Creative Zen Vision M 30 gigabyte

I watched A River Runs Through It on the Creative device.  I expected to have difficulty watching a movie on such a small screen, and was pleasantly surprised with the experience.  The colors are clear and vibrant, and I had no difficulty keeping up with the action.  I turned the brightness up to 100%, but probably could have been comfortable with less.

After I got home, I turned the movie back on and left the player running to see how far it would get before the battery died.  Including the time on the bus, it played for just over 3 hours before switching off.

Although the Creative Zen Vision M has been superseded by a newer model and is no longer manufactured.  It is still available in used or refurbished condition for a very reasonable price. Click here to view the product page on Amazon.com.

Nokia N810

I watched Hitman on the Nokia N810.  The larger screen was definitely a plus, and the sound quality was decent.  My only complaint, and I’m really nitpicking here, is that the playback controls are managed through the touchscreen rather than through hardware buttons.  This meant that if I wanted to adjust the sound volume, I had to take the movie out of full-screen mode.  Adjusting the volume required three separate actions rather than the one action required by the Creative player.  I managed to find a volume level that was comfortable for most of the movie, so this wasn’t a big problem.

I didn’t run the battery into the ground like I did with the Vision M, but based on the power level after one movie, I estimate that the N810 could have played at least one more full movie before running out of juice.

The Nokia N810 has come down considerably in price since it was first introduced.  It’s now available for about half what I paid for mine last year.  Click here to view the product page on Amazon.com.

Conclusion

Obviously any movie is better on a big screen, but both devices were more than adequate as portable movie viewers.  The N810 has the advantage of a bigger screen and a longer-lasting battery, but I think the Creative player has slightly better sound, and I preferred the hardware controls for simplicity and ease of use.  I was happy with both and will use them again.

© 2009, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

Have you ever shared your notes with a classmate, or copied someone else’s notes after missing class?  What if you could get paid for doing just that?  If that appeals to you, check out Knetwit, a knowledge-sharing site with a really cool twist.

How does it work?

Here’s how it works: you upload your class notes and study guides to the site, where they can be accessed  and downloaded by other users.  You earn points, called “Koin” for uploading notes, referring friends who join, and every time someone downloads your notes.  Koin can be redeemed at the Knetwit Store for cash or merchandise including iPods, game consoles and TV’s.  You also receive “knowledge points” and “community points” which indicate your standing and credibility, and affect how many Koin you earn for each action.

The site is supported by advertisements, so there is no cost to join.  Presumably, the business model is based on the assumption that the site will make more money from advertisements than it pays out to members.

Who benefits the most?

Freshmen have the most to gain by using this site.  Every year, thousands of freshmen take required general ed courses that are taught by the same professors using the same lesson plans as last year.  Professors who teach the same class year after year often teach and test exactly the same way every time.  This means that notes and study guides created last year aren’t necessarily out of date, but can be tremendously useful to current students.  I now wish I had hung onto my notes from freshman year so I could transcribe and upload them.  I’m now in a specialized masters degree program with a much smaller potential audience for my notes.

My experience with Knetwit

I’ve uploaded notes from one class I took last semester, and the first half of a class I’m taking right now.  That earned me enough Koin that I could cash in for $10 right now if I wanted to.  The money would be sent to my PayPal account.  I’ve decided to try to earn enough points for an Amazon Kindle.

Tips

• Knetwit gives points on a per instance basis.  That means every upload earns you the same number of points regardless of how big it is.  If you have all your notes for the semester in one document, you should split them up by day.
• You get twice as many points for referring friends as you do from uploading notes.  After you join, you will receive a unique referral code you can invite your friends to use.  Obviously, the more users Knetwit has, the more useful it will be, so it makes sense for them to set it up this way.
• Knetwit users can rate the quality of your notes.  This affects how many points you get for each action, so it makes sense to upload good quality notes.

Update: Knetwit has vastly expanded your choice of merchandise for which to trade your koin.  Click here to read more.

If you found this post useful, please consider joining Knetwit through my referral link: http://www.knetwit.com?referred_by=12446

© 2008 – 2009, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.

[ratings]

As a student, I have to take a lot of notes. I’m a fairly fast typist, and I frequently get impatient when I have to write things by hand. Some of my classmates bring laptops to school, but I am reluctant to carry that much weight around or put such a valuable item at risk of loss, damage, or theft.

I recently purchased a Belkin F8U1500 Wireless PDA Keyboard from an Amazon retailer to use with my Toshiba e330 Pocket PC. I used it last month to take notes during a four-day seminar, and was very pleased. Some of the presenters spoke way too fast for anyone to take good handwritten notes, but I easily kept up with them.

Specifications

• Measures 5.5 x 3.75 by .75 inches. Weighs .4 lbs.
• Uses one standard AAA battery.
• Keys are about 7/8th’s of full size.
• Rated battery life of 360 hours.
• Package includes the keyboard, a PDA stand, and a startup CD with a PDF user guide.
• Price: I paid about $55 including shipping from an Amazon retailer, but could have gotten a used keyboard for less. This keyboard is also available from Fry’s Electronics for about $50.

Photos

Here is the keyboard shown with my Toshiba Pocket PC for comparison:

The keyboard is in the middle, folded. On the left is the PDA stand, on the right is my Pocket PC. The PDA stand snaps onto the folded keyboard for storage and transport. Folded, it’s not much bigger than my PDA.

Here is a shot of my Toshiba e330 mounted on the PDA stand. The flat piece of metal above the PDA is a mirror to reflect infrared from the keyboard to the PDA’s IR port.

Here is a screenshot of the Belkin keyboard management software on my PDA. I enabled the keyboard through this interface and used Pocket Word to take notes.

Here is the keyboard in its original packaging. The black square is a piece of Velcro I added to secure my PDA to the PDA stand.

The Good

• Small and light.
• Able to keep up with my typing speed (80+ wpm).
• Easy to set up and use
• Pocket Word documents can be transferred to my desktop for further editing. In fact, I roughed out this review on the Belkin keyboard just so I could say I did. (I use Open Office with Vista. In order for Open Office to read Pocket Word documents, you have to save them as RTF files.)
• Belkin claims this keyboard is universally compatible.

The Bad

• The Belkin wireless PDA keyboard includes a number of extra functions, accessed by using the “Fn” key. Some of these did not work on my PDA. Also, certain Windows keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl-C for Copy, Ctrl-V for paste, etc. do not work, but I don’t know if that’s Belkin’s fault or whether it is a Pocket Word shortcoming.

The Indifferent

• Due to its slightly smaller size, the Belkin wireless PDA keyboard takes some getting used to. It took me about half a day before I stopped making typos. Now, when I switch between the Belkin and my desktop keyboard, it just takes me a minute or two to acclimate.
• If you are typing without a desk, you’ll want a book in your lap to steady the setup. Otherwise, the keyboard wobbles, and the connection becomes intermittent.

Conclusion

I can’t say enough good things about this keyboard! I should have bought one years ago. Switching from handwritten notes to this is like buying a Ferrari after using an elderly donkey to get around. I expect to use this keyboard for some time to come.

© 2008, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.