• This episode was sponsored by

• Today we're bringing you the first of a two-part special Holiday Buying Guide! Better late than never, right?

• ExtremeTech.com's Jeremy Atkinson has a comprehensive list of keyboards and mice to suit all your PC needs. For his full reviews, check out ExtremeTech.com

Microsoft SideWinder X6 Keyboard
Logitech Wave
Enermax Caesar Kb005
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
Microsoft Explorer Mouse with Blue Track Technology
Microsoft Arc Mouse

•  Robert shows off the best Blu-Ray players of the season! For his full reviews, head to PCMag.com!

•  Also, Robert recently did a roundup that includes some of these players and more useful information to help with your shopping.

•  Here are links to Robert's full reviews of all the HDTVs shown in this episode:

• Brooks takes a look at one of the hottest gift ideas of the year: Digital Photo Frames!

• DL.TV Producer Sam Arbizo has some Geek Gifts that are available online at ThinkGeek.com. Check out their site for these items and a plethora of other cool geeky goodness!

• We hope you enjoy part one of our Holiday Buying Guide. Come back next week when we'll take a look at the hottest phones, laptops, video games, and more!

• Inventor and VP of Product Dave Mathews is back and he's bringing us all the latest Boxee details!

• We're proud to announce that you've chosen DL.TV as this year's Podcast Awards winner for Best Mobile Phone Formatted Podcast! We're getting all the details in and we'll have information about the live Awards Ceremony as it gets closer to the date. Thanks to everyone who voted!

• This week's tech pic is from Andrew from Ft. Stewart, GA. The Luray Caverns in Virginia are both technological and musical. Check them out if you're ever in the area!

• Dave Mathews shows us all the latest in Boxee news, PLUS he demos the unreleased Windows Boxee client here on DL.TV first! Be sure to also check out the Boxee forums and share thoughts and ideas with other Boxee users.

• Dave also recommends using LIRC (Linux Infrared Remote Control) as a solution for adding remote control support to Linux-based systems.

• Sam checks out the Popcorn Hour Media Device, which is also a great complement to Boxee!

• The holiday season is approaching rapidly and Robert's got a few websites that will help you with all your HDTV and video-related questions before you make those big purchases. Check out AVS Forum, TVBlink, Online Monitor Testing, and the THX Calibration website.

• Next Week: "Black Friday" is right around the corner... Have you done your gift purchasing research yet? Fear not! DL.TV is here to help! Next week, we will have Part One of our 2008 Holiday Buying Guide Extravaganza! Stay tuned and, with luck, you might not even have to purchase that HDTV after all!
See ya then!

• The Sage of Tech, Loyd Case, answers your questions!

• Team DL.TV is poised to take over the 7th spot on Stanford University's worldwide Folding@home (FAH) teams stats page! One of the most effective ways to boost your/our score is to use a GPU client, and the good folks at [H]ard|OCP have some terrific guides to getting the most out of your FAH participation.

• [H]ard|OCP's latest GPU folding guide is Vista-specific, but it provides a good starting point for getting the most out of your Folding@home GPU client efforts - don't forget to use team #57391 (that's Team DL.TV) when configuring the client.

• This week's tech pic is from Ricky from the Aloha State, Hawaii. Ricky modded a sweet old desk into a powerful photog station, complete with a hideaway LCD screen. Plus, he's a avid folder! Go Ricky!

• Loyd Case shows off an early developer's build of Windows 7.

• And, of course, Loyd is back once again to take on some of your best Viewer Questions! This week, he tackles everything from hard drives, to Intel chipsets, and memory performance! Check out both of Joel Durham's articles on memory and performance at ExtremeTech.com.

• Next Week: Boxee inventor and patent holder extraordinaire Dave Mathews joins Robert on set and we take a look at the Popcorn Hour Web Media device!
See Ya Then.

• Brooks Rowlett joins Robert on set.

• Robert's Sony XEL-1 review is in the hands of the capable PC Magazine copy editors and will be posted online very soon - keep an eye on PC Magazine's HDTV section for the latest updates.

• This week's tech pic is from Justin V. from Seattle, WA. Justin is showing off some serious Lego Art that he did himself with a little help from some Java code.

• Scott Asnault talks to 1UP's Shane Bettenhausen about this years scariest games.

• Hey iPhone owners...need some apps for Halloween? Brooks has 4 that will be perfect. Check out Seance, Hangman, Carve3D, and Halloween. Brooks has another app that is not for Halloween, but will be good to have on your phone. Check out Google Earth.

• Not to long ago our Sage of Tech Loyd Case wrote an article entitled, Stupid Tech Glitches that Drive Me Crazy. In his segement, Loyd shares 2 tech problems that he has had and how to deal with them. This does not end well for the tech.

• And now for the viewer question:

First question is from Gary of Prescott, AZ:
Is it safe to mail order a large LCD HDTV? Looking at a 52" Samsung 550 or 560 series at Newegg. Also, how important is initial calibration and does it need to be done annually as suggested by a salesperson at Best Buy?

• Next Week: Our Sage of Tech Loyd Case will be on the show to answer your questions and also to show off Windows 7.
See Ya Then.

• Garnett Lee of the 1UP Network joins Robert on set.

• This week's tech pic is from Philip of San Antonio, TX. Philip is our Newtek contact. He helps us keep our TriCaster happy. Not a tech pic per say, but we wanted to show that DL.TV gets love out on the range.

• Scott Asnault interviews Tim Westergren of Pandora.com and the Music Genome Project on the State of Internet Radio.

• Speaking of Pandora.com. Check out this update to a Samsung Blu-ray Disc Player. Also keep an eye out for World of Goo.

• Every year, ExtremeTech builds a PC that will give you the best Bang for your Buck. Jason Cross, Senior Tech Analyst of ExtremeTech.com, shows off this years build.

• Garnett Lee finally gives us the lowdown on the Tokyo Game Show.

• Jason Cross of ExtremeTech.com joins Robert on set.

• We have a first look at the 13 inch Macbook and the 15 inch Macbook Pro.

• We got some mixed reviews on our new 16:9 format.

• The Speeding UP Firefox 3 Hacks got mixed reviews as well.

• This week's tech pic is from Aaron of Edinboro, PA. Aaron has hooked us up with a serious amount of Folding power.

• Jason Cross has a look at the new Antec Skeleton Case.

• Jason has been a busy boy. He replaced the normal PS3 hard drive with a Solid State Drive and found out that he didn't have to wait so long for his games to load.

• And now for the viewer questions:

We receive a bunch of email asking for specific recommendations on what hardware they can get that will be compatable with their current system. For example, this question from Lawrence in Australia:
I have a question about the Radeon 3870X2 and the 8800 Ultra video cards. I wanted to see which one would be a better choice for my current gaming system which is:
ASUS P5KC motherboard
4GB DDR2 800mhz ram
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
(Video card not selected yet)
I am not intending to set up a crossfire or SLI system anytime soon and just basically wanted your opinion on those two cards.
We thought it would be good to talk about what you might want to consider when making this kind of decision.
One site you might want to check out for help is 80 PLUS Program.

• We also mentioned the latest PS3 update. Click HERE for more details.

• Loyd will be on the show again real soon, like Nov 6th. Please remember to send you questions to our Sage of Tech.

• We are getting all the bugs worked out with our 16:9 format downloads. The iPod/PSP MP4 download is back as a 4:3 for the time being.

• Next Week: Garnett will be back on the show. He finally brings us a report on the Tokyo Game Show. We will also have the ExtremeTech.com Bang for the Buck PC.
See Ya Then.

• Scott Asnault joins Robert on set.

• Scott and Robert discuss how Scott's last name is pronounced.

• This week's tech pic is from Anand of Seattle, WA. Pics are of some serious cable management.

• Scott found some Firefox hacks to really speed up Firefox 3. To read more about how to speed up Firefox 3, click HERE. Thank you to the people at TechRadar for these hacks.

• And now to turn Firefox 3 into a Google Chrome Clone. For the Chrome Clone article, click HERE. Thank you LifeHacker.com

• And now for the viewer questions:

First is from Brian of Belvidere, IL:
What would the best/most cost-effective option be for streaming from the Internet connection in one room to an HDTV in the other?
One app you guys might want to check out is PlayOn.
Today's second question is from Chris:
What is the best storage medium for long term storage of data? USB Keys / Hard Drives, DVD's, Magnetic tapes, etc?
Second, of those storage media, which would stand up best to heat or water that may occur even inside a fire safe in case of a house fire?
For the safes that Robert mentioned in his answer, click HERE. Also, check out some of the testimonials of people that have purchased some of the safes.

• Loyd will be on the show again real soon. Please remember to send you questions to our Sage of Tech.

• To top things off, we have finally gone 16:9. What do you think?

• Next Week: Jason Cross will be back on the show. Does a SSD drive produce faster load times in a PS3?
See Ya Then.

• Neha Tiwari joins Robert on set.

• We have a first look the Sony XEL-1 OLED Digital TV, click HERE for more details.

• This week's tech pic is from Sami of Finland. Sami has pics from the Assembly 2008 Lan Party in Helsinki. That is just a large amount of gamers. For more info on Assembly Lan Party, click HERE.

• We have 3 Games in 3 Minutes for you. Baja: Edge of Control, LEGO Batman and Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway.

• Neha has brought in 5 3G iPhone cases you might want to consider. OtterBox Apple iPhone 3G Defender, Ivyskin Xylo-T3, Speck ToughSkin, Griffin Clarifi and the SwitchEasy Capsule Rebel. For more on these cases, click HERE.

• And now for the viewer questions:

First is from Mark:
I was thinking about making the investment into getting certified to calibrate HDTVs as a sideline business. Looking forward, do you think this would be something that there will continue to be a need for. Any other advice you could offer me? Hey Mark and anyone else who wants the info on HDTV calibration, try Imaging Science Foundation and THX.
Today's second question is from Archie of Aspen, CO:
Do you know of any way to "screw down" an HDMI cable? My cables seem to come loose at the worst time. I noticed a small Phillips screw above or below most HDMI ports. Is there any kind of hood or attachment that can "lock down" this connections?
For more on Cable Management products, click HERE.

• We would like to thank Neha for joining us today. She will be back very soon.

• Next Week: Scott Asnault will be back on the show. He will be showing you a couple of tricks to speed up Firefox 3.
See Ya Then.

• ExtremeTech's Loyd Case joins Robert on set.

• We have a first look the HTC G1. To read Sascha Segan's preview on PCMag.com, click HERE.

• This week's tech pic is from Adam. He is about to put some servers on his network, but needed to test the systems. So, Adam set up the Folding@Home SMP Client on the server. Go Adam!

• Our Sage of Tech, Loyd Case, shows off the Sage TV HD Media Extender. For his full review, click HERE.

• Before we get into the questions, ExtremeTech's Jason Cross has the latest info for Microsoft's Zune. To read more about the Zune release, click HERE.

• And now for the 'Ask Loyd' questions:

Question 1 is from Charles of Bronx, NY:
I purchased a Western Digital Caviar SE 16 640GB drive (7200 rpm) to be my primary (and only drive). After some research, I got the idea that I could use my old drive out of my HP (224 GB, also 7200 rpm) as the drive for my OS (Vista Home Premium 32 bit), and use the larger hard drive for files, etc. So here are my questions:
1) Is there any real value in doing this?
2) Since I will have to reformat for the new Vista install, what is the best way to get all of my apps, files and settings over to the new computer? I have current back-ups made with Acronis TrueImage-- will that do the trick?
Question 2 is from John:
Could you explain the difference between Intel's FSB vs. AMD's HT (hypertransport)? And which of them is better?
Question 3 is from Steve of Sam Pedro, CA:
I have a home network with a midrange firewall. My DSL service includes 4 IP addresses and I have my PS3 and XBOX360 each on a public IP address open to the internet. I had found that playing Internet based games from behind the firewall was filled with problems. I read the forums on the ports you need to open, but it doesn't work as well as putting them right on the Internet.
So, here's my question: Do we know of any history of security issues / hackers causing problems on an unprotected console?
Question 4 is from John of Fremont, CA:
I have two hard drives set to be RAID 0 in a WinXP system. I want to take out the RAID 0 setup and either move to just one of the drives or a RAID 1 setup for safety or maybe move to a single larger drive. What can I do without losing data? I have external USB drives that I can back things up to so I will have enough free space to be down to one drive.
Question 5 is from Joshua of NYC:
I'm currently running Vista Ultimate 32bit with 2gb ram and a Pentium D 930 (3 GHz). I recently bought a 512MB 8800GT. I'm running a 20" LCD. Is my gaming performance being bottlenecked by the CPU? Should I upgrade now, or wait for Nehalem? My budget allows $200-$300 on a CPU.
Question 6 is from Josh of Columbus, OH:
I have a question concerning audio. I recently picked up a 42" Samsung Plasma TV and I have been using the speakers on the TV. I am now looking at getting a solid 5.1 surround system that won't break my bank. I have been looking at a few Onkyo HTIB setups, but I was wondering if you had any suggestions that might be better? The only thing I need to have is a receiver with 3 component inputs / 1 out.

• We would like to thank Loyd for all his knowledge and we would also like to remind you to continue to send in your questions for Loyd. Remember to put 'Ask Loyd' in the subject line.

• Next Week: Neha Tiwari will be back on the show. She will be showing some iPhone Case love.
See Ya Then.

• ExtremeTech's Jason Cross joins Robert on set.

• We had a couple emails and comments helping us out with Google Chrome tabs. If you want to download and try Chrome click HERE.

• Jen 'the Weird Hunter' DeLeo has a few cool Spy Gadgets for you to check out. For Jen's full list of Spy Gadgets click HERE.

• This week's tech pic is from Chalene of Lathem, NY. Her pics are of her K-9 case mod for a convention in Baltimore, MD called Otakon.

• Jason takes a look at the Sidewinder X6 Keyboard by Microsoft. Check back next week at ExtremeTech.com to read Jason's full review.

• Loyd finishes up his 2-part series on how to build a Quiet PC. Click HEREto read his full article.

• This week's Viewer Question is from Cory of Clive, Iowa:
What are your thoughts of having a Blu-Ray drive in a media center pc as oppose to getting a PS3 or a stand-alone Blu-Ray player?

• This week's Viewer Question is from Sam of Rancho Cucamonga, CA:
Is there an LCD or Plasma TV that has a USB input to play directly off the hard drive? Any you can recommend? Most files are DIVX or AVI. Does one have to convert the files to another format so it can play on such a TV?
Check Robert's reviews of the 2 HDTVs that Robert mentioned in his answer: Samsung LN52A750 and Pioneer KURO PDP-5020FD.

• We would like to remind you to continue to fold for Team DL.TV (57391) and help the researches at Stanford University find cures for various diseases. We have good news. Team DLTV (57391) has moved to 8th place. If you can, switch over to the new GPU Folding Client. Click HERE to check it out.

• Next Week: Loyd Case will be here. Our Sage of Tech will answer as many of your questions as poosible and will be showing off something way tech cool.
See Ya Then.

• We have a Special Guest Co-Host today. Neha Tiwari joins Robert on set.

• We have pics of the Spore devastation.

• PCMag.com's Tim Gideon has all the info on the new iPods. For Tim's full reviews, click on the links: Apple iPod nano (4th generation), Apple iPod touch (2nd generation) and Apple iTunes 8.

• Today's tech pic is from Robert. Click HERE to see all the pics Robert took at CEDIA.

• Neha spent some quality time with Google's Chrome Browser.

• This week's Viewer Question is from Kenny, Elria, OH:
Dear Robert, I notice on the Philips HDTV's (include the Philips HDTV I have) they have a setting called dynamic contrast. What is that?

• We would like to remind you to continue to fold for Team DL.TV (57391) and help the researches at Stanford University find cures for various diseases. If you can, switch over to the new GPU Folding Client. Click HERE to check it out.

• Next Week: Jason Cross of ExtremeTech.com will be on the show. We will have part 2 of the DIY Quiet PC series, Spy Gadgets and more.
See Ya Then.