|
|
Rick Groszkiewicz's Profile
Customer Reviews: 9
New Reviewer Rank: 2,402,529
Classic Reviewer Rank: 109,732
Helpful Votes:
49
Views:
847
Helpful Votes:
1
Views:
Helpful Votes:
0
|
|
Guidelines: Learn more about the ins and outs of Your Profile.
|
Reviews Written by
Rick Groszkiewicz "geekly reader" (Marietta, GA)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Not worth buying, December 1, 2007
I just purchased seven CDs by Biosphere (available at Amazon). I have always found their music really interesting.
Unfortunately, this one disc is nowhere near up to the level of the others. It is really boring stuff. I have no idea why so many people rated it highly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Great digital frame, December 27, 2006
This is a slick device that my wife has wanted to buy. We finally took the plunge and bought one.
One minor glitch is that this model does not support the Sony memory stick format. It would have been MUCH easier if I could have used my spare memory card for my Sony camera.
The software on the CD for moving pictures from a PC is pretty poor. I spent hours getting this to work. I put a detailed write-up on what I had to do at my web site, but I can't link to that from here.
Here is a summary of how to get photos from your PC to a slideshow on the Photo Frame:
1. Use Windows Explorer to copy the JPG files from your PC to the root directory on the Photo Frame
2. Use the Philips Photo Manager software to create multiple named photo albums on the Photo Frame
3. Use the software on the Photo Frame to move the photos from the default photo album to the desired photo album
4. Use the software on the Photo Frame to set up the Photo Slideshow options
After several hours of frustration, I was finally able to transfer pictures from my PC to the device. Here is how I did it.
First of all, the software that comes on the included CD-ROM is pretty flaky. You do need to install it in order to easily rename your photo albums (step 2 above). The software also allows you to copy files from the PC to photo albums on the Photo Frame device. After disconnecting the USB cable, the Photo Frame rarely was able to recognize the photos.
You need to go to the Philips web site, and download the newer version of the user manual. The newer manual has 70 pages, instead of the 20 page version on the CD-ROM.
The manual has a hint about the best way to copy files from the PC to the Photo Frame at the bottom of page 12. The previous text on page 12 says to use their Philips Photo Manager software program to copy the files from the PC to the Photo Frame. But that did NOT work for me.
Here is the text at the bottom of page 12 of the manual:
"Disconnect the USB cable. For Windows 2000 (and XP) systems, remember to safely remove hardware before disconnection. After a few seconds, all photos in the root directory will be automatically added to Photo Frame and the root directory will be emptied."
The way I got the photos to the Photo Frame was to connect the USB cable, and observe the various additional drive letters that appear in Windows Explorer. I copied the JPG files from the PC to the root directory on the Photo Frame.
Next, use the "Safely remove hardware" icon in the System tray. After Windows tells you it is "safe", unplug the Photo Frame. At this point, magic happens. You will see a notification as each picture file is copied. The firmware on the Photo Frame resizes the images to its default 720x540 resolution, and copies them to the default photo album. Then it deletes the original files from the root directory.
If you don't have many photo files, or the original JPG files are fairly small, this will go smoothly. I always take very high resolution pictures, so I got an "out of disk space" error message at this point. Apparently the Photo Frame can only hold about 12 MB of data!
The easy way way to get around this problem is to use a memory card to store the images, instead of copying them to the Photo Frame. As mentioned above, my camera uses Sony Memory Stick Duo Pro, which the Photo Frame does not support. I had to manually edit each image file (I used Paint Shop Pro), and resize it to the 720x540 resolution myself. This avoided the "out of disk space" error.
The procedure for moving the photos from the default album to another one is pretty easy. This uses the software that is built into the Photo Frame. It takes a while to get used to the navigation buttons, but it seems to work reliably.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
King Rat
|
by China Mieville
Edition: Paperback |
| Price: $10.85 |
|
| Availability: In Stock |
|
|
|
|
|
6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Early work - unimpressive, December 23, 2005
I am a HUGE fan of China Mieville. I have read Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council. Those were GREAT books, but this is not in the same league.
The book was interesting at the beginning, but there was not enough going on to keep me interested. I forced myself to finish it, hoping that it would get better. I would not recommend this book to anyone, since he has written far better novels.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Why you should NOT start on this trilogy, July 27, 2005
I broke my own rule (***Avoid ALL trilogies***) because I loved all of Neal Stephenson's other books. And I regret it!
The first third of Quicksilver was interesting, if you like scientific / historical trivia. The other 2/3 of the book was boring / painful to read. I found it far less compelling than most SF that I read.
I have NO interest in reading the other two novels in the series. Take a look at other people's reviews for the THIRD volume in the series. Many found the payoff underwhelming after reading all 2,700 pages.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Solaris
|
by Stanislaw Lem
Edition: Paperback |
| Price: $10.40 |
|
| Availability: In Stock |
|
|
|
|
|
2 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Interesting idea, but WAY too introspective, July 27, 2005
I really liked the first quarter of this book (English translation), plus the descriptive passages of the "leviathan alien". But the rest of the novel is too psychological / introspective / metaphysical for me. There is very little action.
Certain events are described, which then are subjected to much analysis:
"Did it really happen? Or, if not what do I think I saw?"
The main character reads various historical books on Solaris. Some of the descriptions of these passages go on for pages and pages - way TOO long in my opinion.
In a nutshell, I was totally bored by the halfway point. I forced myself to keep reading, but did not enjoy the rest of this book.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
Some good ideas, but a REALLY slow book, January 26, 2005
I bought this book based on other recommendations about its great ideas involving long life, godlike powers and nanotechnology. BUT, but I really wish I had not gotten this book. This book was painful to read, due to the overly florid prose - kind of like reading court transcripts from "Olde Englande".
There is WAY too much of the book that is spent in dialogue between characters. I finally got interested about halfway through, but then it dragged ON and ON and ON until the so-called resolution. Then you are left hanging, since it really won't be resolved until the next book in the series.
I had less fun reading this book than any I've read in the last two years!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Running out of steam, January 15, 2005
William Gibson's writing has been on a slow downward trend for several years. His books prior to Virtual Light were brilliant. Burning Chrome is still one of my favorite short story collections.
After Idoru, I have not found his stories very interesting. There seems to be far less meat to the story, and very little payoff. And each book is a continuation of the characters in prior novels.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Teranesia
|
by Greg Egan
Edition: Mass Market Paperback |
| Availability: Out of Print--Limited Availability |
|
|
|
|
|
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Not what I expected, January 15, 2005
I have read a few books by Greg Egan, such as Distress. I expect some serious science and good character development.
This book did not impress me at all. The story was somewhat interesting, but the conclusion was unsatisfying.
The main theme seemed to be built on a guilt complex. I found the rationale for the character quite illogical, and I did not like it much.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Broken Angels
|
by Richard K. Morgan
Edition: Paperback |
| Price: $10.17 |
|
| Availability: In Stock |
|
|
|
|
|
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Hmm ... Disappointing, January 12, 2005
I read Altered Carbon, and found Morgan's style impressive. When I bought this book, I was hoping for more of the same. But I was disappointed in the end.
The only thing that is the same is the level of graphic violence - VERY high. This is not a story for the faint of heart.
I was simply not happy with this novel. Some of the suspenseful areas seemed overly contrived. There was a little excitement in the story, but nowhere near enough to keep me interested.
The biggest problem is that it seemed to be severely lacking in logic. I kept telling myself "you've GOT to be kidding - this is ridiculous - they can't keep doing this!"
|
|
|
Page: 1
|
(Marietta, GA)
