When most buyers hear the name Vizio, they think of cheap HDTVs, but if you look at recent prices for LCDs, that’s no longer the case. More established brands like Panasonic, Sony, and Samsung have all slashed their prices to meet Vizio. Luckily for the Vizio VO32L, that’s not much of an issue, because it’s a solid performer even without the price advantage.

The gritty details are all in the review, but the bottom line is that the VO32L has perfectly good image quality with relatively deep blacks and accurate primary colors, along with a nice connectivity suite, with three HDMI inputs and a VGA-style PC input. Our major gripe is that the blacks tended to look greenish in darker areas, but it’s not a dealbreaker.

Read the full review of the Vizio VO32L.

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(Credit: Sony)

Sony has added BD-Live capability to the BDP-S350, making good on a promise it made when the Blu-ray player was released earlier this year. The upgrade is available as a free firmware update for existing users; it downloads and installs to the unit straight over the Internet at the click of a button. Even better, the price of the player has dropped to $300. That means–for the time being, at least–the player is 25 percent more affordable than the PlayStation 3.

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I know, I know…you’re wondering why this is in the open source blog. The reason is simple: I have used open source operating systems for a long, long time now. I have championed against Microsoft for over ten years. But when Techrepublic liked the idea of me writing some Vista content for them, I couldn’t say no. Of course this meant me actually using Vista. So I thought it would be interesting for the open source crowd to get my initial reaction to my explorations with Windows Vista. You know, see how (or if) it stands up to Linux. It was a hard pill to swallow for me. It might be a equally as hard for you. Let’s find out. Shall we?

Installation
To begin with I didn’t have to do any installation. I wish I would have but I knew how finicky Vista was with hardware, so I wound up having to purchase a new laptop. This was the first strike against Vista. Why? Because I knew, with 100 percent assurance, that I could download the latest, greatest version of Linux and get it up and running (with full-blown 3D desktop and everything the Aero desktop has to offer) on any machine I have. With Vista - it’s a crap shoot. Unless you have hardware with that magical sticker that says that the machine is certified for Vista, you just never know.

And of course this brings up one of the many really nasty points about purchasing a machine with a Windows operating system - you rarely get an install disk. Why is that? I paid the “tax.” I bought the machine with an operating system on it. And we all know that Windows likes to be re-installed every so often. But without that disk - no dice. Fortunately I could create a “back up” disk so I could re-install the OS should it need…but only on that laptop. Oh but wait - this is Microsoft so I can only install the OS on one machine anyway. So much for that gripe.

First boot
Then after I unpacked the laptop it was time for the first boot. There was a small part of me that so badly wanted to toss in my Mandriva 2008 CD and forget the whole Vista experiment. But I behaved and let it boot.

During the boot process I couldn’t believe how much I had to go through to get to the desktop. When I first powered up the laptop I thought I was watching a full installation going on. It took nearly 30 minutes to get to the point where I could start agreeing to every possible EULA I could imagine. And after all of those agreements, I finally reached the initial setup. The final setup was mostly just the standard username/password/timezone information.

Once the setup was complete I was greeted with a screen asking me if I was interested in peeking at the typical “free trials” that always seem to accompany any Windows operating system. I really hate this part of Windows. Why is it they seem to think ANYONE wants any AOL product these days? Why not offer something like Hotmail or any other product owned by Microsoft. These products just take up space, annoy the users, and ultimately wind up being deleted from the system. You never see a Linux operating system with annoying free trials of worthless software.

Getting to work
Finally. The desktop is loaded and I can get to work. The first order of business is to install Firefox, OpenOffice, and The Gimp. I may be using a Windows operating system, but that doesn’t mean I have to use Office, Explorer, and some proprietary graphics application. The installation of these applications brought about the next really annoying issue with Vista. Being a long-time open source software user I am accustomed to having to give the root password in order to install software. But just giving permission to continue to perform an installation does nothing more than annoy the user. What good does it do? I click on the OpenOffice install icon and then I have to give Vista permission to install OpenOffice? Didn’t I just do that by clicking the OpenOffice install icon? Seriously…what is the purpose of this? There is no safety with this system. It’s not like you have to enter an administrator password - you just say “sure Vista, you can go ahead with this installation.” So of course, after too many instances of having to allow the UAC (User Access Controls) to do what I had already told the system to do, I decided to disable this control. It didn’t really take me long to figure this out (doing a search in Explorer for “user” finds the configuration setting) and, once I had it disabled, I was able to do a bit more work with a little less hassle.

With the UAC out of my way, Vista just seemed like yet another Windows operating system. I was limited with my configuration options; I couldn’t control sub-systems the way I can with Linux, and Aero is seriously limited to what it could do. The former two points I expected (Windows is very limiting in user control). The latter point really surprised me though. Microsoft had proclaimed Vista’s Aero to be the next level of user interface. Really? Some half-attempt at transparency and a bit of a reconfiguration of the Start Menu? Seriously? No. I think the next level of user interface is what I am currently working with - Compiz. And besides, Linux has been doing transparency for over five years (remember AfterStep 1.6?)! So where is the innovation? I can understand that the standard Windows user would look at Aero and ooh and ahh because that’s how Microsoft works the public opinion - they steal ideas and make everyone think they where the originators (Can anyone say “Mouse”?).

Now, at this point I started having good feelings about the Vista Media Center. It’s pretty simple to use. But very quickly the lack of options and customizations really hit me. There are a few Linux versions of the media center, and with each version, they can be customized in nearly any way you want. With the Vista Media Center customizations/optimizations are very limited. Typical Microsoft micro-management.

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Another issue. I wanted to make sure the laptop always connected to my wireless network by default. I failed to check that option when I first set up the connection on the laptop and had a LOT of trouble figuring out how to make it so (without having to delete the wireless connection and start over). Again, with Linux this is simple.

The verdict
I can’t say I hate Vista. I can say that, in comparison to the open source operating system that I use day in and day out, Vista pales in comparison. Vista can not do nearly the things Ubuntu or Mandriva (or SuSE, or PCLinuxOS, etc.) can do. And, at least from my perspective, the various forms of Linux can do all of these things much easier and much more efficiently.

My point is this: It seems that everyone assumes that the Windows operating system is the most user-friendly available. I think they are wrong. I think that Microsoft has actually managed to “dumb down” the operating system (in Vista at least) to the point where very little makes sense. Very basic tasks should be obvious. They are not. Obvious locations for certain tools are no longer valid. Administration that should be quick and easy is time consuming and confusing (at times).

If you think about it like this: Microsoft has basically created a new distribution of Windows. And migrating from one distribution (XP) to another (Vista) isn’t as easy as it should be. Now migrating from, say, Ubuntu to Mandriva is simple. In either Ubuntu or Mandriva everything makes sense. And, in the case of Ubuntu/Mandriva you’re migrating to an entirely different package management system…and it still makes sense. But migrating from one Windows distro to another becomes a task even administrators don’t want to undertake.

I interviewed a head teacher at a local school that offers classes in various Windows topics (from MS Office to administrator-level SQL to programming) and he said they can’t find anyone to teach and no one who wants to learn Vista. So they are sticking with XP. When I told him I had to pick up a Vista-ready laptop his first question was if I had already installed another operating system over Vista. I said “no;” he winced and apologized.

I’m not so quick to get rid of Vista. I find it challenging and I like a good challenge. But I will say that I find this Windows distribution (Vista) not nearly as user-friendly as most of the modern Linux distributions. Not only are the Linux desktops easier to use they are far more flexible and easier to administer. And yes, as soon as I no longer have a need for Vista, that Sony Vaio will sport Mandriva.

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The computer includes a Blu-ray disc player and an HDMI-out connector, and weighs less than three pounds.

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Sylvie Barak , Friday 12 September 2008. 22:24:00

Sony, Fujitsu Siemens and Benq flip chips

SONY, FUJITSU Siemens and Benq have announced notebooks using hybrid graphics that allow users to “dynamically switch” between Intel’s Centrino 2 integrated graphics and a discrete Nvidia Geforce GPU. The switch can be made without the need to reboot, giving the user the choice of whether to burn up the battery in 3D mode, or idly noodle about in 2D on the Interweb. According to Nvidia, all its Geforce 9M Series GPUs support the hybrid graphics feature, but notebooks have to be specifically designed. Four firms have joined the bandwagon, after guinea pig Acer tested the water. Sony’s new Vaio Z series, Fujitsu Siemens’ Amilo XI 3650 and Benq Joybook’s S42’s all have the feature….

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Ian Williams , Friday 12 September 2008. 17:26:00

Vaio NS and CS

SONY HAS UNVEILED a pair of new Vaio notebooks sporting Blu-Ray drives. The first is the Vaio NS which features a 15.4-inch widescreen, Intel Centrino Duo 2.0GHz processor, 4GB of DDR2 memory, Intel 4500MHD graphics card and 250GB hard drive. It is available in three colours - nightfall blue, silk white and granite silver - the Vaio NS notebook will go for around $1,000 and there will be a non-Blu-Ray version starting at about $650. The slightly smaller Vaio CS has a 14.1-inch screen and packs in a bit more power under the hood with an Intel Centrino 2 2.26GHz processor, 4GB of DDR2 memory, 320GB hard drive and Intel 4500MHD graphics chip….

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The pricey new TT Series has an 11-inch screen, Blu-ray drive, HDMI-out, and the option for dual solid-state hard drives.

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The Sony VAIO VGN-FW198UH is one of the first 16.4-inch widescreens built on Intel’s newest Centrino 2 platform to hit the scene.

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• The iPhone’s processor thinks almost twice as fast as the Sony PSP’s brain.
• Its touchscreen is more responsive than the Nintendo DS’s, recognizing subtle finger taps, pinches, and spreads.
• The three-axis accelerometer, like the one in the Wiimote, could replace the thumbstick — Sega has already exploited this ability for an iPhone port of Super Monkey Ball.
• Wi-Fi could make for mean multiplayer mayhem.
• Cell-tower triangulation could be used for location-aware games.
• Attention developers: Get to work!

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Sylvie Barak the Inquirer, Friday 5 September 2008. 10:10:00

Unexplosive, hopefully

SONY YESTERDAY decided to announce three new all-in-one, Blue Ray inclusive PCs at Denver’s CEDIA show. The three new Vaios, the JS, LV and RT, seem to have been designed with three specifically different usage models in mind, with the JS acting as ‘ye old bog standard PC’, the LV aimed at replacing the TV in the living room, and the RT focused on multimedia fanatics who want to edit their own epic movies on their computers. Sony’s main selling point for its new baby Vaios, of course, is the screen. Whilst the lower ended JS comes with a 20.1 inch Xbrite-Eco display, the LV gets a diagonal 24 inch Wuxga display and the yuppy magnet RT comes complete with a ginormous 25.5-inch diagonal LCD….

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