Does anything just start anymore?

[Jim Rimmer]

I bought a new flat screen HDTV before Christmas. I can't just turn it on - it has to "boot up"; takes several seconds. Not a big issue but it even does something when changing channels, one or two second delay, doesn't just change.

Same thing with my new F150. The engine starts up right away but the radio, A/C, lights, etc. have to "boot up". Again, not a big deal except for the A/C. In Houston, waiting even 3 or 4 seconds for the A/C to come on can be excruciating.

Is everything going to the boot up start mode or can you just turn some things on? :confused:

[Mitchell Andrus]

I bought a new flat screen HDTV before Christmas. I can't just turn it on - it has to "boot up"; takes several seconds. Not a big issue but it even does something when changing channels, one or two second delay, doesn't just change.

Same thing with my new F150. The engine starts up right away but the radio, A/C, lights, etc. have to "boot up". Again, not a big deal except for the A/C. In Houston, waiting even 3 or 4 seconds for the A/C to come on can be excruciating.

Is everything going to the boot up start mode or can you just turn some things on? :confused:


Jim, how soon we forget that TVs and radios used to warm up the tubes before they stopped humming.... just so we could watch I Love Lucy.

My Sony Blu-Ray player used to drive me nuts. Took sometimes (depending on it's mood, I guess) 30 - 45 seconds to open the stupid drawer!!!! REALLY? I'll help you out there big fella - got a butter knife right here...... I left that one in NJ for my son to use. Damned near hit the driveway, that one did.
.

[Pat Germain]

Jim, how soon we forget that TVs and radios used to warm up the tubes before they stopped humming.... just so we could watch I Love Lucy.

Oh, I haven't forgotten tube TVs! My dad was a big TV watcher. He would have cow every time the TV blew a tube and wouldn't work. So, he went out and bought the first "solid state" TV he could find. It was a Curtis Mathis. It was a small, 19" TV and cost a fortune. But it had no tubes! I think he bought it in 1971. I inherited it and finally threw it away in 1990. It still worked, just not very well.

BTW, speaking of I Love Lucy, a friend of mine was saying he recently saw the episode where Lucy was in London and trying to get in to see the Queen. "Egad!" my friend thought. "They still have the same queen!"

[Bruce Page]

Speaking of moody, our Sony Play Station 3 drives me nuts!

[Jim Rimmer]

Jim, how soon we forget that TVs and radios used to warm up the tubes before they stopped humming.... just so we could watch I Love Lucy.

My Sony Blu-Ray player used to drive me nuts. Took sometimes (depending on it's mood, I guess) 30 - 45 seconds to open the stupid drawer!!!! REALLY? I'll help you out there big fella - got a butter knife right here...... I left that one in NJ for my son to use. Damned near hit the driveway, that one did.
.
I remember those days. That's what's so irrititating. It seems like we are progressing backwards.

BTW, I built my first TV with a digital tuner from a Heathkit. 27", color, on-screen channel display. Way ahead of what was available on the commercial market at the time. I finished it in 1975.

[Dave Lehnert]

I have a DVD player that takes 30 sec. to open the DVD try.

Not to get sidetracked but remember the display Radio Shack had years ago to test your TV tubes? It was a company called U.T.M, (You-Test-Em.)
when that bisness dryed up they went into the pet supply business. :confused:
Dealt with them in my day job.

[Bryan Morgan]

I bought a new flat screen HDTV before Christmas. I can't just turn it on - it has to "boot up"; takes several seconds. Not a big issue but it even does something when changing channels, one or two second delay, doesn't just change.

Same thing with my new F150. The engine starts up right away but the radio, A/C, lights, etc. have to "boot up". Again, not a big deal except for the A/C. In Houston, waiting even 3 or 4 seconds for the A/C to come on can be excruciating.

Is everything going to the boot up start mode or can you just turn some things on? :confused:

A lot of TVs now (along with other appliances) actually have their own operating systems. My TV runs a version of FreeBSD.

[Dan Hintz]

If you don't mind going back to huge analog boxes to handle channel changes, you can have your fast channel switches. Going digital to select a channel has allowed us to go ultra-tiny, at the expense of speed at locking into a specific frequency... that, and you have to buffer a few frames for the MPEG motion estimation filters to work, you have to wait for... meh, nevermind.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Pfffft!

Even tube stuff is "instant on" compared to how long it takes me to get up and around in the morning anymore...;):rolleyes:

[George Sanders]

Pfffft!

Even tube stuff is "instant on" compared to how long it takes me to get up and around in the morning anymore...;):rolleyes:

I nearly spit coffee all over my 'puter!:eek:

I have sound effects when I get up: snap, crackle and pop.:rolleyes:

[Joe Pelonio]

Having a vehicle rely so heavily on the computer is unsettling. Just remember the times you have had to reboot when windows got
stuck, or you got the blue screen of death. Not something I'd like to experience driving along the freeway.

[Lee Schierer]

Pfffft!

Even tube stuff is "instant on" compared to how long it takes me to get up and around in the morning anymore...;):rolleyes:

I had one of those days this morning or was it yesterday, maybe it was both.:eek:

[Lee Schierer]

Having a vehicle rely so heavily on the computer is unsettling. Just remember the times you have had to reboot when windows got
stuck, or you got the blue screen of death. Not something I'd like to experience driving along the freeway.

Or "Please wait, installing new software" as you come up to that busy intersection with the red light in your direction.

[Scott Shepherd]

I'm with you Joe! Do we really need to have text messages read to use by a computer while driving along? I doubt it. It's a car. It's purpose is to get you from point A to point B. That can be frustrating enough with all the idiots on the road today, I don't need an additional thing to deal with or worry about, or text messages being read to me "LOL". Yeah, I needed that while focusing on driving. Or reading my email to me. Here's a tip, read your email when you get where you are going. Are you really SOOOO important you can't be out of touch of your email for 45 minutes? 2 hours? I doubt it.

[Zach England]

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[Pat Germain]

BTW, I built my first TV with a digital tuner from a Heathkit. 27", color, on-screen channel display. Way ahead of what was available on the commercial market at the time. I finished it in 1975.

I was pretty bummed when I heard Heathkit went belly-up years ago. I used to pour through their catalogues and hoped to one day build a really kickin' stereo system from Heathkit.

[Ben Franz]

My pet peeve - HP printers. I've had 3 or 4 total - the last 2 being all-in-one units. Trying to make a simple B & W copy and the darn thing sometimes takes 45 sec. to a minute AFTER warming up - it just sits there doing nothing no matter how loud I yell at it! Printing a series of individual pages and it just stops - sometimes doing the mysterious "Preparing print process please wait" incantation, sometimes doing nothing.

Of course, my wife could say these same things about me.

[Dan Hintz]

Pat,

I was saving my allowance for Heathkit's HERO-1 robot... never quite made it to the $800 asking price before they stopped carrying it.

[Damon Stathatos]

...what ever happened to dials and knobs??? I can't get the volume (insert AC temperature, speed control, whatever) just right with the push button up and down controls.

...give me an analogue clock any day over a digital readout.

...every once in a while I peruse my owner's manual for my car just to remember what the heck all the controls are for, most of which I never use for 'features' I forgot I even had.

[David Weaver]

Dials and knobs cost more money to make.

four years ago when I was getting a washer/dryer, the owner of the local appliance store pointed out that all of the knobs on the washers were for "old people like himself" who were just used to knobs, but that the knobs were more or less decorative and hooked up to sensors (i.e., mechanically hooked to nothing).

He said a lot of people would still come in and want knobs, etc, because they were "more reliable than all of the digital stuff", and when he pointed out that they didn't do anything, a lot of customers still wanted knobs, anyway.

I'd imagine at some point, those will disappear completely, even though they're already symbolic.

[Jim Koepke]

...every once in a while I peruse my owner's manual for my car just to remember what the heck all the controls are for, most of which I never use for 'features' I forgot I even had.

And "features' we never even think we will need.

I had to get in to the manual to figure out how to set stations on the radio when we moved.

jim

[Jim Rimmer]

Having a vehicle rely so heavily on the computer is unsettling. Just remember the times you have had to reboot when windows got
stuck, or you got the blue screen of death. Not something I'd like to experience driving along the freeway.
Now that I've gotten over the "new" truck thing, I am wondering what my battery is going to cost when I replace it or teh reapir costs if, God forbid, someone should run into the rear end of my truck. First thing that happens when I get in is the seat moves to "my" position, then I start the engine and the sensors check the outside temp, compare it where I have my comfort level set and determine how fast my A/C fan should be going. In a few seconds my Blackberry links up via Bluetooth, then the map comes on just in case I don't know where I am, and the passenger seat weighs whoever may be there to determine if the airbag should be on or off. (And BTW, why doesn't it turn off when there is noboby there?) Then I put it in reverse and the back up camera comes on in conjuction with the activation of the proximity sensors built into the rear bumper.

Hmmm, maybe the battery will be the cheapest thing I ever have to replace. :eek:

[Tim Morton]

I just got a Blu-ray player from amazon...for the spare TV...and right on the front planel is a sticker that says .5 sec boot up time....can't wait to see that happen:D

[Dan Hintz]

We were given a Blu-Ray player (Insignia brand) as a wedding gift last month. My HD-DVD player takes nearly a full minute to boot up before opening the tray, but the el-cheapo Insignia is ready to go in 4-5 seconds.

Sometimes going cheap pays...

[Tim Morton]

We were given a Blu-Ray player (Insignia brand) as a wedding gift last month. My HD-DVD player takes nearly a full minute to boot up before opening the tray, but the el-cheapo Insignia is ready to go in 4-5 seconds.

Sometimes going cheap pays...

I had the original Hitachi HD-dvd player that took forever to boot up...so i sold that and bought the HD-XA2 that cost a fortune and was much quicker...and i am pretty sure that HD-dvd folded a month after i bought it.:o:o. But i still like it much better than BD.

[Dan Hintz]

LOL, I have the A2, as well... though I will say I picked it up for $200 on Black Friday. And yes, HD-DVD gave up the ghost just a few months later :(

If you want some good deals on some HD-DVD movies, let me know :D Bourne trilogy, Harry Potter box set, etc.

[Bryan Morgan]

Pat,

I was saving my allowance for Heathkit's HERO-1 robot... never quite made it to the $800 asking price before they stopped carrying it.


I thought I was the only one! In fact, even today I'm still looking for a decent one to come up on ebay. Or the Hero 2000.

[Ken Garlock]

I thought I was the only one! In fact, even today I'm still looking for a decent one to come up on ebay. Or the Hero 2000.

Well, I never had the desire to buy a robot kit, but I have constructed a few Heath Kits over the years.

While in High School I built a VTVM, and a 5" Oscilloscope.
After college I built a 27" color TV, and a console FM stereo. I also built the SB101 Ham transceiver, and the accompanying 1KW SSB amplifier.
Oh yes, I built a grid-dip meter, any of you youngsters know what it is? In addition, I built s desktop clock that used WWV for time reference. I also built a standard desktop clock that is still running on a desk next to me.

I would have to go through my store of ham radio equipment, but the above is the highlights of my Heath Kit building. :)

[Dan Hintz]

I have a Heathkit 25MHz dual-trace scope in a box somewhere around here... I should probably sell it for a few bucks on eBay considering I have a 100MHz DSO somewhere around here, too.

[Chuck Wintle]

Not a big issue but it even does something when changing channels, one or two second delay, doesn't just change.


one of the settings in the TV may not be right. The TV should change channel instantly just like any tv. I agree about the boot up time but in comparison to the older crt's it's about the same. :D

[Dan Hintz]

one of the settings in the TV may not be right. The TV should change channel instantly just like any tv.
I disagree... there are so many things in a modern TV that need to change with a new channel, like phase-locked loops, re-synching to a new data stream, etc. A second or more after hitting the button does not surprise me...

[Zach England]

kind of out unrelated, but I have always wanted a TV with which I could set a "primary viewing" channel and a "flipping" channel, so when primary channel goes to a commercial the tv automatically flips to alternate ("flipping") channel and back again when the commercial ends. Can someone write a hack for my Vizio to do that?

[Mike Henderson]

I disagree... there are so many things in a modern TV that need to change with a new channel, like phase-locked loops, re-synching to a new data stream, etc. A second or more after hitting the button does not surprise me...
A good TV would notice that you're flipping channels sequentially up or down and sync up on the next channel so that when you change channel, the change is immediate.

In fact, I think some TVs do that.

Mike

[Dan Hintz]

A good TV would notice that you're flipping channels sequentially up or down and sync up on the next channel so that when you change channel, the change is immediate.

In fact, I think some TVs do that.

Mike
Doing that requires more tuners, and people don't want to pay for that, not to mention the active matching networks to keep several tuners on the line at the same time without degrading the signal to each of them.

Any two-tuner DVR these days continues to record the channel you're currently on as well as the last channel you selected (assuming you're not currently taping a show). Even then, flipping between the two channels takes a bit o' time as it re-syncs to and buffers the new datastream.

[Mitchell Andrus]

A good TV would notice that you're flipping channels ....

Mike


As we all know.... men don't want to know what is on TV. We want to know what ELSE is on TV.
.

[Curt Harms]

Having a vehicle rely so heavily on the computer is unsettling. Just remember the times you have had to reboot when windows got
stuck, or you got the blue screen of death. Not something I'd like to experience driving along the freeway.

If you think cars are bad, take a look at new airplanes. They are completely dependent on electronics. Attitude instruments, navigation, environmental systems the whole shebang. The standby instrumentation has been conventional but that is rapidly being supplanted by another all-in-one solid state box with its own power supply. Interestingly, the attitude instrumentation (which way is up) on new light aircraft are an offshoot of antilock brake systems. Garmin has really upset the light aircraft avionics biz, I'm pretty sure they're #1 in terms of units sold. Of course I don't think they run Windows, there's no ctrl, alt, or del buttons. There's a certification process for software just like there is for hardware. I did hear a number of years ago that Navy missiles used Windows NT somehow. :eek:

[Dan Hintz]

The missiles themselves do not use NT, but their ground-based tracking control systems often do... same with a number of propulsion systems for Navy ships (which cause MS some major embarrassment years back when a new ship was undergoing test runs and the control system gave a BSOD, leaving the ship to be towed in under tender power).

ECUs for cars also do not run your typical OS like Windows... they are always (at least to this point) a hard-RTOS designed for the purpose (usually in-house). This means boot-up times are measured in tens of milliseconds, not minutes.

[Jim Rimmer]

The TV I got rid of when I got my flat screen had a neat feature on the remote. It was SKIP button. When a commercial started you pressed the button and it set a countdown timer that you could increase in increments of 30 seconds up to 4 minutes. Then you just channel surf to your delight and when the timer got to zero it would go back to the channel you were on when you originally set the timer. I really miss that feature. Downside was you found out just how long the commercial breaks are - sometimes 4 minutes was not long enoough.

[Dan Hintz]

Jim,

Our DVR is set up with a 30-second forward and a 10-second reverse skip button (Verizon). When a commercial starts, I hit that forward button several times... how many depends on the show. For example, I know when watching American Idol or So you Think You Can Dance, I can hit it at least 7 times, skipping 3.5 minutes of commercials in a heartbeat. If it's not enough, I can single-press until the show is on, then maybe one or two reverse presses to get to the actual start.

A typical 2-hour show (like the two mentioned above) only takes us 1.5 hours to watch... not to mention we can skip the boring introductions and such, probably taking another 10 minutes off of it.