Like most editors at CNET, I often receive questions from CNET readers about specific problems. Here are a few that were brought up to me in the last month.
It's probably time I went wireless myself.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)Q: My laptop's Wireless-N adapter only caps at 130Mbps even though my D-Link DIR-855 can offer 300Mbps speeds. What can I do to boost the wireless speed of the laptop?
A: That might already be the best you can get. Wireless-N (802.11n) comes in different "tiers" with different amounts of streams (also referred to as antennae). Each stream offers a throughput speed up to 150Mbps.
While most routers are dual-stream and cap at 300Mbps (future ones can even support multistream, offering speeds up to 450Mbps or even 600Mbps), a lot of adapters built in to laptop and notebook computers to conserve the battery life use the single-stream standard. This means they cap at 150Mbps (which translates into something around 130Mbps, which is plenty fast, by the way). Also note that the throughput decreases as you increase the range. Generally the optimal range for the Wireless-N is between 15 feet and 70 feet away.
Q: Does my laptop have to have a dual-band adapter to take advantage of dual-band routers, such as the Linksys WRT610n, the Apple Airport Extreme or the D-Link DIR-825?
A: No, it doesn't matter how many bands an adapter supports; wireless networking devices only connect to one another in one band at a time. ... Read more
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Just a week after saying it was closing some stores to get its finances in order, Circuit City on Monday filed for bankruptcy protection. It will help keep creditors like Sony, Microsoft, Toshiba, and many others who have yet to receive payment for their products, at bay while Circuit City tries to get back on track. The company has also secured a $1.1 billion debtors' line of credit to keep stores open and pay its employees.
The timing, for a retailer, couldn't be worse. It's not exactly assuring that right as we're about to start holiday shopping one of the main places for consumer electronics gifts seems unstable. So what does this mean for consumers? Here are some important questions and answers about what Circuit City's current situation means for you.
Q: Does this mean less choice for places to shop for the holidays?
A: Actually, no. Circuit City will be open for business as usual. The company did announce last week that it would be closing 155 stores, which will go on as planned, but 566 of its stores will remain open. Whether they will be fully stocked is another question, but Circuit City says that its new line of credit will help keep its shelves full.
Q: Will there be any staff around to answer my questions?
A: Circuit City says it's reduced its support staff in district and regional roles, in addition to the positions eliminated at its stores currently being liquidated. Overall, there will be 20 percent fewer employees company-wide, but the retailer insists its stores will be well-staffed during the holidays.
Complex picture settings menus like this one can raise a lot of questions.
(Credit: CNET)At CNET we publish our recommended dark-room picture settings with every HDTV we review, and it's one of our most popular features. We also host a picture settings forum that you can search for your model, so you can try our settings and see if you like them. We still get lots of questions from readers interested in picture settings, however, so we'll cover a few of the most popular here.
Thanks for the dark-room picture settings, but could you give me settings for my TV in a bright room?
No, I can't. We don't publish bright-room picture for a number of reasons. First off, room lighting varies tremendously; think about the difference between having a couple dim lamps turned on versus watching in daylight with a window shining on the screen, for instance. Second, a dark room is the best place to enjoy high-quality images, because the screen's reflective properties and the room's ambient light conditions won't influence the onscreen image. Third, we simply don't have the time to do so in every review. For a quick-and dirty bright-room calibration, take our dark-room picture settings and increase the contrast and/or backlight control until the image looks bright enough, then increase brightness until you see all of the detail in shadowy areas.
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