iPad Hands On

Okay, yeah, I did it.  I bought an iPad.  I have been at least a little critical of the device from the day it was first announced, and I felt like if I was going to be fair about it I really ought to take it for a spin for real before forming a final opinion.

I was able to get it without any difficulty.  My local Best Buy was one of the ones that was going to have them at launch.  Twenty minutes before the store opened, there was still no line to get one.  At a quarter to ten I got out of my truck and I was third in line.  The store had twenty of each model (16, 32, and 64GB), so there is actually still a fair chance that if someone wants one they might still be able to get it, at least at the Orem store.

So now that I have had it for 2 1/2 hours, and played with every aspect of the device, and downloaded and played with quite a few apps, I feel more qualified to comment on it.  Here are my impressions…

Hardware

• The device is both smaller and considerably heavier than you’d imagine it being.  The screen is 9.7” (diagonal), but it has a considerable bezel, leaving the impressions in pictures that it is bigger than it really is.  But it also weighs more.  It’s heavy enough that I wouldn’t want to hold it up to read books on it.
• The oleophobic coating on the screen that is supposed to prevent fingerprints and smudges, doesn’t.
• The back has a textured finish, unlike the iPod Touch, so it doesn’t scratch as easily, thankfully.
• The screen is very good.  It uses an IPS LCD screen, and these are among the best out there.  The quality of the screen is A LOT better than that of the iPhone or iPod Touch, especially with regard to viewing angles.
• Battery life should be the expected 10 hours.  After playing for two hours my battery level dropped by about 15%.
• It absolutely requires a computer to set it up.  When you turn it on it shows the iTunes logo on screen until you register it with Apple via iTunes 9.1.
• For the most part it operates pretty smoothly and quickly.  Scrolling and zooming are particularly smooth.
• Since the iPod Touch doesn’t have a microphone, I wasn’t expecting one on the iPad, but it does have one.  I was able to make Skype calls on it just fine.
• The speaker is fairly loud, but it’s monaural.  Disappointing considering the device’s considerable size and the amount of unused space inside the case.  Sound quality is also dull and lifeless.
• It doesn’t charge while plugged into a computer.  It shows “Not charging” in the upper right on the three computers I tested it on, one of which is a Mac. You pretty much have to use the included USB power adapter to charge it.  My other AC-to-USB chargers don’t work with it.

Apps

• It comes pretty bare-bones.  It doesn’t even have the iBooks app installed on it from the factory; it has to be downloaded and installed.
• Even though there are supposedly about 1400 apps specifically for the iPad, a LOT of them are books, or wrappers around the web browser.  There are a fair number of useful and cool apps, but the iPad App Store actually feels a bit sparse.
• Apps are CONSIDERABLY more expensive than they are for the iPhone.  Many apps that are $1.99 on the iPhone/Touch are $9.99 for their iPad versions, for example.
• There are free apps, but I didn’t find that many that were interesting.  In some cases apps that are free on the iPhone aren’t free for the iPad.
• Even though the device can run iPhone apps, chances are that you probably won’t want to.  They either run on a very small portion of the screen (same physical size as they would be on an iPhone) or blown up to 4x normal size (2x in each direction), and when they are blown up they look, well, horrible.
• There are some very notable missing apps right now, namely Facebook and Hulu.
• Most apps seem to be pretty polished, but I did experience a handful of app crashes, and a fair amount of pauses and multi-second freezing, even among the Apple-supplied apps that come with it.
• The iBooks app is pretty cool, but there is basically no free content.  It comes with one free book (Winnie the Pooh), so you can get a feel for how it will work, but I didn’t want to spend $10-15 just to have the whole experience.  Page turns are quick enough that they aren’t distracting, and the fact that you can view two pages side-by-side in landscape mode is cool.  I’m still not sold on the idea of holding up a 1.5 pound device to read, or reading on a backlit screen, though.  Some people will be fine with reading on the iPad, many will not.
• The Apple included apps are exactly what you expect them to be… versions of many of the same apps that ship with the iPod Touch, but optimized for a larger screen.  It did feel like some apps, like Mail and Calendar in particular could do more to take advantage of the bigger screen, but I can understand how Apple would be trying to keep things simple.  For the most part the experience with the apps is the same as it is on the iPhone, just bigger.
• The web browser is nice, and snappy.  I do find that entering URLs and filling in web forms on the on-screen keyboard is annoying, though.  And the ongoing battle with Adobe over including Flash is a significant irritation.

Other

• Standard definition video looks okay, but not great.  If you’re planning on watching iTunes movies or TV shows, the HD versions are going to look a lot better.  And keep in mind that HD content takes up a lot more space than SD, so getting a higher capacity version of the iPad than you think you might need is probably a good idea.
• The on-screen keyboard has had a couple buttons added to it compared to the iPhone/iPod Touch.  Not many, but it is nice to have command and period keys.  But I do wish that they had added the row of number keys.  
• In Landscape mode the on-screen keyboard literally takes up half of the screen, and the buttons are actually too big.  They could have really made it a lot smaller, and it would have actually been much more usable, in addition to requiring less screen real estate in the process.
• It’s disappointing that app icons are only shown 4 across on such a large screen.  The icons feel like they are way too far apart, and Apple could have greatly reduced the number of pages by just allowing even one or more two icons per row, and one or two more rows.
• Though the device can play iTunes music, it’s really way too big to be used as a music player.
• It’s also very disappointing that the device doesn’t allow third party applications to multi-task, especially with such a large screen.  Apple could have easily fit four iPhone apps on screen simultaneously, or allowed applications to run in the background.
• Even though Apple is pushing this thing as a game platform, many games rely on the accelerometer, and this makes them very slow to respond to input.  If this is a serious game machine they should have at least included a directional pad.  Touch-screen and accelerometer just don’t cut it for a huge portion of potential games.

Overall, the hardware feels pretty polished.  Most of the limitations come from the software itself, or from the fact that you’re really buying into an ecosystem, not just a piece of hardware.

But the biggest down side of the device is cost.  And I’m not talking about up-front cost; the up-front price actually isn’t too bad for what you are getting.  It’s the high price of the apps, and the fact that you’re going to want to purchase iPad specific versions of your iPhone apps (since running the iPhone native apps is actually a pretty bad experience).  And if someone is planning on using the device to read books, magazines, or newspapers, keep in mind that you’re going to be buying them over again if you already have them, and with the $10-15 book price, or inexplicably high subscription costs, it isn’t what I would call a bargain.

Everywhere I turned on the device it felt like Apple or other content creators wanted more money to really have a complete iPad experience.  While this is understandable, it still limits the usefulness of the device if you aren’t willing to make a big investment into content specifically designed for it.

After playing with the iPad for a couple hours and going back and picking up my iPod Touch, the Touch is SO much smaller, lighter, and ultimately nearly as functional at a much lower price.  The iPod Touch is a MUCH better buy, and could replace an iPad, but not the other way around, mostly due to size and weight.

Bottom line: It’s essentially a big iPod Touch, but you’re probably going to want to re-purchase iPad versions of apps and HD versions of video for it, so it is just like starting over from scratch as if you don’t already have any content.  So plan on making a pretty significant financial investment if this is something you’re considering.

This is a bad thing…

Again, usually I try to avoid posting anything political on my blog, but sometimes I just can’t keep silent on important issues.

So the House just passed a healthcare bill.  But as-is, there are a lot of bad things that are going to happen as a result, and we aren’t hearing much about those.

Before I start, I’m not against reforming the healthcare industry.  It would be a wonderful thing if more people could afford proper health insurance.  I just think that the current approach is 180 degrees in the wrong direction.

First, insurance rates are going to go through the roof.  They simply have to as a result of simple economics.  The bill currently being considered requires insurance companies to continue coverage for people when they get sick, and offer coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.  Before long they’ll be require to grant insurance for everyone who asks.  The money that will have to be paid out by insurance companies is going to soar to unprecedented levels, and that money has to come from somewhere, so it is going to be passed on to those that are paying for insurance.  If you think your current health insurance is too expensive, it’s about to get a whole lot worse.  (Ideally it would be great for those people to have coverage, but with medical expenses being as high as they are, I can understand why insurance companies don’t offer coverage.)
In 2014, individuals will be required to have health insurance, or pay a fine.  This would be the first time in the history of the country that people have a required tax burden even if they have no income.  People won’t have the option to not purchase insurance without avoiding a fine, even if they don’t want it.  It’s essentially a tax for breathing; I can’t get behind that no matter what anyone says to me.  People ought to have a choice as to whether they purchase a product or not.

Also in 2014, businesses with 50 or more employees will be required to offer insurance to its employees or pay a $2,000 per employee fine for not doing so (do the math, that's $100,000).  This is where I have one of the biggest beefs with the current plan.

Most businesses are operating on extremely thin margins, if not in the red right now.  Yes, there are a few that are making great profits, but these are in the extreme minority.  If companies are required to purchase health insurance for their workers, their expenses are going to be a LOT higher (remember, insurance is already expensive, and insurance rates will have to go up to cover the new insured!), and in order to continue to operate one of three things have to happen: either they are going to have to raise prices of their products to offset their higher expenses, lay off workers in order to meet those new expenses, or lay off employees until they have less than 50. Jobs are already hard enough to come by without adding additional requirements and expenses to employers.

This is particularly devastating to companies that hire primarily minimum wage employees, like retail and fast food establishments.  If these companies are required to offer insurance to their minimum wage employees, we are going to see a huge jump in prices at retail.  A meal at Wendy’s won’t be $6, it will be $10 or more.  Prices on groceries, clothes, and other essentials will have to jump too.  But it affects the entire supply chain, not just the workers you meet across the counter.  Everything will have to be more expensive in order for employers to offer insurance.  As if businesses had excess funds now. (If they did, would we currently have 10% unemployment?)

In my job I work closely with fast food restaurant owners.  Most fall in the category of “50 or more employees” (if an owner has 2 or more locations they’ll qualify) but do not offer part-time employees insurance, yet they are barely meeting payroll and other expenses as it is.  If they are put into a situation where they’re having to offer insurance, they won’t be able to continue to operate as-is.  Either their prices will have to go way up, or they’ll have to close up shop.  Several of them have actually said to me that they’ll be forced to close down if they have to offer insurance.

Another side effect is that part-time jobs will become limited and hard to come by, and essentially none of what remains would be able to pay more than minimum wage.  While the bill makes provision to count part-time workers as half of a full-time worker as far as the “50 or more” provision goes, health insurance for part time employees costs the same as full-time employees (they’re not half a person).  Businesses would certainly elect to hire a single full-time employee rather than two part-time employees because their insurance costs would be half as much, only having to offer insurance to one individual instead of two.  (Including part-time employees in the count is essentially required in the plan, otherwise businesses would cut all employees back to part-time hours to avoid paying for insurance.)

But even worse than all of this is that obvious solutions to the fundamental underlying problem are being totally ignored:

• No effort whatsoever is being put forth to try to lower medical expenses so that insurance can be more affordable.
• There is no mention of limiting malpractice lawsuit awards.  Malpractice suits and insurance are two of the primary reasons that healthcare is so incredibly expensive.
• Nothing is done to try to encourage people to be more responsible about their own personal care.  Quite the opposite, in fact… if people are more or less guaranteed healthcare, many will fall back on doctors and hospitals when they don’t need to.
• Nothing is being done to encourage the use of less expensive generic drugs instead of expensive medications from the largest pharmaceutical companies, or for people to use natural remedies, which would provide huge savings.
• Nothing is done to encourage more competition between companies that work in medicine.  It will actually be easier for those with monopolies in the system to maintain them.
• No penalties are put in place for people who abuse their bodies through abuse of tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs, or other self-damaging behaviors.  They’re granted the same level of care as someone who takes care of him/herself.
• No effort is made to encourage increased use of less expensive procedures instead of the more costly ones.  For example, way too many CT scans and MRIs are being prescribed than are needed, driving insurance rates up artificially.
• No effort is made to educate people about how to take care of themselves by eating healthily and exercising.

I’m really bothered by the fact that the attitude of this bill and the message sent to the American public is this: You can keep up your current bad habits, and now we’re going to place the burden of that risk on everyone else.  We really ought to be encouraging people to take responsibility for themselves rather than being a burden on everyone else.   Yes, I know that many people have conditions that they cannot full take care of themselves… I really do understand that and empathize with them.  But this broad approach of removing accountability from everyone is just going to cause more problems in the end than it solves. 

I do agree that something ought to be done about the current state of medicine in the U.S., but the bill currently being considered is certainly not the way to solve the problem.  It’s like putting using a band-aid on an amputated limb.  It would be far better to at least TRY to eliminate the underlying problems instead of trying to cover them up.  And considering that no government social program has ever lived up to its intended consequences, there is no way I can get behind this one, especially being as flawed as it is.

I Love My Computer

So I have been using the same computer for 5 years now.  I built it back in 2005 when dual core processors first became available for PCs.  So it was getting really old, and it was really getting in the way of me being efficient and effective in my work.

I decided last summer that I was going to build a new one, but I knew that one of the key parts I was looking at was very shortly due for an update, so I held off.  Then a couple months ago my company offered to pay for my new machine.  Finally, on Feb. 28th the part I was waiting for (the CPU) became available, so I ordered the parts and built it.

So, a quick rundown on what’s inside.

• Intel Core i7 930 Processor at 2.8 GHz
• 12GB GSkill DDR3-10666 RAM (6 x 2GB)
• Intel X25-M 160GB Solid State Disk
• 2 x Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB (in RAID-0)
• 1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
• NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 Video
• NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT Video*
• NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT Video*
• Windows 7 x64 Ultimate Edition

* Brought over from previous machine

Why 3 video cards?  I use 6 monitors, and each card drives two of them.

There are a few things that make this computer so awesome.  First, the 8 virtual cores (so it works sort of like 8 CPUs)…

Second, would be the amount of memory (12GB):

Third would be the Intel X25-M solid state disk (like a hard drive, but it uses flash memory instead of moving parts, so it is much faster):

What all of this means is:

• The computer boots up in 14-16 seconds. (From Windows logo screen first appearing to all software being loaded and ready to use at the fully ready-to-use desktop.)
• There is NO period of waiting for my 57 zillion startup applications to finish loading after a restart; they’re done loading before the desktop even appears.
• Most software applications open virtually instantly:
  • Microsoft Office applications are totally finished loading in well under 1 second.
  • Photoshop CS3 loads in less than 2 seconds.
  • Premiere Pro CS3 loads in about 3 seconds.
  • Microsoft Outlook loads and is ready to use in less than 2 seconds.
  • Internet Explorer, Chrome, Opera, and Safari all load instantly.
  • Firefox loads in about 5 seconds.
  • My development environment (Delphi RAD Studio 2007) loads in about 15 seconds instead of 2 minutes.
  • The Zune software loads in about 3 seconds and is always snappy.
  • iTunes loads in about 1 minute instead of 5.
• With this much memory, I can leave all of the software I use regularly running in the background; I never have to close anything if I don’t want to.
• Web browsing is much more snappy, even without getting a faster Internet connection.
• Editing standard definition video is actually very fast.
• Editing high definition HDV video is not only possible, but it is easy.
• When I’m programming and I pause to think, the development language I use only freezes for 2-3 seconds instead of 30-90 seconds. (I was literally losing hours of my time per week on this.)
• Multitasking is seamless.  I can start a video render, minimize it, and not even feel the effect of it while using other applications.
• Encoding DVDs into h.264 video happens at a rate of 140 frames per seconds (as opposed to 8 on my previous machine), so movies finish in about 40 minutes instead of 12 hours.
• File transfers over my network run at 50 MB/sec instead of 7-8 MB/sec.

Total cost of hardware was just under $2,000.  My company covered $1500 of that.

This computer is just a pleasure to use.  I don’t have to wait for it to do anything. 

It hasn’t been without a few hiccups though…

• My external MOTU 828mkII FireWire-based sound device (primarily designed for doing studio recordings) has some really buggy drivers.  Sound sometimes gets distorted.  This was a problem with the old computer, too.  It’s apparently universal, as others (both PC and Mac users) are having the same issue with this same device.  If it weren’t so expensive I’d trade it in.
• Occasionally when I restart one of the video cards isn’t detected, so I have to restart again for it to come back.
• I can’t get the fingerprint readers I use for developing my company’s Point-of-Sale software to work at all (no driver available).
• It takes me days, if not weeks, to get all of my software re-installed.

But even with those small issues, I love this machine. 

And for anyone wondering why I didn’t get a Mac, I spec’d out a “roughly equivalent” machine (they don’t have an exact equivalent) and it would have been $7,173. While some areas would be better (CPU), it would still be lacking in a few areas, like memory and video performance.  Upgrading the video to something equivalent would add several hundred $ more.  If I were to switching to OS X, re-purchasing the software I use regularly from PC to Mac would have cost an additional $10,000+, and several most of the applications I use every day just aren’t even available at all for OS X.  Economically it just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.

Being Scammed

I don’t get upset very often, but every once in a while something pushes me over the edge.  I have blogged about this before, but it has really gotten under my skin again.

Imagine the following completely hypothetical conversation…

Government Official: “It has come to our attention that you are driving a 2008 Honda Civic.”

Me: “Yeah, that’s right.”

GO: “Well, it’s my duty to inform you that in four months it is going to be illegal to drive your car.  You will have to dispose of it before that time.”

Me: "What?  Is this some kind of a joke?”

GO: “No joke.  This is absolutely real.  If you continue driving your car after June 12, you will be breaking the law, and will be arrested and fined.”

Me: “I don’t get it.  My car is still new. It only has 1000 miles on it.  It’s working perfectly. And it is totally safe.  What gives?”

GO: “Well, the rules of the roads have changed.  Your car is now illegal… to drive on the road you have to get a new car.”

Me: “Why? What kind of car can be driven on the roads?  How is it different than what I have now?”

GO: “You’ll have to talk to the car manufacturers about that.  There are 6 models that comply with the new laws.”

Me: “And what am I supposed to do with my old one?  Nobody will buy it if it isn’t legal to drive it!”

GO: “Whoa, there!  You can’t sell it.  Selling your car is against the law because it doesn’t comply with new laws.  If you try to sell it you’re violating the law and you could be fined or arrested.”

Me: “So what the heck am I supposed to do with it?”

GO: “There are many recycling programs available.”

Me: “Okay… let me get this straight… I’m supposed to recycle a car which works perfectly, only has 1000 miles, which I can’t sell, and buy a new car just because the rules of the roads have changed?”

GO: “Yes, sir.  I believe you’re starting to get it.”

Sound unbelievable?  Well, yeah, it does.  And it should.  But this is exactly what is happening with wireless microphones in a few months. 

Starting June 12, 2010 it will be illegal to use any wireless microphone that operates in the 700 MHz radio band.  Unfortunately, this includes nearly every wireless microphone manufactured before about two years ago.  And still a pretty large number of mics sold in the last two years as well.  And very much unfortunately for me, every wireless microphone I own.

I have just over a dozen wireless mics that I have spent literally years acquiring.  Some I purchased brand new, others I found on eBay.  Some are for live audio events, others to use when shooting video, etc.  It took a really long time to find a few models that are reliable and have good sound, and even after I found the right ones, it took about 6 years to get my hands on enough for my needs.  Sure there have been plenty of cheap models available, but they have all sorts of problems.  And lots of extremely expensive ones that actually do work well.  But VERY few models in between that work well and are affordable.  I managed to find a few models in that “in between” range and bought up every one I could find.

And now they’re all being made illegal, even though they work perfectly, and in many cases only have a few hours of use on them.

Worse yet, it’s illegal for me to try to sell them.  A handful of manufacturers are offering rebate programs, but not for the models that will work for my use.  At least not ones that I could possibly ever afford.  Since I can’t sell them the only legal thing to do is to recycle them.

Wireless mics are kind of a funny thing.  If you walk into a musical equipment store there will be a bunch available for sale.  But not a single one you see in a retail store is actually worth owning.  Between dropouts, noise, poor sound quality, and other problems, there isn’t a wireless mic worth owning for less than about $450.  The “good” ones start at about $2,000 each… and go way up from there.  Those mics you see on American Idol and other TV shows, they easily cost over $4,000 apiece.  Maybe big television networks or bands on tour can afford stuff like that.  I can’t.  And neither can a lot of other people that need them.

I sat down and made myself a spreadsheet to figure out replacement costs.  To replace the wireless equipment I use regularly, it’s going to cost just under $10,000 for “barely adequate.”  I don’t think that “barely adequate” wireless microphones are worth owning.  To get something that operates at least as well as what I already own, that figure jumps just north of $20,000.  I’m sorry, but I don’t have $20,000 to blow on microphones.  Especially when I already own a bunch that work perfectly.  And these numbers are just for the stuff I use consistently, not to replace everything I already have.

Some of the ones I have haven’t been used much at all.  In a few cases, purchase price divided by hours used would approach $75-100 per hour.  And in nearly all cases I used them for charity or public events, or other events where I was providing my audio services at no cost.  (The number of events I do where I ask to be paid is very small.)  Some thanks I get, huh.

At the time I bought the ones that I have now I had the advantage that they had been out for a couple of years, so used ones would come up for sale on eBay from time to time at a significant discount.  But because this transition to new models is so recent (many manufacturers have just started offering compliant models within the last year, and in some cases, just the last few months) no used gear is available.  So not only is the newer equipment not going to function as well, it has to be purchased at a full price (which is higher than it was before).  No deals here.  Not for a long while.  And many of the compliant models are out of stock and can’t even be purchased.

I know the number of people that are affected by this is relatively few.  But it does extend farther than you might think.  It isn’t just audio guys like me that are being forced to replace our gear.  This includes theaters, schools, churches, etc.  And most of these operate on shoestring budgets (or no budget whatsoever).  If any of these groups bought their wireless mics more than two years ago, they almost definitely are going to have to buy new ones.  Less than two years ago and the chance goes down, but that chance doesn’t go away entirely unless a mic has been purchased in the last 27 days.  Yep, infringing equipment was still available for sale (and quite common) less than a month ago.

If you go to the FCC web site and read up on the issue they really emphasize the need to stay out of the new radio bands being reserved for public safety agencies.  Fine.  I have no problem with that.  My mics don’t operate in those frequencies anyway.  If that was the only reason this was happening, I wouldn’t be affected.  (Well, one of my mics is in that band, but I can replace one without too much complaint). 

The less emphasized part of the transition is the spectrum that was purchased by Verizon Wireless.  So we’re being forced to buy new wireless mics to make way for laptop data cards.  (Which, incidentally, are supposed to detect interference and work around it.  I’m just sayin’.)  If all in this world was fair, Verizon would be forced to pay at least a portion of the costs of replacing equipment it was invalidating because they’re invading what was our turf.  But, this world isn’t exactly fair, now, is it. 

The radio band that we are being moved into has to coexist with television broadcasts.  Yes, the same frequencies that all TV stations were forced into a year ago.  A part of the radio spectrum that is becoming very busy.  Yes, mics were in TV frequencies before, but there were a whole lot more of them available, and fewer stations to compete against.  Things are going to get really messy.

Get this… the most expensive piece of wireless audio gear I own is my in-ear-monitor system.  (You’ve seen them… the earpieces musicians wear when performing so they can hear themselves.)  Mine is a “barely adequate” model (I couldn’t afford a “good” one) that cost me $1300.  It is included in the devices that have to be retired, as it is also in the 700 MHz band. 

The manufacturer offers a “trade-in” program.  I can trade in for the exact same model with a few tweaks inside to make it legal.  And the cost?  Full price.  No discount.  Nope!  If I want to keep using it I have to buy a brand new one at full price.  And according to their web site it is “illegal” to retrofit the old ones, so I shouldn’t bother asking. 

Everything about this whole situation stinks.  And it’s all pretty crazy when you think about it.  If this affected a larger group of people the American public would be up in arms about it.  But because our group is relatively small nobody else knows a thing.

Toy Story in HD!

Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are coming on Blu-ray on March 23rd!  Cool.

 

Zune HD Price Drop

The Zune HD has dropped in price.  It’s $30-$40 cheaper than it has been.

 

Excellent news.

Tech Tip: Label Your Power Adapters

If you’re anything like me… wait, I’m sure you’re nothing like me, fortunately for you…

Most people have many electronic devices laying around the house that are powered by big rectangular power adapters (affectionately known as “Wall Warts”).  But they tend to look alike, and if a device gets separated from its power adapter it’s hard to know what belongs to what.  So recently I started labeling my power adapter so I know which adapter goes with which device.

In addition to making it easier to mate an adapter with its owner, labeling also makes it easier to know which adapter plugged into a power strip to unplug.  When a power strip has 3 adapters in it, it’s usually impossible to know what device each one goes with if they aren’t labeled.

I use my electronic label maker to print labels.  (You do have a label maker, don’t you?  No?  Get one!) I usually include the manufacturer and name of a device on the label.  “Cell phone” or “Camera” isn’t descriptive enough, as surely someday you’ll wonder what cell phone or camera it was for.

Bonus Tips…

Once Separated, Now Reconciled

If you have separated a device from its power adapter, fret not… there are a few things you can do to match them back up again.  Or to find a suitable adapter that will work instead.

There are 4 things that need to match for a power adapter to work with an electronic gadget.  They are voltage, current, polarity, and connector. 

Most power supplies and devices will have information that looks something like the image above.  If both the adapter and device have all of this information, you’re in luck… you have enough information to know if it will work.

The above power adapter outputs 12 volts, can supply 500 milliamps of current, and has a positive tip (polarity).  To work with a device, the voltage and polarity of the adapter and device must match exactly.  If an adapter supplies too little voltage a device won’t work at all, or will behave erratically.  If the voltage is too high you’ll fry something.  Both the number and type of voltage must match (AC or DC). 

Tip: If a power adapter outputs AC voltage, there is no polarity so you won’t see the above symbol.  Just make sure the device requires AC voltage and that the numbers match up.

While AC adapters don’t have polarity, DC adapters do.  And you absolutely have to have the same polarity, or you’ll fry a device.  So look and make sure the location of the (-) and (+) are the same for the adapter and device.  Positive tips are more common than negative tips, but double check that polarity matches.

While voltage and polarity MUST match, the current rating is a little more forgiving.  If a device requires 300 milliamps (mA) of current, any power adapter that supplies a minimum of 300mA will work as long as the voltage and polarity match.  So if you find one that supplies 500mA and the voltage and polarity are correct, the adapter is a good candidate.

Once you find a power adapter that has the correct voltage, polarity, and can supply sufficient current, it’s time to check to see if the connector fits.  Try to plug it in.  If it fits, the adapter should work. 

	Device Requirements	Candidate Adapter #1	Candidate Adapter #2	Candidate Adapter #3	Candidate Adapter #4
Voltage	12 V DC	12 V DC	9 V DC	12V AC	12V DC
Current	300mA	500mA	250mA	300mA	200mA
Polarity	(+) Tip	(+) Tip	(+) Tip	(-) Tip	(+) Tip
Works?		YES!	NO!	NO!	NO!

Don’t Throw Them Out!

I actually keep the power adapters when I have to dispose of a broken device; they quite often come in handy later on for something else.  Just yesterday I purchased a new radio scanner that didn’t come with any power adapter at all.  Fortunately, I had one from a cordless phone that died a few years ago that matched perfectly.  I saved $25 by not having to buy a new one.