebook Review

I've been using/testing a Samsung Series 5 3G Chromebook for a few months and decided to post a review of it after a few of my friends asked me about it.

In case you haven't guessed based on my other blog entries, I'm located in Canada and as of the date that I'm writing this blog entry/review, the Samsung Series 5 3G Chromebook is not widely available in Canada (it is actually not being sold in Canada unless you can find it through private sellers). I managed to get mine during a recent trip to Las Vegas.

The first thing that needs mentioning is that in order for the Chromebook to be useful, it absolutely requires access to the internet. There is very little that can be done with the Chromebook if it is not connected to the internet either via WiFi or via the carrier's data network. The Chromebook that I purchased is the 3G model which includes 100 MB per month of data from Verizon Wireless in the US and it also has a 3G SIM card slot (carrier unlocked) in case the owner travels outside the US and/or wants to use a SIM card for data.

The premise behind the Chromebook is that most users use their computers/laptops for internet use whether it is to check their e-mail, browse the internet, access their social media accounts like Twitter, Facebook Google+, etc. or watch online videos.

The first thing that I like about the Chromebook is that it boots up almost immediately (under 10 seconds). After logging onto to the Chromebook (using your Google account), the user is presented with a Chrome browser (similar to what you would get on a Microsoft Windows machine). You then use the browser as you normally would to access the websites that you would normally access. I didn't have any issues accessing most of the websites that I would normally use.

You will notice in the specs that the Chromebook does not have a very large capacity in terms of the hard drive. The reason for this is that it assumes that all documents that you would create will be stored in the cloud (Google Docs).

In terms of what you can and can't install on the Chromebook, you can install Chrome applications/extensions (web applications) from the Chrome web store similarly to what you can do with Chrome on a Microsoft Windows based machine.

If you are someone who uses Google products a lot (Gmail, Google Docs, Google+, etc.) and the majority of what you want to do is web based, I believe that you might consider getting a Chromebook. I've tested Netflix on the Chromebook and it works very well. SlingPlayer also works but requires a workaround (you have to go through Facebook).

The negative things that I want to mention about the Samsung Series5 3G Chromebook is that the battery is non-removable and the memory can't be upgraded. Also, I find that the default setting for the touch pad is not as good as the ones that I've used on other netbooks/laptops. After configuring the touch pad based on your Google account, it functions a lot better but the moment you log out, it reverts back to the default settings until you log in again.

Another negative aspect that I've noticed is that because the Chromebook requires internet access, it can sometimes have problems accessing public hotspots which require you to agree to certain conditions found on a webpage before internet access is granted. The way that you are supposed to do this if the Chromebook is powered on from a powered off state and not in suspend/sleep mode state is that you must first access the Guest account and then use the browser within the Guest account to agree to the WiFi hotspot terms/conditions. After doing this and verifying that you have access to the internet with the Guest account, you would then log out the Guest account (making sure that you don't shut down the Chromebook) and log in with your personal Google account. However, as mentioned, I've sometimes experienced issues doing this. To solve this issue, what I normally do is that I keep my Google account logged in and leave the Chromebook in a standby/suspend state. When I lift up the lid of the Chromebook, I will log into my Google account with the password from the suspend/sleep state. From the power-off state when you turn on the Chromebook, it will try to authenticate your Google account and will fail because you don't have access to the internet before you accept the hotspot terms/conditions whereas from the suspend/sleep state, it is only using your password to unlock the screen and doesn't immediately require access to the internet.

The things that I like about the Chromebook is that it boots up very fast and the battery lasts longer than any of the laptops/netbooks that I've used in the past. When I want to do something fast (like check a website), I will normally use a tablet but now with my Chromebook, I find that I'm using my Chromebook more than my tablet. The ChromeOS also updates automatically in the background and after an update, you only have to shut down the computer or reboot the computer in order for the update to be applied.

It is very unlikely that the OS in the Chromebook gets corrupt but in case you want to reset the Chromebook back to factory defaults, it is very easy to do this and the instructions can be easily found on the internet (a blank USB memory stick is required to do this).

For Samsung's usage guide to the Chromebook, you can click *HERE*.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to write them in the comments section below.