james_bond

I am using the free version of Spotify. I haven't yet purchased the premium membership. I was just checking the settings section and found the equaliser which was disabled by default. Inside the equaliser I found "Surround Sound". But as soon as I enabled the equaliser the volume decrease instantly and moreover the Surround Sound feature is absolutely useless. Honestly I was expecting something similar to the SRS Wow which is offered by the Windows Media Player. Anyone using the Surround Sound feature of Spotify? Do you like it?

I have connected my desktop to my LED TV and using my desktop as a streaming device. I haven't yet purchased any OTT subscriptions. At the moment I watch only Youtube. My question is Fire TV stick Vs Full fledged Desktop as a streaming device, what's the pros and cons of each ?

@thrasher_565 Yes, I agree 100%. I had wasted a lot of money on PC hardware back then. The motherboard than I am using at the moment is Asus H110M-CS. I assembled this desktop myself on 2017. I pray that this desktop specially the motherboard lasts at least 10 years from the date of purchase. From my experience if the motherboard dies after 5-6 years that particular CPU socket becomes obsolete and you have no choice but to invest in both a new motherboard and a new processor.

@Dogzilla07 At the moment I am using a Intel Corei3 with onboard Intel graphics. 10 years back I a was using an AMD Athlon 64X2 5600+ with a dicrete Nvidia card. Both the AMD cpu and Nvidia card used to produce heat which was multiple times higher than my current configuration. I used to keep my desktop with the case closed with one fan in the back. The Nvidia Card died within 3 years followed by the motherboard the next year. Since then I can't even think of using my desktop with case closed.

@fonzz1e The pics of the cases that you have attached are "horizontal". I am sure there is name for those case but I don't know. Mine is a "tower" case. I am attaching a random image from the Internet. Just visualize with the right side cover open

I understand. I have placed my case in one corner of my room. The open side is facing the wall so no chance of any accidental spill of drinks.

I never invested money on expensive branded cases like Cooler Master. I have always used my desktop with one side of the case open. No overheating and as a bonus I get to easily clean my desktop with a blower. So my question is why invest money for expensive cases ? Why not use desktop with an open case ? Is it only because an open case looks a bit ugly ?

Some months back I ordered this bluetooth transmitter receiver from Amazon.in (not .com) and then realized that I am hearing MONO audio. I couldn't return it coz the manufacturer is very clever by not mentioning either the word MONO or STEREO on the packaging. Today when I visited amazon.com (not .in) I found that amazon lists only those items which can be shipped to India for users who login to their .com domain page from India which is really awesome. Problem is unfortunately I can't a single Bluetooth transmitter/receiver manufactured by a reputed brand on amazon's .com page. In short that same thing happened when I visited their .in page. By reputed brand I mean brands like Sony, Logitech, etc. I want strong signal strength and 2 channel STEREO in both transmitter and receiver mode. That's it. I don't want it to be portable so if I have to use a power adapter in place of in built batteries its completely fine. If I can connect more than 1 Bluetooth headset at a time it will be an added feature If you using one of these and happy with the performance please give me the link. I will bookmark it. Note: I almost never use it in receiver mode. I use to listen to the audio of my desktop so its always in transmitter mode.

I just purchased my phone 3 days back. My friends and family members keep sending me these images saying "Happy New Year 2022", "Good Morning" etc. So far I have forwarded that same message to my other contacts. My question is from which website can I save these messages for free ?. I am using Linux on my desktop. I value security & privacy so I don't want to install any extra apps. My plan is to visit the website using Chrome then save the image to internal memory or SD card & then attach the image to Whatsapp. An alternate method that I can think of is download a lot of these images using my desktop then transfer them to my phone. Is PICTURE MESSAGES" even the right term ? Sorry I am new to all this.

I purchased a Nokia G20 just 2 days back. The sales guy at the store was quite frank & he asked "why Nokia ?". He said I will get a Oppo or Redmi phone with much more RAM, internal memory, powerful processor within that price range but didn't listen. I am not that guy who buys a new phone every 1-2 years. If the hardware is okay & I am getting security patches I keep using my phone. I trust Nokia & Samsung but not Oppo or Redmi. I know that its me who is using the phone so its ultimately my opinion that matters but still I want to know your opinion. Was the sales guy right ? Is Oppo or Redmi a better choice for a budget smartphone ?

I still wear a wrist watch but almost none of my friends do. All of them just take out their smartphones to see the time. What about you ? Do you still wear a wrist watch or do you do you use your phone to see the time ?

@to all who replied My neighbor "thinks" that the battery died so prematurely coz his son played a lot of heavy games on the phone. Can that be a reason ?

If few years is at least 5 years then I am kind of okay with that.

The last phone that I purchased was on 2013. Its not a smartphone but at the same time not a basic phone either. This is my phone. So the point is since I have not purchased any phone since 2013 so I have no idea whats going on in the smartphone industry. Today I met a neighbor of mine. He was looking very disturbed so I asked what's the issue. He told me that the smartphone he had purchased just 3 years back is not charging anymore so he cant switch in ON. Problem is he doesn't have cash right now to buy a new phone. So I said what's the problem just buy a new battery & replace it yourself. He said he can't do that coz the Nokia smartphone that he has comes with a backcover which can't be opened & he got the info from the authorized Nokia service center even if one manages to open the back cover the battery can't be replace by the customer coz its soldiered & the model is already obsolete & so its going to be difficult to find that particular battery. I refused to believe him but then he showed me his phone & I was really shocked when I found that indeed the back cover is made in such a manner that only a qualified phone repair will be able to open it. I felt very sad coz I couldn't help him. Then when I returned home I did some research about this on the web and found that almost all brands of smartphones these days are made with a non replaceable battery. This made me think. What am I supposed to do when I want to buy my next phone ? I will buying my next phone in next 2-3 years & my plan is to buy a Samsung phone. Now all brands offer a warranty period of 1 year. What if the battery dies just after the warranty ends, say 1 1/2 years ? I will have to throw away a working phone with just a dead battery. I am sure I am one the few people on this planet who still doesn't have a smartphone. So all of you who are using smartphones how are you dealing with this situation ?

Complete agree. Please understand that all I am asking for right now is if I select 720p resolution which the max of my TV I must be able to enjoy 720p at its fullest. Why that's not happening ? Why I have to waste bandwidth streaming 1080p content on a 720p TV ? Ans: Low Bitrate.

Yes I have seen 4K on large screens. The electronics shops put those on display to attract buyer but they use Bluray. The average customer sees it & says wow without knowing that he will never see that kind of picture quality under any streaming service. Companies will spend billions if they see an opportunity for profit. The technology already exists. I mean higher bitrate videos exist it just that no one wants will want to invest unless some competitor does it first. If there is even one new streaming service launched all the rest will follow. These people are quite predictable. All they think of is money.

@HairlessMonkeyBoy I wonder why doesn't some new streaming service appear whose USP is higher quality video. I mean "If you buy our subscription you will enjoy movies in high quality". Is that not attractive ?

I mean there is hardly anyone who doesn't love watching movies. The kind of movies people like may differ. The situation indicates the fact that there a huge lack of awareness amongst the general public. Someone who has power should come forward and do something. Bluray discs are expensive so not everyone can afford them. Popular streaming services like Amazon Prime, Netflix and even Youtube must at least consider increasing their bitrate to an acceptable value.

So the conclusion is people are obsessed with only the resolution & they completely ignore the bitrate factor. People just buy devices like the Amazon Fire TV stick 4K & all they get is compressed sh**.

I guess I will have to do the same from now on. Is there any hope the situation will improve ?

I am dissapointed to hear that. I was planning to take an Amazon Prime subscription hoping for high quality videos. Where I live there are no bluray renting services available.

No don't think its placebo. I tested like 15-18 videos & got the same result.

So if someone wants to watch uncompressed true HD videos which video streaming service should he use ?

This is the video that I am using as an example >>> Click here but I am seeing increase in picture quality in all videos. I am using this TV as my desktop's monitor so sometimes I am sitting right in front of it so the I am able to tell the difference. This is my TV >>>> Click here. Why is this happening & how is this even possible ? I mean if my TV's resolution is limited to 1366x768 why am I seeing an increase in picture clarity while playing 1080p videos ?

@Commodus After reading your reply I checked the prices of Apple phones. They are ridiculously expensive. So I tried to find out the reason for that & found this : https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/iphone-12-way-costlier-in-india-than-countries-like-us-dubai-singapore/story/419505.html