Tekzilla

Hosted by Patrick Norton, Robert Heron and Veronica Belmont. New episodes Tuesdays & Thursdays

Tekzilla feeds your tech hunger! Patrick Norton, Robert Heron and Veronica Belmont bring you hands on reviews of the latest gear, tips and tricks that improve the tech you already own and conversations with the most informative experts around. Read More

VHS tape to DVD, Neflix Roku, DIY Phone Repair

Friday, June 6th, 2008 – running time 35:42

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Jorge wants to move his VHS tapes to DVD. You asked, we review the Netflix Roku. Should you repair the iPhone yourself? HDMI video cards. AAC vs. MP3: which sounds better... and what are best sounding audio encoding tools?

Don't worry... Veronica's not leaving Tekzilla. She can just finally talk about her job, "shooting for the new show, Qore. It's fun, I get to talk to a lot of game developers and artists in the PS3 world. But enough self promotion! I've got more info on my blog, so go check it out!" Now!

Jorge wants to archive his video tapes... Veronica explains the advantages to doing this yourself vs. sending your tapes to a service, and different ways to do the job at home, such as capturing 'em over a camcorder, using a dedicated USB kit like Pinnacle's Dazzle, or our producer Roger's favorite, a set top box like Lite-On LVC-9006

Roku's Netflix Player promises an easy way to watch instant streaming movies from Netflix on your TV instead of your computer. You asked for a review. Patrick's got the hands on scoop.

Freebie Download Pick o' the Week: FreeSnap , "the app that lets you quickly move and resize windows." Quit snickering: this is a nifty way to manage your windows without a mouse!

Should you repair the cracked screen on an iPod yourself? Great question, James, and thanks for sending it on video. We show off the inside of an iPhone on the show, then take a look at the iFixit guide for the display assembly. It's a tough fix, and replacement screens cost at least $165. And, as Veronica points out, with a new iPod around the corner, you might want to wait for Apple fanboys to start selling their old -working- iPhones off cheap!

AAC vs. MP3: Nik has music, a Zune, an iPhone and would rather not render everything twice... so which sounds better, AAC or MP3?

Meanwhile, Kent wants to know which "program produces the truest sounding MP3 or AAC?" We'd go with Exact Audio copy or dBpoweramp on the PC, or Max on OS X. (And let us know if you hear a difference between their encoding and, say, the work done by Windows Media Player or iTunes!)

This week's Web Site We Can't Get Enough Of: Apple TV Junkie... it's more than a complete list of HD Movies on the AppleTV, but that's a great place to start!

Video cards with HDMI output? There are a few of 'em, Garry, but cards with DVI ports and an HDMI adapter in the box are a lot more common. (And they work just as well.) Shop carefully, especially if you want 5.1 audio passthru to your surround sound receiver or HDTV. And make sure the chipset supports HDCP if you want to watch Blu-ray movies!

Want to be part of a world record? Claudio emailed to remind us that Firefox is on a mission to set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours... learn more at SpreadFirefox.com

While we're talking Firefox, Patrick is loving the next version of Firefox: Firefox 3 RC1 on Vista and OS X.

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About the Show

Details
Show Title:
Tekzilla
Description:
Tekzilla feeds your tech hunger! Patrick Norton, Robert Heron and Veronica Belmont bring you hands on reviews of the latest gear, tips and tricks that improve the tech you already own and conversations with the most informative experts around.
Categories:
How-To & DIY, Technology & Gadgets
Launch Date:
Sep 1, 2007
Episodes:
429
Credits
Veronica Belmont (Host)
Robert Heron (Host)
Patrick Norton (Host)