GoodBuyGuys Blog

My experience with using personal computers goes back to the early 1980’s, so I’ve had more than my share of opportunities to set up, take down, reconfigure, and generally wander around computer peripheral cabling. The more I handle this stuff, the more mystified I get.

I began my career as a an audio techncian, and spent many years building, setting up, configuring, and repairing concert sound systems. People who design computer peripheral wiring could learn a lot from the audio industry.

While the performance and compatibility of computer peripherals continues to improve, the interconnections between these devices never catches up. I can’t think of a single data-type connector that comes close to matching the performance of the lowly audio XLR connector, a design that is well into its second half-century of use.

I just spent 15 frustrating minutes trying to replace a computer monitor in the office, only to be reminded that there are at least three (if not more) different pin configurations for a D-sub connector, even though they all have the same physical shell. Maybe, it’s just me, but I almost always have to try to plug in a USB connector at least two times, as there is nothing visible on the outside of the connector to indicate which end is up. I guess there are savings involved in making ethernet connectors with with almost useless plastic locking pins, but the savings quickly evaporate when you spend a half-hour trying to pry one out of a computer port after the release tab snaps off. The list goes on and on.

Audio connectors, on the other hand, are designed to be patched in the dark, repaired (when necessary) in the field, and to be common to hundreds and hundreds of different manufacturers equipment. The Shure SM57 microphone ( probably the most popular and common in the world) uses the same connector now as when it came to market in 1965. A 40 year old SM57 works with a brand new Chinese-made microphone cable right out of the box.

We’re depending more and more on computer-based devices all the time, and the portability designed into these items means that they are constantly having to be cabled and uncabled. Hopefully, manufacturers will consider adopting some connector standards that are up to the task.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Count on us to meet your cable needs.

As the raw material in batteries continues to increase in price, we feel real pressure to try and save customers some money. We’ve steadily watched the cost of alkaline batteries increase, so I like to test non-name brand competition whenever I can.

I’m sitting and staring at two glowing flashlights on my desk as I write this blog-one flashlight is using a couple of Duracell Procell AA batteries and an identical light contains a fresh pair of AA from a company called Permalife.

Unfortunately,it looks like the “Permalife” is going to be considerably less than “Permanent”. It’s already starting to dim.

We were excited when we got pricing information about the Permalife brand, as these batteries had real potential to save our customers some money. The savings evaporate in a hurry if it takes three or four batteries to match the performance of one ProCell.

It’s bad when a flashlight fails in use, but you usually get some warning. It gradually fades out rather than failing all at once. A wireless microphone is very different. Once its voltage in the transmitter falls below a certain point, the receiver becomes vulnerable to all sorts of outside interference. This can be disasterous or funny. Usually the former. Rarely the latter.

As the sun sets on this blog, the Permalife-equpped flashlight fades to black and our quest for a good no name battery continues. If we ever find one, I’ll let you know.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. We’re your source for honest battery information.

When whoever invented the USB interface (Universal Serial Buss) they probably had no idea how universal this connection protocol could become. The USB connector is starting to show up on all sorts of devices to serve a function that is no longer limited to data transfer.

We spend a lot of time watching trends in rechargeable batteries, and the use of the USB interface as a port for charging a battery powered device is really starting to become common. IPODs and other MP3 players, cameras, recorders and lots of other devices with onboard rechargables now use the USB connection for battery charging. You can use the battery charger supplied with the device is you want to, but the real value in this set up is that it gives your computer (laptop or otherwise) the dual purpose of being a universal battery charger. Best of all, the battery can be charged while you use the computer for its intened purpose with no slowdown in its performance.

Travelers who are tired of having to carry a battery charger for every device in their bag (think Martha Stewart facing down the CEO of Sony) can now look forward to having one powerful multipurpose device charge batteries in the background. You can forget about which computer platform you use as well. A device that charges off a USB port doesn’t care if you are a PC or Mac user. “Universal” really does mean “universal”.

Anybody considering a battery powered gadet purchase for a Christmas present (particulary for a road warrior) ought to be sure that the device is equipped with a USB connector that serves the dual purpose of charging the battery.

Perhaps this really is the beginning of the end for a different charger for every device.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.
Look to us for all your battery needs.

In the rush to jump on the high definition television bandwagon, Honeywell has introduced an HDMI cable that they claim is “self healing”. According to Engadget, Honeywell’s CurexE cable has some sort of error coding built into it that uses inline LED’s to show whether the signal chain is transmitting the correct info to your HD device. It’s hard to understand how they can all the device “self healing” as it has no ability to address problems at either end of the the data transmission so it can’t really “heal” anything.  At best, it can only diagnose what may be wrong with the components it connects.  And that’s on a good day!

Frankly, this item looks like it was developed by the marketing department rather than engineering. Here’s how this product is described in Honeywell’s own press release:

“We’ve made this cable intelligent by integrating a chip into the connector that performs two major functions,” said David Coleman, Program Manager, CE Cable Products, Honeywell. “First, the chip’s line driver ‘cures’ corrupted HDCP and EDID data that can lead to serious audio and video artifacts. Second, we added ‘light’ in the form of LEDs embedded into the connector that let installers monitor the most critical elements of the HDMI interface for problems.”

The parentheses around “cure” are theirs and their description of the “cure” doesn’t really shed much light on this voodoo.

As the broadcast industry approaches the deadline of 2009’s conversion to digital television, a lot of consumers are going to be taken to the cleaners by televion accessory makers who bring very little value to the table. Honeywell’s CurexE cable looks like one of these offerings.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Great products for audio-visual production available on the internet everyday.