The other day at a friend’s house I could not get onto their wireless network.  The MacBook and iPhone were connecting without problems so I finally Googled for “windows is unable to connect to the selected network.”  The first link on Google’s search results led to a very helpful page titled “Windows is unable to connect to the selected network.”

It turns out that Windows has a bug where it assumes that all the wireless access points it detects use open authentication.  For some reason my friend’s router was using shared authentication.

To solve this problem I did the following.

1. Double-click on the wireless icon   in the windows system tray (normally in the bottom right hand corner).  A Wireless Network Connection Status window will pop up.
2. Click on the Properties button in the Wireless Network Connection Status window.  A Wireless Network Connection Properties window will pop up.
3. Click on the Wireless Networks tab in the Wireless Network Connection Properties window.
4. Click on the Add… button to enter in the information about the wireless network with the shared authentication.  A Wireless network properties window will pop up.
   1. Enter the Network Name (SSID).  This is the name of the network you tried to connect to before getting the message that Windows cannot connect.
   2. Set the Network Authentication to Shared.
   3. Uncheck the box that says “The key is provided for me automatically.”
   4. If there is a key enter it in the Network Key and Confirm Network Key boxes.
   5. Press the OK button.
5. Now either Windows will automatically connect to this newly configured wireless network or you can rescan and connect manually.

The above steps should work.  It worked for my laptop and the Windows laptop of the owner of this wireless network.

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Acer 22

I was also having problems with an Acer LCD monitor I purchased from Office Depot.  After complaining to the Better Business Bureau Office Depot offered to let me return it.  When I realized the problem had to do with my laptop’s graphic cards (only the MacBook can properly drive it) I kept the monitor.  I appreciate Office Depot’s gracious response, unlike Best Buy’s.

All of these experiences have led me to to these conclusions.

1. Buy big ticket computer items only from Apple or Costco.
2. If you are having a problem with a retailer seek help via the Better Business Bureau.

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2. Flickering Acer Monitor
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According to Consumer Reports:

Plasma TV Advantages:

• virtually unlimited viewing angle
• deeper blacks and better contrast
• no motion blur

LCD TV Advantages:

• lighter
• brighter images
• most have no reflections from screen
• no risk of burn-in
• use less power

Costco has a sale on Panasonic TV’s plus free shipping this weekend.  I am considering the Panasonic 42″ 720P Plasma which gets rave reviews.

The reasons I would like to buy this TV:

1. It is a good price.
2. Apparently it shows SDTV (standard definition) pretty well and has good sound.
3. It has great reviews.
4. Since it is from Costco if I don’t like it I can return it within 90 days.

The reasons I am hesistating are:

1. Its power consumption is 385 watts.  A comparable 42″ 1080p LCD TV uses 250 watts and a 46″ 1080p LCD TV uses 287 watts.  If you assume you watch TV 8 hours a day (the average for American families) then at $0.225 per kWh that works out to about $20 per month to run the Plasma TV and $13 per month to run the LCD TV.  Over a year that is about an $84 difference and in two years that is about $160 which is about the price difference between this Plasma TV and a comparable 42″ 1080p LCD TV.  And how can a tree hugger like me buy something that uses more power?
2. It is not 1080p and it seems like one not does want to buy technology that could quickly become obsolete.
3. I think I want a 46″.

I think I convinced myself not to buy Plasma.

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The reasons to buy the Uniden 1560-2.

• name each handset, e.g. “Frank”
• bigger buttons
• program caller ID not to show your area code
• a little easier to enter text because you can switch between capital or not capital letters mode
• caller ID displays faster than on Panasonic

The reasons to buy the Panasonic KX-TG9344T.

• maybe more reliable
• maybe better sound
• uses NiMH AAA batteries instead of those big clunky ones but must be charged in Panasonic charger
• screen is nicer
• phonebook automatically shared w/ all handsets, w/ Uniden you have to manually command one handset to copy its contacts to another handset
• can use headset
• can block calls
• programmable night mode where handset will not ring during that time
• talking caller ID option
• uses phonebook to give better caller ID info
• alarm option

I thought I was going to go with the Panasonic because someone complained they heard static when I called them with the Uniden.  But later when I called them the second time with the Panasonic they complained I heard static.

Everyone sounds good to me when I listen on any of the phones but I am starting to think that the quality of the outgoing voice is not as good, possibly because the upstream bandwidth is smaller than the downstream bandwidth.

Which phone should I choose?

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2. LCD or Plasma HDTV
3. Grateful Day 7

A call to technical support proved unhelpful.  They suggested I send it in but the cost of shipping a monitor is rather prohibitive.

Lessons learned

1. don’t buy Acer
2. buy from somewhere that has longer than a fourteen day return policy, like Costco
3. spend more on a better brand, like HP or Samsung

Related posts:

1. Acer Problems Resolved via BBB
2. Seeing Wide
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My Linksys WRT54G v2 was failing repeatedly.  I finally gave it away on Freecycle and replaced it with a Linksys WRT54G v4 that I picked up via Freecycle.  That one though experienced the same problems.

After numerous times on the phone with customer support and many hours lost I finally suggested to customer support that maybe the router was having problems with my VPN connection.  It seemed the router failed within a few hours after I disconnected from the VPN.  Customer support had no idea, in fact they put me on hold and after twenty minutes I hung up.

The person who took my old Linksys WRT54G told me he had replaced the Linksys firmware with the Tomato Firmware.  In desperation I tried it too.  And after more than a week and no connection problems I am convinced that Tomato is a beautiful thing.  In fact we planted some tomato plants in celebration.

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I upgraded from my Dell 19″ to the Acer 22″ because I decided to use the Dell 19″ for my kids’ computer.

So far the Acer seems nice.  The reviews on Amazon were quite good and it’s rated about 4.5/5 stars.  There is this strange problem that when I come out of sleep on my ThinkPad T60p it only shows a part of the screen but I am hoping that is particular to the ThinkPad’s video drivers and not an issue with the monitor.

Part of me does wonder if I should get the HP W2408H 24″ Widescreen LCD Monitor.  24″ is not that much bigger than 22″ so but the HP seems so much more glossy and pretty.  What do you think?

Some reviews of this monitor.

• CNet thinks it’s pretty good.
• AnandTech thinks it’s okay.
• Squidoo seem to like it.
• more reviews

These are the specifications of my current monitor, the Dell 1800FP.

Related posts:

1. Flickering Acer Monitor
2. LCD or Plasma HDTV
3. Acer Problems Resolved via BBB

I bought two 2 GB sticks which after rebate will hopefully work out to about $31 each. Previously I bought a Crucial 1 GB stick for about $12.

Now my MacBook and ThinkPad T60p have 3 GB each. And I don’t notice any difference at all in performance except maybe Firefox doesn’t bring Windows to its knees as quickly because of its ravenous memory consumption.

By the way the instructions for installing memory on the MacBook weren’t that bad, only three screws to replace though pushing in the memory sticks felt a little weird since you can’t see where they’re going.

On the ThinkPad T60p there are five screws to remove and then you have to lift off the palm rest. But the memory brackets pop up nicely and are easy to use. This blog article has nice photos of how to do it.

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Actually I wouldn’t want these because the camera sounds quite poor and I am sure the MP3 player isn’t great. Still the concept is pretty cool.

For Eyes That Have Seen It All, There’s a Way to Prove It
By PETER WAYNER
Published: May 1, 2008
These sunglasses from ThinkGeek.com have a 1.3-megapixel digital camera embedded in the frame can snap a picture of 1,280 by 1,024 pixels.

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I guess I will be waiting another ten years before I get my new 50″ OLED TV.

State of the Art
TV Images to Dazzle the Jaded
By DAVID POGUE
Published: May 1, 2008
What has an 11-inch screen, offers breathtaking pictures and costs $2,500? It’s the new TV from Sony.

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