dcdruck - Slashdot User

Comment Re:Reliability and charging (Score 1) 382

by dcdruck on Thursday April 28, 2016 @09:47AM (#52004723) Attached to: Intel Wants To Eliminate The Headphone Jack And Replace It With USB-C

I've never understood this. Can't they design a standard where the flimsy part is in the cables which are easily and cheaply replaceable. If it breaks, buy a new cable. When the microUSB port in my phone finally broke, I had to open it and put in a new USB board. I would have preferred to throw out the cable and get a new one. Is there a reason, either for technical or manufacturing reasons, that it's better to have weakest part of the port built into the expensive device?

Comment Re: One single question (Score 1) 382

by dcdruck on Thursday April 28, 2016 @09:21AM (#52004515) Attached to: Intel Wants To Eliminate The Headphone Jack And Replace It With USB-C

You could perhaps leave it at work?

At work is just where I use it the most, so yes I'd probably want to leave one there all the time. You're right. However, I often change and listen to tunes in the garage (with speakers though, not headphones) and when traveling. I know, I could just leave one of these hubs everywhere I'm likely to use one and keep an extra for traveling. So now in addition to buying [presumably] more expensive headphones for multiple locations, now I also have to buy a USB C hub for multiple locations. Maybe they could just build phones with two USB C ports. That would eliminate just about every situation where I might require such a hub. I'm struggling to come up with solid reason why this would benefit consumers, other than the fact that noise-canceling headphones could draw more power from the USB for better performance (I assume; I've never actually used noise-canceling ones before).

Comment Re: One single question (Score 2) 382

by dcdruck on Thursday April 28, 2016 @06:46AM (#52003649) Attached to: Intel Wants To Eliminate The Headphone Jack And Replace It With USB-C

Agreed. This is so important to me. I charge my phone while listening to 3.5mm headphones everyday at work. I know it's possible to do both simultaneously with USB C, but it requires some sort of hub (or two separate ports). It's going to be awful if I have to carry around a hub or adapter in pocket for situations like this. Every pair of USB C headphones could have a built in passthrough port near the connector, this would allow connecting another device like a charger at the same time. How expensive will these headphones get? My Panasonic ear buds that I use at work sound great, cost $10, and have lasted almost two years so far. I have half a dozen pairs of them in various locations in my life so I always have them if I want them, wherever I am. If headphones now cost $30/pair (for example), I probably can't afford to do that anymore.

Comment Re:The Fix (Score 5, Informative) 785

by dcdruck on Wednesday December 31, 2008 @11:38AM (#26280295) Attached to: Microsoft Zunes Committing Mass Suicide

According to Herman at gizmodo, this is the solution:

"Your zune will need a "hard reset."

To do this, use a small screwdriver to pop off the plastic shielding where the zune cable plugs into and remove the two screws on either side of the plug. Next pop the cover off and locate the battery plug at the top left corner of the zune, using your screw driver, pop the cable connection half way off, and do this to the other plug on the right side. Wait 3 seconds, then push down the right connector and then the left battery connecter. Your zune should start up immediately. Press the backing of the zune down (make sure headphone jack is aligned) and put the screws and cover back in place.

It's an easy process but if you're unsure don't attempt it if you think you'll screw it or something. :)"

Not pretty, but it might help those of you who have this problem.

According to others on the forum, it is caused by the new firmware, so you might not want to update it. Changing the clock might be a temporary fix if you want the new firmware.

According to several users in the Zune thread at Zune.net forums, even Zunes running original or other older firmware is affected.

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