Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"I finally got a new laptop with a lone USB 3.0 port. I'm now looking at getting a USB 3.0 hub with a power adapter so I can use both of my USB 3.0 hard drives at faster speeds. I've read lots of horror stories where some hubs either don't come with power adapters -- and as a consequence the portable drives don't work with them properly -- or they are designed poorly which results in USB 2.0 speeds. Or, the hard drives keep getting disconnected. Do your readers have any suggestions or experience using USB 3.0 hubs? Thanks!"
"They should just take their time and make a great product."
You mean like the the 5+ years it took to create Vista, Chadow?
I can't believe anyone would buy hardware from Microsoft, with the possible exception of hard-to-screw-up items like mice and keyboards. Love that 30% defect rate on the Xbox.
Sorry as solely an iPod owner (going on 5th one now), it is hardly the epitome of quality hardware. If it wasn't for my huge investment of accessories (2 IM7's, car integration) I would be looking elsewhere for my next portable mp3 player.
I have no problem with Vista. It has been running flawlessly for months now on a machine that is always on (XP never liked that). No problems on my laptop either. I could care less how long it took them to develop it, or when a service pack is going to be released....or even if my next OS is made by MS or not. I have it...it works perfectly, and I like it better than XP.
I also love the 100% fix, for free and for 3 years, that "30%" of the Xbox 360 owners receive.
And I fail to see how the 360 has anything to do with the Zune.
Well the good thing is we only have to worry about microsoft making faulty hardware.
"I have it...it works perfectly, and I like it better than XP."
Whatever you say, Ballmer. How much is MS paying you to post such up-with-Redmond drivel all day?
"I also love the 100% fix, for free and for 3 years, that "30%" of the Xbox 360 owners receive."
Yes, I'd love buying a game console and games for $$$ and then sending it off for repairs within the year. Here, read a little bit more about the failure rate if you have trouble understanding:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problems
Or just use Google to catch up with the rest of us.
Final thought: I can't imagine MS is paying you that much to shill. Why not get a better job...and a life to boot?
Guess what I've been using Vista on my Laptop & Desktop for several months and *gasp* it has been working better than XP. Except for a few old devices not yet supported by Vista it has been much more stable for me. You can disregard my opinion though because I'm sure I'm just a MS Shill o_O
"Why not get a better job...and a life to boot?"
I guess that includes blatant 360 & Vista bashing in a Zune news article.
@ Mayagi. kcar brought up the 360 (and Vista). I kinda wondered the same thing you asked. Since he was trying to use that to say something about the Zune, I was just speaking in defense. Thats why its in a reply to his post and not a separate post altogether.
@ kcar. I had a red ring Xbox 360. I don't need to read a link. A 10 minute phone call, a prepaid box, and 2 weeks, was all it took to have a perfectly running system again. I'm one of the 30% and it honestly didn't bother me in the least after the initial 'WTF is wrong with this stupid thing' moment. Then again, I'm an adult that doesn't play it night and day and pouts when I cant. I got over it quickly, unlike all the non 360 owners that are upset about something that doesn't affect them.
As far as your personal jab, my job as a firefighter/emt pays AND rewards me enough...and my life couldn't be better. Thanks for the concern.
Yeah, my comment wasn't directed at you. Sorry if my bad wording made it out that way :)
@miyagi
what the hell are you doing with them? 5?
I've had my 15gig iPod since June of 2003. I bring it everywhere. Its been dropped at least 2 dozen times, including from a moving mountain bike while off road. Been left in the freezing cold, been dropped in the snow, is used constantly on its dock, with portable speakers, with headphones, in my car and with an iTrip or as an external hard drive. It is hardly handled with kid gloves, yet it is still working just fine. Never once had a battery issue, had to reboot it into disc mode a couple of times - but other than that, it works as it did 4 years ago.
@anagram - I typed up a long response but deleted because honestly it's way off topic. I haven't had issues with all the units I've owned and some were replaced because of newer/flasher models being released. Not for being faulty. Also don't think I am rough on my equipment at all it's pretty much the exact opposite. I do however use my iPod almost daily but the only "action" it sees are on long roadtrips, in my car setup, or at home in my IM7.
so what was th point of your post then? You stated that they were hardly the epitome of quality hardware, after stating that you had 5, leading one to believe that you had quality issues with them & only continued to buy then because you were tied in due to you investment in third party accessories.
Then, you reply & state that you had 5 different iPods because of the styling.
Apple certainly has had a track record of quality hardware, and continues with that now. That is why they have their fans. Quality inside & out.
We can't say that about Microsoft because only until recently (less than ten years) have they even manufactured anything on the hardware front? And even what they have, it is basically XBox, and keyboard mouse type stuff. I'd say Apple has a giant advantage as far as experience goes, and it shows in their products.
Now, time to label me a 'fanboy' for stating facts.
Anagram, apparently MS has fanboys/girls of its own. No idea why...but then again, George Bush could be found in bed with an underage boy and his hardcore supporters would defend him.
If people want to support Microsoft, fine. But here's my take:
* Vista was 5+ years late and shorn of many major features. It's gotten very mixed reviews and its uptake is largely driven by new PC purchases. Several security companies are now reporting that Vista is no more secure than XP.
* Zune is a one-pound brick that isn't backward-compatible with PlaysForSure tracks. So if you bought a lot of songs with PFS DRM restrictions, you have to buy them all over again if you want to play them on a Zune. That, or rip them to AIFF encoding, which boosts the file size by 10X for each song. Even sharing songs with other Zuners is heavily restricted.
*Xbox isn't a bad console...when it isn't breaking down. There are a lot of industry estimates that 1/3 of Xboxes have needed or will need repairs. MS is paying over $1 billion for these repairs and extensions of warranties.
So when Engadget touches on the rumor that 2nd-gen Zune is late, I'm neither surprised nor really interested. MS is having a great deal of trouble these days executing in just about every industry sector it's involved in. (I guess Office 2007 is OK, but the reviews I've read indicate that it's not a compelling upgrade.)
If you like your Zune and/or are anticipating the next version, great. But even with the significant price cuts MS has given to Zune, it hasn't gained much traction. This isn't a re-play of the browser wars: there are real costs to switching to Zune and following an upgrade path, whereas switching from one browser to another was largely free and painless. I don't think people will ever really care that deeply about Zune.
Hey kcar, does trolling blogs ever get boring?
Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror and wonder what the hell you're doing with your life that you find it fun to try and insult people based on a purchasing decision?
Just wondering, because otherwise I'd have to think you were a total douche, instead of just a bit of an idiot.
Also, happy 360 owner and XP user here. Only reason I haven't switched to Vista is gaming. Also, Office 2007 is a massive upgrade over 2003, and you'd know that if you'd spent more than five seconds researching. And no, I don't get paid to shill, I'm just a consumer who doesn't feel the need to base my personality around the products I buy.
"Hey kcar, does trolling blogs ever get boring?"
(Yawn...) Sorry you're so upset. If you're really that brittle and thin-skinned, you should stay out of these forums.
I read the Engadget post about Zune's delay and was amazed to read all these pro-MS/pro-Zune posts. Chadow's original comment that MS should take its time to make a great product struck me as especially hilarious.
"Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror and wonder what the hell you're doing with your life that you find it fun to try and insult people based on a purchasing decision?"
One more time, "reticulate." If you like Vista and Zune, great. It's just that in my normal life as a technical writer and programmer, I don't hear people rave about MS as much as they do in forums like this one. I hear a lot of "I hate XP" or "I'd never buy a Zune."
Here's a clue: satisfied users *do* feel that software and hardware purchases are an extension of their lives and personalities. That's why Apple users seem so zealous.
I've met very, very few zealous users of MS hardware or software. The products for the most part don't justify or command loyalty.
I make fun of people when I think that they're blindly loyal to a company, MS or Apple. I stayed in this thread because it struck me that posters were being exceptionally pro-MS, chadow being the worst offender. I'm convinced he was shilling for MS. You'll note that the Microsofties gave just as good as they got in this and other threads about "Scorpio", btw.
You like MS, that's wonderful. I hurt your feelings, boo hoo. The anger in your post says to me that this statement of yours is a lie, though:
"I'm just a consumer who doesn't feel the need to base my personality around the products I buy."
Good luck to you. Don't bother to respond. I really don't care what you think.
OMG. Just stop petending that zunes are good. You can cry, scream, pray, whatever... but it can't rival the ipod. Notice how new zuunes have been delayed? Think that might have something to with the fact that they saw what apple were doing and went "oh crap, we're still in the stone age" ??
And Like they did with Vista?!!?!?!
C'mon PC peeps, love your computer - but don't try to defend crap products.