Personal Tech

The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro was online to answer your personal tech questions, discuss recent product reviews and share his thoughts on the Consumer Electronics Show and Macworld.

In Sunday's column , Rob wrote about the DVD format war. He also contributed to "At The Show," our CES blog .

A transcript follows.

Want to know what upcoming topics are being covered? Sign up for the Fast Forward e-letter -- get updated information on personal technology news and product demos.

Past editions of Rob's e-letter are online here .

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Rob Pegoraro: Greetings from sunny Palo Alto, where I'm typing to you from an Internet cafe with free WiFi. (Number of WiFi signals my laptop is seeing: 22.) I'm here to talk about two of the tech industry's more important gatherings--the Consumer Electronics Show, which ran last week in Las Vegas, and Macworld Expo, which begins tomorrow in San Francisco. Let's get moving...

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Bristow, VA: In high-tech format wars, doesn't it seem like the winner is usually the one with the shorter name? I'm thinking VHS/Betamax, or CDs vs. digital tape and others. Based on that alone, I'd bet on DVD HD, regardless of whether BluRay is actually the better technology. Also, is either one backwards compatible with DVDs, the way DVD players are with CDs?

Rob Pegoraro: This impending format war between two proposed high-definition DVD "standards" was Topic A, or at worst Topic B at CES last week. I think you've got a point there myself; Blu-Ray sounds like something from Plan 9 From Outer Space, while HD DVD pretty clearly communicates "high-definition DVD."

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Silver Spring, Md.: Rob - tell me if these statements are correct with regard to digital TV tuners.

HD Ready = The TV can receive digital signals from a cable box, a satellite receiver, or a separate ATSC tuner, but not from the airwaves.

Built-in HD Tuner = The TV has an ATSC tuner built-in to receive digital signals from the airwaves, from cable/satellite, wherever.

Thanks for your help.

Rob Pegoraro: Your understanding is 100 percent correct. We're all going to have to get much more comfortable with these terms; analog TV signals will almost certainly go off the air by early 2009, and three years isn't long at all in the lifespan of most TVs.

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Portland, Ore.: With respect to the high defintion formats in DVD, it looks like HD will limit itself to 720P while Blue Ray will do 1080P. A Toshiba engineer and I estimated that a 1080P DVD will require at least 35 gigs of storage which would require 3 layer burning on both sides of the disk in the HD DVD format but could be accomplished on one side with Blue Ray. If this is true the it seems like Blue Ray has the edge in home video apps. What do you think? Lyle

Rob Pegoraro: HD DVD can do more than 720p, at least 1080i (don't have the spec sheet in front of me). As for capacity, don't forget that all these discs support compression schemes more advanced than the MPEG-2 format used in today's DVDs. The math you cited looks to like it assumes the use of MPEG-2 alone.

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Bethesda, Md.: I have been waiting patiently for the industry to agree on a set of specifications for an interactive cable card before buying another set. (I hate the box but like the on-air guides.) Now that there is an agreement, are the manufacturers showing the CableCard II at the electronics show? Which manufacturers? How are they working? When can we expect to see them in the market place?

Rob Pegoraro: It looks like a lot of manufacturers are looking to move beyond CableCards to an approach called OCAP that, as I understand it, doesn't need any special hardware card; you just download the subscriber info directly from the cable operator when you plug the TV in.

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Williamsburg, Va.: I read about Mac fans getting all excited about the switch to Intel chips. What's the big deal about an Intel-based Mac? Will it run Windows without a software emulator?

Rob Pegoraro: Intel processors should be able to run a bit faster than PowerPC chips now (those chips, used in Macs since the mid-1990s, have started lagging in the last couple of years), and the performance gap should increase in the future. Also, Intel has changed almost its entire approach to chip manufacturing to emphasize power efficiency--"performance per watt"--over simple megahertz, which happens to mesh very well with Apple's goals of making compact, stylish computers.

Yes, an Intel-based Mac should be able to boot Windows. It should also be able to run the Virtual PC emulation program far faster than a PowerPC model can. And at some point, you should be able to use a special emulation program called Wine to run many Windows apps without even needing a copy of Windows--they'd just run alongside your Mac software.

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Strasburg, Va.: Hey Rob, what was the deal earlier? But my question is (and you've probably heard it a gazzilion times) this: Why do they have to make two incompatable HD formats when they must know that there are going to be less people buying one kind or another? Y'know, not everybody has a PS2. And who do you think's gonna win?

Rob Pegoraro: 1) Traffic pushed back a meeting. (I almost got in an accident on U.S. 101, if you must know--traffic went from 60 to 0 in maybe 300 feet, and I stopped with maybe three feet between me and the car in front. That ^#$%#$! highway sucks.)

2) These companies, as far as I can determine, are acting like idiots or fools--it'll take more reporting to determine which, exactly, is the case.

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Clueless 50 year old: We're going to take a deep breath and get a new TV - good bye to the old box! But I'm confused over LCD vs plasma. Screen size would be about 40 inches, can get either in that size range. I'm worried that plasma is an electricity hog and have read that the TV runs hot. We're going to put the TV in an big console like piece that would restrict air flow in back. Hubby says prices will go down but I think TVs are like computers - there will always be some new technology so just go for it now. Your thoughts?

Rob Pegoraro: Some plasmas use a lot of electricity, but so do some LCDs. You have to look up the specs on individual models--and with plasmas, even the stated figure will probably exaggerate the true consumption of power, since a plasma will need less current when the screen is dark or mostly dark, while LCDs draw the same amount of juice all the time. (I've had some interesting chats about this with a guy in the EPA's Energy Star office; they're trying to come up with some standard way to measure this performance but have yet to do so.)

AT 40 inches, BTW, the price gap between LCD and plasma is getting really close. Samsung told me that by the spring, $2,500 would buy either a 40-inch LCD or a 42-inch plasma from them. When prices are that close, you have to look at each TV and judge its picture quality for yourself, along with other factors like where you'll put it (for instance, plasmas have better viewing angles).

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Washington, DC: Any bold predictions for tomorrow's reality-distorting keynote?

Rob Pegoraro: 1) Steve Jobs will wear jeans and a black turtleneck.

2) He'll save a surprise for last, prefacing it with "one more thing..."

3) Rumor sites will get at least one of their guesses completely wrong.

4) Mac fans will flood message boards with comments like "Steve Jobs is teh awesome!" within minutes of the keynote.

Anybody want to share their own guesses?

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Washington, D.C.: What do you think of the new portable XM units? Do you know if Delphi is comming out with a new one?

Rob Pegoraro: I like 'em. They're a *lot* smaller, and they now have an internal antenna--you don't need to clip a separate antenna wire to your collar, lapel, shoulder, ear or nose.

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Laurel, Md.: What is an ATSC Tuner and what does it do? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: It's a digital tuner that pulls in the new signals most stations now transmit in. It's included in almost all large-screen sets, and FCC requirements will bring this hardware into smaller sets over the next year or two. (I've yet to see ATSC tuners in screens smaller than 26 inches). You can also buy an ATSC tuner as an external add-on for an existing sets (I've heard that Radio Shack is selling one for $100). Those look like any other set-top box; some include digital video recorders, but most are just plain tuners and are, honestly, pretty boring to gaze at.

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Hope this Question Makes Sense (HQMS): I'm interested in buying a GPS enabled cell phone in order to use location-based services such as those provided by Mapquest (http://mapquestfindme.com/).

Does a GPS enabled cell phone actually contain a GPS receiver, or do the cell phone carriers have to upgrade their networks to integrate GPS (I believe this is referred to as Assisted-GPS). Maybe it's both?

Rob Pegoraro: It's the latter, as I understand it. To have GPS completely built in, you'd need a second antenna that would add some notable bulk. (Garmin, one of the two major GPS manufacturers, showed me a watch with built-in GPS; it was maybe half an inch thick at one end. I told their PR guy that I couldn't really imagine having that thing shackled to my wrist for any long run.)

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Washington, D.C.: Hiya, Rob,

Which of the new DVD formats is Apple backing? (and what type of laptop are you using Palo Alto?)

Rob Pegoraro: Apple is a member of the Blu-Ray industry group, but it's yet to announce any plans for its own Blu-Ray hardware or software.

I'm using a Dell Latitude X300, and I fully expect that all the other kids are going to laugh at me when I flip this thing open in the Macworld pressroom.

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Another HD Question: Beyond looking on the box that came with your TV is there a way to know if you bought an HD ready or an HD already-inside-the-TV TV? I ask because I didn't even know I should be caring about the difference until after I bought my latest TV and started reading this chat.

And another question: what is the liklihood that any of the new 5g iPod FM tuners will eventually have some sort of dock input on the "bottom" to make them compatible with everyone's old in-car power cords...I'm thinking Power Pod and Griffin iTrip devices specifically.

Rob Pegoraro: You have to look at the fine print on the set's box, not how it's advertised; retailers consistently misuse terms like "HD-ready" and "integrated." Look for either "digital tuner" or "ATSC"; "NTSC" means you have an analog tuner, which will be completely useless in three years or so.

Don't know the answer to your iPod question, but I expect to see several zillion iPod accessories at Macworld this week and should know much more by Wednesday.

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Denver, CO: Road Warrior

Hi Rob:

Any thoughts on the spate of new video downloading services launched last week?

Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: Funny how everybody has decided this is a good business to jump into after Apple has paved the way, eh? I want to reserve judgment about the appeal of each of these competitors--for instance, Google's Video Store--until I see details like pricing, usage rights and software requirements.

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Alexandria, Va.: I think it's not just the shorter name, it's the use of initials: HD-DVD sounds more "official," and like you say, what it means is clear. I had the exact same thought as you about the sci-fi movie -- also, if I have my mouth open near a Blu-Ray, will I get Bluetooth?

Rob Pegoraro: LOL...

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Alexandria, Va.: I know that you're a big fan of the Treo. Are you planning to get the new Treo 700w? I want to get one or the other. Which would you recommend?

Rob Pegoraro: Palm says they'll have one dropped off at my hotel this evening, so I should have a review in print pretty soon. I've seen it demonstrated in some detail and it seems promising in some respects--like supporting Verizon's extremely fast EV-DO wireless broadband--but may have glitches in others--like the parts of the Windows Mobile interface that Palm can't do much about. I'm going to want to spend some decent time with it and see how it suits me.

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DC: Hey Rob, love the chats but what are the chances we can get a techie as a guest? It's great talking to a reporter but it would be nice to talk to an expert on technology. TIA.

Rob Pegoraro: Ouch. Well, I guess I've lost DC as a reader :(

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Bethesda: We're thinking of coming out of the stone age and getting a digital TV and either cable (Comcast) or Direct TV. Are there any models of TVs you've heard particularly good or bad things about? And what would you consider the most important trade-offs between cable and satellite we should be thinking about?

Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: Price, price, price. DirecTV now offers its new digital/HD service in D.C.--it uses a different compression system (MPEG-4 instead of MPEG-2) and new receiver hardware to deliver the HD signals of local network stations, not just ESPN/HBO/Cinemax/etc. So you're not going to see a big difference in channel selection. Cable will offer video-on-demand, but DirecTV, if historical patterns continue, will probably beat Comcast pretty soundly on price.

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Alexandria, Va.: Hi Rob, I'm thinking of making the move into HDTV and would like to keep TiVo. I have DirecTV and recently I saw that they're offering an HD receiver with HD DVR w/TiVo. Have you hear about this service? Is it worth the $400 upfront for the hardware plus $11 a month for the HD service?

Rob Pegoraro: Sorry, forgot to mention this in the last response--DirecTV's high-def digital video recorder that will support its new digital service isn't out yet. The TiVo model they sell on their site does not work with the new offerings. That's kind of a bonehead move on their part, if you ask me.

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Fairfax, Va.: I'm a little bit disturbed by the news you mentioned in your weekend column that the price of HD TV sets is becoming "reasonable" (or words to that affect), when they still cost thousands of dollars.

Does the coming brave new world of HDTV mean that those of us who don't want to spend more than about $350 on a TV are going to be shut out? Because if the standard, entry price of a decent new TV is going to be over $1000, I'll just stop watching.

Rob Pegoraro: No, no, no--I wrote that the price of big, flat-screen TVs is getting reasonable. Those have always cost over a grand; the difference is that now you're not buying some massive rear-projection CRT. (A friend of mine paid a few thousand bucks for one several years ago, attended CES and is now thinking about how he'll enjoy getting 10 square feet of his living room back with a new plasma TV.)

HDTV includes a lot more than big flat-panels. I've been trying out a digital set from RCA that sells for just $300 and change--the review should be in print this weekend.

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Northbrook, Ill.: Rob

You mentioned a program called Wine for Mac. I am planning on buying a new iMac soon (depending on what is said tomorrow). I have a program from work that is very tied to Windows (it has a number of activeX controls)...I was assuming that I would also have to buy a cheap windiws-based pc to run that program. Will Wine run faster that Virtual PC??

Rob Pegoraro: Not sure, since the Mac version is still pretty early in the development process. But any Intel-based version of Virtual PC will run a ton faster than what's available now.

BTW, ActiveX applets are a horrible way to deploy any sort of interactive software on the Web. They're a security risk and they're restricted to IE, so anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of the potential user base can't run them (considering the number of people who have switched to Firefox).

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Regarding HD TVs: You said "We're all going to have to get much more comfortable with these terms; analog TV signals will almost certainly go off the air by early 2009"

So does this mean I'll have to replace every one of my TVs (all at least 10 years old) in 3 years? Will they just stop "working"? Or will cable companies continue to "broadcast" in analog?

Rob Pegoraro: The latter. You might need to get an adapter box from your cable company, or you may be able to keep getting your old analog feed. The "analog cutoff," as it's called, only applies to the signals coming in over the air to rabbit-ears or rooftop antennas.

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wdc: a last-minute q:

in the apple vs pc debate, i'm wondering: if i buy a pc -- sooo much less expensive than a mac -- and i purge windows from it, instead using some other os that you might recommend: might i be relatively safe from viruses, security breaches, etc ... or is it simply a gamble to buy anything other than a mac?

many thanks, o wise one!

Rob Pegoraro: First, this isn't the last minute; I'm going to spend a few more minutes here to make up for my late arrival.

Second: Yes, if you install Linux, BSD or some other non-Windows OS on a PC, you would be immune to all the Windows spyware/viruses/worms/etc. But you'd also have to install a brand-new OS, then install and master a new set of programs. Linux has advanced a lot, but it's still a hell of a lot harder to learn than Mac OS X. If you want security and you've gotta buy a new computer no matter what, getting a Mac will be far easier.

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Arlington, VA: In your year-in-review article (Jan 1), you certainly covered many deserving developments and trends, but I was surprised that you didn't include Google Earth. When it first hit the web, you devoted an article to it and a fair amount of praise. I still think it is the most notable software/Web service development of 2005, though the mapping of Google Local is certainly more useful. Why the omission?

Allen Clark

washingtonpost.com: Media Gadgets Flirt With 'Convergence' (January 1, 2006)

Rob Pegoraro: I like Google Earth too, but since it launched so many people have done terrific sites that re-use Google Maps data in interesting ways, I haven't had to run Google Earth very often. (For instance, I now use Gmaps Pedometer instead of Google Earth to calculate running or walking distances.)

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Washington, DC: Hi Rob -

I have an Ipod on backorder that should arrive in a few weeks. I understand one has to decide whether to use it with a Mac or Windows computer because it can't be configured to do both. We have a mixed household so either is an option. Are there reasons to prefer one over the other? I'm leaning toward the Mac because I imagine the less Windows involvement the better. Does it make any difference? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: You don't have to make that choice anymore--iPods come formatted for Windows but work on Macs too without any modification. You can even move an iPod from Mac to PC, either to get MP3s from two collections or to use it as a transfer disk.

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Great Falls, VA: I just switched from Internet Explorer to Firefox 1.5 but am wondering about the mail facility, Thunderbird. Do I stick with Outlook Express or switch to Thunderbird?

Rob Pegoraro: OE is pretty weak. Give Thunderbird a shot. (BTW, my next stop today is down the road in Mountain View, where I'm meeting with a bunch of developers from Mozilla. If anybody has any questions they'd like me to ask those folks, please chime in now.)

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Fairfax, Va.: Rob, can you please explain one overlooked aspect of the Analog TV situation? If I buy a $120- tv/dvd combo at circuit city, and I expect to have a cable or satellite box attached to it for its entire lifetime, will I still need to discard the TV in 2009? Will it lose any functionality in 2009? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: In our defense, I think we have spelled out this point a few times in print already--but maybe I can reiterate it in Sunday's review of that RCA set. No, existing TVs will not self-destruct in 2009. The TV cops won't show up at your house to confiscate them. If you keep an analog set plugged into a cable or satellite box--or any other video source besides an antenna--it will function just as before.

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Fairlington, Va.: Rob,

I heard a rumor that something was rolled out at the CES that would allow you to watch live video on your PSP with a Slingbox type deal on your television at home. Any truth to this juicy rumor?

Rob Pegoraro: That ain't no rumor. Sony's LocationFree TV, a gadget that streams TV programs throughout your house, can now also relay your video to a PSP anywhere in the world (once you apply a software upgrade to the PSP). They had a PSP in Sony's booth tuned into a live Japanese cartoon, which was pretty cool to see in action).

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Tina in Falls Church: Happy New Year and thanks for all the shopping help. I just saw a piece on the electronics show.....a very cool scanner the diameter of a pen and as wide as a piece of paper that you slide over a document/picture like a squeegee. It stores the image then uses a USB to transfer it. Have you see it??? Is it as cool as it looks?

Rob Pegoraro: I think I did see it, but only briefly. As I recall it, a lot of older pen-scanner widgets don't always work that well in practice--you need to hold the thing steady over the text, which is difficut in practice.

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RE: HD-DVD/Blu-Ray: I think your comparison of the new video formats to the failed super-CD formats is spot on. This may be an upgrade that I feel I can skip. Regular DVDs look pretty darn good on my HDTV as it is. While not HD quality, it's good enough for now, and I'm certainly not going to trade up if it's just going to be an overly expensive pain in the rear.

Rob Pegoraro: Excellent point. One other thing to consider is that many new DVD players can "upconvert" a DVD into 720p or 1080i, or even 1080p resolution. This is basically software trickery--sort of like using the "sharpen" command in a photo editing app to clean up a blurry shot--but if it's good enough that may be a lot more appealing than making a $500 bet on one of the two new formats.

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Laurel, Md.: Hi,

I'm looking to buy a rear-projection TV. Do you know which is better the DLP or LCD rear projections? Prices seem to be comparable.

Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: You've gotta look at both. Some people look at DLP sets and notice what's called a "rainbow effect," an artifact of the way these screens use a spinning color wheel to generate the image. Rear-projection LCDs don't have that issue, but they can suffer from the so-called screen-door effect, where the grid of pixels is too obvious.

With any "microdisplay" set--DLP, rp LCD or LCoS--make sure you look at it from side to side and above and below. All these sets, to some degree, suffer viewing-angle issues; if you look at the picture from off-center, you may see dark areas on the screen.

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From Daniel Greenberg: To Bethesda and Alexandria:

When considering cable vs DirecTV for HD, you might also want to lokk at Dish Network.

Now that they are adding an extensive lineup of all-HD channels from failed satellite TV provider VOOM, they look like they will have not only the most HD channels, but the most HD channels per dollar.

Note that some of the HD channels show very dated movies, but there's god original programming, too. If their pricing holds after the full VOOM rollout, it will be like getting 20+ HD channels for the cost of about 10.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks, Daniel! Dish did brief me on their HD plans; they'll start doing local HD signals with their own new MPEG-4 system in February, with local network HD signals coming to D.C. sometime in late winter or spring. They say they'll charge $55 for the basic HD package.

(Daniel's a longtime Post freelancer who was at CES all week, but somehow I never ran into him. It must have been the other 150,000 attendees that got in the way.)

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DC: Rob: "The "analog cutoff," as it's called, only applies to the signals coming in over the air to rabbit-ears or rooftop antennas."

So does that mean, if you don't have cable and rely on the rabbit ears, you'll have to get a new tv?

Rob Pegoraro: Or a set-top converter. LG showed a prototype of one, a tiny, paperback-sized device plugged into a 1980-vintage TV. The picture did look kind of awful, but that was the 25-year-old tube, not the signal (which looked fine on a new set next to it).

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Washington, D.C.: Did anyone at CES release a small (around 20") LCD TV WITH ATSC BUILT IN!!!

Rob Pegoraro: Nope, and I'm still waiting for that to show up. I'm also waiting for a home-theater receiver that sells for below a grand but has HD Radio support built in--and it looks like I will wait a while longer for that, possibly into 2007.

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Washington, D.C. : Hiya Rob

Now that Mac is going to Intel chips, do you foresee any increase in the number of lockups that may start occuring on a Mac, or are the lockups that I get in the Windows environment solely based on the operating system? Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: It's all the OS. Linux runs on Intel chips and doesn't usually suffer those problems.

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Lexington, Mass.: Hi Rob,

List, please, some of the more likely announcements of new items we might expect out of Steve at MacWorld tomorrow.

Thanks,

Richard

Rob Pegoraro: Have a look at this morning's newsletter, where I've wagered a few guesses on Macworld surprises: Handicapping the DVD Format War

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Alexandria, Va.: Rob, a question that I have (and has been mentioned before) is should I or should I not wait to purchase a new TV (am looking for a mid-30"s HD set). Is it worth waiting for a few months (will prices come down a worthwhile amount?).

Also, can you talk a little bit about what I have heard called "industrial TVs". (TVs without speakers and other bells and whistles to reduce the price). Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: Waiting a few months should definitely pay some dividends. The sense I get is that we're in for maybe another year of continued price declines, after which things may settle down.

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Pasco, Wash.: Rob

Did you get a look at the "SED" display from Toshiba? What did you think?

Rob Pegoraro: 'Twas quite cool to look at, but I'd want to see how the test clips that Toshiba and Canon played on their SED prototypes looked on a good LCD or plasma. Some folks act like SED will make everything else obsolete overnight, but I think that view underestimates the progress that LCD/plasma have made, and will continue to make. Companies are sinking massive $$$$ into those technologies.

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Bridgewater, N.J.: As I recall, didn't you write a piece that was negative about the SlingBox in the past?

Rob Pegoraro: I did--it was a real pain to set up. They say they've made improvements in that part, and I've also read some articulate, non-frothing-at-the-mouth e-mails from Slingbox users who say that they really like this device.

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Bremerton, Wash.: I've always used a PC but now that I am retired have been thinking about try a MAC.

If I bought one of those mini-mac's would I get the full feel of a regular MAC or would it be like riding a bike to get the feel of a Caddy.

Mick

Rob Pegoraro: Nope, it's the full feel of a Mac (whatever that is). Same software, much of the same hardware on the inside.

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Kansas City : From reports on CES it seems like there will be many innovative products hitting the market, converging content on demand. But, in reality, won't interoperability remain in the way of seamlessly integrating all of these devices and applications? How will these issues be addressed?

Rob Pegoraro: Through a lot of trial, error and tech-support calls. I don't think the industry has done enough work on this front; it's probably what will undo most of the promised home/media-networking systems I saw at CES.

And with that, dear readers, I have to roll--already late for the next meeting. I'm getting back onto 101, please pray for me :)

Thanks for all the questions (especially those I'll share with Mozilla in a few minutes); I'll be back here before long, I expect, to take a stab at answering your Macworld questions. See y'all then...

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