If you’ve been a visitor of this site then you will know that I’m a huge fan of Acronis TrueImage. Although I’ve only reviewed up to version 7, I actually use version 8. Of course, the newest version is 9 and I haven’t upgraded yet since 8 seems to meet all my needs.
Anyways, I noticed that my system started behaving oddly yesterday. I suddenly lost the ability to put my notebook into standby. It would actually standby for about 2 seconds and then it would simply wake up. This was extremely annoying since I didn’t want to start/turnoff my system. I also noticed that the system was being a little sluggish recently so I figured I would refresh it. Normally, that would entail a fresh OS install; however, that process takes way too long since I have to reinstall all my apps as well.
With Acronis TrueImage and a recent full system image, it was easy enough to restore my system in about 30 minutes. I have several different images available to me.
- Baseline Installation - this one has the original OS install and default settings. This saves me time from having to use my notebooks restore CD/DVDs. It takes around 8-10 minutes to restore this.
- Basic Apps 1 - this uses the baseline install along with my most necessary applications and utilities
- Basic Apps 2 - this adds my next most often used applications.
- Occasional backups (Incrementals) - this is my working system with incremental backups every couple of months.
So, I use Acronis TrueImage to backup my boot disk and program applications only. I keep my data on a separate partition (usually D) so that if I ever need to refresh my system I just refresh C and my data gets loaded up automatically without me needing to re-setup everything. I back up the data using a different program that I’ll cover soon once it’s officially released.
Now my system is happy again and with very little down time. Gotta love it.
I forgot to mention that this site was officially 2 years old when I posted last time. Happy B-Day! Yay! Actually, I consider this site an extension of my old Freak! site hosted on 9-muses.com and that site started in October of 1998.
Anyways, what’s new in the labs is that I did get my hands on an iPod nano and am in the process of reviewing. However, I will not be testing the durability of the device like the Ars-Technica guys did but should have my impressions of it pretty soon. It’s definitely a neat piece of engineering and sure to make heads turn.
A while back I put the Sony NW-Exxx series on my droolworthy list and I even purchased the top end model since I was so enamoured with the product. Sony wasn’t sitting still and has announced a new revision of the series with a new model numbering scheme. Rechristened the NW-A6xx series, the new models increase capacity, add new functionality, and address some of the issues I had with the unit in my in-depth review.
The new models comprise the following:
NW-A608, 2GB - ¥32,000 (USD$290) *available colors: Violet, Silver, Blue and Pink; Limited Edition Color - Emerald Blue and Gold ¥30,000
NW-A607, 1GB - ¥27,000 (USD$245) *available colors: Violet, Silver, Blue and Pink; Limited Edition Color - Gold ¥25,000
NW-A605, 512MB - ¥22,000 (USD$199) *available colors: Violet, Silver, Blue and Pink
NW-A600 Series | Features & Specifications
- new “Intelligent shuffle” feature: 1) Most frequently listened tunes shuffle mode, 2) Time/Date based shuffle mode, 3) Artist link shuffle mode and 4) Sports shuffle mode.
- beautiful OLED screen display
- features digital sound presets ~ adjustable bass and treble; up to 8 different stages.
- utilize new “CONNECT Player” software
- High-speed USB 2.0(*1)
- FM tuner: Reception frequency is FM:76.0-90.0MHz, and TV:1-3ch.
- built-in lithium ion battery
- 50 hours music playback; rated at ATRAC 132kbps mode with power saving mode
- support MP3 ~ 32-320 kbps, ATRAC3 ~ 66/105/132 kbps and ATRAC3plus ~ 48/64/96/128/160/192/256/320 kbps. *WMA support will be enabled via a firmware update this December 2005.
- Jog shuffle control dial
- Stylish headphone that matches to each main body color
- Clock/Day display
- Size: 84.9 × 28.8 × 13.9mm (depth, height, width)
- Mass: approx. 48g
NW-A600 Series | Accessories
- “CONNECT Player” (CD-ROM)
- USB cable
- Quick start guide
- Smart clip
- Carrying pouch
- Matching color headphones
In addition to the new hardware, Sony will finally release a new version of their software simply called “Connect”. Basically, they’ve gotten rid of SonicStage and redesigned the new software to be much easier to use.
Available in November, it will definitely make me considering upgrading to a new unit…unless something else cooler comes out…
Lost in the hub-bub of the Apple iPod nano and the ROKR (don’t get me started on that) was Sony’s announcement of some new products. One can’t help to wonder if this release was planned or if simply a response to Apple’s latest offerings.
First up is Sony’s new Walkman. Available in a somewhat odd 6GB or 20GB configuration, the new Walkman brings a new design that utilizes Sony’s latest theme of what I call the “Mirror Magic OLED” interface. Basically, it’s a super shiny unit that has the monochrome OLED screen hidden underneath the surface. It’s extremely cool but somewhat difficult to see in bright lighting conditions.
Available in a variety of colors such as violet and silver (20GB models) and pink and blue (6GB models) with color matching headphones, the units introduce a few new play modes for more intelligent randomization, a newer easy to use control scheme, direct WMA support, and compatibility with a new line of select accessories. Though not explicitly mentioned, the battery life is likely to be 20-30 hours at a minimum.
Also announced was the “new” NW-A series of flash based digital audio players. These are basically new NW-E series players with a new 2GB model and some new colors including the very sexy limited edition Emerald colored unit. Other notable features include high-speed USB 2.0 connectivity (finally!), new play modes, and a new direct WMA file support.
A direct link to the press release can be found here
More real pictures of the units can be found at Atraclife.
Unfortunately, the new HDD based Sony unit isn’t completely jawdropping and not a droolworthy candidate. It certainly looks interesting in an organic Bath & Body Works Soap sort of way but it really didn’t introduce anything new. I was hoping for a color OLED screen (a killer feature), larger capacities, and new functionality.
I will probably add the NW-A6xx series under droolworthy status since it already takes a darn good product and makes it even better.
