Recently I made up my mind to finally take the plunge with an affordable DIY version of the Media Center.

I began by scanning Ebay for an existing, working box with the one criteria being the shape - a desktop instead of a tower.  This would make it much easier to fit into the rack since it has the basic stereo component shape.

I ended up bidding on, and winning, a Compaq Pentium 4 with a fresh install of XP Pro.  It has 512mb of RAM and a 40GB hard drive.  On-board sound and video round out this basic package.

Like I said, the important thing here was the form, so now the real work begins…

I figured I needed to “install” the printer on the laptop.  So, I ckicked on “Add a new printer” and chose the “wireless” option.  Silly me!  Imagine, trying to use logic in a Windows enviroment!

As it turns out you have to throw logic out the window on this one.

• Choose “Add a local printer”.
• Click “Create a new port”.
• The default is “Local port” and you need to stick with that one.
• Click “Next”.
• A box appears asking for the port name (printer address).  Type “\\computer name/printer name” (without the quotation marks - in my case \\Desktop-1\Stylus-C86)

And you are done.  This worked perfectly for me but a couple of other people did still have printer issues.

For this space, I just want to give a quick tip on stopping this horrible spyware in your Firefox browser.  So, here we go:

• Open Firefox and click the “Tools” menu.
• Choose “Options”.
• Click the “Privacy Tab”.
• First, and this has nothing to do with Phorms, make sure you have unchecked the “Accept third party cookes” radio button.  Then, click the “Exceptions” button next to “Accept cookies from sites”.
• Now enter in webwise.net and, for safety’s sake, www.webwise.net and click the “Block” button after entering each of these items.
• Click “OK” and you’re done.

Header download for the ‘[Gmail]‘ folder did not complete. Could not select ‘[Gmail]‘ on the IMAP server. You might try refreshing your folder list to synchronize with the IMAP server. Account: ‘imap.gmail.com’, Server: ‘imap.gmail.com’, Protocol: IMAP, Server Response: ‘Unknown Mailbox: [Gmail] (Failure)’, Port: 993, Secure(SSL): Yes, Error Number: 0×800CCCD2

This one, thankfully, has an easy fix.  Right click on the GMail folder and select “Don’t Synchronize”.  This does not affect your sending or receiving of mail or any of IMAP settings.  That’s it!  Error solved!

I have begun trying all of this out and will be posting a review of each item soon.  For now, I will give a quick first impression.

The laptop and Vista are both solid and Vista is much less annoying than I was afraid it would be.

The travel pack is as-advertised but also a little confusing due to lack of documentation.

The Co-Pilot Navigator is fantastic based on the first couple of test.

I have been hearing the radio ads recently for FreeLaptopReward.com. After hearing the ads enough I decided to give it a run and see how many hoops I’d have to jump through.

First, it asks which laptop you would like to receive and gives you 5 choices. Next it asks your choice of several $200 gas cards.

This is how it works. You are presented with a series of advertisers and asked to click a Yes or No radio button. You need to say yes to a certain number of these (in various categories) in order to proceed.

In case you missed it, here’s the fine print in a size you can actually read:

“*This promotion is conducted exclusively by FreeLaptopReward. To receive the gift for this promotion you must: 1) register with valid information; 2) complete the user survey; 3) complete at least 2 Silver, 2 Gold and 6 Platinum offers. Available offers will vary and some offers may require a purchase to qualify. Receipt of your item requires compliance with offer terms, including: age and residency requirements; registration with valid email address, shipping address and contact phone number; completion of user survey and sponsor promotions. Upon valid completion of all Program Requirements we will ship your item to the shipping address you provided. Unless otherwise indicated, participation eligibility is restricted to US residents, 18 and over. Void where prohibited. “

So, you need to say yes to a total of 10 vendors. Will these cost you money? In most cases, yes. How much? I can’t say for sure. In most cases you will receive something for your money spent - such as the old Combia Records deal.

If you fail to choose 10 vendors then you will be asked to choose from a lower tier prize - a $50 gift card from one of several stores.

I chose to back out at this point because I didn’t need the laptop and I didn’t want to eventually have to make all of the phone calls to cancel all of the “free” trials and to pay for the non-trial items.

My conclusions:

• Can you actually get a “free” laptop? Probably.
• Will it cost you less than buying one? Maybe.
• Is it worth the time and trouble? I doubt it.

To start:

• Cat 5 is rated to 100m (100MHz)
• Cat 5E is rated to 350m (100MHz)
• Cat 6 is rated to 550m or 1000m (Depending on you source) (200MHz)

Both Cat 5E and Cat 6 are backwards compatible.

For general home use any of the 3 would be fine, but if you want to “future-proof” your home, or if you are wiring an office then Cat 6 is the way to go.

If you would like to read some more in-depth analysis of these cables then here are a few good links:

• http://www.connectworld.net/syscon/support.htm
• http://www.broadbandutopia.com/caandcaco.html
• http://discountcablesusa.com/ethernet-cables100.html 

A while back I posted news of the pending release of the Ziova CS615.  To date, there has been no other news about the product.

News on the Ziova website was last updated December 26, 2007 announcing the CS615 with a release date of March 2008 for the US.  Since then there has been no update.  I am trying to contact a company rep and I will keep everyone posted.

I am a beta tester of the service (a review will follow).  Therefore, I was automatically eligible for the drawings. Cash, Zunes, etc.

Today I received an email that I had won!  What did I win?  A coupon is being mailed to me for a FREE 12 PACK OF PEPSI!

Oh well, I suppose it’s better than nothing!  Even if I am a Coke drinker…

But, if you sign up and begin using the service there is still time for you to be entered into the sweepstakes.

It’s a quick and simple solution.  Just download the sync tool and run it.  Two-way syncing is easy to set up.

You can check out Google’s complete instructions HERE.